All from BMSG, including SKY-HI and BE:FIRST, Came Together to Release A New Chapter!

‘New Chapter’ Jacket Cover

A special digital single, ‘New Chapter’ was dropped to the world on 18 September 2022. This song is an aspirational collaborative effort amongst 15 artists and trainees from Japanese music management label, BMSG founded by renowned Japanese rapper, SKY-HI. Among those 15 artists are Novel Core, an iconic rapper of Generation Z, BE:FIRST, who has continuously broken records in Japan’s music charts and recently released their first album ‘BE:1’, as well as SKY-HI, a rapper, producer, and the CEO of BMSG.

The BMSG All-Stars introduced the song to the world as a surprise performance on 17 September at BMSG FES. ‘New Chapter’ is a collaborative Hip Hop track produced by Ryosuke “Dr. R” Sakai. BMSG artists take turns to express who they are while unveiling the slogan 'New Chapter', which has been mentioned by BMSG throughout this summer. This song features a variety of profiles of BMSG artists: rappers, singers, members of a boy band, and trainees. Each of them showing off their individual style, allowing listeners and viewers to witness their thrilling new chapter, and essentially what BMSG is all about.

The accompanying music video of 'New Chapter' captures the spectacular original world view of 'Neo Japan' - the infused themes of 'an end of the world,' 'historical play,' and 'futuristic views' expressed by all 15 artists of BMSG. The BMSG Festival (also known as 'BMSG FES') revealed these themes throughout the event over the weekend. As though watching a short film; the presence of over 20 additional actors adds to the drama. Look out for SKY-HI performing as a Messenger of Music, as well as many attractive scenes that compel your full attention while being glued to the screen and historical elements sprinkled with futuristic ingredients are visually stunning to witness. This music video embodies the declaration of a New Chapter for BMSG, which recently started its third year as an artist management and label company. The last scene of the music video features all 15 artists dancing together on the stage of BMSG FES, choreographed by SOTA from BE:FIRST. Astonishing crescendo!

The recorded show of BMSG FES will be available for streaming from 24 September to 31 October 2022, with an online ticket purchase of JPY 3,980

Would this become the paradigm shift? We must keep an eye on what is coming next from BMSG and its artists who continue to amuse their fans.

(Message from SKY-HI)
CEO and founder of BMSG, SKY-HI shares, “If someone were to ask “What is BMSG?”, I now have the perfect answer, and that is the all-encompassing single ‘New Chapter’. I believe listening to this song and watching the music video will prove way better than me putting words and sentences to explain it. We never intended to chase trends or be trendy, nor do we feel satisfied when we become popular or top the music charts. We won’t fulfill ourselves only because our business succeeds. We are not here to declare that we will change the era. We will always be focused on expressing who we are throughout the ever-changing current age. There is no time for us to rest on one success or the other, but we will keep doing our best to create a new culture.”

The journey of BMSG has just begun and be sure to check out the music video for ‘New Chapter’ below along with the streaming links here!

Check Out SKY-HI’s First Single of 2022, ‘JUST BREATHE’, A Collab with Stray Kids Production Unit 3RACHA!

“JUST BREATHE feat. 3RACHA of Stray Kids” Digital Jacket Cover

SKY-HI has released his first single of 2022, a collaboration with production unit 3RACHA. The track, “JUST BREATHE feat. 3RACHA of Stray Kids”, was released this past week across all digital streaming platforms. 3RACHA is a production unit made up of Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN; they are a sub-unit of ultra-hot Korean boyband Stray Kids.

“JUST BREATHE feat. 3RACHA of Stray Kids” is an experimental, dramatic track produced by UTA, who has worked with artists from Japan and abroad such as Daichi Miura, BTS, AI and TWICE. SKY-HI, Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN worked together to produce the lyrics and toplines.

Each drawing on their own unique style, the four artists express their “reason to exist” through the lyrics, a theme that is in sync with these difficult times. As the track progresses from one phase to the next, the technical and emotional rap lyrics in Japanese, Korean and English leave a deep and lasting impression, echoing what so many of us feel – in sometimes shocking ways.

Along with the new single, the music video for “JUST BREATHE” has also been released. For this fully-CG video, a playable game program was created to resemble a driving videogame, with the “player” controlling the movement of a buggy ridden by SKY-HI and 3RACHA as well as a motorbike ridden by SKY-HI, moving through a virtual space while synchronized with the sound frequency of the drum line. The video makes use of cutting-edge tech to fuse the chaos of the modern world with the track’s dynamic vision.

Keep an eye on SKY-HI and 3RACHA, so you don’t miss the changing of an era. Be sure to check out the music video for “JUST BREATH” below, along with the streaming link for the track here!

BE:FIRST Brings A Brand New Gift with Major Label Debut Single!

Seven-member dance and vocal group BE:FIRST were born from THE FIRST, the million-dollar audition series created and funded by artist SKY-HI and his company BMSG.

