is a Japanese

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

made up of lead vocalist,

Issa Hentona is a Japanese boy band made up of lead vocalist, Issa Hentona and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996. They made their debut on the Avex Trax subsidiary avex tune unde ...

and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at

Okinawa Actors School is a school in Ginowan, Okinawa which has another branch in Osaka. It was founded in 1983 by Masayuki Makino who became the first principal of the school. Many of the school's former students became popular J-pop stars especially in the 1990s. ...

in 1996. They made their debut on the

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

avex tune under the guidance of producer

Akio Togashi , better known by his stage name is a Japanese musician, rapper, singer and record producer with Avex Trax. He graduated from Hokkaido Sapporo Tsukisamu High School and the Hokkaido University of Education. His debut single as m.c.A·T, " Bomb ...

on June 11, 1997, with "Feelin' Good - It's Paradise". As one of the few male bands unassociated with

Johnny's Entertainment was a Japanese talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which managed groups of male idols known as The company had a significant impact on pop culture with male idols and boy bands in Japan since the 1980s. Until 2019, the company w ...

, they were the first to gain major popularity reaching their peak in 2001 with the release of ''Da Best of Da Pump''. On April 7, 2006, Shinobu formally left the band following a hiatus due to a drunk driving incident in 2005. The band went on an unofficial hiatus at the end of 2006. On December 18, 2008, it was announced that Yukinari was leaving the band and that Ken and Issa were actively looking for his replacement. Within hours, their management company announced a brand new Da Pump with seven new members and a new concept as a multimedia entertainment group. The band will start their official comeback on July 15, 2009, with the new single, "

Summer Rider is a Japanese boy band made up of lead vocalist, Issa Hentona and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996. They made their debut on the Avex Trax subsidiary avex tune unde ...

" and a tour in the fall. It was announced on December 5, 2009, that Ken Okumoto had left Da Pump to pursue a solo career, leaving Issa the only original member left. Da Pump now consists of Issa, Kenzo, Tomo, Kimi, Yori, and U-Yeah. Da Pump made their comeback in May 2018 with the hit single, " U.S.A.", a song originally written by Italian singer Joe Yellow.

Biography

Famed for their ability in both dancing and singing, Da Pump's debut came in 1997, with the song "Feelin Good - It's Paradise" and breaking through with "Rhapsody in Blue" (and using the song as their entry on the "white" team during the 1998

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

). The band originally came from

but are now part of the Avex Network and are produced by

. Their songs tend to have a quick tempo and often include elements of

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

. Da Pump often appears in

TV show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s, and

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

s throughout Japan. Issa has stated that he is a fan of the long-running

Kamen Rider Series The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until '' Decade'' and except Thailand), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Ka ...

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

programs, and has contributed to the soundtracks of ''

Kamen Rider 555 is a Japanese tokusatsu television drama. It is the 13th installment in the Kamen Rider Series. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei, and was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 26, 2003, to January 18, 2004. This seri ...

'' with its opening theme "Justiφ's" and its film's theme "Justiφ's -Accel Mix-" as well as the theme for the film '' Kamen Rider: The Next'', "Chosen Soldier". As a band, Da Pump had performed the theme to the film '' Kamen Rider: The First'', "Bright! our Future", and Issa played the role of a Shocker commander in the film. In 2018, he and Japanese singer Shuta Sueyoshi of

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

fame collaborated on the single ''Over "Quartzer"'', the opening theme for the 20th anniversary series of the Kamen Rider franchise,

Kamen Rider Zi-O is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in the Toei Company's ''Kamen Rider'' franchise. It is the twenty-ninth ''Kamen Rider'' series overall as well as the twentieth and final installment in the Heisei period. The show premiered on September 2, 2018, fo ...

. Following a

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

arrest in 2005, Shinobu temporarily suspended all activities from the band. However, on 7 April 2006, he officially announced that he left the group. The remaining members of Da Pump continued with three members. On December 18, 2008, it was announced that Yukinari was leaving the band and that Ken and Issa were actively looking for his replacement. Within hours, their management company announced a brand new Da Pump with seven new members. Ken left the group in 2009. In 2014, the band returned with their first single in three years, "New Position". Then after an absence of four years, Da Pump returned the hit single, " U.S.A.", in 2018. On April 1, 2021, Daichi announced he would be leaving the group by the end of the month due to worsening of his chronic hernia. Later the same day, the Kansai University of Social Welfare posted a music video, in collaboration with DA PUMP, for a song titled "Believe in your dream", co-written by Issa and m.c.A·T.

