Nujabes

In his hometown of Tokyo, Nujabes exerted considerable influence over the hip-hop scene. The owner of a record shop who also started his own label, this DJ and producer—born Seba Jun, the reversed spelling of his adopted name—issued roughly two dozen singles and several albums marked by his talent for layered, sample-rich productions. Metaphorical Music, his first full-length effort, appeared in 2003. Further milestones came with the music he supplied for the anime series Samurai Champloo, issued on two separate 2004 collections, along with Modal Soul in 2005, where Terry Callier contributed to a new version of “Ordinary Joe.” Nujabes lost his life in a traffic accident in 2010 at the age of 36. Tributes included the compilation Modal Soul Classics II and tracks created by Funky DL, Abstrakt Idea, Ta-Ku, and many other artists. The posthumous release Spiritual State followed in 2011.