Soul balladeer Hirai Ken (33) is to mark his tenth year in the business with his first greatest hits album. The as yet untitled double album will contain all his 22 singles and is set for release on November 23. A spokesman for Def Star records said, “When it came to trying to choose from the songs on his albums, we just couldn’t narrow it down. We decided to make it easy for fans and just go with all his A-sides.” Hirai has amassed 6.5 million single sales to date, including the million-selling “Hitoni wo Tojite” and the theme song to the hit movie “Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu.” A version of the album that includes all the videos to his singles on DVD will also be released.
• Members of popular hip hop groups Rip Slyme and m-flo are to team up with fashion designer Nigo (33) to make their recording debut in the US. Ryo-Z (31) and Ilmari (30) from Rip Slyme, m-flo vocalist Verbal, Kaze no Hito’s MC Wise, and Nigo as DJ will make up the 5-man unit Teriyaki Boyz. They will release their debut album “Beef or Chicken” on Def Jam Recordings on November 16. Nigo is best known for the A Bathing Ape street fashion brand, which has a huge cult following. He is a friend of Def Jam artist Jay-Z, and got the idea of putting the group together this summer. The album also has a stellar lineup on the production side, with Japan’s Cornelius alongside Grammy Award winners the Neptunes, Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys, French artists Daft Punk, and DJ Shadow. The group will hold a launch party in New York and play live dates in five cities towards the end of the year. There are no plans for the members to continue as a group after that.
• A happy follow up to yesterday’s story about the stolen bike of rock singer Imawano Kiyoshiro (54). The bike was discovered yesterday close to where it had been stolen, and even had a brand new lock attaching it to a railing. Kiyoshiro will now be able to participate as planned in the Honolulu Century Ride, a 100-mile ride on September 25.