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Dan "the Automator" Nakamura is a
hip-hop producer most known for his work in the mid to late 19
90s and early 20
00s. Nakamura's most well-known production work includes The NBA 2K7 video game soundtrack, the commercially successful
Dr. Octagon project with
Kool Keith, and the widely successful anime influenced
trip-hop project
Gorillaz. He is also renowned in underground circles for spearheading the critically acclaimed underground projects
Handsome Boy Modeling School with
Prince Paul;
Deltron 3030 with
Del tha Funkee Homosapien;
Head Automatica with
Daryl Palumbo and
Kid Koala; and
Lovage with
Mike Patton and
Jennifer Charles.
From San Francisco, his early 1990's debut 12" "
Music To Be Murdered By" that sampled Hitchcock and was released as "
The Automator" earned him radio play and a serious street rep. Nakamura became a major figure in the somewhat higher-brow rap
underground that developed while
mainstream hip-hop integrated its successful
gangsta image with the also-popular
Miami Bass party-jam style, with heavy borrowing from its ignored
soul music roots. Avenues of rap which pursued more introspective, creative, and esoteric angles became brushed aside, admired by fans with more eclectic musical tastes and appreciation for dense lyrical constructions and obscure or off-beat musical inspirations.
Nakamura's work tends to integrate significant amounts of overlooked 19
70s and 19
80s kitsch, cult classics, and B-grade 1990s television material. His work also tends to make heavy use of
classical music and science fiction overtones and references, the latter with hip hop roots in the space jams of
Parliament. Sci-fi also pops up in the hip hop oeuvres of
RZA and
Jedi Mind Tricks, among others, both in and out of collaborations with Dan the Automator.
Trained in classical
violin as a child, Nakamura was more attracted to early
electronica and hip-hop. After dabbling as a
DJ, he gave up on the skill and instead worked on musical production, taking on small gigs until getting his major break working with
Kool Keith.
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