Ongaku Cafe (The 2000s): Mother Ninja – Spontaneous (August 2007)

“Spontaneous” is definitely a positive and enjoyable first effort coming from Mother Ninja.

GROUP: Mother Ninja

ALBUM: Spontaneous

LABEL: Avex Entertainment, Inc.

CATALOG #: AVCD-23335

Released on August 22, 2007

Mother Ninja Greeting
サヨナラリフレイン
RELAX ~REGGAETON MIX~
Talkin’ bout good days
1+1=3
Witch queen
Y.M.C.A
ゲイラカイト
千里の風の朝
1+1=3 ~1996 Mix~

Reviewed back in August 2007

Around a decade or more ago, the big commercial hip hop group in Japan was East End x Yuri, also emerging onto the music scene was the group m.o.v.e.

Here we are in the Summer of 2007 with a commercial hip-hop/reggaeton collaboration known as Mother Ninja featuring m.o.v.e rapper motsu, AAA’s rapper/singer Hidaka Mitsuhiro and Amasia Landscape’s smooth and elegant vocalist Akico.

If you are a m.o.v.e or even an AAA fan, you are pretty familiar how their music has been tied in to the popular racing series “Initial D”.

This time, Mother Ninja has the ending theme for the popular anime racing series “Wangan Midnight” with their song “Talkin’ bout good days”.

The longtime manga series now adapted to an anime have been generating a lot of noise of the ending theme song and on August 22nd, “Spontaneous”, the first full-length album from Mother Ninja was released.

I have to admit that this album surpassed my expectations because each song is very catchy and enjoyable and the incorporation and fusion of reggaeton to hip-hop comes off very well and no, this is not cute idol rap fused with hip-hop, Akico’s smooth vocals provides a great soulful enhancement to Mother Ninja’s music.

The starting track “Mother Ninja Greeting” features both motsu and Hidaka rapping and Hidaka’s beat boxing and once Akico starts showcasing her vocals and hear the three of them gel, you can’t help but be impressed.

I was surprised by the Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover of “RELAX”, with the reggaeton mix and giving it a Nihon interjection , the rap is quick, catchy and Akico’s Rihanna-esque style of melodic vibe for the song was interesting.

For “1+1=3”, very reggae style that you would expect from MEGARYU and PANG, you get it with Mother Ninja. And interesting enough, you get a “1996” mix which was a nice blast to the past of hip-hop music and beats reminiscent of DJ KRUSH, Scha Dara Par with the funky beat.

And with that being said, not every track has the reggaeton sound. Tracks such as “Y.M.C.A.” and their first hit “Talkin’ About Good Days” is definitely a J-Pop sound, with the latter featuring less motsu and Mitsuhiro rapping and more Akico on vocals.

So, you get a good variety of music tracks on “Spontaneous” from Mother Ninja.

The CD insert features more photos of the group and the lyrics are printed on separate, light and transparent paper.

All in all, Mother Ninja is a cool collaborative effort by the three artists. By all means, the music is nothing ground breaking but definitely an interesting effort from each individual.

It’s no surprise that m.o.v.e’s motsu has lent his style through his remixes on a m.o.v.e CD single and it’s great to hear him on another project.

The same with Hidaka Mitsuhiro of AAA. AAA songs tend to showcase each members talents but when watching them on television and hearing Hidaka showcase his beat boxing and rap talent, with the two together and watching AAA and motsu on Avex’s “Channel A” it makes sense to see motsu and Hidaka collaborating.

But what makes Mother Ninja work is the addition of Akico.

I mentioned earlier about East End x Yuri. Back in the mid-90’s, the trio made it big by fusing East Coast + Japanese hip-hop with Yuri (of the female idol group Tokyo Paradise Dolls) and bringing the idol J-Pop and hip-hop to the commercial scene.

Unfortunately, East End x Yuri spawned too many parody groups and the hip-hop/idol J-Pop music faded.

What I like about Akico is that she can sing. She brings a smooth, soulful, R&B vocal style to the group that makes Mother Ninja sound legit and a group that is serious in its music than manufactured and cute.

So, adding Akico to the group instead of adding a J-Pop idol pop singer was a smart move and definitely adds to the enjoyability of Mother Ninja’s music.

Now because Mother Ninja songs incorporate the reggaeton or J-Pop to hip-hop music, one must wonder if its similar to Western groups such as Black Eyed Peas or more Japanese commercial hip-hop ala mihimaru GT.

The answer to that is “no”. Probably somewhere in the middle but if anything, if you are a m.o.v.e, AAA or Amasia Landscape fan, you can’t help but respect each individual artist for doing something different and in my opinion, Mother Ninja definitely works.

I enjoyed the songs and listened to “Spontaneous” multiple times. Again, it’s nothing that is break through material but definitely a positive collaborative effort.

Because each member is busy with their own group outside of Mother Ninja activities currently , I wonder if Mother Ninja is just a one-time novelty experiment or is this a group that will continue to produce music? I guess that remains to be seen.

So, that being said, “Spontaneous” is definitely a positive and enjoyable first effort coming from Mother Ninja.

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