FUNKY MONKEY BABYS

J-pop trio FUNKY MONKEY BABYS first won fame by infusing light hip-hop elements into their music, which can be heard in their 2007 breakout hit, “Lovin’ Life.” ∙ The success of their first No. 1 album, 2009’s Funky Monkey Babys 3, earned them an invitation to perform on the popular Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Year’s Eve special. ∙ Top 10 hit “Ato Hitotsu” won a Japan Record Award and was the at-bat song for New York Yankees pitcher Tanaka Masahiro when he played for Nippon Professional Baseball. ∙ They reworked their Japan Record Award-winning single “Soredemo Shinjiteru” from an uptempo rock track to an uplifting anthem to better reflect the national mood after Japan’s 2011 earthquake. ∙ As a solo artist, frontman Funky Kato scored a pair of Top 10 singles on Billboard’s Japan Hot 100 chart, and his tracks have appeared as TV theme songs over a dozen times.