Hideki Naganuma Explained

Hideki Naganuma
Native Name:長沼 英樹
Native Name Lang:ja
Alias:Skankfunk
Birth Date:16 May 1972
Birth Place:Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan
Employer:Sega (1998–2008)
Years Active:1993–present
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(born May 16, 1972)[1] [2] is a Japanese composer and DJ who primarily does work for video games. Naganuma is best known for his soundtrack for the game Jet Set Radio and its sequel Jet Set Radio Future.

Early life

Naganuma started his musical career by playing the electronic organ, aged five, under the influence of his older sister. When he was fourteen, he became interested in western music and composed his own songs. He then decided to have a job in the music business.[1] During 1993 to 1997, he worked as both a DJ and bartender. He was also aiming to become a singer-songwriter in the J-pop industry,[3] although he dropped this plan.

Career

19982008: Work with Sega

Naganuma sent demo tapes to Sega in 1998. His application was accepted, with voice editing for and composition for Hip Jog Jog being among his first works with the company, the latter of which he worked with senior composer Kenichi Tokoi.

In 2000, he served as the lead composer for Jet Set Radio, serving as his breakthrough work. He took inspiration from big beat music for the game. He would go on to compose for its sequel Jet Set Radio Future in 2002, along with Ollie King in 2003, also developed by Smilebit. In 2005, he composed a large portion of Sonic Rush soundtrack, of which he was later nominated at the Golden Joystick Awards for Soundtrack of the Year.[4] [5] The following year, he was responsible for music supervision and composing two tracks for the anime adaption of Air Gear, itself being influenced by Jet Set Radio. For contractual reasons, he used the "skankfunk" alias as he was still employed at Sega at the time, while Air Gear had nothing to do with Sega.[6] He also created a remix of "Fuusen Gum" for the anime Gintama, but similarly was not credited at the time.

During his later years with Sega, Naganuma was part of Yakuza team, where his role was mostly limited to voice editing and producing sound effects. The boss of its team did not allow him to work on the soundtrack of Sonic Rush Adventure.[7] Following his work on Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! in 2008, he left Sega to become a freelance composer. He has continued to work on Sega games under his "skankfunk" alias, including and Super Monkey Ball 3D.

2008present: Freelance work

During the earlier years following his departure from Sega, Naganuma contributed a handful of tracks to various Sega games such as and Super Monkey Ball 3D, under the skankfunk alias. In 2012, he contributed the track "Luv Can Save U" for the 20th installment of Konami's arcade rhythm game Beatmania IIDX, and for the 21st installment an extended mix of the aforementioned track. In 2014, Naganuma contributed to the charity CD Game Music Prayer II for relief of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake with an original track titled "Aria di Maria".[8]

By the late 2010s, he became popular on the social network platform Twitter, where he frequently interacts with fans and posts internet memes and shitposts related to Jet Set Radio and other media, such as Family Guy, Among Us, Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger, and Big Chungus.[9] [10]

As a result of his online popularity and musical success, he has contributed tracks to a number of indie games inspired by Jet Set Radio. In 2017, Naganuma contributed two new original songs for the game Hover.[11] In 2018, Naganuma released the track "Ain't Nothin' Like a Funky Beat" as a part of the Lethal League Blaze soundtrack,[12] which featured other notable composers such as Frank Klepacki, Pixelord, Bignic, and Klaus Veen.[13] He was set to compose for Streets of Rage 4,[14] but due to schedule complications and copyright ownership issues, he withdrew from the project in 2020.[15] [16]

Naganuma admitted that since leaving Sega, he has made attempts to work for Nintendo, after the topic was brought up by fans of the Splatoon franchise that he should have worked on the latest games' soundtrack, who drew parallels between it and his previous works.[17] He composed for indie game Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, which was released on August 18, 2023.[18] He has also expressed a desire to create an original album and clarified he is not active in the gaming industry.[19]

Musical style

Naganuma's early sound is often labelled as an energetic, rhythm-heavy blend of hip hop, electronic, dance, funk, jazz, and rock.[20] [21] His music was produced to match the visual style of the games he was working on as closely as possible, and experimented with voices, cutting and rearranging samples to the point that they become nonsensical. Since the release of Jet Set Radio, Naganuma's sound has incorporated many elements of breakbeat,[22] gabber, and EDM.[23]

