Dragon Ash

Dragon Ash (ドラゴンアッシュ, Doragon Asshu?) are a Japanese rap rock group founded in 1996 by Furuya "Kj" Kenji and Sakurai Makoto. They are an icon in Japan and were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. They brought a western flavor to Japanese music and helped to turn rap music mainstream,[citation needed] with a mixture of reggae, rap, metal, punk, Spanish, and R&B influences. Some of their best known songs include "Shizuka na Hibi no Kaidan Wo, "Grateful Days", "Life Goes On", and "I Love Hip Hop".[citation needed] Kenji has stated in several interviews[citation needed] that the reason Dragon Ash started out as a pseudo-punk band was because, at the time, punk was popular in Japan, and his handlers felt that the hip hop image wouldn't sell. He has also noted that hip hop has always been first in his book, but he did what was necessary to become successful in the industry. Dragon Ash is a member of Mob Squad, which is an affiliation with the bands Source and Endive.. Dragon Ash was formed by Kenji Furuya and Makoto Sakurai when the two were in junior high. In 1996, they held an audition and eventually selected bassist Ikuzou Baba to join the band. At the time, Furuya and Sakurai were still only teenagers, while Baba was 30 years old, and was likely selected to act as a mentor for the group. They debuted in February 1997 with the mini single The Day Dragged On. Later the same year, they released their first album, Mustang!. In 1999, Bots joined the group, and that March the band made their first big break with their 4th single, "Let yourself go, let myself go," which hit #7 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart, and eventually climbed to #4, selling a total of 640,000 copies. In May they simultaneously released their 5th and 6th singles, "Grateful Days" and "I Love Hip Hop," which debuted at #3 and #4, respectively. When these two singles debuted, ""Let yourself go, let myself go" had not yet dropped off the top 10 chart, giving Dragon Ash 3 top 10 singles at the same time. "Grateful Days" would eventually go on to #1, becoming both the first hip hop work and the first mixture band single to reach the #1 spot. The band finally reached the peak of their success when they released their third album, Viva la Revolution, in July and it hit #1 on its debut week.. The band continued to be successful throughout the turn of the century, collaborating with the hip hop group Rappagariya on Deep Impact in 2000 and consistently pulling in #1 spots on both the singles and albums charts with their new releases. In 2003 the group expanded to include it's full current roster of members, bringing in Hiroki, Atsushi, and Dri-V. In 2007 they celebrated their 10th anniversary by simultaneously releasing two best-of albums, The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol.1 and The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol.2. Both albums hit #1 upon their debut....
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