Ichiban

When Ichiban’s name was announced as the winner of Best MC at this year’s Westword Music Showcase, the hip-hop heads in attendance were taken aback but so was the rapper himself.

“There were so many dope MC’s in the category this year, I was actually very surprised,” Ichiban says now. “Yet at the same time I was very thrilled and honored to win it.”

Now Ichiban’s focus is on releasing his debut album, Psycle Analysis, due out at the end of the month. The entire album is self-produced with ManeLine’s DJ Tense as the sole guest on the project. Yes, not even his Life Crew brethren make an appearance on the album and it’s something that Ichiban planned.

“In a day and age when so many hip-hop albums rely on guest features and beats from an array of producers, I wanted to do something a little different and do the whole project myself,” he says. “It’s not that I’m not for collaborations, it’s that this album is very personal and I wanted it to be all me. You can expect an album filled with blood, sweat, and tears. Expect a refreshing dosage of wholesome hip-hop reminiscent of that early '90s golden era boom-bap.”

You can also expect a taste of Japan on the album. Growing up with a Japanese father and learning Enshin Karate (he won the 2008 Middleweight Sabaki title), integrates his Japanese culture into his sound and lifestyle.

“I definitely incorporate my Japanese culture into my beats and rhymes,” he says. “I have this cut named ‘Japanese Cowboi’ posted on his MySpace page, which has Japanese samples and Japanglish verses in it. I’m also a record digger so I’m always bringing back some heat from the motherland. And my pops is the founder and master of Enshin Karate so I’ve been practicing martial arts for practically my whole life.”

Apparently talking slick to Ichi isn’t a good move. Look what happened to this dude (fight starts about a minute or so into the video). In the meantime, here’s the first single from the album, “Goodbye”.

-- Quibian Salazar-Moreno
- Westword Backbeat Online

Hip Hop - Rap: SPOTLIGHT - Ichiban: Number One!

Friday, August 01, 2008 | Comments (0)by Christian Drbal


By now, it should be fairly evident to the crews and cliques in Denver that the new name in the household is Ichiban. Ichiban, literally meaning “number one” in Japanese, has been torching stages with his smooth yet punishing and persuasive style for more than a decade.

Back to the essence! Ichiban, an obvious hip-hop elitist, produces all his own beats with the Akai MPC 2000 XL. This rising star utilizes the straight-up classic tactic of diggin’ through obscure samples, chopping, filtering, rearranging, combining and reconstructing a bright yet unsullied and innovative sound with a Japanese influence that remains true to what’s real and untainted in hip-hop. After basking within his newly created rhythm and melody, Ichiban takes his Japanese / Panamanian-American life experiences and background to lay down lyrics and pump out masterpieces that have been gaining him a base of heads throughout Colorado and beyond.

Throughout his experienced yet still young career, Ichiban has shared the stage with the like of many of hip-hop’s biggest names like Slick Rick, Lyrics Born, Talib Kweli, Beatnuts, J-live, and The Coup…just to name a few. He can also be found on recordings with Elemental entitled Universal Language (2001), two separate albums with Five Style Fist titled Ambient Frequencies (2003) and Left Right in the Middle (2005), and the L.I.F.E. Crew Compilation Vol.1 (2005,) ManeLine’s Till Then… (2007) & his self produced mixtape titled Psycle Killer Mixtape (2007).

Unbeknownst to most, Ichiban is also the lead singer and guitarist to the band formerly known as Five Style Fist (now Swankstars) - with whom he had shared the opportunity of being selected to perform at the South Park Music Festival. In addition, Five Style Fist were also part of an Armed Forces Entertainment tour through the Balkans, playing for troops shortly after 9/11. Five Style Fist was also the runner-up of 2005’s 103.5FM The Fox Lewis & Floorwax’s Last Band Standing.

Enough said? Never! This homegrown and hardworking artist is striving to achieve success with his unique outlook and sound. Success can mean many things to different people, yet Ichiban describes it as “…a means of making a comfortable living from doing what I love, it means having an opportunity to travel and explore the world as a job requirement, It means spreading the music & message to everyone, and most important of all it means living up to my name. Being (Number One).“

DON’T MISS THIS: On August 30th, the recently crowned 2008 BEST SOLO MC of Denver by Westword Magazine will be liberating his 1st solo album titled Psycle Analysis to the public at The Marquis Theatre. You can rest assured this won’t be your regular release party.

The one- of-a-kind festivities will commence with the three-time US DMC Finalist and 2008 Westword Editors Choice DJ Cysko Rokwel, followed by The Heights (members of the Denver famous Future Jazz Project) and the Likker Cats. Then, with the constructed anticipation at its peak, Ichiban will make his entrance amongst an explosion of traditional Japanese Taiko Drummers along with live graffiti art painting of geisha girl models. Be There! X

MySpace.com/Ichiban1 - Colorado Music Buzz

Life Crew
The Life Crew Compilation: Volume 1 (Self-released)
By Dave Herrera
Published: April 21, 2005

