Whatever the Japanese equivalent of "Spanglish" is (Japanglish?) -- you know, when Spanish people weave in and out of both languages so seamlessly it's its own thing -- they do that, and a lot of their songs, or the beats at least, are pretty hot. However, that's hard not to do when Mark Ronson, DJ Premiere and other greats are producing for you; their new project will feature Kanye (of course) and more stuff from the Neptunes.

The music isn't bad, but the potential problems with their success seem more intellectual. I mean, picture me riding around the park trying to floss, pumping some Asian rap I don't even understand. And then of course there's the whole race thing. Imagine the outrage if a group of black kids went around calling themselves Watermelon & Chicken or something...oh, wait. Better example: if a gaggle of Mexican youth fashioned themselves into, I don't know, the Guadalajara Guacamole Gang or some such, it would raise eyebrows.

I mean, I'm certainly not the cultural ambassador to the Far East or anything but I do know that many American Asians balk at the assumption that they all know kung-fu and can make a mean plate of shrimp fried rice, which is why the Teriyaki reference feels to me a bit minstrel-ish. It just has the easy ability to fall into, "We're from Japan, and did we mention we were Asian?"