Jinmenusagi is finally back in form with his first full solo album in a decade! The Tokyo-based rapper’s ALXVE is officially a follow-up to his 2014 offering, LXVE, which was the album that put him on the map back in the days. It was a very solid effort, based around mostly old-school hip-hop beats and was followed by 2015’s even superior Jimesagi (ジメサギ), which saw him going wild and experimental, and trying his hand on and working wonders with trap, which was still pretty new in Japan around that time. He seemed to be in peak form, however, even thought up to that point he was releasing albums quite frequently, he stopped right after Jimesagi and only dropped a couple of collab works and EPs since, along with a bunch of singles and featuring works. While there were some pretty strong releases amongst these, like 2016’s はやいEP (hayai EP), or Dong Jing Ren from 2023, the overall quality was kind of uneven. Still, I had high hopes about his long overdue new full length… and it does not disappoint.

ALXVE starts off good, but it takes a bit until it gets really great with two of the album’s best tunes: the excellent, funky, party bop, Orbis (featuring Anarchy) and BAKI, which is easily the absolute highlight of the album with its slow, oriental flavoured boom bap beats and a memorable contribution from guest MC Senninsho. A bit later, about halfway thru the album slows down with the kinda syrupy Ni De Ai and the mellow-but-atmospheric Usosa. And this could have been a reason to worry: Japanese hip-hop albums in recent years have a tendency to start out fine, but then turn all soft and sticky after a couple of tracks and stay tacky like that until the very end. Which can be pretty disappointing, but luckily that’s ain’t happening here and this slower interlude is followed by some other highlights, like Imajanai, a very fun little banger featuring Hannya and Tomiyama to Yamamoto (with ACE COOL), which gives Jinmenusagi a chance to display his famous spitfire rapping style as well. And with the album back on track, we do not steer off again and after a couple more neat tunes we get to the end with the deliciously heavy Ko Ko Da, produced by none other than the legendary DJ Krush. The previous year Jinmenusagi was a guest on Krush’s latest album, Saisei and now the master of abstract hip-hop is returning the favor, adding yet another layer to ALXVE’s already very diverse musical landscape.

This album is Jinmenusagi’s best work to date, featuring a wide variety of hip-hop subgenres and while there are a few lesser tracks, even those have their place and role, adding something new, something different to the whole. And the guests are also very carefully selected, both the MCs and producers. Besides DJ Krush, the album features some of his usual partners-in-crimes, like Sweet William and DubbyMaple, but actually most of the trackss (including some of the best ones!) were produced by Jinmenusagi himself, using his LEEYVNG moniker. So, ALXVE is a clear testament that Jinmenusagi is definitely on top of his game, both as an MC and as a producer.

Jinmenusagi: ALXVE
2025.11.27 / Label
digital
01.NEET
02.Justin feat. DJ 1an
03.BASHAUMA feat. 鎮座DOPENESS
04.オービス (Orbis) feat. ANARCHY
05.Aruku
06.BAKI feat. 仙人掌 (Senninsho)
07.Shiawase feat. C6ix
08.Ni De Ai feat. D3adStock
09.うそさ (Usosa)
10.今じゃない (Imajanai) feat. 般若 (Hannya)
11.冨山と山本 (Tomiyama to Yamamoto) feat. ACE COOL
12.吉光と花郎 (Yoshimitsu to Hwoarang) feat. DJ 1an
13.新しい友達いらない (Atarashii Tomodachi Iranai)
14.KO KO DA