Teriyaki Boyz feat. Kanye West - I Still Love H.E.R.

This collaboration between Teriyaki Boyz and Kanye West sees a welcome return for 'A Bathing Ape' designer/producer Nigo's musical project. Teriyaki Boyz are essentially something of a 'temporary unit' formed from 4 MCs - Verbal of m-flo, Illmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, and WISE of APE Sounds along with Nigo as the DJ. I Still Love H.E.R further features popular American hip hop producer Kanye West rapping along and even trying his hand at some Japanese. West is also credited as producer of the song.

As a single 'package', I Still Love H.E.R is not too special. It merely offers the single and then one remix of Teriyaki Boyz's earlier single Heartbreaker and the instrumental track for I still love H.E.R. This does not matter too much though as after all one buys the single for the title track, and this is one catchy offering from Nigo et al. I'm not usually a fan of hip hop music, in fact often quite the opposite, but the fusion of light jpop melodies with a more American style of hip hop really works. It has an infectious hook that makes the listener want to dance along, and it is layered over by the four MCs rapping. I Still Love H.E.R could seem a little repetitive in the melody but instead it almost becomes hypnotic and from the first listen, it somehow grabs the listener.

Teriyaki Boyz rap and sing the verses and choruses in Japanese with occasional bursts of English, while Kanye contributes the words 'I still love Honto E(ii) Rap' (It translates to 'I still love really good rap') at the end of each chorus. Kanye also gets his own solo verse and when compared to this popular American artist, the Teriyaki Boyz really do hold their own. Japanese attempts at rapping can be hit and miss, with some attempts notably by visual bands being a little painful, but the Teriyaki Boyz are truly talented at the rhythm and flow of rapping. I Still Love H.E.R is a worthy successor to their earlier single, Heartbreaker.

On the subject of Heartbreaker, it features here in an average remix. The remix doesn't work particularly well; the song feels suddenly very disjointed, robbed of the notable melody of the original, and it is rather worthless as a contribution.

Teriyaki Boyz should probably have just released I Still Love H.E.R alone. In an ideal world, an extra original track would have been great but this is still a highly worthwhile single because the title track is so strong and an excellent example of a translingual and transnational collaboration.