The Teriyaki Boyz and A Bathing Ape

During lunch today, while watching my favorite afternoon tv show, いいとも! (the celebrity game-show), I made a rather serendipitous discovery. Today's celebrity guest was Nigo (pictured above), Japan's hottest fashion designer and creator of the highly fashionable A Bathing Ape brand. He was wearing an oversized watch, huge rings on each hand, a clock around his neck and a huge necklace bearing the words "TERIYAKI BOYZ". And they were all literally encrusted in diamonds. He then opened his mouth to reveal that he had diamonds all up in his grill, as well. Now, I think that it's ridiculous enough when someone like Juvenile dresses like this. But at least in the case of an African-American rapper, there is a legitimate socioeconomic reason for why such a garishly ostentatious show of wealth might be desirable. In the case of someone like Nigo, this fashion appears completely divorced from context and only serves as a parody of the rampant materialism that drives the world's second largest economy.

Anyway, I decided that I needed to find out who these so-called Teriyaki Boyz were. Turns out, they're something of a hip-hop supergroup, consisting of members of bands like Rip Slyme and m-flo and helmed by none other than Nigo, who fills the position of DJ. Will he exclusively use diamond-encrusted turntables to craft what will undoubtedly be the most expensive loops known to man? This remains to be seen. Perhaps, even more interesting, however, is the fact that Nigo is good pals with Def Jam mogul and self-proclaimed "best rapper alive" Jay-Z. This may have something to do with the fact that the Teriyaki Boyz have managed to ink a deal with the venerable hip-hop label and plan to release their record stateside on November 16th. OMG! Now, normally I would be inclined to think that if Russell Simmons were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave at the mockery Universal has made of one of America's pioneering hip-hop labels. That's if it wasn't for the list of guest producers involved: Ad Rock (Beastie Boys), Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes/N.E.R.D), DJ Shadow, Dan the Automator, Cut Chemist and Daft Punk, among others. Okay, so clearly they've given this some thought (i.e. thrown large wads of money at some of the best producers in the world). But will America ever be able to accept a bunch of blinged-out Japanese wiggers? Have we already forgotten the horrible marketing mistake that was Jin? It's an interesting experiment and I suppose that after that Linkin Park collaboration, Jay doesn't really have much to lose in the way of cred anyhow.