Hideki Naganuma

Hideki Naganuma[lower-alpha 1] (born May 16, 1972)[1] is a Japanese composer and DJ who primarily does work for video games. Naganuma is best known for his score for the game Jet Set Radio and its sequel Jet Set Radio Future.

Hideki Naganuma
長沼 英樹
Also known asskankfunk, Funky Uncle
Born (1972-05-16) May 16, 1972
Hokkaidō, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)Keyboards, synthesizers, turntables
Years active1993–present

Early life

Naganuma started his musical career by playing the electronic organ, aged five, under the influence of his older sister. When he was fourteen, he became interested in western music and composed his own songs. He then decided to have a job in the music business.[1] During 1993 to 1997, he worked as both a DJ and bartender. He was also aiming to become a singer-songwriter in the J-pop industry,[2] although he dropped this plan.

Career

1998–2008: Work with Sega

Naganuma sent demo tapes to Sega in 1998. His application was accepted, with voice editing for Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru Monogatari and composition for Hip Jog Jog being among his first works with the company, the latter of which he worked with senior composer Kenichi Tokoi.

In 2000, he served as the lead composer for Jet Set Radio, serving as his breakthrough work. He took inspiration from big beat music for the game. He would go on to compose for its sequel Jet Set Radio Future in 2002, along with Ollie King in 2003, also developed by Smilebit. In 2005, he composed a large portion of Sonic Rush's soundtrack, of which he was later nominated at the Golden Joystick Awards for Soundtrack of the Year.[3][4] The following year, he was responsible for music supervision and composing two tracks for the anime adaption of Air Gear, itself being influenced by Jet Set Radio. For contractual reasons, he used the "skankfunk" alias as he was still employed at Sega at the time, while Air Gear had nothing to do with Sega.[5] He also created a remix of "Fuusen Gum" for the anime Gintama, but similarly was not credited at the time.

During his later years with Sega, Naganuma was part of Yakuza's team, where his role was mostly limited to voice editing and producing sound effects. The boss of its team did not allow him to work on the soundtrack of Sonic Rush Adventure.[6] Following his work on Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! in 2008, he left Sega to become a freelance composer. He has continued to work on Sega games under his "skankfunk" alias, including Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō and Super Monkey Ball 3D.

2008–present: Freelance work

During the earlier years following his departure from Sega, Naganuma contributed a handful of tracks to various Sega games such as Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō and Super Monkey Ball 3D, under the skankfunk alias. In 2012, he contributed the track "Luv Can Save U" for the 20th installment of Konami's arcade rhythm game Beatmania IIDX, and for the 21st installment an extended mix of the aforementioned track. In 2014, Naganuma contributed to the charity CD Game Music Prayer II for relief of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake with an original track titled "Aria di Maria".[7]

By the late 2010s, he became popular on the social network platform Twitter, where he frequently interacts with fans and posts internet memes and shitposts related to Jet Set Radio and other media, such as Family Guy, Among Us, Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger, and Big Chungus.[8][9]

As a result of his online popularity and musical success, he has contributed tracks to a number of indie games inspired by Jet Set Radio. In 2017, Naganuma contributed two new original songs for the game Hover.[10] In 2018, Naganuma released the track "Ain't Nothin' Like a Funky Beat" as a part of the Lethal League Blaze soundtrack,[11] which featured other notable composers such as Frank Klepacki, Pixelord, Bignic, and Klaus Veen.[12] He was set to compose for Streets of Rage 4,[13] but due to schedule complications and copyright ownership issues, he withdrew from the project in 2020.[14][15]

Naganuma admitted that since leaving Sega, he has made attempts to work for Nintendo, after the topic was brought up by fans of the Splatoon franchise that he should have worked on the latest games' soundtrack, who drew parallels between it and his previous works.[16] He composed for indie game Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, which was released on August 18, 2023.[17] He has also expressed a desire to create an original album and clarified he is not active in the gaming industry.[18]

Musical style

Naganuma's early sound is often labelled as an energetic, rhythm-heavy blend of hip hop, electronic, dance, funk, jazz, and rock.[19][20][21] His music was produced to match the visual style of the games he was working on as closely as possible, and experimented with voices, cutting and rearranging samples to the point that they become nonsensical.[20] Since the release of Jet Set Radio, Naganuma's sound has incorporated many elements of breakbeat,[12][22] gabber,[22] and EDM.[23]

Discography

As video game composer

Sole composer unless noted otherwise.

