And also, a lot of things outside of just ‘afro guy.’
Introduction
First thing’s first. What is BRADIO?
BRADIO is a Japanese funk rock, disco, and soul band. Their name is an acronym for “Break the Rule And Do Image On,” meaning they want to “bring a new image without being bound by rules.” This band endearingly calls their fans Funky Party People or FPP for short. Formed in 2010, they’ve released four studio albums and two mini-albums, and have performed internationally twice in the US. Their singles have been used as an opening theme song (“Flyers”) for the anime Death Parade, as well as the main theme (“Bring It On”) for the Square Enix game Rungun-Cannonball. In recent news, BRADIO is in charge of the music for a short film, Carnival.
That’s a lot of links, I know. But I promise it’s a nice rabbit hole to fall into — the band has a great sound after all.
So, who is BRADIO?
It all started with the following five.
Takaaki Shingyogj (from The Movie Archives)
Yuki Tanabe (from The Movie Archives, left in 2018)
Soichi Ohyama (from Gold End)
Ryosuke Sakai (from Gold End)
Takahiro Kitazawa (from Awesome Dude, left in 2012)
We’re going to focus on Takaaki Shingyogi, and for good reason.
He’s our afro guy! But first, let’s dive into a little bit of Takaaki’s time before BRADIO, just to get a good scope about him.
The Movie Archives
Alongside Yuki Tanabe and several others, Taakaki used to be in an alternative rock band that only sang in English. He differed in appearance as didn’t have his afro yet, and used to be both lead vocals and guitar. Take a look at these.
A user in that comment section says「髪サラッサラの貴明さんにすごい違和感笑」. Loosely translated, it’s somewhere along the lines of it is Takaaki’s hair that makes the user feel strange, or uncomfortable. They end their comment with a little “lol” though.
Another user comments,「アフロじゃない貴秋さん…！」Which roughly translates to “the Not-Afro Takaaki-san,” almost like this is a special version of him.
(Be warned, the bass is… not safe for ears.)
His stage presence is very different as he is performing with his band at the ACB Hall.
This was a show in which they were prominently featured on promotional material in a blog post by Thistime Records, illuminated in the top half of the poster. Takaaki is on the far left.
You can listen to more of The Movie Archives on Spotify.
Hope that gives you another fun rabbit hole, if you’re into BRADIO as much as I am. We’ll go back to the topic at hand though.
When did BRADIO debut online?
They fully debuted on Sep 17, 2013, in a music video for the song “Golden Liar.”
It’s the first time we see Takaaki performing with BRADIO and there are a lot of distinctive changes from his days with the Movie Archives. He’s dominating, performing front and center, and clad in a funky glitter suit. Takaaki is putting on a big show, only doing vocals, and appearing on screen with his now signature afro hairstyle.
It’s a whole new vibe, complete with a whole new look.
How do I feel about BRADIO?
Honestly, right down to it, I think they’re cool. I love their music, their energy in live performances, and just the way they make me feel when I listen to them. I’m having fun, grooving along to their vocals and their beats.
But here’s the thing — I’m not here to deliberate exactly how good they are, or if you should listen to them. You are just going to have to take my word for it because that’s not quite what I’m here to talk about.
What is cool about the lead singer, and does it have anything to do with his afro?
This is the meat and potatoes of the discussion. I’ve dropped the word afro like six-ish times already, and I’m going to continue to do so. Why? Well, I want to argue that his afro helps him lean into the authenticity that makes it more legitimate for him to pursue this genre of music. It’s that authenticity that makes us (and him) think he’s cool.
But why is he trying to get it with an afro?
Well, funk and soul originated in African American communities. Disco started as a mixture of music from venues popular with African Americans among other groups. There’s a connection here.
Before we go too deep, we will once again consider the YouTube comment section.
On their “Golden Liar” music video, an interesting question was posed by a Japanese user. They asked the following: “Why are so many foreign people fascinated with BRADIO?”
Top answer? “I just found out about BRADIO today. A Japanese band producing a funky sound like this [is] a somewhat unusual and unexpected combination. Their music sounds very much inspired by 1960’s/1970’s American funk and disco music.” That’s definitely fair.
