FORCE OF NATURE

Force of Nature (stylized as FORCE OF NATURE) is a hip-hop DJ and production duo from Tokyo, Japan. The group is composed of members , known by his stage name KZA, and , known by his stage name DJ Kent or The Backwoods. Known internationally for their DJ work as well as their production, the duo is also credited as part of the production team that scored the music for the anime series Samurai Champloo. Biography Early years with Yotsukaido Nature In the 1990s, KZA (then known by the name Kita & Zawa), DJ Kent, and Akira "Mic Akira" Nakano were originally in a Japanese hip-hop group called Yotsukaido Nature (四街道ネイチャー), which was named after the city of Yotsukaidō, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. KZA, a founding member of the group, was an emcee with Mic Akira at the time while Kent joined the group as a DJ and producer after the departure of the original DJ for the group. Yotsukaido Nature made appearances such as on the track "Ookinaosewa (Say What)" from Japanese hip-hop group Kimidori's self-titled album in 1993. They would go on to release their self-titled EP, the single "HIGH-NIKKEN", and a collaboration with Japanese punk rock band Super Stupid in 1995. In 1996, the group would also take part in the hip-hop concerts Thumpin' Camp and the Little Bird Nation Summer Festival that were both held at the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in Tokyo, Japan. After teaming up to produce a breakbeat called "Urban Combatt 2001" for their 1998 studio album V.I.C. Tomorrow, KZA and DJ Kent took the name "Force of Nature" as the name of their production project, which was a play on the word "Yotsu" (meaning "fourth" which is similar to "force") and inspired by the names of both the album Done by the Forces of Nature by the American hip-hop group Jungle Brothers and the name of the American hip-hop group Naughty By Nature. After releasing two more singles for the album, Yotsukaido Nature dissolved, KZA retired as an emcee, and FORCE OF NATURE would continue as a DJ/production duo focused on instrumental music with beats inspired by hip hop, disco, techno, house music, dub music, and electronica.