Hilcrhyme

Hilcrhyme is a Japanese hip-hop group who has made a name for themselves since their major debut in 2009. The band owes its success to the romantic lyrics and musical flow of TOC that is always very rhythmic and emphasized. Their songs are mainly mainstream, with choruses that can be easily remembered and sung along to. Although their music usually leans towards orchestral pop, the duo has made several more powerful songs especially in their collaborations with other artists for their first album release.

Hilcrhyme began in 2004 when TOC met DJ KATSU during a regular event called Nettaiya which was held by DJ KATSU. After playing together for this festival, the two musicians decided to work together and focus their activities in Niigata.

March 2007 was the true kick-off for the band as they finally released a demo album titled Nettaiya, of which 2000 copies were sold. They then decided to promote themselves by holding lives, succeeding in attracting hundreds of people. With their success growing, they went back to the studios and released their first indie single, Mou Bye Bye, on 23 July 2008. Aside from making it to the fourth place on the Oricon indies charts, the PV of the single received more than 100 000 views on YouTube. This attracted the attention of Universal Music Japan and Hilcrhyme made their major debut in 2009 under this label. The single was later reissued by Universal in the same year.

2009 was also a really productive year for the band. After releasing their first major single, Jun'ya to manami, Hilcrhyme drew attention to themselves with the release of their second maxi-single, Shunkashuutou, on September 30. This single not only exceeded more than 1 000 000 downloads on Chaku-uta, but also on Chaku-uta Full, providing true attraction for the fans. Due to this, the single stayed on the weekly major ranking of Oricon for several weeks and won them several awards, the most important of which the New Artist of the Year in the 24th Japan Gold Disc Awards.

The year 2010 began really well for Hilcrhyme as their first major album, released on January 13, made it to the second spot in the weekly Oricon rankings and stayed in the top ten for three weeks. This release created the chance for them to collaborate with SUNSQRITT, with whom they had already worked with in their indies period, as well as with BOXER. Thereafter, the duo held their first one-man tour titled Hilchryme TOUR 2010 Recital. Riding upon their success, the band released another two maxi-singles — Daijoubu on April 28 and on June 2, Loose Leaf, of which he title song was used as the theme song for the TBS drama "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan." The same day, a new DVD titled Hilchryme TOUR 2010 Recital, featuring their live at Niigata Terusa Hall, was also released.