July 7, 2005

The Do-Nuts: Halcali Pakuri

donuts.jpgSpeaking of Halcali and pakuri (a word I have defined as "an artistic use of creative elements from other works used within a similar context without acknowledgement of the original"), enter The Do-Nuts - a new two-girl hip-hop-pop group from Okinawa. Their debut single "Nagisa no Go-Go Girl" not only manages to lift rhythmic and thematic elements from Halcali's "Giri Giri Surf Rider" but in the video, they full out copy parts of Halcali videos (like hitting each other with food à la "Strawberry Chips.")

Where in the world did these two girls with the hardest hitting MC names ever - MC Eriko and MC Akino - come from? Well, of course, Orange Range's label Spice Records. Ripping off other artists is their whole raison d'être. I see the thought process: the Do-nuts are from Okinawa, which means that are racially inclined to be better performers than Halcali, so why not give the public a better version of the original?

Posted by marxy at July 7, 2005 12:39 PM
Comments

Mmm, okinawan donuts.

Posted by: Patrick at July 7, 2005 1:04 PM

so david, is the big point here that japanese artists are finally developing some kind of sensitivity or feel for the need to be original (based on money or whatnot)?

Posted by: r. at July 7, 2005 8:03 PM

The point with these two last articles is that people DO care about pakuri and think it's wrong, but in general, the media supresses those voices to appease the power-wielding jimusho responsible for the flagrant copying. But now with 2-ch being so vocal and hard to ignore, these complaints are getting heard.

Posted by: marxy at July 8, 2005 12:06 AM

isn't if funny that in japan the jimusho are responsible for the flagrant copying?

Posted by: r. at July 8, 2005 2:34 AM

Sorry- off topic. But just in case y'all haven't come across this yet. He's like his own personal Cyzo--and someone torched his house earlier this week for it.

http://straydog.way-nifty.com/yamaokashunsuke/

Posted by: nathaniel smith at July 8, 2005 3:05 AM

"The point with these two last articles is that people DO care about pakuri and think it's wrong, but in general, the media supresses those voices to appease the power-wielding jimusho responsible for the flagrant copying."

This is a post-war attitude correct? What's your sense of the public attitude towards other monopolies (such as the postal service and impending privatization)?

Posted by: Nagi Noda at July 8, 2005 8:28 AM

Thanks for the link, Nathaniel.

Then Noda Nagi (wow, it's so great to have the real person join our debate instead of some guy who thinks it's totally awesome to pose under a fake name) wrote:

This is a post-war attitude correct?

Well, sure, but so most Japanese pop culture is also "post-war." Halcali's pre-war albums are pretty lame. Actually to be serious for a second, the Japanese government used to arrest artists for being "Surrealists" in the pre-war period, so I think it's really difficult to compare pre-war attitudes directly to post-war ones and try to fish out what's "real" about Japan now.

What's your sense of the public attitude towards other monopolies (such as the postal service and impending privatization)?

There is certainly not a lot of consciousness about why monopolies are bad, and since the government sponsors so much cartelization of industry, there's not an attitude of "trust-busting" like in the American 20th century.

Posted by: marxy at July 8, 2005 12:23 PM

Shouldn't Fumiya be beating the hell out of the Halcali pakuri girls? I mean he's the genius behind the tunes and all. It'd be nice to see him do something other than "go on hiatus due to sickness" or "look like he doesn't give a damn"

Posted by: jordi at March 5, 2006 10:09 PM