Konami Dream
[related: Luk Thung]
An underground collective of shrouded membership and controversial tactics active throughout the mid- to late-1990's. The group was inspired partially by the work of Hideo Kijima, specifically the Metal Gear Solid series produced for NES platform by the Konami Corp. Konami Dream is considered to be a pioneer of hacker rap, a movement merging computer hacking (and phreaking) with sample-based hip-hop music . Konami Dream sampled elements from anime soundtracks, including Susumu Hirasawa's Berserk, electronic luk thung, or Thai country music, including work by Pumpuang Duangjan, intermingling manipulated found sounds with newly produced synthesizer and drum machine parts. Lyrically, the group focused on issues of technology, heroism, anti-capitalism, and blackness in America. Though the group has gone to great lengths to shield its identity, presumably in part due to the illegal nature of its hacking activity, Konami Dream is commonly associated with the extended mid-1990's hacking groups Legion of Doom, Masters of Deception, and Cult of the Dead Cow, that latter of which also produced and released original music. The group's music was originally disseminated via the MindVox ISP(Internet Service Provider), and their only publicized performance took place at an official MindVox showcase event in which they displayed illegally romhacked NES graphics. The group displayed a notable obsession with the ill-fated NeXT BlackBox3 gaming system, reportedly often performing enmeshed in a three screen projections mirroring the console's three-television display gimmick.