But also? “Afro hair.” Got a couple of likes too, without needing to say more.
Let’s keep diving into this, starting with a dive into a couple of readings you should probably pick up if you think this topic sparks your interest.
History of a few things.
And how they relate back to our afro guy, Takaaki.
Hipness and Appearance
“The goatee, beret, and window-pane glasses were no accidents… [T]hey pointed toward a way of thinking, an emotional and psychological resolution of some not so obscure social need or attitude.”
- Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones).
That’s a quote from Chapter 5, “The Golden Age of Hip, Part 1: Bebop, Cool Jazz and the Cold War” in a book titled Hip: A History written by John Leland.
Though it originally referred to African Americans navigating nonconformity with the West, I don’t think it’s far-fetched to break down the components of this statement and examine Taakaki with it.
His afro is no accident. The emotional, psychological resolution he might be seeking is a validation of himself, a way to prove his authenticity. This social need is both from within himself and from the world outside; he is an artist of funk-rock, disco, and soul. He wants to both feel and be seen that way. The challenge is, this music was a space created by African Americans, and he is a Japanese man. To compensate, he dials it up with his stage performance, his clothing, and most of all, his afro. It’s the idea that his appearance and style are intentional choices.
What does Takaaki think? Luckily, there’s an interview!
Interviewer: Your fashion sense is quite unique — in particular the outfits you are seen sporting in your recent music video “Back To The Funk” has a jazzy, funky, yet stylish sense to it. Do you mind explaining the concept behind and inspiration for your fashion?
Takaaki: I think fashion is an indispensable expressive style for music. Our inspiration probably comes from new jack swing, disco, and others that were found on the TV show “Soul Train”. That is a dreadful stereotype, (Laughs) but, I love this type of culture! Our designer discussed ideas with us and made those outfits. They are showy but able to show a gentleman-like quality.
Here’s a picture of the show he mentioned. Every man in this photo is sporting an afro.
Interviewer: Can you please introduce yourself and tell us something interesting about yourself?
Takaaki: I am BRADIO’s vocalist Takaaki. I take pride in having an afro hairstyle because of my love of soul music. I also have a lot of respect for the genre too. I really do love it!
In response to telling us something interesting, he jumps straight to his afro. It’s an aspect of himself that is loud, part of the way he presents himself into the world. But with his response, he takes time to emphasize it and then rationalize it for the interviewer and audience. It’s almost like he was asked, “Why do you wear an afro?” Except, well, he wasn’t.
Interviewer: Who are some of your personal favorite music artists?
Takaaki: There are a lot! What we share in common, in terms of favorite artists, is our love for Jamiroquai and Maroon 5. For me, I love soul music from the 60s to the 80s. Samuel Cooke, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and so many more.
All of those artists in bold are artists that Takaaki personally admires and looks up to. Guess what? Sound familiar? They’re known as some of the greatest pioneers of soul music, and they’re all African American.
I want to introduce you to a book written by E. Taylor Atkins, titled Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan. And if I may, a quote from Atkins in a chapter titled “The Jazz Tribes of Postwar Japan.”
“An emerging consensus equated African American ethnicity with authenticity of jazz expression, and insisted that cultural contexts comparable to those within which African American artists worked were necessary preconditions for authentic jazz. Japanese jazz aficionados therefore appropriated customs, language, and fashions as well as music.”
Therein lies a notion; African American ethnicity makes the playing of a genre authentic. However, there are blue-eyed soul artists — white people who performed rhythm, blues, and soul music. This term was coined in the mid-1960s. Yet, Takaaki mentions none of these artists, even though surely he must have heard of some before: Sonny & Cher, The Beatles, Tom Jones. They are not included in his list.
So we understand there might be checkboxes that must be marked in order for a person to feel or play authentically. Perhaps we can say, for Takaaki, his checkbox in the realm of fashion might have been his afro; a clear, distinct African American feature.
Blackness and Appropriation in Japan
It wouldn’t be fair to focus on Taakaki like he was a case study or a rare isolated event.