Works

Video games

YearTitleNotes
1998Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru MonogatariVoice editing
Hip Jog Jog[24] Music with Kenichi Tokoi; & sound effects
1999Sega Rally 2Dreamcast version; music with Tomonori Sawada
Atsumare! Guru Guru OnsenMusic with various others
2000JRA PAT for DreamcastMusic ("Ebb & Flow")
Jet Set Radio[25] Music with various others; & sound effects, music editing
Daytona USA 2001Sound effects
2001Super Galdelic HourVoice editing
World Advanced DaisenryakuMusic editing
2002Jet Set Radio Future[26] Music with various others
2003J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 3Music ("Get It 2 Win It")
2004Ollie KingMusic
2005Sonic RushMusic with Teruhiko Nakagawa, Masayoshi Ishi and Hiroyuki Hamada
YakuzaVoice editing
2006Sega Rally 2006Music ("Boosted")
Music ("Southpole (Winter Banana Pretz Mix)")
Yakuza 2Voice editing
2008Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan![27] Cutscene music, sound effects
2010Music with various others
2011Super Monkey Ball 3D
2012
Music ("Luv Can Save U")
Yakuza 5Music ("Vendor Pop")
2013Dead Heat RidersMusic
2016War of BrainsMusic ("Feel the Power in Your Soul")
2017HoverMusic ("Heaven Up" and "Never 4ever")
2018Arrangement ("When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars")
Lethal League BlazeMusic ("Ain't Nothing Like a Funky Beat")
2020Warp DriveMusic ("Pumpin' Jumpin'")
2023Bomb Rush CyberfunkMusic with various others

Other

YearTitleNotes
2001 Guitar Vader - REMIXES_GVR"I Love Love You [Love Love Super Dimension Mix]"
2006Gin Tama[28] "Fuusen Gum (Gintama Mix)"
Air Gear"Love Sensation" and "Sky-2-High";[29] music supervision

