During his set at the CHOICE 55 show, KID FRESINO caught fans by surprise as DJ Aru-2 loaded up “Changes,” the song by STUTS and JJJ. The latter rapper was also scheduled to perform at the same show held at Zepp Shinjuku but due to poor health, he cancelled his set the night of. FRESINO rapped his longtime collaborator’s verses in his place. “Engraving / these days that will never come again,” he went, spitting bar for bar with more energy than the cool-headed JJJ himself. A day later, on April 14, Space Shower Music announced that JJJ had passed away. He was 35.

JJJ got his first break in the scene in 2012 with KID FRESINO and another producer-rapper Febb as the hip-hop trio Fla$hbackS. Both as a rapper and producer, he revered the classics while giving the boom-bap a modern twist. His jazzy, free-associative flow became a signature, and grew into an essential part of his music as his verses grew more contemplative about his personal life and the world around him. These poignant records inspired fan favorites that have won accolades from heads beyond the hip-hop scene, like ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s Masafumi Gotoh, who handed the Apple Vinegar Music Award to JJJ for the rapper’s 2017 album, HIKARI.

MAKTUB, JJJ’s now last album from 2023, showcased great leaps in his style born from the boom-bap more than a decade ago. The record expanded his palette as it took in new sounds of Afropop, New York drill, UK grime and house—international scenes also influencing Japan’s hip-hop community at large. His raps grew in depth along with the change in surroundings, new experiences inspiring new insights. “It’s like I was just saying what was on my mind, and it became a rap,” JJJ once said about his writing. “And I think I got better at it.”

You can trace this very development of JJJ’s growth, creative and personal, by following his catalog, starting from his early days with Fla$hbackS. Here are some highlights from his discography in honor of the late rapper.

“Fla$hbackS” by Fla$hbackS (2013)

Back in 2012, rapper-producer Febb of the just-debuted Fla$hbackS crew said to Ototoy about the then-new generation of hip-hop as being “young with an old soul.” “If I can add,” his partner JJJ in the group said in the interview, “there’s a respect, this ‘I get it’ stance toward their inspirations.” The two were talking about the likes of ASAP Rocky, but they may as well have been speaking about themselves.

Along with another rapper KID FRESINO, the three in Fla$hbackS revamped crate-digger boom-bap with sensibilities inspired from styles beyond the Five Boroughs. And JJJ had already been carving out his own new-school style while working with classicist foundations. In the crew’s title track, JJJ plays the cool, nimble foil to Febb’s gruff, more punctuated flow. The beat’s nearly drum-less loop let his run-on verses unreel, and his restless cadence takes on a free-associative quality that echoes the jazz of Common in “Resurrection” — a fond record of the MC during his youth. As he grows more into his own, the style established here will become a more powerful vehicle for his increasingly heady lyrics.

“Vaquero!” by JJJ ft. KID FRESINO (2014)

Even before forming Fla$hbackS, JJJ got his name out as a beat-maker to other hip-hop groups. An influence from The Alchemist  drives a lot of his early sound, particularly in Yacht Club, his first solo album after the breakthrough with Fla$hbackS. The choice of a psychedelic-blues record flip but also the zany arrangement of the sample in “Vaquero!” recalls his inspiration in vibe. “From a rapper’s standpoint, it’s so stuffed that there’s barely any space to rap on,” he recalled in 2014 about his approach to production for the Fla$hbackS album. “All that mattered was that they felt good to me.”

That kitchen-sink feel to his beats only made his raps sound more compelling as JJJ maneuvers the cacophony like an escape artist. He smoothly finds a pocket to slither through in “Vaquero!” among a clutter of electric-guitar scrawls, stuttering snares, and bell gongs. The track really illustrates his connection with KID FRESINO as a group member but also like-minded rappers: he’s the only few who can go toe-to-toe with JJJ rapping in this sprawling flow over the noisiest beats.

“HPN” by JJJ ft. 5lack (2017)

“For me, the sound comes first, then from there, it’s all word association,” JJJ said in 2018 about writing his raps. While he strung together dazzling flows with his lyrics more a secondary concern, his best songs in 2017’s HIKARI thrived when the delivery served a thematic focus. The rapper quite literally chronicles the quotidian in “HPN,” as in happen, and his inner monologue forms into a raw freestyle with him sinking deeper into his thoughts in real time: “The hours spent writing rhymes / Wow! That’s my happen shit.” The song’s unfiltered style particularly moved ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s Masafumi Gotoh. “I don’t know how much of it was intentional, but I thought it was a song that really captured human sadness,” said Gotoh, who gave out his Apple Vinegar Music Award to HIKARI in 2018.

