Dragon Ash

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Dragon Ash (Katakana: ドラゴンアッシュ) is a Japanese rock group led by rap mogul Kenji Furuya. They are an icon in Japan and were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. They brought a western flavor to Japanese music and helped to turn rap music mainstream, with a mixture of reggae, rap, rap-rock, punk, Spanish, and R&B influences. Some of their best known songs include Grateful Days, Life Goes On and I Love Hip Hop. The group uses various samples, most notably from the famous American alternative group, The Smashing Pumpkins. These songs include Cherub Rock, in which they sample the bass line from The Smashing Pumpkins song by the same name, and Grateful Days in which they sample the opening of Today; they also named the song Siva, after the Pumpkins song.

Dragon Ash has gained some popularity outside Japan when the song Shizuka na Hibi no Kaidan Wo was used as the ending theme for the popular Japanese movie, Battle Royale.

Official Website: http://www.dragonash.co.jp/