Rip Slyme (often stylized as RIP SLYME) is a

Japanese hip hop Japanese hip hop is hip hop music from Japan. It is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing hip hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, t ...

group composed of four MCs (Ryo-Z, Ilmari, Pes & Su) and a DJ, Fumiya. Their sound is influenced by

old-school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) (also known as disco-rap) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and the original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop t ...

and other western rappers such as

The Pharcyde The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles in 1989. The original four members of the group are Imani (rapper), Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson ...

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 (stylized JuraSsic 5) is an American alternative hip hop group formed by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup (Jurassic 5), Soup, Zaakir), and Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mar ...

, the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

and Leaders of the New School. During their career, they have released two indie albums, ten major albums, one live album, one indies collection, and three best-of albums. They released six singles as an indie act, and 17 with a major label. On October 31, 2018, the group announced that they were suspending all activities. This announcement came six months after a tabloid alleged that Su was cheating on his wife and the group started conducting activities without him. Rip Slyme’s website has since shut down. Pes left the group as well in November 2017, but this was unknown to the general public until October 2021. On April 15, 2021, Rip Slyme, now the trio of Ryo-Z, Ilmari & Fumiya, returned with the first of what was said to be five monthly singles, "Human Nature". In April 2025, they announced that Pes and Su would be rejoining and the group would perform again as a five-piece until March of 2026.

Members

* Ryo-Z: Ryouji Narita (成田亮治 ''Narita Ryouji''), born July 15, 1974 *

Ilmari Ilmari is a Finnish male given name. It is a short form of Ilmarinen, a mythological smith in the Kalevala. Notable people with the name include: * Ilmari Aalto (1891–1934), Finnish painter * Ilmari Auer (1879–1965), Finnish politician * Ilm ...

: Keisuke Ogihara (荻原恵介 ''Ogihara Keisuke''), b. June 17, 1975 * DJ Fumiya: Fumiya Takeuchi (竹内文也 ''Takeuchi Fumiya''), b. March 14, 1979 * Pes: Masatsugu Chiba (千葉昌嗣 ''Chiba Masatsugu''), b. December 27, 1976 * Su: Kazuto Otsuki (大槻一人 ''Kazuto Ootsuki''), b. November 20, 1973

Timeline

Biography

The group was formed in 1994 by Ryo-Z and Ilmari, who were later joined by Pes (he attended the same school as Ilmari). The Rip in Rip Slyme stands for their initials. Slyme was a popular children's toy at that time. Their name is also a pun on the phrase "lips' rhyme". After winning an amateur rapping contest "Young MCs In Town", they started their musical career with a guest spot on fellow Japanese rap group

Mellow Yellow "Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. Released in the US in 1966, it reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967. Content ...

's 1995 album ''Mellow Yellow Baby'', and the release of their first album '' Lips Rhyme'' the same year. In 1997, DJ Fumiya (who had studied under East End X Yuri's DJ Yoggy) joined the group, and in 1998, Su (previously a backup dancer for East End X Yuri), joined during recording of their second album, " Talkin' Cheap", which was released later that year. In the years following this album release, Rip Slyme also took part in

Dragon Ash is a Japanese rap rock group founded in 1996 by Kenji "KJ" Furuya and Makoto Sakurai. They were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. Dragon Ash is a member of Mob Squad, which is an affiliation with the bands Source and Endi ...

's Total Communication event. Becoming more successful, they signed to

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

in 2000. By then they had released several indie singles including their EP "Underline No. 5" and "Mata Au Hi Made" which had received the help of Fantastic Plastic Machine. "Mata Au Hi Made" was released on

's Indies label. Their first major single was " Stepper's Delight" released 22 March 2001. The title was a play on

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

's "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's " King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper ...

". In general, Fumiya composes most of the music, while Ryo-Z, Pes, Ilmari, and Su write their own lyrics. However, before Fumiya became a member, Pes composed most of the songs. Each member has tried their hand at composing music for Rip Slyme, and Pes occasionally played guitar on some tracks (Such as Home and More & More, for example). Allegedly, Pes was in a rock band before being introduced to hip hop music by Ilmari and Ryo-Z. In 2002, they received

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

for "Best Newcomer" and "Best Hip-hop Group". The same year they released a big-budget album " Tokyo Classic", which became

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's first million-selling

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. Hi ...

album, with a sound compared to

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

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 ...

. Two singles from the album, "Funkastic" and "Rakuen Baby" collected MTV awards in 2003. "Super Shooter", featured as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their single "Galaxy", is also the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

Gantz ''Gantz'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2000 to June 2013, with its chapters collected in 37 vo ...