“Changes” by STUTS ft. JJJ (2018)

Compared to JJJ, STUTS crafts a rather straightforward rendering of the boom-bap in respect to the classics like Q-Tip’s or J Dilla’s. But the lack of fuss in a crisp, soulful beat like “Changes” lets JJJ’s lyrics ring with more clarity as he just let his mind wander. His free-form raps sound just as raw in its serendipity as his trickier verses. The breeziness of STUTS’s production lends his emotions to be even more fleeting in the moment. And like the best rappers, JJJ’s trying to capture the sensation onto wax as he feels it right then and there: “Engraving / these days that will never come again,” he exits the track with a lyric that serves as his entire mode of operation. 

“She II” by Daichi Yamamoto ft. JJJ (2019)

After the success of HIKARI, JJJ spent the rest of the 2010s recording more beats than verses, both for himself in a number of beat tapes and for projects with other rappers. He collaborated with Daichi Yamamoto first around 2016 for “She,” the two sharing bars about love lost over a stuttered boom-bap loop put together by Yamamoto. While the Zion T. sample ensured it remained a Soundcloud-only release, it eventually led to a sequel come time for Yamamoto’s debut album, 2019’s Andless, this time with JJJ on beats duty.

“Recently I’ve been doing more 4/4 beats, in a really different mode than I was in HIKARI,” JJJ said in 2019. And “She II” certainly feels it with the airy beat being guided by the mellowest drum pattern to bear his name on the credits. His collaborator pushed him out of his comfort zone for the verse, too, nudging him to write about love and relationships, topics he hardly touches on for his own records. The exploration of “She II” hints at him stepping out into different frontiers in his next half-decade, and the collaboration strengthened their bond: the two remained collaborators until the end, the latest release being Yamamoto’s 2024 album, Radiant, all produced by JJJ. 

“Cyberpunk” by JJJ ft. Benjazzy (2021)

“She II” is a light dip in comparison to the plunge into new waters as heard in “Cyberpunk.” The track departs from the boom-bap that’s been a guiding inspiration for JJJ’s music from the 2010s, embracing instead a synth- and bass-heavy sound that draws from New York drill and UK grime: “Just listening to Fivio,” JJJ notes about what he’s bumping in his stereo in a verse that’s as much a blur as its racing beat. Though, it isn’t an AXL Beats pastiche either, like what he would make with PUNPEE a year later. Led by a sleek electro riff, and littered with wonky bass lines and 8-bit chirps, it’s synthwave for spaceships — alien trunk music that the rapper somehow finds a flow to match. “Cyberpunk” opened an exciting era for JJJ with a new rap masterpiece not even the rapper himself would top. 

“July” by JJJ ft. sogumm (2023)

JJJ’s last album, 2023’s MAKTUB, introduced fresh new sounds for the rapper and his lyrical shadowboxing through contributions from other producers. The outside collaborations widened his palette while sticking to his personal tastes: he listed J Hus as one of the many musicians on rotation while writing the album, which explains the Afro-house touch on “July,” done by Korean producer Ouidaehan — who shares the love for Afropop through his remixes for other Korean R&B artists. JJJ’s introspective rap gels well with the balmy loop, like he’s finally found the down time to comfortably reflect, and the spaciousness of the beat leaves much room for him to dwell in his head. “July” was one for the many from MAKTUB embracing new inspiration. Who knew where he could’ve taken his music next? 

“Beautiful Mind” by JJJ (2023)

While MAKTUB chased new sounds, it also found JJJ surrounded by familiar faces. Going back to the album now, it has the feel of a homecoming record connecting JJJ with the many collaborators that helped get him to the current moment, from rappers like Daichi Yamamoto and Campanella to producers like STUTS and DJ Scratch Nice. “Beautiful Mind” brings the journey full circle, inviting Febb on the boards for a Fla$hbackS reunion. The boom-bap beat’s unhurried pace calls attention to the time passed since the group’s breakthrough a decade before: the gotta-get-it urgency of their 20s mellows out into a collected demeanor perhaps reflective of their early 30s. Life’s much different now for the two, and yet some things seem to remain the same: “Let’s go out after I write this lyric,” JJ raps, still busy from jotting down his thoughts as unfiltered as they come.