Year Title Notes Refs
1998 Hip Jog Jog [24][25]
1999 Sega Rally 2 Dreamcast and PC versions of the game. Composer with Tomonori Sawada. [24]
Atsumare! Guru Guru Onsen Composer with various others. [24]
Jet Set Radio Additional tracks by Richard Jacques, Deavid Soul, Toronto, and B.B. Rights. [24][26]
2000 JRA PAT Composed the song "Ebb & Flow" which is the only known track. [24][27]
2001 Typing Jet [28]
2002 Jet Set Radio Future Composer with Richard Jacques, featuring various rock, hip hop, and breakbeat artists. [24][29]
2003 J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 3 [30]
2004 Ollie King [30]
2005 Sonic Rush Additional music by Teruhiko Nakagawa, along with Masayoshi Ishi and Hiroyuki Hamada of T's Music. [31][32]
2010 Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō Credited as skankfunk.
Composer and arranger with various others.		 [30]
2011 Super Monkey Ball 3D [30]
2012 Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura Hen [30]
2013 Dead Heat Riders [33]

As other

These are for media which Naganuma did not serve as main composer, but still contributed original music.

Video games
Year Title Notes Refs
2006 Sega Rally 2006 Composed the song "Boosted". [34]
2012 Yakuza 5 Credited as skankfunk.
Composed the song "Vendor Pop".		 [35]
Beatmania IIDX 20: Tricoro Composed the song "LUV CAN SAVE U". [30]
2013 Beatmania IIDX 21: Spada Remixed the song "LUV CAN SAVE U" from Beatmania IIDX 20: Tricoro. [30]
2016 WAR OF BRAINS Composed the song "FEEL THE POWER IN YOUR SOUL". [30]
2017 Hover Composed the songs "HEAVEN★UP" and "NEVER 4EVER". [36]
2018 Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight Remixed the song "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" originally by Shoji Meguro. [30]
Lethal League Blaze Composed the song "AIN'T NOTHING LIKE A FUNKY BEAT". [30]
2019 Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD Composed the song "Freezing Paradise". [30]
2020 Warp Drive Composed the song "PUMPIN' JUMPIN'". [37]
2023 Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Songs released: "GET 'ENUF",[38] "JACK DA FUNK",[39] and "DA PEOPLE".		 [38][39]

Anime
Year Title Notes Refs
2006 Air Gear Credited as skankfunk.
Composed the songs "LOVE SENSATION" and "SKY-2-HIGH".		 [40]
Gintama Uncredited remix "Fuusen Gum -Gintama mix-". [30]

Original songs and remixes
Year Title Notes Refs
2001 REMIXES_GVR by Guitar Vader Remix "I Love Love You [Love Love Super Dimension Mix]". [24][41]
2003 Juku Nanka Ikanai from Kagai Jugyo Arranged "Juku Nanka Ikanai" with music and lyrics by Etsujiro Goto, and vocals by Miki Tanabe. [42][43]
2007 Dance Nochikara SONG-EP by Dengeki Chomoramma Corps Remix "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree (skank funky mix)". [44]
2012 Yasashii Kimochi by Chara Remix "Yasashii Kimochi (Gentle Heart) [Girls Be Aggressive Mix]". [45]
2013 Juku Nanka Ikanai from Kagai Jugyo Previously unreleased remix "Juku Nanka Ikanai [Nanka Samba Mix]". [46]
Love Theme from Dogusare Nyanko Original song "Love Theme".
Originally made for an unreleased game titled "Dogusare Nyanko".		 [47][48]
2014 Game Music Prayer II Original song "Aria di Maria".
Charity album for relief of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.		 [7]

Production credits

These are for video games which Naganuma has been credited for roles other than as a composer.

