SEAMO

Taking his cue from the wave of Westernization in Japan's urban music scene, R&B-heavy rapper Seamo took a stab at success in 2004, collaborating with the highly popular female hip-hop duo Bennie K (and under a slightly more clichéd name, the "Seamonator"). With strong results on the track, Seamo released his debut in 2005, which garnered only mild success on the ever-competitive Oricon charts. After a pair of mediocre chart positions for his first singles, Seamo took a short break, returning to his roots with a Bennie K collaboration. He reached the Top 20, if only briefly, but this had little effect on the success of his debut album. 2006 saw Seamo return with a new single, "Mata Aimashou," again cracking the Top 20 It lingered on the charts with sustained sales over a long period of time and even hit a few year-end lists in Japan. With growing popularity, Seamo enlisted a series of better-known stars for his follow-up album Live Goes On, which reached the elusive Oricon number one position on the week of its release. 2007's Cry Baby performed well, but it was 2008's Round About, with a new batch of star cameos, that brought Seamo back onto the charts strongly, peaking at number two. ~ Adam Greenberg