''. From late 2005 (after the release of ''Good Job!'' in August) through 2006, DJ Fumiya took an extended break, citing illness. For performances, a friend of the band, DJ Soma, was a stand-in. Fumiya returned to activity for concerts in late summer 2006, and for the Rip Slyme release, ''Epoch''. On 7 July 2007, Rip Slyme performed their single "Nettaiya" at

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase Environmentalism, environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Live Earth 2007 The 1st series ...

Kyoto, Japan Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...

. Later that year, they would go on to release their fifteenth major single, "Speed King", and their seventh Warner album, ''Funfair'', shortly after. In summer 2008, they released "Taiyou to Bikini". Later that year, three digital singles would debut, all of which would be on the February 2009 single "Stairs". Rip Slyme released their eighth album, ''Journey'', on June 10, 2009. Rip Slyme has provided voiceover work as well as new ending theme for the Japanese dub of ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'', replacing the original ending theme. The first episode was first used on April 1, 2009, and was used until 2019. In 2010, Rip Slyme was one of the artists launched on Warner Music's new sublabel, unBORDE. They provided the theme song for the Japanese release for

Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions ...

, "Good Times (Bad Times remix)". The theme song for the Japanese version of

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film) ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, characters of the same name created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. A Reboot (fiction), reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in ...

is "Secret de Onegaishimasu" by them. In October 2021, during the group's hiatus, Pes announced that he had quietly parted ways with Rip Slyme in November 2017 and stated that "a reunion would be difficult" due to the tensions he had with the other members. From 2022 to 2024, the group reunited, released new music, and performed live as a three-piece, now with two stand ins for the retired members: Wise, with whom Ryo-Z and Ilmari already collaborated in Teriyaki Boyz, performing for Su, as well as Emi Okamoto from

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

replacing Pes. In April 2025, however, they announced that they would be reuniting with the original five-person lineup until March 22, 2026, the twenty-fifth anniversary of their major debut.

Side projects

Ilmari formed a short lived group with Kj and BOTS of

, and Shigeo of Skebo King called Steady & Co. The group released their debut album '' Chambers'' in 2001. Ilmari and Ryo-Z along with Wise, Verbal of

M-Flo is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of Taku Takahashi, Verbal and Lisa. Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career and the remaining members then started the M-Flo Loves... project working different vocalists for each song over t ...

, and

Nigo is a Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey (DJ), record producer and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape (Bape), and currently serves as artistic director for Kenzo. Additionally he is a member ...

the founder of

A Bathing Ape , also known as BAPE, is a Japanese fashion brand founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku in 1993.

formed a super group known as

Teriyaki Boyz Teriyaki Boyz are a Japanese hip hop group from Yokohama, Japan. History The group consists of Keisuke Ogihara, Ilmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, Verbal (rapper), Verbal from M-Flo, rapper Wise (rapper), Wise and Nigo, the DJ and founder of the p ...

. The Teriyaki Boyz released two albums: ''

Beef or Chicken ''Beef or Chicken?'' is the first studio album by Teriyaki Boyz. It was released on November 16, 2005. It peaked at number 4 on the Oricon Albums Chart. Track listing Charts References External links

* {{Authority control 2005 debut ...

'' (2005) and '' Serious Japanese'' (2009). In 2012 Ilmari formed a Hip-Hop/Rock band named The Beatmoss with Kosen, Yas, and Sohnosuke. The group released two albums: ''The Beatmoss Vol. 1'' (2012) and ''The Beatmoss Vol. 2'' (2013). Pes released his first solo album, ''Suteki na Koto'' in 2012.

Discography

* ''Talkin' Cheap'' (1998) * ''Five'' (2001) * ''Tokyo Classic'' (2002) * ''Time to Go'' (2003) * ''Masterpiece'' (2004) * ''Epoch'' (2006) * ''Funfair'' (2007) * ''Journey'' (2009) * ''Star'' (2011) * ''Golden Time'' (2013) * ''10 (2015)

Awards and nominations

''2002'' *

- Best Hip Hop Artist (Winner) *

- Best New Artist (Winner) *

- Best Live Performance ''2003'' *

- Video of the Year - Rakuen Baby (Winner) *

- Best Group Video - Rakuen Baby (Winner) *

- Best Hip Hop Video - Funktastic (Winner) *

- Album of the Year - Tokyo Classic ''2004'' *

- Best Group Video - Joint *

- Best Hip Hop Video - Joint *

- Best buzzASIA Japan - Joint ''2006'' *

- Best Collaboration Video - Hotei x Rip Slyme - Battle Funkastic (Winner) ''2007'' *

- Best Collaboration Video - Quruli feat. Rip Slyme - Juice ''2008'' *

- Best Hip Hop Video - I.N.G (Winner) *

- Best Group Video - I.N.G ''2009'' *

- Best Pop Video - Taiyou to Bikini

References

External links

Official site

Warner's Rip Slyme Page

Metropolis.japantoday.com
{{Authority control Japanese hip-hop groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Japan Musical groups from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese boy bands