NASCAR Series racer Akinori Ogata collaborates with SUPER EUROBEAT for new single ‘RED ZONE’, out now!

Akinori Ogata, a racer in the hugely popular NASCAR Series motorsport racing series in the United States, has joined forces with avex’s Eurobeat brand HI-BPM STUDIO (SUPER EUROBEAT) for an exciting new collaboration. The result is “RED ZONE”, a brand-new signature song produced by SUPER EUROBEAT especially for Ogata, released this past week.

The Hi-NRG music genre exploded out of mainland Europe in the 1980s, based largely around a thriving production scene in Italy in the latter half of the decade. The SUPER EUROBEAT series of compilations took this music genre to a whole new audience: The first compilation was released in 1990, and the series has continued up to Vol. 250, with a further 500-plus related releases to date. The genre mingled with disco, club music, the motorsport scene and Japan’s “parapara” dance style, and more recently, it has been finding fresh demand all around the world, especially throughout Asia and the United States.

The storied Eurobeat music genre and the revered brand SUPER EUROBEAT have long been associated with high-speed racing, making them a perfect fit for Ogata, who is a competitor in the NASCAR Series, a massively popular racing series in the United States.

The NASCAR series is the largest such motorsport event in the US, with a history of over 70 years. It is a national series, with a total of over 90 races held on dedicated oval courses all across the States during the 10-month season from February to November. With 75 million fans worldwide enjoying everything from practice races to live televised events, NASCAR is a major sport in itself. 

As a professional racer from Japan, Ogata has participated in the NASCAR Series since 2003, and is now based in North Carolina, home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, where he competes in the Xfinity Series among others.

“RED ZONE” Digital Jacket Cover

For this collaboration, SUPER EUROBEAT has produced and digitally released ”RED ZONE”, a signature song created especially for Ogata by RAY HIKARI. The track was produced in consultation with Ogata and expresses his essence through music and lyrics, as a warrior behind the wheel in the rough and tough races of the NASCAR Series, and as an icon of Japanese taste and American racing.

The artwork accompanying the digital single features a Toyota Supra, which Ogata drives on the track. A music video is also available on YouTube, featuring footage shot at the racing circuit as well as clips of Ogata himself, making it a must-watch for lovers of Eurobeat as well as racing fans.

This new track is the first of many planned collaborations between Akinori Ogata and SUPER EUROBEAT. Keep an eye out for more updates soon!

Comment from Akinori Ogata

“To be able to participate in both a SUPER EUROBEAT song and NASCAR racing brings me much happiness and energy. The engine sound you can hear in the track is a recording of my actual racing car in action, so I hope you will enjoy the real sound of NASCAR racing and continue to support me in future.”

Be sure to check out the official video below, along with the streaming link for the track here!

Rev Up Your Engines with the Latest 24/7 Eurobeat Hits!

Fans of anime and Eurobeat music, look out for HI-BPM STUDIO 24/7 Live Radio! This new crossover YouTube channel launching January 21 will feature footage from classic street-racing anime series ‘Initial D’ soundtracked by Eurobeat hits, broadcasting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Eurobeat genre has fans all around the world, generating hundreds of millions of views on YouTube via livestreams and videos. With its roots in the hi-NRG dance music genre, Eurobeat exploded into life on mainland Europe in the 1980s. 

By the ’90s, production of Eurobeat mainly came from northern Italy, but by then the genre had become a major influence on the Japanese music scene, with its up-tempo beats and easily memorable melodies. In particular, car enthusiasts consider the genre perfect for driving to, as the music conveys an exciting sense of speed. Amid this background, the anime series Initial D began broadcasting in 1998, a show in which sportscar drivers compete in thrilling battles on the mountain passes of Japan, and many of these heated scenes were soundtracked by Eurobeat music. The show has fans all around Asia, North America and the rest of the world, and as a result, Eurobeat has become a favorite genre of custom-car obsessives everywhere. In recent years, the popularity of custom-car culture has spread in countries around the world, and has long been popular in Japan. Now gearheads in every corner of the globe are tuning Japanese cars like characters in an anime.

When HI-BPM STUDIO 24/7 Live Radio launches on January 21, its all-day, all-night live broadcasts will allow fans to hear endless Eurobeat tunes like on a radio station, while also enjoying the sense of speed and power of a selection of battle scenes from Initial D. And since it will be streaming live on YouTube, viewers will be able to chat with other fans in real-time while listening to the same tunes together. The channel name will include the  subtitle “ENERGY, SPEED, POWER, EUROBEAT, UPLIFTING DANCE SOUND”, so users will know exactly what they’re getting. And of course, the playlist will include music from the Initial D anime series.

Recently the chillout genre has been booming, but the music on HI-BPM STUDIO 24/7 Live Radio offers the polar opposite experience – the channel’s message is less “chill out” and more “cheer up”. Let’s face it, that’s an outlook we could all use in this day and age. Tune in for the energetic combination of classic Japanese animation and high-tempo dance music to truly get your engine revving.

Be sure to keep the engines running with the channel below, along with its official Twitter and Facebook page!