Nujabes

Nujabes, born Jun Yamada and known in Japanese as Seba Jun, was a Japanese producer whose atmospheric instrumental work drew on hip-hop, soul and jazz samples, with elements of trip hop, breakbeat, downtempo and ambient music. Recording under a name formed by reversing “Seba Jun,” he developed a sound associated with jazz-inflected beats, melodic loops and a spacious, reflective mood.

He released two studio albums during his lifetime, Metaphorical Music in 2003 and Modal Soul in 2005. He also founded the independent label Hydeout Productions, which issued the compilations Hydeout Productions 1st Collection in 2003 and 2nd Collection in 2007. In 2004, Nujabes collaborated on the music for Shinichirō Watanabe’s anime series Samurai Champloo, contributing to the soundtrack releases Music Record: Departure and Impression.

Nujabes kept an unusually low public profile. He avoided interviews and promotional appearances, and so few photographs circulated that many listeners did not know what he looked like. He died in a traffic collision on February 26, 2010, aged 36. His third studio album, Spiritual State, was released posthumously in 2011. Though his work occupied a relatively niche space during his lifetime, it later received broad posthumous acclaim, and he has been referred to as the “godfather” of lo-fi hip hop.