Seamo

Drawing inspiration from the growing Western influences reshaping Japan's city-based music landscape, the R&B-centric rapper Seamo pursued commercial traction in 2004 by teaming with the prominent female hip-hop duo Bennie K under the alias Seamonator. The resulting track paved the way for his first album in 2005, which registered only modest placements on the fiercely contested Oricon rankings. After two early singles landed in middling chart territory, Seamo stepped away briefly before circling back to his origins through a fresh Bennie K collaboration. That single briefly entered the Top 20 yet produced little uplift for his debut album. In 2006 he resurfaced with the single "Mata Aimashou," which once more cracked the Top 20, sustained chart presence through steady sales across many weeks, and earned spots on several Japanese year-end tallies. Capitalizing on rising visibility, Seamo recruited a roster of established names for the follow-up Live Goes On, which debuted at number one on the Oricon chart. Cry Baby in 2007 delivered respectable numbers, but Round About in 2008, buoyed by another round of high-profile guest spots, returned him to stronger chart contention by peaking at number two.