''Metaphorical Music'' is the debut studio album by Japanese musician

Nujabes , born , better known by his stage name Nujabes (; ), was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from Japanese hip hop, hip hop, soul music, soul, and jazz, a ...

. Released in 2003, it offers a combination of hip hop and instrumental jazz, and features artists like

Shing02 , better known by his stage name Shing02, is a Japanese-American rapper, record producer, activist and investor. According to Patrick Neate, his music "has addressed important issues from Japanese ethnicity to sexual exploitation to the education ...

Substantial Stanley Robinson, known as Substantial, is an American hip hop recording artist from Prince George's County, Maryland. He now operates out of Virginia. His videos have appeared on MTV, BET and VH1, while his music has made it to the second rou ...

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and Cise Starr (of

CYNE Cyne, often stylized as CYNE ("Cultivating Your New Experience"; pronounced "sign"), is an American alternative hip hop group originating from Gainesville, Florida. The group consists of MCs Akin Yai and Clyde "Cise Starr" Graham, and producer ...

). Despite the fact that the album has contributing vocals from several artists, it is roughly classified as an

instrumental hip hop Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "sc ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. Uyama Hiroto contributed to several notable tracks on the album, including "Letter from Yokosuka" and "Next View", and would appear on subsequent albums ''

Modal Soul ''Modal Soul'' is the second studio album by Japanese record producer, DJ and musician Nujabes, released on November 11, 2005, by Nujabes' own record label, Hydeout Productions. It would be the final album released by Nujabes during his lifetime b ...

'' and '' Spiritual State''. ''Metaphorical Music'' received universal acclaim from Nujabes' fans and critics alike.

Track listing

Sample credits: * "Blessing It (Remix)" contains a sample of "Save Our Children" from the album ''Save Our Children'' by

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

* "Horn in the Middle" contains a sample of "Joshua" from the album '' Seven Steps to Heaven'' by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

* "Lady Brown" contains a sample of "The Shade of the Mango Tree" by

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film '' Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in Ri ...

* "Beat Laments the World" contains a sample from

Kip Hanrahan Kip Hanrahan (born December 9, 1954) is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist. Personal life Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. His father left when he was 6 m ...

's "Make Love 2" and "Blessing It" * "Think Different" contains a sample of "Live for Life (Vivre Pour Vivre)" from the soundtrack of ''

Live for Life ''Live for Life'' () is a 1967 French film directed by Claude Lelouch starring Yves Montand, Candice Bergen and Annie Girardot. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign L ...

'' by

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The ...

* "A Day by Atmosphere Supreme" contains a sample of "September Fifteenth (Dedicated to Bill Evans)" from the album ''

As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls ''As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls'' is an album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and jazz pianist Lyle Mays recorded in September 1980 and released on ECM April the following year. The trio features percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. Bac ...

'' by

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

and

Lyle Mays Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awar ...

* "Latitude (Remix)" contains a sample of "Clouds" by

Gigi Masin Gigi Masin (born October 24, 1955) is an Italian composer, Ambient music, ambient musician and producer from Venice. He is best known for his 1986 LP ''Wind'' and as a member of Gaussian Curve (band), Gaussian Curve, a trio with Jonny Nash and Y ...

* "F.I.L.O." contains a sample of "Deixa" by Baden Powell, played by

Toquinho Antônio Pecci Filho (born July 6, 1946), better known as Toquinho (), is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes. Childhood and musical studies Toquinho was ...

on "O Violão de Toquinho" * "The Final View" contains a sample of "Love Theme From 'Spartacus'" from the album '' Eastern Sounds'' by

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in the United States. Although Lateef's main i ...

References

External links

*
Metaphorical Music
', release information at

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Utilizing a music recommender system known as "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm creates a detailed profile of each user's musical preferences by recording the details of the tracks they ...

Albums produced by Nujabes 2003 debut albums Nujabes albums 2000s instrumental albums Instrumental hip-hop albums {{2003-hiphop-album-stub