February marks both the anniversary month and the 11th year without the joy that Nujabes brought to the world through his music. I’ve been thinking a lot about the passage of time and how much I miss Nujabes’ contribution to my life these past few days.
Nujabes – Jun Seba’s stage name – was a music producer and DJ and to this day he is one of the great names in music, at least in my simple opinion. His work still resonates with me even years after his death, acting as a testament to his transcendence of both time and the physical plane.
Stopping to think here, 11 years is a long time, right? But I can say that it goes away in the blink of an eye, my brothers. Thinking about all this speed of time in our lives is amazing. So much so that I still don’t know if it scares or amazes me.
I remember well how my first contact with Nujabes music was. It was December 2009 and there I was, playing Bubble Bobble Plus! on my Wii for the umpteenth time, enjoying my break, listening to random playlists on youtube when all of a sudden Counting Stars started playing.
It’s a song that connected with me in the first few seconds. I had never heard anything like it before. This feeling was due to the incredible Affirmation sample, by José Feliciano and the sensitivity in the way this chord was used throughout the song. Of course, I didn’t know for months that it was a sample, how well it is incorporated into the music, because there was an almost perfect marriage there. I only realized this move after having researched Nujabes’ work deeply.
Counting Stars, produced by Nujabes.
Affirmation, by José Feliciano.
By analyzing this sample, it is possible to identify one of the trademarks of Nujabes’ work. There’s a lot of respect here and there’s also an extreme reverence for the songs sampled by the producer.
You can see – even for a non-musician like me – what were Nujabes’ inspirations for him to reach that result and how the whole structure of the music was being assembled from the part of the song that touched him deeply.
Listening to this song radically changed my perception of Hip-Hop, a music genre that I’ve always neglected because I didn’t think it was my style at all.
And I was wrong about that. My brothers, how wrong I was about this…
To this day I have this feeling that I, unfortunately, came to know Nujabes’ work too late. Months after I heard Counting Stars for the first time, he would leave this world – the result of a serious car accident on the Shuto Expressway one night in February 2010 – and it gave me feelings that I had never felt before. This was the first time that an artist who had a profound impact on my life had passed away… And it was right after I had just met and fell in love with his work. The world is unfair to us sometimes, my friends…
I’ve never really gone into the details of what happened that night in February 2010 and I don’t even want to do that, not even talk about it. I believe these more morbid details of his death would only bring me down and nothing would change the legacy Nujabes left, so I leave these details to those who appreciate this kind of information. I prefer to talk and exalt his life, because it’s this feeling of exalting life that I feel when I get inspired by Nujabes’ music.
One of the most important works in Nujabes’ career was, for sure, his participation in the creation of the soundtrack for the anime Samurai Champloo. I won’t go into too much detail about this animation because it’s been ages since I’ve watched it – and I’ve only watched it because of the Nujabes featured soundtrack – so I only remember well a few of the scenes where his music served as the background, which would result in a pretty bad review, I guess.
The soundtrack with the Hip-Hop feel of the anime is anachronistic because the story of the anime takes place in the time of the samurai, but it is not an anachronism that causes strangeness. Samurai Champloo’s soundtrack complements his scenes and enhances the action that is taking place during them.
Samurai Champloo opening
Talking about the music of Nujabes is talking about a song that soothes even the most agitated of hearts and that, even so, takes us out of the comfort zone by subverting the Hip-Hop genre with samples that are at least curious. The sampled songs are unexpected and they come from many different artists, which, as stated earlier in this text, served as inspiration for Nujabes’ life.
Songs, of course, will always be open to interpretation and Nujabes’ work is no different. So what you will find here, of course, are my interpretations and feelings I have when listening to his songs.
The samples he used in his songs, for example, we have the Affirmation sample, which I have already mentioned here in the text and also from other songs – such as Tens (Calmaria), by Ivan Lins and performed by Nana Caymmi, found in the song Luv(sic) pt3 – help to create music with an ethereal quality that easily transitions between different musical genres, breaking the Hip-Hop mold in several ways.
