Japanese hip-hop in an intimate sideshow

In a special one-night-only event ahead of the Australian Art Orchestraperformance at this year’s WOMADelaide, Japanese hip-hop luminaries Kojoe and Hikaru Tanaka join AAO Artistic Director Aaron Choulai for an intimate sideshow performance at The Jazzlab.

An ongoing collaboration forged over Choulai’s 15 years in Tokyo as a pianist and producer for Japanese labels Jazzy Sport, P-Vine, and Oikworks, this performance explores new pathways of experimentation between hip-hop and improvisation.

Bringing together two of Tokyo’s most prominent and influential MCs with a trio led by Choulai on piano and featuring two of Melbourne’s most celebrated improvisers, the program moves fluidly between bilingual rapping, structured composition, and free improvisation — all woven together through Choulai’s distinctive compositional voice.

Ensemble

Kojoe – MC

Hikaru Tanaka – MC

Aaron Choulai – piano