Nitro Microphone Underground

Nitro Microphone Underground is a Japanese hip hop group. NMU are one of those groups where it is hard to tell who is actually in it and who is not (like Wu-Tang Clan or So Solid Crew). The group appeared on the club scene in the late 1990s with members Dabo, Macka-Chin, Deli, Suiken, GORE-TEX (although Gore-tex appears on many songs on the Nitro Microphone album, he is credited under different names, including the alias "More-sex"), S-Word, XBS, and BIGZAM.

The name of the band is said to have been suggested by Macka-chin. They have done collaborations with ShakkaZombie and about half of Muro's work. Most of them have done some solo work, especially Suiken and Dabo. They released their self-titled first album as an indie release in 1999, soon selling out of the 20,000 copies. They were picked up by Def Jam Japan and the album was re-released in 2000 making it to number 12 on the Japanese charts. Nitro Microphone Underground's success is very often compared to that of the Wu-Tang's in the USA. Also note that the group is of legendary status in Japan for it was the first japanese hip hop act to gather major acclaim without having to go pop.