Konami Dream

[related: Luk Thung, Phreaque Leak, BARCODE, Aeon Flux (rapper), LKA Hades, Kevin Venom, S.O.T.A]

Underground hacker/rap collective of shrouded membership and controversial tactics active throughout the mid- to late-1990's. Associated individuals include the rappers Aeon Flux, Kevin Venom, and LKA Hades AKA Hades of the Underworld, the producers Kevorkian and IllI|IllIl||lI AKA BARCODE, and the hackers fantom_limb AKA S.O.T.A (State of the Art) and The Mechanic. The group was inspired partially by the work of Hideo Kojima, specifically the Metal Gear Solid series produced for the NES platform by the Konami Corp. Konami Dream is considered to be a pioneer of hacker rap, a movement merging computer/phone hacking (or phreaking) with sample-based hip-hop music. The group first became known for "phreaque leaking", a process in which illegally BladeEnc'd .mp3's were secretly embedded on various hacked websites. The group's most prominent phreaque leaks include:

The 6-minute 2001-inspired ambient rap track HAL, was embedded on the Deep Blue page of IBM's corporate website.

Matrix Racer, a NESticle-fueled ROMhack mutation of the NES's flagship racing platform, Rad Racer, which was covertly released piecemeal on various BBS posting boards by resident hacker fantom_limb (later known as S.O.T.A.)

Solitaire, an ambient rap track paired with the lifting, modifying, and redistributing of Microsoft Windows' proprietary "Solitaire" or SOL.EXE software.

Though not technically a phreaque leak, Konami followed "Solitaire" with Judgement Day, a three part audiovisual diatribe against various capitalistic power structures pirated atop a rerun of a late night NY1 broadcast.. Following the untimely departures of S.O.T.A. and BARCODE , the group pivoted to self-released mixtapes, beginning with 1997's anime-inspired Berserk!, a 20-minute hype-laden romp produced by new producer, Kevorkian. Berserk!'s released generated commercial interest in the group, leading to conflict and, eventually, internal fracture, with Kevorkian and rapper LKA Hades departing to pursue the ambitious though ill-fated LP Hellraiser, an album containing an estimated $500k worth of uncleared samples.

Artistically, Konami Dream's early sound leaned heavily on producer IllI|IllIl||lI AKA BARCODE's modular synth-heavy production. The group later shifted towards sampled elements - first from anime soundtracks, including Susumu Hirasawa's Berserk, and later to electronic luk thung, or Thai country music, 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 later shifting its focus almost exclusively to music production, Konami Dream remains associated with the extended mid-1990's hacking groups Legion of Doom, Masters of Deception, and Cult of the Dead Cow, the latter of which also produced and released original music. Konami Dream's music was originally disseminated via UseNet posting boards, and, later, via Hotline Connect. The group displayed a notable obsession with the ill-fated NeXT BlackBox3 gaming system, reportedly once performing enmeshed in a three screen projection mirroring the console's three-television display gimmick.

⧉ref# [Konami Dream :: HAL]

⧉ref# [Konami Dream :: Pole Position]

⧉ref# [Konami Dream :: Solitaire]

⧉ref# [Konami Dream :: Judgement Day]