HII (album) explained

h II
Type:	studio
Artist:	DJ Honda
Cover:	HII (album).jpg
Released:	November 12, 1997 (Japan) March 24, 1998 (worldwide)
Genre:	Hip hop
Length:	1:04:00 (Japan) 57:32 (worldwide)
Prev Title:	h
Prev Year:	1995-1996
Next Title:	h 2000
Next Year:	1999

h II is the second album by Japanese producer DJ Honda. It was released on November 12, 1997, via Sony Records in Japan and on March 24, 1998, via Relativity Records and Epic Records in North America and Europe. Audio production of the album was solely handled by DJ Honda, except for three tracks of its worldwide version produced by Mista Sinista, Roc Raida and V.I.C. respectively. It featured guest appearances from various hip hop artists, including Camp Lo, Cuban Link, De La Soul, KRS-One, Mos Def and The Beatnuts among others. With DJ HONDA'S production and scratching, other hip hop artists continue to drop verses.

The album peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart^[1] and number 16 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.^[2] It also spawned seven singles, but only two of them reached music charts: "Travellin' Man" (No. 76 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs^[3] and No. 17 on Hot Rap Songs)^[4] and "On The Mic" (No. 89 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs).

Track listing

Sample credits^[5]

• "Trouble in the Water" contains elements from "B & G (Midwestern Nights Dream)" by The Gary Burton Quartet & Eberhard Weber (1977)
• "Disco T-E-C" contains elements from "Feels So Real (Won't Let Go)" by Patrice Rushen (1984)
• "Blaze It Up" contains elements from "Top Billin'" by Audio Two (1987)
• "Mista Sinista Interlude" contains elements from "Change the Beat (Female Version)" by Beside (1982)
• "Team Players" contains elements from "Blue Lick" by Bob James (1979)
• "When You Hot You Hot" contains elements from "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" by Coke Escovedo (1975)
• "For Every Day That Goes By" contains elements from "Did You Hear What They Said?" by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson (1972) and "Street Life" by The Crusaders & Randy Crawford (1979)
• "5 Seconds" contains elements from "Paradise" by Grover Washington, Jr. (1979)
• "Who the Trifest?" contains elements from "For Real" by Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson (1978) and "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy (1987)
• "Around the Clock" contains elements from "Song of Innocence" by David Axelrod (1968)

Sample credits

• "Roc Raida Intro" contains elements from "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren (1982), "What They Hittin' Foe?" by Ice Cube (1990) and "No Equal" by The Beatnuts (1993)
• "Hai!" contains elements from "Medley: Ike's Rap III/Your Love Is So Doggone Good" by Isaac Hayes (1971) and "When I'm Gone" by The Jones Girls (1980)
• "Every Now & Then" contains elements from "Crab Apple" by Idris Muhammad (1977)
• "On the Mic" contains elements from "Mary Jane" by Rick James (1978), "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick (1985), "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth (1982) and "All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls (1983)
• "Travellin' Man" contains elements from "Whatever's Fair" by Jerry Butler (1973), "Latoya" by Just-Ice (1986) and "Black Cream" by Harold Wheeler (1975)

Personnel

• Katsuhiro Hōnda – main artist, producer, scratches, recording
• Anthony Williams – performer ("Example" and "Roc Raida Intro"), producer & scratches ("Roc Raida Intro")
• Joel Wright – performer & producer ("Mista Sinista Interlude")
• Victor Padilla – performer ("WF II"), producer ("On The Mic")
• Peter Kang – executive producer
• Taka Ozeki – executive producer
• E. "DJ EV" Hitch – scratches ("Long Island To Japan" and "DJ Ev Interlude")
• Tony "CD" Kelly – keyboards ("Blaze It Up", "Hai!" and "On The Mic")
• Adrian Bartos – performer ("Stretch Armstrong And Lord Seer Interlude" and "WKCR Interlude")
• Alex Mosquera – performer ("On The Mic")
• Berntony Smalls – performer ("On The Mic", "Talk About It" and "WF II")
• Bladmillo Castillo – performer ("For Every Day That Goes By" and "Sometimes I Think...")
• C. Bullock – performer ("Around The Clock", "Kill The Noize (Remix)", "On The Mic" and "WF II")
• Dante Terrell Smith – performer ("Travellin' Man")
• David Jude Jolicoeur – performer ("Trouble In The Water")
• Derrick Lemel Stewart – performer ("Fat Lip Interlude"/"Interlude")
• Doug 'Dug Infinite' Thomas – performer ("When You Hot You Hot")
• Ernest Dion Wilson – performer ("When You Hot You Hot")
• Felix Delgado – performer ("On The Mic" and "WF II")
• Gerald W. Berlin – performer ("Hai!")
• Jeff Valentino – performer ("For Every Day That Goes By" and "Sometimes I Think...")
• Jerry "JuJu" Tineo – performer ("On The Mic", "WF II" and "Who The Trifest?")
• Keith Murray – performer ("Hai!")
• Kelvin Mercer – performer ("Trouble In The Water")
• Kia Jeffreys – performer ("Blaze It Up" and "On The Mic")
• King Doe-V – performer ("Team Players")
• Lateefa Harland – performer ("Every Now & Then")
• Lawrence Parker – performer ("Team Players")
• Lester Fernandez – performer ("Who The Trifest?")
• Lord Sear – performer ("Stretch Armstrong And Lord Seer Interlude" and "WKCR Interlude")
• Rashawnna Guy – performer ("Every Now & Then")
• S-On – performer ("Go Crazy")
• Saladine Wallace – performer ("Disco T-E-C")
• Salahadeen Wilds – performer ("Disco T-E-C")
• Sean Black – performer ("5 Seconds", "Blaze It Up", "Fuk Dat", "On The Mic" and "WF II")
• Chris Conway – mixing & recording
• Dino Zervos – recording
• Kirk Yano – recording
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Ill Tongue – management
• Hideo Oida – photography
• Piotr Sikora – photography

Release history

Region	Date	Label(s)
Japan	November 12, 1997	Sony Music Entertainment Japan
	March 24, 1998
United States		Relativity Records
Canada		Relativity Records, Epic Records
Europe		Epic Records

Notes and References

1. News: DJ Honda HII Chart History. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. December 23, 2017.
2. News: DJ Honda HII Chart History. Heatseekers Albums. December 23, 2017.
3. News: DJ Honda Chart History. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. December 23, 2017.
4. News: DJ Honda Travellin' Man Chart History. Hot Rap Songs. December 23, 2017.
5. HII. DJ Honda. 1998. liner notes. Epic Records. EPC 489759 2.