starRo
NAME: starRo (Shinya Mizoguchi)
GENRE: Jazz / R&B / Soul / Chill
SOUNDS LIKE: Jonah4Lyfe, Biocratic
LINKS: Soundcloud
A Los Angeles based producer, Shinya Mizoguchi (under the alias starRo) produces music that reflects on where he lives. The bouncy synths and obvious soul and RnB influences create music that just screams “LA”, or at least to me. Interestingly enough, about 10 years ago, Mizoguchi was a salesperson in Japan, but felt trapped by the intensity of the typical Japanese work schedule, and moved to LA to expand his horizons. After a few years of settling down, he finally found his niche in the music world. A more in-depth interview about his move to LA can be found here.
As a listener, I personally find starRo’s tunes great to listen to because they so perfectly combine both US-centric and Japanese styles. In his newest release on Soundcloud, “Great Yard”, the American RnB/Soul style beat is accompanied by Taichi Mukai’s beautiful voice sailing over the bassline in Japanese. I always look forward to seeing Mizoguchi’s new tracks on my feed, but his older tunes are fantastic as well. Favorites of mine include “YAMS” feat. Masego, House Party, and Mizoguchi’s rework of “Diggin’ on You” by TLC.
YAMS feat. Masego
House Party Diggin' on You (rework)