Luv(sic) pt. 3, produced by Nujabes with vocals of Shing02
Tens (Calmaria), sung by Nana Caymmi
The inspiration for the song of Ivan Lins, who was the main artist responsible for capturing Nujabes’ interest in Brazilian music, is very present in the Luv(sic) hexalogy. This set of six songs narrating the relationship of a couple, loaded by the almost supernatural flow of the sound of Nujabes and by the honeyed rhymes brought to life by the voice of Shing02 (close friend and frequent collaborator in Nujabes’ songs) is a complete proof of how the Nujabes’ music celebrates the ephemeral, the small moments, and brings out the beauty of everything we usually take for granted in life.
I’m not going to analyze this song-by-song compilation here because I have my biases and I also don’t want to influence the experience of those who will experience this hexalogy for the first time (and I highly recommend you listen, it’s on spotify if you want to know!). I will, however, talk about a particular song present in it.
While Counting Stars made me aware of Nujabes’ work, Luv(sic) pt2 brought to light their full potential in building an extremely sensitive music within Hip-Hop. Through a sample of the song Qualquer Dia, by Ivan Lins and the declaration of love for the moments a couple spent together in the form of rhymes sung by Shing02, Nujabes demonstrates his appreciation for little things, things that have the power to make our days better by becoming good memories.
Luv(sic) pt 2, produced by Nujabes, with vocals of Shing02
Qualquer dia, by Ivan Lins
Luv(sic) pt2’s lyrics refer to the feeling of causing a smile in loved ones, the good memories of gestures that, at first, go unnoticed in our day, but which bring an indescribable nostalgia years later when we remember them in a random moment in our lives – a longing that is good, that fills the heart with good feelings – It even refers to the divinity contained in each person, demonstrated through mundane gestures during the coexistence in our different social circles.
Nujabes’ love for life, for interpersonal relationships and for the beauty of what, at first glance, is small and commonplace reaches its apex in Luv(sic) pt2. And I can’t help but admire this song and who produced it for it. This song never fails to fill me with longing for everything I once had and gratitude for everything I still have.
This song reminds me of the sunsets I’ve watched, the shows I’ve been to, the exchanges of looks, laughter, touches, hugs, lazy conversations at a bar table placed outside the establishment – on the sidewalk-, from my NGO events, from walking around my neighborhood at the end of the day, from the excitement of having something scheduled with the friends to do after work, anyway. All this and more.
Luv(sic) pt2’s lyrics ends by saying that the rhymes heal because he believes in the song (the rhymes will heal, ’cause I believe in music / in times of need I won’t leave you sick.) and this is a phrase that converses with me a lot. Not that the rhymes in this song literally healed me, far from it, but the emotional memory it brings to me from the last 11 years of my life has certainly helped in many of my healing processes. I could say that Nujabes songs accelerate my resilience process, but it’s more than that.
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Nujabes’ music is that and much more for me.
All of Nujabes’ work makes me think about spirituality and ways to manifest it in a way that is beautiful and positive. I don’t consider myself religious, my friends, even with my Catholic background. That’s why I don’t feel compelled to express my faith within the cults of institutionalized religions, however, songs like these make me believe that there is something good, looking out for us and taking care of us in some place that we will never be able to reach. I believe music is a very beautiful expression of faith – whatever it may be – because of its universal reach, and because it always brings out some kind of message. My interpretation of Nujabes’ career is that it brought me a lot of love, peace and sensitivity.
It’s a shame we no longer have Nujabes’ brilliance among us and I miss you always, but I’m fully convinced your legacy continues. Whether for his inspiration to chill hop and lo-fi artists, or for the respect and affection for the mark he left in the music industry. As for this author here, his legacy goes far beyond the music industry. I can feel Nujabes’ legacy in my life during my quieter days, the days I feel genuine gratitude, the days I find some reason to smile no matter how small it is. Because these days are the ones that most rescue the sensations I have when listening to your music.
I know there’s no way to live up to what Nujabes means to me or the music industry with a text, but I still feel so grateful for everything he’s done during his brief life that I didn’t want to leave this February pass blank. A lesson I’ve learned from the life and music of Nujabes is that we have to always enjoy life to the fullest and with as much positivity as we can, especially enjoy the small moments because these are the moments that have power and a huge influence on our lives.
I don’t know if we’re going somewhere after we die, but if that’s the case, I hope you’re okay, Jun. And wherever you are, I hope you continue to inspire and bring positivity to everyone, just as you are. you did in life… Hope you are resting in a way as chilled as your songs. Thanks for everything.