Their pre-debut song “Shining One“ has exceeded 15 million views on YouTube since its August 16 release, despite coming before their official major-label debut. The track also topped two different rankings at once in the Oricon weekly charts, and spent two weeks at No.1 on Billboard Japan’s HOT BUZZ SONG chart. With all of this incredible momentum, it has been announced that BE:FIRST will make their official major-label debut with the release of new single “Gifted.” on November 3.

Comment from SKY-HI

“The title of the single ‘Gifted.’ literally means ‘to bear natural talent’, and it is a reference to the strong attitude of BE:FIRST’s members of feeling that they themselves are gifted, while also encompassing the message that ‘everyone is born gifted’. One year ago, all of the group’s members were completely unknown and unpolished as artists. Now, having honed their talents and proven their overwhelming performance ability, they have earned praise and been labeled as ‘gifted’ by the wider world, which makes the message of this song all the more convincing. It is also a positive song that can offer encouragement to those who are looking for a place to shine or to be themselves in these chaotic times.

“The period at the end of ‘Gifted.’ signifies that it is the final song in a series of four tracks from ‘THE FIRST’, each of which has been named after one of the four letters in BMSG, my company name. The title of each song in the series has also reflected the number of members in the group at that time: ‘Be Free’ and ‘Move On’ were each performed by six members and have six letters in their titles, while ‘Shining One’ featured 10 performers and has 10 letters. The period in ‘Gifted.’ allows us to have seven characters in the title, like the seven members in ‘BE:FIRST’, as an indication that the group have reached their final formation and are ready to go out into the world. So, this single is both a conclusion of the previous chapter and the start of a new one.”

As we look forward to the upcoming release be sure to check out the music video for “Shining One” along with the streaming like for the track here!

CHANMINA & SKY-HI Bring New Meaning To Holy Night!

Rappers and vocalists CHANMINA & SKY-HI have teamed up for a special collaboration digital single “Holy Moly Holy Night” that was released on December 4th! Both CHANMINA and SKY-HI have been good friends for quite some time and have wanted to “make music together someday”. That time has come with “Holy Moly Holy Night”, a fun jazzy Christmas track that gives a whole new meaning to the classic song “Holy Night”. The track was produced by Ryousuke “Dr.R” Sakai who has worked on CHANMINA’s popular tracks “Chocolate” and “Never Grow Up”. CHANMINA and SKY-HI show off their powerful vocals along with their flawless rap skills in this Christmas themed dance track.

Both artists commented on the fun they had working on this track. CHANMINA stated “This song is an extension of our usual fun and that people who make music together should do it while having fun.” SKY-HI stated “I already had much respect for CHANMINA but as proceeding with the production, I gained more respect for her from different angles I had not seen before. It was not only fun, but exciting to work on this project. This track has a strong memorable meaning and deviates from the usual holiday love songs.”

The “Holy Moly Holy Night” music video premiered on December 3rd on YouTube and shows the fun CHANMINA & SKY-HI have in this colorful music video. The video shows both artists singing and dancing with styles from different eras making for not only a colorful music video but a uniquely interesting one as well. Check out “Holy Moly Holy Night” on all digital streaming platforms and the music video below!

Thai Star STAMP Releases First Japanese-Language Single and Music Video with SKY-HI!

“Jailhouse feat. SKY-HI” Jacket Cover

Thai star STAMP has released his first Japanese-language single, "Jailhouse feat. SKY-HI", on the avex label across all digital music streaming platforms. The new song is a Japanese version of the Thai singer-songwriter's hit "Jailhouse rap" which has been viewed over 30 million times on YouTube. STAMP re-wrote the lyrics in Japanese for the new version and featured his friend SKY-HI on the rap portion of the track. As in the original, the music video is set in "jail", which expresses the concept that the heart is still captured and held by an ex-lover. The video was created remotely by SKY-HI in Japan and STAMP in Thailand.

"Jailhouse feat. SKY-HI" is the first of several upcoming releases in Japan for STAMP, and this is the first time that STAMP has collaborated with SKY-HI since the January release of "Don't Worry Baby Be Happy".

STAMP commented, "This song was originally released in Thai and it's one of my favorite songs. When I first heard SKY-HI’s voice, I knew I'd found the perfect person to work with for the Japanese version of this song. I sent the Thai version to SKY-HI and asked him to rap to the beat – but when I heard his wild rap, I felt I needed to make a heavier arrangement. So this version turned out to be even more forceful."

SKY-HI added, "The original song was the reason I came to know STAMP. When I heard the song for the first time, I remember being shocked and thinking, "Oh, there's actually a song with this kind of groove in Asia!" I was thrilled to work on that song! The fact is stranger than fiction…I am so proud to have collaborated on this song. Fortunately, we were able to record this song together in the studio last year, and perhaps contrasting with the message of the song, the vibes in the studio were very happy and we had a great time. Let’s sing together again soon! I LOVE YOU STAMP!!!"

Be sure to check out the music video in question below along the streaming music link here!