(born May 16, 1972)
is a Japanese
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
DJ who primarily does work for
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s. Naganuma is best known for his soundtrack for the game ''
Jet Set Radio
(originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...
'' and its sequel ''
Jet Set Radio Future''.
Early life
Naganuma started his musical career by playing the
electronic organ
An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the pump organ, harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has si ...
, aged five, under the influence of his older sister. When he was fourteen, he became interested in western music and composed his own songs. He then decided to have a job in the music business.
During 1993 to 1997, he worked as both a DJ and bartender. He was also aiming to become a singer-songwriter in the J-pop industry, although he dropped this plan.
Career
19982008: Work with Sega
Naganuma sent demo tapes to
Sega
is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
in 1998. His application was accepted, with voice editing for ''
Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru Monogatari'' and composition for ''Hip Jog Jog'' being among his first works with the company, the latter of which he worked with senior composer Kenichi Tokoi.
In 2000, he served as the lead composer for ''
Jet Set Radio
(originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...
'', serving as his breakthrough work. He took inspiration from
big beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...
music for the game. He would go on to compose for its sequel ''
Jet Set Radio Future'' in 2002, along with ''
Ollie King'' in 2003, also developed by Smilebit. In 2005, he composed a large portion of ''
Sonic Rush'' soundtrack, of which he was later nominated at the
Golden Joystick Award
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...
s for Soundtrack of the Year. The following year, he was responsible for music supervision and composing two tracks for the anime adaption of ''
Air Gear
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Oh! great, serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from November 2002 to May 2012, with its chapters collected in 37 volumes. ''Air Gear'' revolves around ...
'', itself being influenced by ''Jet Set Radio''. For contractual reasons, he used the "skankfunk" alias as he was still employed at Sega at the time, while ''Air Gear'' had nothing to do with Sega. He also created a remix of "Fuusen Gum" for the anime ''
Gintama
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to September 2018, later in '' Jump Giga'' from December 2018 ...
'', but similarly was not credited at the time.
During his later years with Sega, Naganuma was part of ''
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
'' team, where his role was mostly limited to voice editing and producing sound effects. The boss of its team did not allow him to work on the soundtrack of ''
Sonic Rush Adventure''. Following his work on ''
Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!'' in 2008, he left Sega to become a freelance composer. He has continued to work on Sega games under his "skankfunk" alias, including ''
Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō'' and ''
Super Monkey Ball 3D''.
2008present: Freelance work
During the earlier years following his departure from Sega, Naganuma contributed a handful of tracks to various Sega games such as ''
Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō'' and ''
Super Monkey Ball 3D'', under the skankfunk alias. In 2012, he contributed the track "Luv Can Save U" for the
20th installment of
Konami
, commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
's arcade rhythm game ''
Beatmania IIDX'', and for the
21st installment an extended mix of the aforementioned track. In 2014, Naganuma contributed to the charity CD ''Game Music Prayer II'' for relief of the 2011
Great East Japan Earthquake with an original track titled "Aria di Maria".
By the late 2010s, he became popular on the social network platform
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, where he frequently interacts with fans and posts internet
meme
A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s and
shitposts related to ''Jet Set Radio'' and other media, such as ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'', ''
Among Us'', ''
Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger
is a 1995 Japanese anime television series by Shaft.
Plot
The series takes place on the continent of Mugen, a floating island ruled by Princess Aura, who derives her power from the Great God Goal, but is forbidden from leaving the island. ...
'', and''
Big Chungus''.
As a result of his online popularity and musical success, he has contributed tracks to a number of indie games inspired by ''Jet Set Radio''. In 2017, Naganuma contributed two new original songs for the game ''Hover''. In 2018, Naganuma released the track "Ain't Nothin' Like a Funky Beat" as a part of the ''
Lethal League Blaze'' soundtrack, which featured other notable composers such as
Frank Klepacki
Frank Klepacki (; ) is an American musician and video game composer, best known for his work on the Command & Conquer, ''Command & Conquer'' series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was 17 ...
, Pixelord,
Bignic, and Klaus Veen.
He was set to compose for ''
Streets of Rage 4'', but due to schedule complications and copyright ownership issues, he withdrew from the project in 2020.
Naganuma admitted that since leaving Sega, he has made attempts to work for
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
, after the topic was brought up by fans of the ''
Splatoon
is a third-person shooter video game franchise created by Hisashi Nogami and Shintaro Sato and developed and owned by Nintendo. Set in the far future on a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Earth that has been repopulat ...
'' franchise that he should have worked on the latest games' soundtrack, who drew parallels between it and his previous works. He composed for indie game ''
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk'', which was released on August 18, 2023. He has also expressed a desire to create an original album and clarified he is not active in the gaming industry.
Musical style
Naganuma's early sound is often labelled as an energetic, rhythm-heavy blend of
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
,
electronic,
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
.
His music was produced to match the visual style of the games he was working on as closely as possible, and experimented with voices, cutting and rearranging
samples to the point that they become nonsensical.
Since the release of ''
Jet Set Radio
(originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...
'', Naganuma's sound has incorporated many elements of
breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...
,
and
EDM.
Works
Video games
Other
Notes
References
External links
Interview at RocketBaby*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naganuma, Hideki
1972 births
Big beat musicians
Freelance musicians
Japanese DJs
Japanese male composers
Living people
Musicians from Hokkaido
Sega people
Japanese video game composers
Japanese electronic musicians