The Artwork of Japanese Cartoon

Japanese Cartoon, a new band mysteriously linked to Lupe Fiasco, just released their first experimental electronic punk album entitled “In the Jaws of the Lords Of Death.”

What a fantastic title! Like their name implies, this appears to be an album inspired and driven by visuals. With little information out there, their whole identity is shrouded in mystery. It sounds like Lupe Fiasco contributes vocals in a British accent and there are confirmed reports that he is the producer, yet the band vehemently denies that Lupe Fiasco contributes anything but production help.

Hop over to the band’s website, where the new album is available as a free download.

I can’t really say that I love their music, but the artwork and their videos are definitely worth checking out. Drawing on urban street art, militant activism, punk, and obviously anime, the results are pretty interesting. Activist oriented, they sign off on their blog posts with, “brought to you by the P. Fats Bureau of News & Disinformation. No Shackle, No Sugar, All Sabatoge.”

UPDATE: So looking over their album liner notes and with further research, it is confirmed that Lupe Fiasco is indeed the producer and singer for the band. Oddly enough he does it with a fake British accent. In the liner notes he states, "FBA's (Fake British Accents) ARE THE SHIT!...go ahead give it a try...you know you want to..." I'm curious how the folks over in the U.K. feel about his accent.

Check out their art as well as the video to their single, “Army” in which you can hear Lupe speak at great length in a cockney accent.