Same Thing - EP

Gen Hoshino is a Japanese actor, writer, and musician, releasing jazzy, soul-influenced pop. With this four-track EP, Hoshino indulges in hip-hop with his signature unorthodox touches. Sung entirely in English, “Same Thing” is a fun, middle-fingers-aloft concoction that recalls CeeLo’s “F**k You.” Superorganism boosts the track’s heat factor with saucy retorts and an allusion to Lost in Translation. On “Sarashi-mono,” Hoshino employs a stumbling hip-hop beat and vintage piano lick (think DRAM’s “Broccoli”). And with the supple soul of “Ain’t Nobody Know” and the spare voice-and-guitar ballad “Watashi,” it’s easy to see why Hoshino’s bandwagon—which includes big fan Mark Ronson—is getting full.