Wise

Biography

Wise is a Japanese/American rapper who worked in several high-profile hip-hop projects in Japan before going solo to some moderate chart success. Born Seiji Kameyama, he grew up in Japan, but went to the U.S. for high school, where he developed interest in rapping. Between 2000 and 2005, Wise mostly contributed to other people's projects, most importantly, the MC supergroup Teriyaki Boyz. In 2007, he finally entered the Oricon charts on his own after his debut solo single, "Shine Like a Star," charted at number 25. He still featured prominently on other musicians' records, but also released his own solo full-length, Taiyou no Kodomo, in 2007. His second solo album, Love Quest, came out in 2009, featuring a guest appearance by Beat Crusaders. ~ Alexey Eremenko