Home Made Kazoku
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Introduction:
Home Made Kazoku (stylized HOME MADE Kazoku) was a three member hip-hop trio signed under record label Ki/oon Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music. The band was originally created in 1996 under a different name and went through many members before finally settling on being a trio with the name Home Made Kazoku in 2001.
Biography:
The trio have since their proper establishment in 2001, released 11 albums, 15 compilation albums, 27 singles and 7 DVDs (containing live-concerts, home made films, etc). From 2001 to 2003, the band performed in various Nagoya nightclubs, while in early 2004 the band was chosen to be a part of a country-wide tour known as the Japan Club Tour. During the tour, the trio garned a large portion of their Japanese fanbase, and were also able to get signed to record company Ki/oon Records.
The vocalists Micro (stylized as MICRO) and Kuro (stylized as KURO) are both originally from the United States. Micro spent a portion of his childhood in Kentucky, while Kuro said that he lived in Chicago, Illinois until he was twelve years old.
Shortly after being signed by a record company, the group released an album containing the song "Home Sweet Home (Reborn.)" which became one of the most requested songs on Japanese radio stations for the rest of the year 2004, later in July of the same year, Home Made Kazoku released their first single "Summer Time Magic". This single ranked 15th on the Oricon record charts for nearly 10 weeks straight.
After a series of single releases, including "Thank You!!", which was used as the second ending theme to the largely popular shounen anime Bleach, while their song "Shounen Heart" was used as the second opening theme to the anime "Eureka Seven". Their first full-length album "Rock the World" was released the same year as the anime, while also entering the Oricon charts and managing to peak at the 5th spot, while also staying in the top 20 for the next eight weeks. As a summary, the album sold 191,744 copies and became the 78th best selling album of 2005.
After their first album, the group went on several tours and concomitantly released several singles. They also released their second and third albums, "Musication" on February 15, 2006 and "Familia" on March 14, 2007.
On another note, the tickets to their second tour were sold out within the span of one hour, which set a record in Japanese music. In January of 2007, it was announced that they would perform the first ending theme to the anime Naruto Shippuden, otherwise known as "Nagareboshi Shooting Star". This single entered the Oricon charts and peaked at 10th place. Later on one of their members, Micro, was featured on the Abingdon Boys School song "Lost Reason" as it appeared on their self-titled album.
Home Made Kazoku has performed for a promotional commercial for a product called "Walky Walky" with their song "Easy Walk". In addition, Home Made Kazoku's single, "No Rain No Rainbow", was chosen to be the movie theme for the second Naruto Shippuden movie, respectively titled Naruto: Shippuden - Kizuna. Then later in 2011, Home Made Kazoku returned to Naruto Shippuden for the third time with the song "FREEDOM", which was used as the 17th ending theme.
In their official blog on August 2016 the trio stated that they would go on an indefinite hiatus by the end of the year. According to the comment by group member Micro, the group is taking a hiatus to "grow individually and take on new challenges." The group's three members will then pursue solo careers.
Members:
- MICRO (real name 新美太祐, Taisuke Niimi) - MC, in-charge of lyrics and composition
- KURO (real name 水谷Samuel聡史, Satoru Samuel Mizutani) - MC, in-charge of lyrics and composition
- U-ICHI (real name 竹本裕一, Yuuichi Takemoto) - DJ, founding member and in-charge of lyrics and composition
Former Members:
- HOZE (1996-2001) - MC
(Source: Wikipedia (Home Made Kazoku), edited)
