Ura-HaraGuest Userjapanese, subculture, original, culture, japan, collection, fashion, mo' wax, lavelle

The Story of Mo' Wax Japan: A UK Record Label That Shaped Tokyo's Underground Culture

Ura-HaraGuest Userjapanese, subculture, original, culture, japan, collection, fashion, mo' wax, lavelle
The Story of Mo' Wax Japan: A UK Record Label That Shaped Tokyo's Underground Culture

James Lavelle, founder of UK underground label Mo' Wax and eclectic mastermind behind trip-hop ensemble U.N.K.L.E., has left a remarkable impact that is palpable today.

Having founded his label in 1992 at the tender age of 18, the Oxford-born DJ was inspired by Hip-Hop's art of sampling - both in the technical and later metaphorical sense. Like any other great innovator, Lavelle was inquisitive. No national, cultural, or even disciplinary border would prevent him from identifying genius.

 
 

For this reason, he became a cultural icon who helped elevate Hip-Hop to new hemispheres with the support of musical geniuses like DJ Shadow. Yet, his significant mark on music only concludes parts of the story, and his relation to Japan explains why.

 
 

Early on, Lavelle was a keen collector of Major Force, the record label responsible for introducing Hip-Hop to Japan in the late 1980s. Despite the great distance, he was already aware of Hiroshi Fujiwara and Takagi Kan's Tiny Panx and their single "Last Orgy." Back then, Lavelle probably never thought that it would only take a few years until he would get involved in what would bubble up out of Harajuku. Yet, sometimes stars align, and the universe does its magic. 

 
 

An innocent encounter with Toshio and Kudo in London, two of Major Force's founders, as well as Michael Kopelmann, introducing Lavelle to Nigo's "A Bathing Ape," eventually got the ball rolling and established the future alliance between Mo' Wax and Ura-Harajuku. Through the relationships built back home, Lavelle traveled to Japan, setting up meetings to develop Mo' Wax Japan under the Toy's Factory label. 

 
 

With his universal conception of collaboration, one not restricted to a single domain but applied across various creative disciplines, Lavelle not only translated Mo' Wax onto a broad spectrum of outlets but also cemented it as an integral part of Ura-Harajuku.

 
 

From Japan-exclusive cover designs and special packaging involving the likes of Mankey and Sk8thing to various collaborations with Nigo, James Lavelle transcended the idea of record labels to shape a cultural identity across creative disciplines.