generasia:Featured article for 2009 week 40

SEAMO

SEAMO is a Japanese rapper and hip-hop artist under BMG JAPAN. Before his solo debut in 2005, he was known as SEA-MO NATOR (シーモネーター). During this time, he was part of a duo called SEA-MO NATOR & DJ TAKI-SHI, and also collaborated with BENNIE K for their song "Tengu VS Benkei" on the mini-album The BENNIE K Show.

In March 2005, SEAMO made his solo debut with the single "Kanpaku", followed by his second single "DRIVE" five months later. Both singles charted around #50 on Oricon charts, however, it wasn't until SEAMO collaborated again with BENNIE K that he would gain popularity. In October, he released the single "a love story" featuring BENNIE K, two weeks prior to his debut album. Despite the single reaching #14 on Oricon, SEAMO's debut album, Get Back On Stage, did not follow the same success.

Six months later, he released his fourth single "Mata Aimashou". Like "a love story", it reached #14 on Oricon charts and experienced prolonged popularity, selling over 160,000 copies. The follow-up single, "Lupin the Fire", broke the top ten, peaking at #9. SEAMO's sophomore album, Live Goes On, would even further see an exponential rise in popularity; it debuted at #1 on Oricon weekly albums chart.

SEAMO will release his first best album, Best of SEAMO, on October 7, 2009.