[rappatic]

The first two albums by Nujabes, the "godfather of lo-fi," are some of the best I've ever heard. Metaphorical Music and Modal Soul.

[Eric_WVGG]

I was delighted to see Nujabes and Samurai Champloo cited right off the bat.

For the uninitiated, Champloo is the second anime series by Shinichirō Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame. Where Bebop is science fiction meets jazz, Champloo is medieval Japan meets hip hop. Weirdly under-rated IMO.

To this day I still bump into fellow Nujabes fans in the wild and it’s like having a secret handshake

[portaouflop]

Calling it lo-fi is almost an insult - Nujabes is a category by themselves

[rappatic]

Yeah, it is nothing like the lo-fi of today. Nobody else has ever made an album quite like Modal Soul and nobody will again.

[chrisweekly]

Thank you! Listening to Metaphorical Music right now and it's hitting me just right. (fistbump)

[pcthrowaway]

Nujabes tragically died in 2010, at the age of 36.

Another Japanese producer I like who straddles "lo-fi hip-hop" (but perhaps with more classical and vocal elements) is DJ Okiwari. Here's the track "Brighter Side" which draws on the vibe of '90s uplifting progressive hip-hop / R&B - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l23qmgf51z0