BMSG FES’23 to Be Streamed Worldwide

Rapper SKY-HI's management company/label BMSG just celebrated its third anniversary with a two-weekend extravaganza called BMSG FES’23 held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on September 23rd and 24th and at Osaka-Jo Hall on September 30th and October 1st. Recently, it was announced that overseas fans will be able to experience the shows as well, as video footage of the event will be made available for streaming worldwide via ZAIKO on October 14th.

Building on the success of last year's BMSG FES, where the label’s entire roster dropped a surprise single titled New Chapter under the name BMSG ALLSTARS, this year’s event introduced a new concept by splitting the artists into two groups that each released an original song. As BMSG FES’23 took place in both Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two largest cities, the groups were divided into BMSG EAST and BMSG WEST, based on the artists' hometowns.

BMSG EAST consists of SKY-HI himself, rapper Novel Core, BE:FIRST members SOTA, JUNON and LEO, singer-songwriter Aile The Shota, MAZZEL members TAKUTO and HAYATO and trainees RUI, KANON and TAIKI. They released the track The Sun from the EAST, which is described as a “vibrant mix of dance and hip hop, resounding horn sections, and a playful mic-relaying that harkens back to the early 2000s East coast hip-hop scene”.

BMSG WEST consists of BE:FIRST members SHUNTO, RYUHEI, RYOKI and MANATO, MAZZEL members KAIRYU, NAOYA, RAN, SEITO, RYUKI and EIKI, singer REIKO and rapper edhiii boi. They released The Moon in the WEST, which described as a “diligently arranged track enabled by repetitive hard drum beats and captivating piano riffs…[that is] reminiscent of early 2000s West Coast hip hop”.

Like BMSG FES’22, this year’s installment featured a number of other special collaborations, including a new original song called MF from rapper Novel Core and BE:FIRST members RYOKI and SHUNTO, which was released on digital platforms following the end of the event. Other highlights included a performance of YOLO, a song SHUNTO, Aile The Shota, TAIKI, RUI and REIKO wrote and performed together during BMSG’s audition show “THE FIRST” and a remix of SKY-HI's song One More Day featuring REIKO and BMSG’s three other original artist trainees, RAN, KAIRYU and SEITO.

BMSG FES’23 will become available for streaming beginning at 6:00pm (JST) on October 14th. The video is 4.5 hours long, featuring 60 songs performed by BMSG’s 23 artists and trainees. English subtitles will be provided for the talk sections and stage banter. Following the initial broadcast, ticket holders will be able to watch the archive on-demand until 11:59pm (JST) on October 31st.

Tickets are priced at 4,800 yen, and they will be available for purchase here until 7pm (JST) on October 31st. 

The music videos for The Sun from the EAST, The Moon in the WEST and MF can be viewed below.