Style: lofi hip hop, traditional Japanese
Primary Emotions/Themes: A breathtakingly beautiful hip hop album that works in influences from traditional Japanese instrumentation and culture
Thoughts: Some leave us too early. Artists that had so much more left to offer before the world in all it's cruelty ends their life. Elijah Nang is such artist. Nang's music is perhaps the elite amongst the elite in the world of lofi hip hop. I can't think of a single person, producer, cooperative, anything that does it better than he did... and the heart of his music was the Gaijin series.
Nang created music that wasn't just hip hop, wasn't just lofi... it was beauty, it was one of the little sparks of joy that made life better. It was as close to perfection as you can possibly get. Gaijin II is an album that exemplifies... no extols all of these virtues. The songs capture the beauty of the sunset, the glory of the sunrise, the majesty of the night sky, and the grounding of the earth... all in one.
There are a lot of songs on this album, and while I normally am not a fan of longer albums, I feel that this one is not long enough. For nearly 90 minutes the wonder of Nang's music graces my ears and more often than not I flip the record right back over and start it all again. This thing has been on my table for quite some time and I don't see it leaving any time soon either. A monument to his legacy, and a beautiful testament to the joy he brought into the world.
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