Written by Ross Locksley on 09 Jan 2024
Great news for soundtrack fans, as the Samurai Champloo soundtrack by Nujabes, fat jon, FORCE OF NATURE and Tsutchie has been released on music subscription services globally.
The 2004 anime still stands tall as one of the most stylish and lauded anime of the last 20 years (blimey, 20 YEARS!). Directed by the legendary Shinichirō Watanabe, it was a perfect blend of historical samurai drama and hip-hop style. Reflecting this was a soundtrack that was modern and exciting by some of the most talented musicians at the time.
From the Press Release:
Director Watanabe, known for his deep appreciation of music, selected four well-known hip-hop artists for this project: Nujabes, fat jon, FORCE OF NATURE, and Tsutchie. The tracks they created for Samurai Champloo were released across four CDs - “departure,” “masta,” “impression,” and “playlist” - and became a smash hit. They were reissued as vinyl in 2022, and the vinyl versions sold an impressive 20,000 copies, maintaining popularity to this day.
Now, in 2024, the 20th anniversary of Samurai Champloo’s TV broadcast, these soundtracks will finally be available on music subscription services worldwide. As the CDs are currently hard to come by, and a record player is required to listen to the vinyl records, this release will enable both domestic and international fans to easily access the soundtrack.
In conjunction with this announcement, an official anime playlist has also been released on Spotify. We hope you will check it out. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the TV broadcast of Samurai Champloo in 2024, various plans are in the works, so please stay tuned for future updates.
The Spotify Official Anime Playlist
If you're not on Spotify, you can also find the tracks on Apple Music, Youtube Music, Amazon, LINE MUSIC, Deezer, AWA, Rakuten Music and Tower Records Music.
Ross founded the UK Anime Network waaay back in 1995 and works in and around the anime world in his spare time. You can read his more personal articles on UKA's sister site, The Anime Independent.
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