We’ll start by taking a look at other instances of African-American features being taken and used by musicians and bands.
Musicians and blackface
RATS & STAR (formerly known as Chanels) was a Japanese male blackface pop group from 1975 to 1996. The name of their band (which happens to be a palindrome) is that even ‘rats’ who are raised in the less affluent parts of town could reverse their fortunes and become ‘stars’ by singing doo-wop music, a genre of rhythm and blues that they specialized in. Guess what? Doo-wop music originated amount African-American youth in the 1940s. Sounded a little familiar, with our afro guy Takaaki, but more extreme here.
Here’s a picture of their band.
Pretty much all but one member consistently used blackface.
Now, take a look at Momoiro Clover Z. They are a Japanese girl group, known for their energetic performances that incorporated elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. They were the first female group to hold a solo concert at the National Olympic Stadium in Japan. You might have heard before, as they provided the theme music for anime TV series like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Pokémon.
Take a look at this group.
So, why mention Momoiro Clover Z when it doesn’t look like they’re relevant to our conversation?
Well, take a good look at this.
That’s RATS & STAR with Momoiro Clover Z, and how they were slated to appear on the Japanese television program Music Fair. Did they make it that far?
Nope.
This riled up quite the reaction on the internet. Take, for instance, an article discussing what blackface meant in Japan: was it a form of racism, or of respect?
The writer complied comments tweeted in reaction to the aforementioned program when RATS & STAR with Momoiro Clover Z in blackface were revealed. Most interesting is the following, translated from a Japanese user.
In a Japanese context, you can’t say “sporting blackface equals racism.” We’re not Caucasians. When Asians get a suntan we get pretty dark (think of Shigeru Matsuzaki or Yamanba Girls). So if Japanese performers want to play “authentically black” music, all they have to do is go out and lie in the sun. So, what RATS & STAR and Momokuro did is a kind of homage [to black performers]. [In the same way] the Ganguro trend from the 1990s wasn’t racist either.
And according to the “Japanese way of thinking,” blackface might be considered the purest form of flattery.
So, some people are saying it’s a showing of appreciation. That isn’t too far off at all from what Takaaki implies with the interview response from earlier. He likes soul music, and he takes pride in his hairstyle because of his love for soul.
What about this ganguro trend?
You read this from the tweet earlier. That’s part two. (And is maybe a bit of a tangential rabbit hole, but bear with me.)
Ganguro comes from gyaru, a trend that started as a teenage rebellion in the face of traditional ideals of beauty. Alex Nursall explains its history in the article “The Brush Off: A Look at Gyaru, Ganguro, and Manba.” Gyaru snowballed into a “moralistic freakout”, characterized by immodest styles of dressing, sensationalism, and even changing views (sexualized, ew) of school uniforms. This trend then arrived at ganguro.
Ganguro, roughly translated, means “burn-black look” or “dark tanning” from the word “gangankuro”, which meant “exceptionally dark.”
It’s a tricky conversation to have. On one side, people are yelling appropriation. On the other side, people are saying maybe it has to do more with opposing Japanese aesthetic norms, a rebellion of sorts. That’s a line Dana D. is trying to navigate through the piece “Gyaru, Ganguro and the Western Gaze.”
The latter side might be where that one Twitter user was coming from. It’s based on Japanese popular media and is a trend with the notion to subvert it. But here’s the thing; if they think that darker skin was a rebellion to what Japanese media thought was beautiful and should be the standard, does that imply darker skin as inferior? as the natural opposite?
It’s tough because not every person who engages with ganguro has the same sentiments that started it. There are others who say they find darker skin to look healthier, or they see it as beautiful. As one ganguro girl admitted to Dana, “I look stronger when my skin is black.” They find a scene of self-love and liberation through ganguro.
So what I mean to say is, even if Takaaki is benefiting from his afro by projecting a sense of authenticity with it (like other artists before him), and even if this has deep roots into the history appropriating African American features (see minstrel shows), is that where he is intentionally coming from?
