MIT student studies Japanese hip-hop [and influence] since 1994:

King Giddra’s “911″ reflects on ground zero and it’s aftermath
in two eras: August 1945 and September 11, 2001. This clip of the first
and third verses of the song appears on their 2002 video Saishu Heiki
(Ultimate Weapon) (Defstar Records, Japan, DFVL-8052). In an effort to
bring more voices to the call for peace in these troubled times, I added
the translation, which captures only some of the subtlety of their lyrics.

Japanese Hip-Hop by Ian Condry (MIT)

This site aims to give a small introduction to the world of Japanese
hip-hop, including some of the music with my own translations. The music
and lyrics are for educational and research purposes only. I’m an assistant
professor of Japanese cultural studies at MIT in Foreign Languages and
Literatures, with a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Yale (1999). I’ve
been studying Japanese hip-hop since the summer of 1994, including intensive
fieldwork in Tokyo nightclubs and recording studios for 18 months, from
1995-1997. I have returned to Japan each year since then, and I am currently
writing a book about Japanese hip-hop. http://web.mit.edu/condry/www/jhh/