By Nathan Phua

Discovered by Japan Okinawa Training School ( the same school responsible for super girl groups SPEED, MAX) the four cool looking boys from Da Pump made their debut in 1998 with their first single “Feelin' Good~It's Paradise”. The single became a huge smash on Japan's single chart, raising much media attention on what is set to become Japan's first successful R&B boy band who could not only sing and dance, but rap as well. Sister group SPEED pushed Da Pump to the frontline early this year by roping the boys in for their first foray into stardom. The soundtrack movie “Andromedia” also contain Da Pump first hit “Feelin' Good~It's Paradise”. Da Pump is Issa Hentona (vocal, chorus & rap), Ken Okumoto (chorus & rap), Shinobu Miyara (chorus & rap) and Yukinari Tamaki (chorus & rap). 4 guys from Okinawa Prefecture who are into sports, dancing and singing. They met each other in their hometown and created the group, “Da Pump”.

They debuted as pioneers for the label, “Avex Tune” on Jun. 11, 1997 with a maxi single, “Feelin’ Good – It’s Paradise”. A relatively young dance group, they have already released two major albums. Their 11th and latest maxi single, “Com’on! Be My Girl!” was on sale in May 2000 and produced by Akio Togashi. The title track is also the CM song for “Sharp MD-J” that starred them.

Other than singing and dancing together, these 4 chaps prefer different trends too. Issa (21) likes motorcycling, Yukinari (21) likes to buy records, Ken (20) likes to say ‘Konban mi’ and Shinobu (20) likes to watch girls clad in skimpy clothings during summer.

Listen To -

Crazy Beat Goes On

Joyful

I Wonder