RJHH
Who Are WeReal Japanese Hip Hop
The first media outlet built entirely around Japanese hip-hop culture, followed by fans and industry contacts on every continent.
“To be the voice of Japanese hip-hop culture worldwide.”
Since 2013, RJHH has covered rap, R&B, and urban music from Japan in French and English, across a website, three Instagram accounts, a newsletter, and RJHH Magazine. Established names and artists nobody else covers get the same attention, a position built over more than a decade before most Western media paid the scene any notice.
Coverage driven by depth, not trends.
01
Full Spectrum
RJHH covers old-school battle rap and melodic trap, underground cyphers and mainstream chart-toppers, without ranking one above the other.
02
Deep History
RJHH researches the origins and evolution of Japanese hip-hop, from its first sparks in the early 1980s to the movements that shaped where the scene stands today.
03
Emerging Voices
RJHH tracks new sounds, new faces, and new ideas: producers, independent artists, and the waves reshaping J-hip-hop right now.
ATTANGO
Founder & Director, Real Japanese Hip Hop
ATTANGO founded RJHH in 2013 to build the first media outlet entirely dedicated to Japanese hip-hop culture. Since then, he has partnered with radio stations, concert promoters, cultural institutions, and artists across Japan and Europe, work that turned RJHH into a reference point for the global J-hip-hop community.
@attango_84 on InstagramIt starts in 1997, with the discovery of a Scha Dara Parr track, “Summer Jam '95,” a track that multiplies his admiration for Japanese hip-hop. Information on the genre barely exists at the time. ATTANGO spends hours on the rare specialized forums he can find, digging for leads.
In 2004, a Virgin Megastore Champs-Élysées clerk gives him a tip that changes everything. He heads to London, digs deeper, and comes back with a stack of Japanese hip-hop imports: Planet Shining by m-flo, an album by Nitro Microphone Underground, The Positive Gravity by Soul Scream, Hitman by Dabo. A second London trip follows, with more discoveries: DS455, MSC, Zeebra, RHYMESTER, Gagle, Scha Dara Parr, among other groups.
In 2005, the first direct connections happen on Myspace, with artists from the Japanese rap scene. The research continues for years, until a first trip to Japan in 2012, to see the country and its culture firsthand.
The following year, in 2013, he launches Real Japanese Hip Hop. The outlet's official Instagram account, @real_japanese_hip_hop, follows in 2015. Regular trips to Japan mark these years, roughly between 2013 and 2019, to meet artists in person and give the outlet the credibility of someone who shows up rather than watching from a distance.
In 2016, rapper Norikiyo reposts an RJHH Instagram post. The repost exposes the outlet to a large part of the Japanese hip-hop scene overnight, a turning point for its visibility. In 2017, the first version of the website goes live, one more step in building RJHH beyond social media.
In 2018, wanting to organize events in France, ATTANGO reaches out to Sonikem to book dates with Japanese hip-hop artists. The same year, he brings him to Japan and introduces him to his network, the Tokyo contacts built over years of travel. Those contacts lead Sonikem to release work with several Japanese artists, a connection that continues today. The groundwork laid in 2018 leads to RJHH's first concerts, in 2019.
Sonikem, born Mbog Stephane-Eddy, works as a producer, DJ, photographer, and director, with roots in Benin and Cameroon. His path into Japanese hip-hop starts in 2007, through a Soundlicious label introduction to the group Suika. Ten years later, his Urban Kawaii events in Paris catch ATTANGO's attention, and the 2018 trip to Tokyo turns that spark into a body of work: more than 22 official collaborations and over 50 produced tracks with Japanese artists, including Ish-One, Lipstorm, Nene, and Minako Oji. Since 2025, he has programmed the music for Festival Matsuri Paris, and his latest project, Tokyo Sessions Vol. 2, pairs him with koto and shakuhachi player Hiroe Morikawa.
Full profile on Blenderbook MagazineKey Milestones
2013
Foundation
ATTANGO launches Real Japanese Hip Hop.
2015
Social Media Launch
RJHH opens its Instagram and Facebook accounts and starts building an international community online.
2017
Website Launch
The RJHH web platform goes live.
2018
InterFM897 Collaboration
RJHH partners with Tokyo radio station InterFM897 on Tokyo Scene avec RJHH.
2019
First Concert & Laplace Partnership
RJHH produces its first concert, with ISH-ONE, TIGARAH, and ARAN, followed by an RJHH x BLENDER artist meetup at DJ Bar Bridge.
2020
Premium Studio Live Sessions
RJHH records exclusive live studio sessions with Tokyo Blu Nation.
2024
MCJP x RJHH & Magazine Launch
RJHH runs a series of talks and concerts at the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris: the history of Japanese hip-hop, a conversation with Utamaru, and women in hip-hop, alongside a concert with Coma-Chi and Namichie. RJHH Magazine Vol. 1 comes out the same year.
2025
Matsuri Paris
RJHH brings Lipstorm, Minako, and NENE to Matsuri Paris.
