Dragon Ash


Dragon Ash is a Japanese rap rock group founded in 1996 by Kenji "KJ" Furuya and Sakurai Makoto. They were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. Dragon Ash is a member of Mob Squad, which is an affiliation with the bands Source and Endive. Dragon Ash uses the French fleur-de-lis as their band logo/symbol.

History

Dragon Ash started out as a punk rock group. Lead singer and guitarist Kenji Furuya, son of actor Ikko Furuya, met drummer Makoto Sakurai when they were junior high students in a Tokyo suburb, and the two started playing together. Though temporarily sidetracked into following in his father's footsteps, Furuya gave up the few acting gigs that he was getting on TV dramas to concentrate on music in high school. In 1996, they took on bass player Ikuzo Baba, ten years their senior. The group debuted in 1997 with two EPs at the beginning of the year, The Day Dragged On and Public Garden, influenced by Nirvana. By the end of the year and time of their release, Mustang!, the group had progressed to a blend of various pop and rock influences.
Through 1998 their popularity increased, and by the time of Buzz Songs, their sound had solidified to rap rock, helped with the mixing skills of DJ Bots, who occasionally appeared on some songs. Two singles – "Let Yourself Go, Let Myself Go" and "Grateful Days," the latter featuring hardcore rapper Zeebra and soulstress ACO – sold so well that they topped the Japanese single and album Oricon charts; also simultaneously, usually reserved for pop music.
Their fourth single, "Let Yourself Go, Let Myself Go", reached number 7 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart, and eventually climbed to number 4, selling a total of 640,000 copies. The band simultaneously released their fifth and sixth singles, "Grateful Days" and "I Love Hip Hop", which debuted at number 3 and number 4, respectively. When these two singles debuted, "Let Yourself Go, Let Myself Go" had not yet dropped off the top 10 chart, giving Dragon Ash three top 10 singles at the same time.
The band finally reached the peak of their success when they released their third album, Viva la Revolution, in July 1999 and it hit number 1 on its debut week. The album has sold in excess of 2,000,000 copies.
During 1999, Dragon Ash had become a four-piece, with DJ Bots essential to the mix. In 2000, Dragon Ash undertook the Total Music Communication Tour, touring Japan with a lineup that included other rising rock acts, such as Missile Girl Scout, Penpals, and Skebou Kings. Meanwhile, Furuya and DJ Bots formed a duo of sorts, writing and producing songs for acts such as Sugar Soul under the name Steady & Co. Likewise, Baba and Sakurai sidelined as a remixing unit called Motor Headphone, popping up on various compilations. The full band released Lily of da Valley in 2001.
Dragon Ash collaborated with the hip hop group Rappagariya on "Deep Impact" in 2000. In 2003 the group expanded to include its full current roster of members, bringing in Hiroki, Atsushi, and Dri-V. In 2007 they celebrated their 10th anniversary by simultaneously releasing two best-of albums, The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol. 1 and The Best of Dragon Ash with Changes Vol. 2. Both albums hit number 1 upon their debut.
Bandleader Kenji Furuya released his first solo album Everything Becomes The Music from Victor Entertainment in mid-2015. Following his solo debut song "Swallow Dive" in March 2015, anime director Kenji Kamiyama directed a music video for "Stairway", the leading track from the album.
Dragon Ash covered "Rocket Dive" for the June 6, 2018 hide tribute album Tribute Impulse.

Members

Former members
Support member
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
  • Space Shower Music Video Awards – Best Rock Video – "Life Goes On" '
  • Japan Countdown Awards – Best Group '
  • MTV Video Music Awards Japan – Best Rock Video – Fantasista
  • HMV Japan Top 100 Japanese Pop Artists of All Time – '
  • Oricon Album Sales – Mob Squad '
  • Oricon Album Sales – Harvest '
  • Oricon Single Sales – "Morrow" '
  • Oricon Weekly Album Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking – Harvest '
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking – "Morrow" '
  • Oricon Weekly Album Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking – Mob Squad '
  • Dragon Ash 'House of Velocity Nationwide Tour' '
2004
2005
  • Oricon Album Sales - Río de Emoción '
  • Oricon Single Sales - crush the window '
  • Oricon Single Sales - Yuunagi UNION '
  • Oricon Weekly Album Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - Río de Emoción '
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - crush the window '
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - Yuunagi Union '
  • Dragon Ash '~Río de Emoción~ National Tour' '
2006
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - Ivory '
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - few lights till night '
  • Oricon Weekly Single Chart Top 10 Highest Ranking - Yume de Aetara '
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
  • First Dragon Ash single with two music videos released.
2017
2018
Albums
Singles
Best-selling music artists list in Japan
Albums
Singles
DVD/Blu-ray

EPs

Digital download-limited singles
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2004