AK69 - Dawn Album Thoughts(J-Rap/Rock/ RnB)

1. Dawn
2. Flying Lady (feat. CITY-ACE & HIDE春)
3. Forever Young (feat. UVERworld)
4. Streets (feat. 2Win)
5. Flying B (DAWN ver.)
6. Hangover
7. Rainy days (feat. 清木場俊介)
8. With You ~10年、20年経っても~
9. Baby
10. 上ヲ向イテ
11. もう1ミリ (feat. 般若)
12. We Dont Stop (feat. Fat Joe)
13. KINGPIN

   I've heard of AK-69 over the years as a Japanese music fan but sadly, never took the time to listen to his music. He has more than a few albums under his belt and he received a few music awards. What got me paying attention to him recently was his feature on singer's Crystal Kay's track titled #Heartmelt. This is one of(if not the best) tracks off her 2016 album, Shine. Check it out if you haven't or check out Crystal Kay in general. Ak-69 makes himself more than an addition on #Heartmelt and brings out all the potential needed for a duet without singing. When I heard he was releasing a new album for the first time in a two years, I became more than a little interested.

  Dawn marks the new age of AK-69. I was really focused on what this album would sound like and how Japan would receive his comeback. Hip-Hop isn't as popular as it was back in the day in Japan. In order for a Hip-hop artist to sell, you need to branch out and experiment with other styles of music.  AK-69 has caught wind of this idea and took action apparently. Tracks on Dawn range and different genres but Hip Hop is still Ak-69's home sweet home. The opening track Dawn gave me a auto tuned hip hop track thats laced with an Regge flavor. I'm glad that I didn't judge the whole album Dawn off the track Dawn because I would have thought this album was going to be very one sided. I did kinda of feel like that at first but then things started to turn around. AK-69 threw in Flying Lady with such a beautifully sung chorus. I'm guessing a feature male singer is performing the chorus but AK-69 does sing too so ti might be him. Another rapper is also rapping along side AK-69 with a husky voice. Forever Young is the stand out track for Dawn. He got me shocked and shook with this track because he came in rapping with a band playing behind him. Then the chorus is just straight up head banger material. I wasn't expect this kind of track to be on his album but he brought it together with his rapping and the vocals during the chorus. AK-69 seems to like playing with this idea of a universal sound as each track comes on with a hip hop vibe or a pop/rock production. He doesn't even mind going from gangster hard with tracks like Streets to soft ballads that appeal to the mainstream Japanese public. It was a great method mixing and matching his style with Hip Hop still being the core of all of his music. AK-69 comes from a underground background thats very Hip-Hop oriented. Of course an artist like him wants to stay true to the music he loves doing but thats not going to pay his bills if the Japanese public isn't buying his music. So instead he took the creative route and mixed hip hop with mainstream music that everyone would like. However, it also introduces the kind of music he loves originally to fans who wouldn't listen to hip hop/rap normally.

  I want to say this album contains a lot of feature artists. some tracks sound like other rappers hopped on the track. I mentioned above that he sings but i'm not sure if all the singing was done by him. Ak-69 goes under another name when he's primarily known as a singer and i'm to sure if he just rapped on this album or not. whatever the case, Dawn has pure talent in its archive. Rap lines sound relaxed and effortless like everyone knows what they are doing. The flow exhibits confidence like he did in #Heartmelt so I'm not disappointed. I will go and listen to him sing unless some of the tracks are him singing which if it is, He got two talents that's not given to everyone. There's rappers that can rap then sing a little bit but not many who have equal talent in both areas.  One habit AK-69 has that makes me laugh is his ad-libs he does at the beginning of a select few of his songs. Its not even all the ad-libing but when he says "EHHH MAN!" that cracks me up. This doesn't sound like a natural thing a Japanese rapper would do but yeah..... I think about a man with dreadlocks from the Caribbean every single time he goes "EHHH MAN!". This kills me but I love it at too. No shade.

  Dawn was AK-69 showing all the rappers who aren't idols how to stay relevant at a time that Hip hop isn't hitting high on the Orican Charts. I checked his ranking back when this album first came out and saw that he got number 8 and was super proud of him. He's one of the best in the game.

***** Author's note: Artists were featured in Dawn. Rock band Uverworld was featured in Forever Young, as well as many other artists in other tracks.