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hideki Naganuma Interview . 27 October 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030927090737/http://www.rocketbaby.net/interviews_hideki_naganuma_jsr.html . September 27, 2003.
  2. Web site: Today, May 16th, Japan time, Funky Uncle turns 52 years old!!! So what???. @Hideki_Naganuma. May 15, 2024. Twitter. May 15, 2024.
  3. Web site: I had written lyrics. Long ago, I was trying 2 be a singer-songwriter in J-Pop industry. But 4 games… no plan at this moment . 14 November 2015 . Naganuma, Hideki . March 6, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306004830/https://twitter.com/Hideki_Naganuma/status/665568131608276992 . live .
  4. Web site: SEGA . 2006-11-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070116043130/http://www.sega-europe.com/en/NewsStory/1237.htm . 2007-01-16 .
  5. Web site: Mambrucchi. Steeve. 2005-12-05. Sonic Rush Test. live. 2021-06-08. JeuxActu. French. June 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608182028/https://www.jeuxactu.com/test-sonic-rush-12398.htm.
  6. Web site: It's a contractual matter. . 14 November 2015 . Naganuma, Hideki . March 5, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305155105/https://twitter.com/Hideki_Naganuma/status/516770359945617408 . live .
  7. Web site: Naganuma . Hideki . 18 June 2020 . I wanted to make music for Sonic Rush Adventure too but my boss didn't let me do it. Because I was in Yakuza team at the time. . June 18, 2020 . June 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200618153847/https://twitter.com/Hideki_Naganuma/status/1273638608717504513 . live .
  8. Web site: Ohji. Masashi. 2014-04-15. 東日本大震災義援金チャリティCD「Game Music Prayer 2」がM3などで限定リリース。49組のゲーム音楽作曲家が参加した2枚組みコンピアルバム. live. 2021-06-08. www.4gamer.net. Japanese. October 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201019203709/https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20140415037/.
  9. Web site: Jet Set Radio composer would like to remind you that he can't make a new game happen . Frank . Allegra . . April 27, 2017 . March 21, 2020 . April 28, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170428224850/http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/27/15458220/hideki-naganuma-jet-set-radio-remake-sega . live .
  10. Web site: Is A Famed Game Composer Thirsty For Family Guy's Lois Griffin? . Murray . Sean . March 17, 2020 . TheGamer . March 21, 2020 . March 21, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200321012933/https://www.thegamer.com/hideki-naganuma-family-guy-lois-griffin/ . live .
  11. Web site: 2017-04-19. The composer of Jet Set Radio has new music for Hover. 2021-06-08. Destructoid. en-CA. September 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210916122358/https://www.destructoid.com/the-composer-of-jet-set-radio-has-new-music-for-hover/. live.
  12. Web site: Sullivan. Lucas. 2018-12-20. How Lethal League Blaze became the future's best ball game. live. 2021-06-08. GamesRadar. June 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608205453/https://www.gamesradar.com/how-lethal-league-blaze-became-the-futures-best-ball-game/.
  13. Web site: Pavlovic. Uros. 2018-09-10. Lethal League Blaze PS4 Officially Coming Out During 2019. live. 2021-06-08. PlayStation LifeStyle. June 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608205453/https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2018/09/10/lethal-league-blaze-ps4-coming-2019/.
  14. Web site: Romano. Sal. July 17, 2019. Streets of Rage 4 'Behind the Tracks' developer diary. Gematsu. July 17, 2019. July 17, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190717160616/https://gematsu.com/2019/07/streets-of-rage-4-behind-the-tracks-developer-diary. live.
  15. Web site: Hideki Naganuma No Longer Composing Streets of Rage 4 Soundtrack Due to Scheduling Complications . Wong . Alistar . March 20, 2020 . Siliconera . March 21, 2020 . March 20, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200320201251/https://www.siliconera.com/hideki-naganuma-no-longer-composing-for-streets-of-rage-4-due-to-scheduling-complications/ . live .
  16. Web site: Naganuma. Hideki. December 9, 2020. Naganuma's reasons for dropping out of SoR4. live. August 7, 2021. Twitter. August 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210807074336/https://twitter.com/hideki_naganuma/status/1336725154886369281?s=21.
  17. Web site: Carter. Chris. 2020-10-06. Absolute legend and Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma muses on how he 'tried to be an employee of Nintendo twice'. live. 2021-06-08. Destructoid. September 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210927005935/https://www.destructoid.com/absolute-legend-and-jet-set-radio-composer-hideki-naganuma-muses-on-how-he-tried-to-be-an-employee-of-nintendo-twice/.
  18. Web site: Faulkner . Cameron . 2023-08-21 . August games you might have missed . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230821171946/https://www.polygon.com/deals/23824947/august-games-indie-gord-sea-of-stars-bomb-rush-cyberfunk-blasphemous-2 . August 21, 2023 . 2023-08-21 . Polygon.
  19. 第1676回 Game Music Composer Hideki Naganuma . December 17, 2019 . Video . Japanese.
  20. Web site: Koumarelas. Robert. 2020-11-07. Jet Set Radio is Still a Top-Tier Game 20 Years Later. live. 2021-06-08. CBR. en-US. November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127183625/https://www.cbr.com/jet-set-radio-20-years-later/.
  21. Web site: What Today's Video Games Could Learn from 'Jet Set Radio'. 2021-06-08. www.vice.com. April 13, 2015. en. July 2, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160702090450/http://www.vice.com/read/jet-set-radio-shows-us-15-years-later-that-video-games-have-an-influence-problem-553. live.
  22. Web site: Galán. Diego. 2019-12-19. Albums of the Decade: The Money Store - Death Grips. live. 2021-06-08. Warp.la. November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127195137/https://warp.la/editoriales/los-albumes-la-decada-the-money-store-death-grips.
  23. Web site: 2020-02-15. Jet Set Radio Inspired Parkour Game Hover Is Receiving A PM Studios Physical Release. 2021-06-08. Nintendo Life. en-GB. June 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608175426/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/jet_set_radio_inspired_parkour_game_hover_is_receiving_a_pm_studios_physical_release. live.
  24. Web site: That game is called…"Hip Jog Jog". . Naganuma. Hideki . 1 October 2015.
  25. Jet Grind Radio. Smilebit. Sega. October 31, 2000. Dreamcast. Credits.
  26. Jet Set Radio Future. Smilebit. Sega. February 25, 2002. Xbox. Credits.
  27. Web site: Just a few songs for movie scene on "Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!" But those were not JSR style music. . 20 December 2015 . Naganuma, Hideki.
  28. Web site: Captain Straydum - Fuusen Gum -Gintama mix-. September 28, 2017 . January 5, 2021. YouTube.
  29. Web site: ＴＶアニメ「エア・ギア」オリジナルサウンドトラック ＡＩＲ ＧＥＡＲ ＷＨＡＴ Ａ ＧＲＯＯＶＹ ＴＲＩＣＫ！！ . 19 August 2015.

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