Subject(s): Life Crew
As a singular cohesive document, the Life Crew's inaugural release falls short. It sounds like the disjointed effort of more than a dozen artists. Fortunately, that's what its creators intended. Meant more as a sampler, the disc deftly showcases the individual talents of this hip-hop collective's fourteen members. While each of the 27 tracks are blessed with some inspired performances, DJ AWHAT's turntable dexterity and the impeccable flow of MCs Deca, Ichiban and Mane Rok are what stand out. The disc's production -- overseen by Crew members Deca, Ichiban, Awok, (G)riot, Gunther B, Pirate Sygnl and Yonnas -- runs the gamut from lo-fi to glossy, and the material will appeal to those who gravitate toward a more cerebral aesthetic. Overall, the compilation is stellar. Catch the Life Crew this Friday, April 22, at the Bluebird Theater when they unveil the new disc and the Feelmode DVD (www.feelmode.com). - Westword

Album cuts: Life Crew
Compilation Vol. 1, Self-released
John Zwick

Issue date: 2/16/05 Section: Music
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Is it really fair to call a network of artists "underground" when they so cleanly avoid all the classic underground pitfalls? It feels like so much truly underground hip-hop stays underground for a reason. It carries the stigma of poor beats, emcees who rhyme just to hear themselves and nonexistent musicality.

So let's call the Denver artists who make up the Life Crew something else. How's "criminally underappreciated?" It's hard not to feel some kind of injustice, after all, when we've gone through a disappointing couple of years in hip-hop and the talents at home don't get their due. The crew, consisting of a long list of Denver collaborators including the Pirate Sygnl, Ideal Ideologies, Prana and others are all over the musical landscape in the 27-track collection, finding plenty of occasions to drop intense diatribes and dope head-nodding hooks (including a solid recontextualizing of Dr. Dre's "Next Episode" melody courtesy of deejay A.WHAT.)

Critical listeners might decide that Life Crew packed their best material toward the front end of their compilation, but while the latter half forgoes the flash and energy of the first, it doesn't come off as sleeper or throwaway material - just a cool-off session on the kind of record that renews a fan's faith in the local love.





-John Zwick
- UCD Advocate

Five Style Fist – EP to Left Right In The Middle
Self-Released



Kaffeine Buzz doesn’t often review EPs. In the case of locals Five Style Fist there wasn’t a question that an exception would be made. With just three tracks, this introduction to their upcoming full-length Left Right In The Middle overflows with more musical substance than many CDs with three times as many tracks – quality, not quantity my fine folks.
The opening track “Mad World” has a hook heavy chorus, and although the topic of discussion is a rocky laden foundation and falling empires, the transitions are smooth as silk, complete with tinkling chimes and bubbling jazz essence. And while it clocks in at a whopping 7:19 minutes, I could not find any aspect of the song that could logically be pulled in order to make it more radio ready for short attention span theater.

The level of production and depth of their songwriting continues through the two following songs, showing just how much the group has evolved in the last year. The layers of instrumentation are woven into ornate tapestry, rich in deep colors and texture. The background vocals play the perfect yin to their lead yang, as is the case on “Hunger Pains.”

Five Style Fist are throwing down their release party this Friday, March 11 at the Gothic with Sound Project, P-Nuckle, Optimal Frequency and Boondok Saints.

www.fivestylefist.com

-Kim Owens, March 11, 2005 - Kaffeine Buzz

Five Style Fist - Left Right In The Middle
Self Released



When the crew in Five Style Fist began work on their latest album—Left Right in the Middle—over a year ago, they promised a harder, darker, fuller release. They have succeeded on all levels. However, to fans past and present, that doesn’t mean that they’ve abandoned the light airy Island sounds that have come to be associated with them. Indeed, on songs like the highly infectious summer anthem “Long Warm Summer Nights”—which not only captures the mood of those three months between classes, but is also a touching expose on growing pains and friendship—and the equally cool “Jungle Bush”, where front man Ichiban once again dons dual helmets (both singing and rapping his way into your subconscious); the melodic keystrokes of Vernon Valdez, the bouncy guitar rhythms of Justin Kay and the backing vocals and bass of JDub, riding the head nodding percussion of drummer Daniel Abe, leave you not only longing for a sun tan vacation, but chanting along with the guys, as well.
Known as a battle tested emcee, Ichiban—who is also a card carrying member of the Colorado Collective known as The Life Crew, cuts loose lyrically on the albums intro song “Amoeba Creature”, and on the more intense “Hunger Pains”, where he spits many barbs and wires, including: “Ichiban the underdog taking it over the top/ One of the illest…guaranteed to blow up the spot!”

For the ladies, they’ve also included the sexy “P.M.”, which allows the group to display a softer, more mature side as Ichiban serenades the women in the area with lines like: “I’ve got more mojo than Austin Powers in his prime.”

Not to forget their introspective roots, the group digs deep on the “Mad World,” “Nightmirror,” and “Ten Ton Serenity;” leaving the thematic, Rock Opera scope of “Operation Annihilation” to address their feelings on the current political climate, replete with wailing guitars and thunderous percussive backbones. While the piano driven “Nostalgia” is nothing short of amazing, as the bass and the vocals ride the rhythm so deftly you can’t help but be drawn into the groove.

More fully realized, with a stronger urgency and consistent tone across the board, Left Right in the Middle is the complete album that should get rotation in your system whether you fancy rap, reggae or rock. The vocals are richer, the music is tighter, and, though many groups strive to reach that point where their live performance is encapsulated in the studio recording, Five Style Fist has actually accomplished this feat.

Don’t be left out.

www.fivestylefist.com

-D Tha Man, April 22, 2005

- Kaffine Buzz