‘Kakeru Mono’ is the latest single by pop-rap artist 4s4ki and, compared to her last big drop ‘Maboroshi’ which had some EDM style projection and even a feature by MC Itsuka of Charisma.Com, ‘Kakeru Mono’ is a slower and quieter change of pace. In the past, we’ve called her and evolution of sorts of artists like DAOKO who marry rap flows with a modern pop and netlabel inspired production. That assessment still seems to be pretty accurate but with this new single, we do see a bit more variety from this rising artist in Japan.
Put out on SASAKRECT who also handled the latest Macra Izumi release, ‘Kakeru Mono’ joins good company. Within the song itself, 4s4ki pulls off a number of different things vocally; there’s some delicate singing that’s sounds pretty juxtaposed against the soft keys and muted synth padding in the production. When the chorus comes in, there are small optimistic synth lines that make the track feel very hopeful and inspired. 4s4ki’s rapping alone probably won’t win her any MC of The Year awards, but sonically even when she’s rapping her voice comes across as quite pleasant. The song’s the equivalent of a spring breeze in Yoyogi Park.
As of now, ‘Kakeru Mono’ has been released as a digital single. There’s no word whether its a stand-alone effort or if it’s going to end up on a future album. She did release the ‘NEMNEM’ EP earlier this year and putting out a new song just after that shows 4s4ki is hungry, willing to put in the work to make her career happen. While she’s off to a good start, I hope with further releases we see something more unique coming from her sound. She has the elements to put together something special, but for now, I’m happy to settle for something good.
4s4ki’s ‘Kakeru Mono’ is out as a digital single now.