BLADE N is the long-awaited new album from Japanese rapper Karavi Roushi, who appeared on the Japanese hip-hop scene with his debut soloalbum? ? ? ? (Kiyosumi Kurokawa). This, his second solo album, is acollaborative release with Aquadab, the Japanese track maker/sounddesigner who co-producedKiyosumi Kurokawa. The album showcases thepreternatural mind-meld between rapper and track maker.Karavi Roushi came before the public as a member of Nagoya hip-hopcollective Hydro Brain Gang on Nero Imai's albumReturn Of Acid King(2017). He then launched the label Super Lights with Aquadab andreleased his first solo albumKiyosumi Kurokawain 2019 with graphicdesign by Takara Ohashi. Although an unknown newcomer, the albumreached #15 on the iTunes Hip Hop Japan album chart and receivedplaudits not only for its music but also for the artwork by Ohashi. After thealbum, Karavi Roushi dropped his first collaboration tune with Aquadab onS.D.S =Zero=(2020), a compilation of Generation Z Japaneseunderground artists produced during the Covid pandemic. That tune,"Tokyoite", became a favorite of the participating artists.BLADE Nwas created by the three-person team of Karavi Roushi,Aquadab & Ohashi. Consciously developing their musical methodology,they intentionally use instrumental tracks to interrupt the rappers' voicesand flows, something which has traditionally been avoided, and explore thepossibility of creating a style that puts the rapper and track maker on equalfooting in complex, woven tracks. On the album, Karavi Roushi'sparanormal voice, which sometimes sounds like a mutant synthesizer,adds incisiveness, and in the artwork Ohashi visually extracts the storyworld hidden inBLADE N, giving the cover art the same impact as that of"Kiyosumi Kurokawa".[info sheet from distr.]