Teriyaki Boyz

Japanese rap supremos Teriyaki Boyz formed in Tokyo, Japan in 2005, and released their playful debut album that year, Beef or Chicken, sculpted by an all-star cast of electronic and hip-hop producers that included Adrock of the Beastie Boys, Cornelius, Cut Chemist, Daft Punk, Dan the Automator, DJ Premier, DJ Shadow, Just Blaze, Jermaine Dupri, Mark Ronson and The Neptunes. The album – which contained the Daft Punk-produced single "HeartBreaker" – was released on Def Jam and helped to establish Teriyaki Boyz as one of the leading lights of 2000s Japanese hip-hop. In 2006, the supergroup – composed of Ilmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, Verbal from M-Flo, rapper Wise and Nigo, the DJ and founder of the popular Japanese streetwear phenomenon A Bathing Ape – contributed two songs to the soundtrack for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and three years later released their second album, Serious Japanese, which peaked at Number 4 on Japan's Oricon Albums Chart. The group worked with a number of hip-hop heavyweights including Kanye West, with whom they recorded "I Still Love H.E.R." in 2007, as well as Jay-Z, Pharrell, Busta Rhymes, and Big Sean.