Nice informations!

Thank you for posting the lyrics of this song!

I thought that this was a Nihongo song!

awesome. i wish i knew tagalog so i can understand the funky japanese language used in that song

Here is an article from Philippine Star about the group!

The new sound of Pinoy hip-hop


With the demise of the sounds of F4 and its ilk, there has been a quiet but determined search among local music lovers for new sounds that will dictate the coming trends. Well, it looks like one has been found and surprisingly, it is hip-hop spiced with a Japanese spin. You must have seen the video and heard the song. You also probably thought it was an import from Japan. It is not. The tune is titled Itsumo, which means "always" in Japanese and it is from the album Mobbstar by Dice & K9, a famous group from Cebu that has now invaded the airlanes of Manila.

Dice & K9 is made up of Dice Rosaroso who is also the album producer; Miguel Salinas known as K9; Hi-C or Honey Rosaroso, who is married to Dice; and teen-aged rapper Ivan Maningo who calls himself Trapp. Because it is Dice and K9 who set the tone of the music, the group, despite the other members, is known as Dice and K9. They were all previously involved with other groups and have done recordings in the past but it was as Dice & K9 that they finally hit the big time.

It started when Dice decided to record with K9 for his own indie label, 6000 Goonz. Dice came in as only a guest in the recording. That partnership resulted in Bounce, which became a big hit in Cebu. After that K9 became Dice and K9 and acquired two more members Hi-C and Trapp. More hits like Scenario, Like That and Can You Feel Me followed and it was not long after this that they were discovered and brought to Manila by Warner Music.

Well, Dice & K9 scored big on its first time out in the big league with Itsumo and a lot of people are actually wondering how this happened. The Dice & K9 mix is very commercial. They make strong grooves as in Contrajuz, write lyrics that echo nursery rhymes, 2 Da Beat Yo’ rap with youthful nonchalance, Shake and then bring a distinct sweetness into the package with Hi-C’s vocals, Bestfriends. The wonder of it all is that while these guys rap in English, the total effect is still hip-hop Filipino style.

It would have been nice of Bounce or any of the group’s early hits had been included in Mobbstar because that will give us an idea of how their sound evolved. But they are doing very well with the album so there should be no reason to complain. The other songs in the album are Good Wayz,Vaporz, That Old Feeling, Whoa! De Ja Vu and two cuts of Itsumo including one they call the Nightstand Remix.

Do you think Itsumo will generate a demand for real Japanese hip-hop music? Not likely and I hope not. Do you think we will be able to stand getting a deluge of Nihongo rappers! Not that there is anything wrong with them. It is just that during these crucial times in the music industry we can really do better with too much foreign competition. But then, one cannot really tell what will happen after Itsumo, what with the eternally trendy Pinoy ever on the lookout for whatever is new and seemingly stylish.

So these people are from Cebu!

haha the japanese in some parts are totally wrong, seems like they made their own spelling of it.

but the japanese part here is from utada hikaru's "first love" song.

u guys probably know that song. Jessa Zaragosa copied that song and made english lyrics out of it.

it's a good thing that an indie group was able to reach national attention just like what happened to Urbandub. but it was quite a long time before Itsumo reached Manila. i mean, i think it was 4 months after the Cebuanos got tired of listening to the song. btw, the original singer of the Japanese chorus isn't Hi-C. it was really a Japanese girl who sang it but i forgot the name. maybe i'll do research on it.

indie - short term for independent. this refers to bands/music artists that are not part of the giant music corporations like BMG, Sony, etc therefore they create their own music without pressure from these big companies to go POP even though they are a rock band, an RNB, etc.

here's a link: http://music.indiefilipino.com

btw, try listening to Scenario by Dice&K9. it's cool.. and it's not Japanese, it's English.

So it was already 4 months that the song is being sung in Cebu!

actually about last january 2004. it kept playing in the local radios i was practically bored with it.

ganon? more pictures pa nga...

sorry i dont have pictures of them. i rarely listen to them live. i prefer Urbandub and other Cebu-based bands compared to them although i admire the way they changed rap Filipino-style. and they speak good English too compared to Tagalog-speaking rap artists.. no offense meant.

i just want to see a member of them clearly... the one with tha cap...

really? he's actually small. hehe maybe about 5'5". i won't tell if its Dice or K9 since i'm quite confused with them. but the tall one is about 5'10".

hmmm salamat po kuya.....

Ei, if you wanna make a comment make it sure... Hi-C is Sahi Yuichiro, she made the name herself for itsumo alone "gimik lang".... check out there site www.diceandk9.com

I saw them live alot of times & ya its her, its Hi-c alright...

You should know this better because dba your from bohol & malapit lang yun sa Cebu, dba ITSUMO was 1st heard in Cebu July of 2003 then it reached VISMIN area & it topped the charts there... then it reached manila January 2004 na, then nag top din, for me its the most Phenomenal song a Cebuano ever made.

Well, I don’t know who Hi-C is or Sahi Yoshihara is either? Are you sure it’s Sahi? Maybe it’s Sashi? In any case Kaged does seem to be correct. Here’s the Japanese lyrics from Itsumo posted above.

Itsumo kokoro we hoshi itstuka
Dare katu mata koi nei utchitimu
Itsumo kokoro nei eiro itsumo
Anata dake no basho ga aru kara

From these lyrics the use of Romanization of Japanese words would not fit an English pronunciation. If it were to represent the pronunciation of syllables in Filipino, then maybe. But even then things still seem a little off.

As for the Japanese lyrics coming from Utada’s song first love. If I change the spelling of the Japanese Romanized words from Itsumo to that of standard Romanization, and then compared them to lyrics from First Love take a look at what we would get…

Itsumo
Itsumo kokoro wa hoshi
itstuka Dare ka to mata koi ni ochite mo

Itsumo kokoro ni iru
itsumo Anata dake no basho ga aru kara

First Love
you are always gonna be my love
itsuka dare ka to mata koi ni ochite mo

you will always be inside my heart
itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara

See the similarities. Now if you do a rough translation of “Itsumo kokoro wa hoshi” and “Itsumo kokoro ni iru” to English what you would basically have is…

Itsumo
you are always gonna be my love
itstuka, Dare ka to mata koi ni ochite mo

you will always be inside my heart
itsumo, Anata dake no basho ga aru kara

The exact same two lines from Utada’s First Love. Coincidence or rip off?

i think star_6g was referring to me. yes, im from Bohol which is just a few nautical miles away but Cebu's culture doesn't influence us quickly so what's hot there doesn't basically mean it's "uso" in our place too.

and as for when the song was aired, i didnt post it. i was trying to tell kung when actually "sumikat".

^so it's the same? or what?

The guy on the left reminds me of Kenji Furuya from Dragon Ash. Coincidence? Maybe.

I think it’s pretty obvious that the Japanese part of the song was taken from Utada’s First Love. I wonder if she gets any royalties for it... Probably not.

no royalties whatsoever.

so why are they did they ads a chorus in japanese?, was that a popular song in Philippines???

there are many new version to this song, there's the exact tagalog translation of the english version and other version