The group was formed in 1994 by Ryo-Z and Ilmari, who were later joined by Pes. The Rip in Rip Slyme stands for their initials. Slyme was a popular children's toy at that time. Their name is also a pun on the phrase "lips' rhyme". Winning an amateur rapping contest "Young MCs In Town", they started their musical career with their first albumLips Rhyme in 1995. Later they added DJ Fumiya and Su. In 1998 they released their second album, "Talkin' Cheap" and also took part in Dragon Ash's Total Communication event. Becoming more successful, they signed to Warner Music Group in 2000. By then they had released several indie singles including their EP "Underline No. 5" and "Mata Au Hi Made" which had received the help of Fantastic Plastic Machine. "Mata Au Hi Made" was released on Warner Music Group's Indies label. Their first major single was "Stepper's Delight" released 22 March 2001. The title was a play on The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight". In general, Fumiya composes most of the music, while Ryo-Z, Pes, Ilmari, and Su write their own lyrics. However, before Fumiya became a member, Pes composed most of the songs. Each member has tried their hand at composing music for Rip Slyme, and Pes occasionally plays guitar on some tracks. Allegedly, Pes was in a rock band before being introduced to hip hop music by Ilmari and Ryo-Z. In 2002, they received MTV Video Music Awards Japan for "Best Newcomer" and "Best Hip-hop Group". The same year they released a big-budget album "Tokyo Classic", which became Japan's first million-selling hip-hop album, with a sound compared to James Brown's soul and funk. Two singles from the album, "Funkastic" and "Rakuen Baby" collected MTV awards in 2003. "Super Shooter", featured as a B-side to their single "Galaxy", is the theme song for the animeGantz. From late 2005 through 2006, DJ Fumiya was on extended break, citing illness. For performances, a friend of the band, DJ Soma, was a stand-in. Fumiya's break led to several interesting side projects and collaborations from other members. Fumiya returned to activity for concerts in late summer 2006, and for the Rip Slyme release, Epoch. On 7 July 2007, Rip Slyme performed their single "Nettaiya" at Live Earth in Kyoto, Japan. Later that year, they would go on to release their fifteenth major single, "Speed King", and their seventh Warner album, Funfair, shortly after. In summer 2008, they released "Taiyou to Bikini". Later that year, three digital singles would debut, all of which would be on the February 2009 single "Stairs". Rip Slyme released their eighth album, Journey, on June 10, 2009. Rip Slyme has provided voiceover work as well as the ending theme for an episode of the Japanese dub of SpongeBob SquarePants. The episode aired on May 6, 2009. In 2010, Rip Slyme was one of the artists launched on Warner Music's new sublabel, unBORDE.
Side projects
Ilmari formed a short lived group with Kj and BOTS of Dragon Ash, and Shigeo of Skebo King called Steady & Co.. The group released their debut album Chambers in 2001. Ilmari and Ryo-Z along with Wise, Verbal of M-Flo, and Nigo the founder of A Bathing Ape formed a super group known as Teriyaki Boyz. The Teriyaki Boyz released two albums: Beef or Chicken and Serious Japanese. In 2012 Ilmari formed a Hip-Hop/Rock band named The Beatmoss with Kosen, Yas, and Sohnosuke. The group released two albums: The Beatmoss Vol. 1 and The Beatmoss Vol. 2. Pes released his first solo album, Suteki na Koto in 2012.
