Unagi

Raised by a jazz musician and entertainment publicist, Unagi was surrounded by music from a very young age. As a kid, he played piano and trumpet around the house and in the school band, progressing to guitar, bass, and drums in junior high. Access to his stepdad's gigantic record collection and vintage recording equipment fueled his interest, and he spent his formative years listening to everything from big bands and free jazz to New York no wave and hardcore punk. Coming of age alongside hip-hop, he was busting the worm in grade school and listening to Rakim and G Rap by seventh grade. Living in the lefty college towns of western Massachusetts, the sheer variety of shows available further influenced his appreciation for many different genres.

Playing with various noise-rock bands throughout the nineties, the transition to Unagi came in 1997, while working with freestyle rap maniacs Discs of Tron. Bored by the simpleton "shiny suit" rap that was blowing up at the time, D.O.T. blazed a path of destruction through every venue they performed at, instigating crowds with lyrical assaults centering around terrorism, sexual deviancy, celebrity scandals, and current events. Unagi started producing tracks for the group, initially using nothing more than a record player, the pause button, and an entry-level drum machine. His equipment slowly evolved, and soon he was writing his own songs, performing around the northeast as a solo emcee. In early 1999, he relocated to San Francisco, where he put down the mic and began focusing on making beats exclusively.

Once settled in the Bay, he continued to refine his signature sound, unearthing obscure loops from discount vinyl, banging on the Dr. Rhythm, and reconfiguring it all into hard-to-classify but easy-to-dig instrumental compositions. By the fall of 2002, he had achieved his lifelong goal. He established his own label 442 Records, a tribute to the 442nd Infantry, the infamous Nisei WWII unit that his grandfather had served with, and released his self-titled debut. Despite limited promotion and distribution, the album was well received and led to various licensing deals with cable television, DVDs, and independent films, plus a Japanese reissue. The follow-up Keepin It Eel dropped a year and a half later, winning over more fans and further spreading his soulful and charismatic music across the globe.

For round three, Unagi adds emcees to the mix, partnering with talented rappers from across the country. It Came From Beneath The SFC finds Unagi and friends striking back against mediocre music everywhere, through unapologetically gutter production and dizzying rhyme attacks. With a guest list that includes Cali underground favorite Motion Man, rhyme veteran and Monsta Island representative King Caesar, and Chi-town's "Regular Black Dude" Infinito 2017, the album is chock full of gems. Other co-conspirators include fast-rising Bay Area players Kero One, Melina Jones, and Linkletterz, plus NYC's own Gamble. Meanwhile, the album's instrumental selections are guaranteed to appeal to beat fiends, full of ear-tickling loops and all-the-way-live drum action.

While underground heads continue to feed into the "hip-hop is dead" mantra, and mainstream beats sound more like ringtones every day, Unagi keeps it moving, creating dope music for your mind, body, and soul. Influenced by the classics but avoiding retro gimmickry, his personalized sonic style is exactly what the rap game needs. Take a listen and hear the magic for yourself.