Make Believe Bonus: Raw Tempo At Koiwa Bushbash, September 17 2023

Holding off on applying for the Taylor Swift beat job...for now

BBBBBBB Live At Koiwa Bushbash, all photos by author

I knew it was going to be a good night when I walked into the main performance area at Koiwa Bushbash and was greeted by pitch blackness, save for the bobbing light of a headlamp on stage. I had made it out to the other side of Tokyo just in time to catch Kazuki Koga laying down hard-hitting percussion mixed with Southern hip-hop, in a setting where a touch of mystery went a long way.

It took about ten minutes to know that I had made the right choice to ship out here for the show. Kazuki let the beat build, but when the energy reached a natural peak, they let the familiar (to me, at least) sounds of Aughts hip hop bleed in to the set.

Amidst the darkness, I heard the familiar chant-like-shouts of “Crank That” blurring into the more experimental slams of Kazuki’s set. At this moment, I knew I had made the right decision to come out, and I was enjoying a respite from the choke hold pop had on me from the month prior.