Though he’s now the world champion and is active internationally, Shintaro’s musical roots go back to when he was very young. At the age of 4, he first experienced piano and Japanese drums, which are what account for his unique sense of music today. When he was 15, he began to be influenced by the hip-hop culture, and at that point tried his hand at DJing. He was active in various DJ battles, won the grand prize for three years at Vestax’s No Tricks DJ Battle, and in 2010 became No Tricks Japan/Korea champion at Seoul World DJ Festival.
He instead began to focus on playing at clubs, and in 2013 entered the Red Bull Thre3Style competition as the representative of Japan. He became the youngest World Champion in the history of the competition. Shintaro made a huge mark in DJ history, as he was the first DJ not from the host country to win, the first Japanese, and the first Asian to ever become the Red Bull Thre3Style World Champion.
Just because Shintaro got the title of world champion under his belt doesn’t mean he has any plans of stopping there. What makes Shintaro so special is that he not only he makes crowd go wild with his scratching skills, but he also keeps them dancing without killing the groove by combining his scratching with a smooth music mix, all while he blends different types of music (genres). He’s already achieved a huge accomplishment by a doing a European Tour spanning seven major clubs in Belgium, Germany, and Holland, as well as gone around Asia, concentrating on major clubs in Taiwan. After receiving praise for these shows, he has been regularly invited as a special guest to events in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, and more. Besides playing in clubs, he has also been building up his track record in 2014 by participating in popular outdoor festivals such as the Amsterdam based hip-hop ENCORE FESTIVAL, and the Japanese leg of the world’s largest EDM festival, ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL, where he took the main stage. He has been highly rated by music professionals for being able to play across genres to audiences numbering in the tens of thousands.
Shintaro has received numerous offers from labels around the globe, and in November 2014 he decided to start afresh as the pioneering artist and producer behind GMO Internet Group’s globally focused agency GMO Culture Incubation.
In May 2015, his first official remix "BBHMM (Shintaro & YGSP Remix) / Rihanna" won TWRK's Remix Contest, got featured on BBC Radio1's "Diplo & Friends," and is revving up anticipation for his upcoming releases. Shintaro is ready to show the world what he's all about.