Year Title Notes Refs
1998 Revolutionary Girl Utena: Story of the Someday Revolution Voice editing. [24]
Hip Jog Jog Game sound effects designer. [24]
1999 Jet Set Radio Game sound effects designer, voice processing, and programming. [24]
2000 Daytona USA 2001 Game sound effects designer. [24]
2001 Super Galdelic Hour Voice processing. [49]
World Advanced Daisenryaku Music editing. [24]
2004 Ollie King Game sound effects designer, arranger, and mixing engineer. [24][30]
2005 Yakuza Special thanks on sound team. [30]
2006 Sonic Rush Game sound effects designer. [30]
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz [30]
Yakuza 2 [30]
2008 Yakuza Kenzan Game sound effects designer and cutscene tracks. [50]

Notes
  1. Japanese: 長沼 英樹, Hepburn: Naganuma Hideki

References
  1. "Hideki Naganuma Interview". Archived from the original on September 27, 2003. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  2. Naganuma, Hideki. "I had written lyrics. Long ago, I was trying 2 be a singer-songwriter in J-Pop industry. But 4 games… no plan at this moment". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  3. "SEGA". Archived from the original on January 16, 2007. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
  4. Mambrucchi, Steeve (December 5, 2005). "Sonic Rush Test". JeuxActu (in French). Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  5. Naganuma, Hideki. "It's a contractual matter". Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  6. Naganuma, Hideki (June 18, 2020). "I wanted to make music for Sonic Rush Adventure too but my boss didn't let me do it. Because I was in Yakuza team at the time". Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  7. Ohji, Masashi (April 15, 2014). "東日本大震災義援金チャリティCD「Game Music Prayer 2」がM3などで限定リリース。49組のゲーム音楽作曲家が参加した2枚組みコンピアルバム". www.4gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  8. Frank, Allegra (April 27, 2017). "Jet Set Radio composer would like to remind you that he can't make a new game happen". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  9. Murray, Sean (March 17, 2020). "Is A Famed Game Composer Thirsty For Family Guy's Lois Griffin?". TheGamer. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
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  11. Sullivan, Lucas (December 20, 2018). "How Lethal League Blaze became the future's best ball game". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  12. Pavlovic, Uros (September 10, 2018). "Lethal League Blaze PS4 Officially Coming Out During 2019". PlayStation LifeStyle. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  13. Romano, Sal (July 17, 2019). "Streets of Rage 4 'Behind the Tracks' developer diary". Gematsu. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  14. Wong, Alistar (March 20, 2020). "Hideki Naganuma No Longer Composing Streets of Rage 4 Soundtrack Due to Scheduling Complications". Siliconera. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  15. Naganuma, Hideki (December 9, 2020). "Naganuma's reasons for dropping out of SoR4". Twitter. Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
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  17. Faulkner, Cameron (August 21, 2023). "August games you might have missed". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  18. 第1676回　Game Music Composer　Hideki Naganuma (Video) (in Japanese). December 17, 2019.
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  31. SONIC RUSH Original Groove Rush (CD) (in Japanese). November 23, 2006.
  32. Sega (2005). Sonic Rush (Nintendo DS). Scene: Credits.
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  36. Devore, Jordan (April 19, 2017). "The composer of Jet Set Radio has new music for Hover". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  37. "HIDEKI NAGANUMA、「PUMPIN' JUMPIN'」を配信開始｜THE MAGAZINE". THE MAGAZINE (in Japanese). November 29, 2020. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
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  40. "ＴＶアニメ「エア・ギア」オリジナルサウンドトラック ＡＩＲ ＧＥＡＲ ＷＨＡＴ Ａ ＧＲＯＯＶＹ ＴＲＩＣＫ！！". Archived from the original on August 29, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
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  42. オムニバス; エンジェル; 子供天国; 清水小百合; 織姫; ソ・アレグリア, 課外授業, archived from the original on August 3, 2023, retrieved September 16, 2021
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  44. 電撃チョモランマ隊「ダンスノチカラ SONG編 - EP」収録の "大きな栗の木の下で(skankfunky mix)" をiTunesで (in Japanese), archived from the original on September 16, 2021, retrieved September 16, 2021
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  49. "Super Galdelic Hour Credits". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
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