Members

Current members

* (Born: December 9, 1978) (1996–present) * (Born: January 21, 1985) (2008–present) * (Born: February 2, 1981) (2008–present) * (Born: April 14, 1983) (2008–present) * YORI (Born: February 9, 1980) (2008–present) * (Born: September 17, 1983) (2008–present)

Former members

* (Born: February 15, 1980) (1996–2005) * (Born: November 5, 1978) (1996–2008) * (Born: December 17, 1979) (1996–2009) * (Born: March 6, 1984) (2008–2013) * (Born: December 4, 1988) (2008–2021)

Discography

Studio albums

* 1998: ''Expression'' * 1999: ''Higher and Higher!'' * 2000: ''Beat Ball'' * 2002: ''The Next Exit'' * 2004: ''Shippuu Ranbu -Episode II-'' * 2005: ''Lequios'' * 2022: ''Da Pop Colors''

Other albums

* 2001: ''Da Best of Da Pump'' * 2001: ''Da Best Remix of Da Pump'' * 2003: ''Da Best of Da Pump Japan Tour 2003 Reborn'' * 2006: ''Da Best of Da Pump 2+4''

Notable singles

* 1997: "Feelin' Good -It's Paradise-" * 1999: "We Can't Stop The Music" * 2000: "If..." * 2009: "Summer Rider" * 2014: "New Position" * 2018: " U.S.A." * 2019: "P.A.R.T.Y. ~Universal Festival~"

Solo projects

Issa

Singles

* "Justiφ's" (12 March 2003) - Opening for the series, ''

''. * "Play, This, Satisfy" (23 April 2003) * "Chosen Soldier" (17 October 2007) - Theme for ''

Kamen Rider The Next is a 2007 Japanese tokusatsu superhero film directed by Ryuta Tasaki and written by Toshiki Inoue. The film was released on October 27, 2007. The film borrows elements from the ''Kamen Rider V3'' television series and is a sequel to the '' Kamen R ...

'' * "Breathe" (22 September 2010, ISSA ×

SoulJa Johannes Maria Leenders Zwaan, better known as , is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer Thelma Aoyama, "Koko ni Iru yo" and " Soba ni Iru ne" – the latter of which was the former Guinness W ...

) * "4 chords" (9 March 2011, ISSA × SoulJa) * "i hate u" (12 October 2011, ISSA × SoulJa + Rola) * "Over Quartzer" (23 January 2019 ( Shuta Sueyoshi feat. ISSA)) - ''

'' Opening theme * "Dragon Screamer" (18 November 2001, ISSA} First Opening of '' Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002''

Albums

* ''Extension'' (21 May 2003) * ''ISM'' (29 February 2012, ISSA × SoulJa; with tracks featuring Rola, Next?, Yui Minemura, and Anna Fujita)

Collaborative releases

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

/ "Emotional History" (14 March 2001) ** "But My Love feat. ISSA" * Album '' Christmas Harmony: Vision Factory Presents'' (21 November 2007) ** "Shiroi Yuki"

Ken

Collaborative releases

Hiro Hiro may refer to: People * Hiro (given name), includes lists of people with the given name * Hiro (photographer) (1930–2021), Japanese-born American photographer * Hiro (singer) (born 1991), French singer * Hiroko Shimabukuro (born 1984), Japa ...

/ ''Naked and True'' (7 August 2002) ** "Crazy feat. Ken" *

Viewtiful Joe is a side scrolling beat 'em up video game franchise created by Japanese game designer Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom and its subsidiary Clover Studio. Games ''Viewtiful Joe'' (2003) The first game in the ...

(

Sotaro , known as , is an American actor and model in Japan. He was born in Newport Beach, California. He is best known for his portrayal of Ken Hisatsu/Geki Chopper in the 2007 Super Sentai series ''Juken Sentai Gekiranger''. Biography Sotaro was bor ...

feat. Ken) (3 July 2003) Theme of

** "Viewtiful World" * ZZ / ''ZZB'' (14 December 2005) ** "Walk into the light feat. Ken" *

Tamaki Nami is a Japanese singer. As a teenager under the Sony Music Japan label, she had four top-ten albums, two of which reached number one. Her singles were used as theme songs for animated shows such as ''Mobile Suit Gundam Seed'', '' Gundam Seed Des ...

/ ''Don't Stay'' (23 April 2008) ** "Gokigendaze!: Nothing but Something feat. Ken" * m.c.A.T / ''Bomb a Head'' (21 November 1993) Theme of

Tenjho Tenge , also written as ''Tenjo Tenge'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Oh! great. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Ultra Jump'' from July 1997 to August 2010, with its chapters collected in 22 volumes. ...

References

External links

DA PUMP , Facebook

Da Pump official site

Orion, Da Pump personal site

Da Pump blog
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1996 Japanese idol groups Avex Group artists Japanese hip-hop groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups from Okinawa Prefecture Japanese boy bands Fantasy on Ice guest artists