If you get the chance to wear a kimono, and you really like how it feels and it makes you excited to walk around Japan, are you being racist? It makes you feel all brand new, and that for this day, you might be a citizen of Japan and that your Japanese might sound a little less broken. Is it coming from a place of cultural appropriation? Are you intentionally trying to take from Japan what you like to benefit yourself? Or might you feel differently than how others might be perceiving you?
Well, I don’t have any answers here for that. So, let’s keep talking and go back to BRADIO.
What does the afro really do for Takaaki?
Branding: just the afro seems to be enough.
For one, it’s branding and identity. He’s the afro guy, so much so that when you look up instrumental versions of the songs, they’re labeled with the phrase “Hidden AFRO ver.” Check out “Flyers” here, for instance.
Takaaki is also… the literal face of BRADIO.
This is a cardboard cutout a fan received at a meet and greet. Takaaki also signs it when a little drawing of an afro in gold. And you know what, it’s just incredibly cute. This tumbler user titled his post “2018.06.08 The Day I Touched Bradio’s Lead Singer Takaaki Shingyoji’s Afro!”
But yes, I do have to bring it back to my point. Takaaki with his afro is synonymous with the idea of BRADIO. Undoubtedly, it’s a part of the band that people recognize the most (aside from maybe being the opener for Death Parade anime). It helps with their image.
What about perception?
While digging around on the internet for any formal analyses of BRADIO, I stumbled upon a post by Jordan Mulder, titled “Saved by the Funk with BRADIO.”
Only passing remarks are provided for the appearance of Takaaki and his band. Their image alone is one that “goes beyond typical style”, with Takaaki sporting an “impressive afro” and the men often wearing suits that vary from “incredibly dapper to bouncy and fresh.”
The article ends with the following:
“BRADIO is just one of those bands you can’t help to love. With a different sound that appeals to different audiences to a zest about them, it all makes sense. And with each single and album, the band grows in not only popularity, but their talent grows as well.”
“A zest about them.” What is this zest and why are people skirting around it? It seems that no one really wants to say it outright, even when they notice it. Not only does Takaaki and the band have the talent, but Takaaki has the look, the feeling, the right vibe. He has the afro.
What else does it do for him?
Well, it helps him get recognized as someone he’s not, but at the same time, someone he might want to be or someone that helps others understand who he is.
Atkins has more wise words for us, in his first chapter of Blue Nippon titled “The Japanese Jazz Artist and The Authenticity Complex.”
“The persistent illusion that Japan is a ‘nation of imitators,” psychologically incapable of originality and socialized to devalue creativity, is a stereotype that far too many Japanese believe themselves…”
What is meant by that? Well, the internet can show you this. By internet, I mean the YouTube comment section once again.
From the “Golden Liar” music video:
“I don’t know why, but this guy reminds me of a Japanese Bruno Mars, and I like that.”
“Wow. He’s basically a Japanese Elvis/Michael Jackson hybrid. That sparkly coat, those legs while singing, the long “Ahhhhhh”s… wow. I didn’t realize I needed this until I saw it.”
To so many fans, Takaaki is simultaneously the iconic Japanese artist and also the Japanese version of some familiar famous singers. He has the coolness and reminds them of African American artists like Michael Jackson, or other artists that have drawn inspiration from African American music like Bruno Mars.
It’s a strange relationship. He emulates the African American features of the afro in order to gain authenticity in his music. Yet, when his authenticity brings recognition, fame, and attention, he is the Japanese version of African American artists.
Does that mean he’s successful? He’s made it? I don’t know.
So, where does this leave… anyone?
We’ve gone through a lot. From Takaaki’s early history in alternative rock and ganguro fashion to the works of E. Taylor Atkins and John Leland, it’s not entirely clear where we stand after this. I’ve started this by speaking about authenticity and the afro, but really, I’m not looking for a clear-cut answer. I simultaneously know there is something at least half true in the argument, and that I’m not going to get the full truth no matter where I look.
There are so many influences that act on the decisions we make, and though the past is not that far away, we love to think the choices we make today are not made based on the histories of complex interactions between Japan and the United States.
But hey, just keep it in mind. The next time BRADIO or anyone else in the same vein comes up in your Spotify playlist, you can ping me and we’ll have another go.
