SOUL'd OUT

SOUL'd OUT was a Japanese hip-hop and R&B group who were active from 1999 to 2014. The trio consisted of three members, the Main MC Diggy-MO', the Human Beatbox and MC Bro.Hi, and the Trackmaster Shinnosuke. The group recorded "VOODOO KINGDOM", the theme song to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood animated movie. Additionally, two of the group's songs are used as the namesakes for characteres featured in Steel Ball Run: Magent Magent and Wekapipo.

In 2014, the group announced on Facebook that they would be parting ways, with Shinnosuke's desire to leave the group for personal reasons as one of the main reasons behind their breakup.

Diggy-MO'
Diggy-MO', the lead MC for SOUL'd OUT, acquired a foundation of music through several years of classic piano training. In middle school he formed a band which was heavily influenced by the hip-hop group. Diggy-MO' attended a university of fine arts to major in graphics, but he continued to dabble in music. In SOUL'd OUT, he, along with Bro.Hi, writes the lyrics for the music, and he composes and arranges a good number of works for the band. He is classified as a rapper, but he often sings in his songs, especially his solo works, which are not as heavily hip-hop and urban based as SOUL'd OUT's works are.

He launched his first solo effort, the single , on November 26, 2008. It was used as the 3rd ending theme of the anime. , his debut solo album, hit shelves on March 25, 2009. His last solo single before reuniting with SOUL'd OUT, Stay Beautiful, was announced as the 23rd ending theme of the anime series, and was released on May 12, 2010. The follow-up album, , came out on July 7, 2010.

Bro.Hi
Bro.Hi is the beat box/MC for SOUL'd OUT. During middle school, he formed a band and manned the drums. While seeing The Roots, Bro.Hi experienced his first exposure to the method of the human beat boxing. Afterwards, he began to polish the skills in human beat boxing. With Soul'd Out, Bro.Hi helps to write the lyrics and performs backup MC. Artists who influenced Bro.Hi are, , , , , , , , , , , , , , Inoue positive water, and.

Bro.Hi also formed his own rock group with a fellow DJ and rapper by the name of Kay named. Their debut mini-album IN HUMANITY was released on July 22, 2009, followed by the single "Nagarete" (流れて) on September 2, 2009, and 2nd album TWISTED on July 28, 2010. As of 2014, Bro.Hi is the only remaining member of the band, now renamed to E.P.O.

Shinnosuke
Shinnosuke is the DJ for Soul'd Out. He studied oil painting and design in high school. While in elementary school, Shinnosuke began playing the trombone, forming a brass band, and also played the keyboard. After graduating high school, he started making his own original music which came from observing. Later, he looked towards DJing music. Along with Diggy-Mo, Shinnosuke composes Soul'd Out's music and helps in the arrangement process as record producer. Shinnosuke cites, the , , , Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, , , & , , TJ.Kura, , , and , as his influences.

As a solo artist Shinnosuke initially released music under the name S'capade and released 4 singles and 1 album: "Every 4 U" featuring on November 3, 2009; "Mid Night Sweet" featuring  on March 3, 2010; "HOT BODY" featuring  on April 7, 2010; "Wasurenai de" (忘れないで) featuring  on May 12, 2010; and S'CAPADE on June 9, 2010. Under his own name Shinnosuke, he has released the digital single "Merry Xmas 4 U (Silent Nite) [DEMO]" on December 17, 2017, and the digital album NITE WAVES on August 13, 2021.

Work with Araki
The band's members were big fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, with Shinnosuke in particular citing Hirohiko Araki as an artistic influence. Their love of the series shows up in their music videos and lyrics, with the song "Magenta Magenta" even referencing Aja. For the band's 12th single "Catwalk", Araki drew the cover artwork, portraying the three band members as women with heads resembling Killer Queen's. The following year, the song "VOODOO KINGDOM" off of SOUL'd OUT's 14th single was chosen to be the theme song for the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood film.

Two of SOUL'd OUT's song titles were referenced for characters in Steel Ball Run: "Magenta Magenta" was used as inspiration for the name of Magent Magent and "Wekapipo" (ウェカピポ) inspired the name of Wekapipo.

Trivia

 * A small message within SBR Chapter 40 notes that the found on Gyro's top in one panel was done by Shinnosuke. The note reads "Very special thanx. Screen tone worked by 'Shinnosuke' = Soul'd Out".
 * The name of the group is a portmanteau of the words "soul" and "sold out".