The One Piece anime series is celebrating the milestone 25th anniversary this year, inspiring fans worldwide with its emotional storytelling, epic action, animation, and not least, its incredible soundtrack — making weekly episodes must-see appointment viewing. The series’ global reach is most recently evidenced by a newly inspired track “Overtake” from UK rapper Shao Dow, whom Anime Corner had the chance to talk to ahead of the song’s release.
The song’s bombastic energy tells a story much like the anime series itself—one of the aspirations to reach their peak, evidenced by Shao Dow’s hard-hitting motif, “I guess my bounty went up!” Readers can listen to a preview below. Perhaps on the full listen, you can nod their heads along to this interview.
Q: What are your ambitions within the anime space?
A: Anime’s been a massive part of my life from when I discovered Dragon Ball Z whilst visiting family in New York. It drove me to begin learning Kung fu. That took me to China to study Shaolin, then inspired me to begin writing lyrics, anndddd the rest is history. I owe a lot of my ethos, passion, drive and determination to the lessons that I’ve learned from my favourite shows. I’m definitely one of the closest people to being a real life anime character that you’ve ever going to meet — Certainly within the music scene. Within the anime space, I mainly just want to give back and return some of the inspiration and positive energy that it’s given me but in my own way. So that’s in the form of cool music, great content and of course my manga series.
With the rapid growth of anime there’s been a lot of people and companies jumping on the bandwagon. It’s now cool to be into this stuff; kids in school aren’t getting laughed at for knowing all 151 Pokémon AND the Pokémon rap anymore. So, authenticity becomes more of a question: ‘Is this brand into anime because they genuinely enjoy it, or because it’s an easy way to get attention around their products and make quick money from passionate fans?’ Here in the UK, I’ve felt that the strength of the anime scene and fanbase have been overlooked for the longest time. After travelling the world and witnessing anime culture in different countries, I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines. I’ve returned to the UK determined to help elevate the scene and combat the disingenuous.
So I’m doing my part whilst also giving real anime fans, real music fans and REAL rap fans something dope to rock to in the form of music inspired by anime that mixes lyricism in English and Japanese. It’s a better fusion than a Shou Tucker’s experiment.
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Q: What inspired this new One Piece track?
A: I’ve wanted to make a One Piece track for a LONG time. It’s my favourite anime by far. So, naturally, with that comes a lot of personal pressure to get the song right and do the series and Oda-sensei justice (no Marines).
I believe I did it with this one.
I’ve also wanted to work with Rifti Beats for ages too. He’s a producer known for making killer anime theme remixes. So when we started talking, I knew that the “Overtaken” theme [from One Piece] had to be the track to draw inspiration from. Some of the best moments of the series happen when that song plays. I fell in love with the series way back in Arlong Park when the crew decided to pull up on the Fishmen and kick them in the teeth … or gills. I even had the song played at my wedding (shout out my wife for being epic AND for buying me a sword as a wedding present (they wouldn’t let me walk down the aisle with that though 🥲)).
So in short, it’s an important piece of music to me and with this year being the 25th anniversary of the manga AND anime, it just felt like the right time. So “Overtake” releases or is released (depending on when you read this) on the 18th of October, and the anime’s anniversary is the 20th. The music video is incredible too, it really captures the spirit of the show. Whether you’re new to the Straw Hats or a One Piece vet, you will definitely find something to enjoy within it.
My video editor Levi used panels from the manga and animated them in a way that completely complements the song AND, if you look closely, you might catch me hanging out with the Straw Hats in a couple scenes.
Q: What fandoms are you a part of (be it sports teams, anime, manga, anything)?
A: I’m a gamer who barely has the time to game but I LOVE Super Smash Bros. and I’m pretty damn good at it too. God of War is close to my heart too, which is why it was such an honour when the Sony’s Santa Monica team used my music for the 1-year anniversary of God of War Ragnarök. Of course, it goes without saying that I’m deep into my anime and manga bag too. I’m also a gym, fitness and travel don too.
Funnily enough, I’m not THAT into football, but Blue Lock is doing its best to change my mind; Haikyu!! and Kuroko no Basket had me out in the park trying to fly like a crow.
Q: What was your most validating moment as a rapper within the Nerdcore space?
A: There have been quite a few, but the one that comes to mind the most for me is just meeting people who love the music I’ve made or performing at events and seeing the crowd sing the choruses and verses word for word. It’s so liberating to be able to make the music I want to make and combine it with something else that I’m super passionate about. So, to see it resonate with so many people in such a profound way, just inspires me to keep going and keep elevating.
Even better when I write a song about an anime that somebody hasn’t watched and then they pick up a new series because of me.
Along with that, I’d say that getting to work with brands that I admire such as Bandai Namco and Fortnite/Epic Games has been incredibly validating from a career standpoint. To know that my voice is officially in Fortnite, a game that also has Goku, Eren Yeager and All Might DEFINITELY adds to my anime protagonist credibility.
And of course, how could I forget, getting to go on tour in Japan this year and bring my creativity to one of the sources of my inspiration. The Genki Dama Tour for me was absolutely a career highlight.
Q: Which anime would you love to work on?
A: If it’s a shonen, I’d probably be down for it. DEFINITELY One Piece but some of the newer gen series have showed us that rap openings absolutely go dummy (shout out Creepy Nuts, honourable mention to Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai). Of course, the openings and endings are generally handled by Japanese artists and I believe that’s right, considering anime is a Japanese art form. BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that I’d still love to make an opening or ending for a popular anime one day.
I’m putting it out into the universe and I WILL be in an anime one day. Just wait.
I’d also love to create music for the One Piece live action on Netflix (not an anime, I know), soooo if you’re reading this and can make that happen, holla at me expeditiously! But if I had to choose any anime to work on right now, it would be my own. I’d love to turn my original manga series The Way of Shao Manga into an animated series. It’s set in a world where musicians have special powers and abilities that grow as their fanbase increases and is loosely based on my own life. So, it’s pretty unique. Hiring an animation studio is stupid expensive though, so that’s definitely a goal for future Shao and relies heavily on me being able to build a strong enough fanbase for the series.
That said, it’s a goal I absolutely intend to score.
Q: If the current phase of your career could be considered an anime arc, what would you call it, and why?
A: I love this question because I definitely think of my career in this way. For the longest time I’ve placed myself somewhere around the “Sabaody Archipelago” arc in One Piece, after I’ve just returned from training and levelling up — ready to take on the New World. But after the year I’ve had, with international bookings, my first tour in Japan, AND being granted a prestigious performance visa from the USA allowing me to officially tour in the country, I reckon I’ve just left Dressrosa after slapping up Doflamingo.
My bounty definitely went up.
Q: Could you tell us what you’re working on currently?
A: I’ve of course got “Overtake” — my One Piece-inspired track and music video out now. I’m planning a Blue Lock-inspired track to swiftly follow on from that. You can slice and chop along to my song “NANI 何” in Beat Saber with more Shao Dow tracks to come. I’ve got quite a few bookings in the US to announce for next year. I’m aiming to do a full tour of the UK AND release a new album. And Volume 2 of The Way of Shao Manga is out now, I’m currently working with the lead illustrator to continue developing the series. So, yeah, just a few things, not too much!
Thanks so much to Shao Dow for the interview. You can check out his music videos on his YouTube channel, and get regular updates on him via his official website, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and more by searching “Shao Dow.”
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“Overtake” screenshots © 2024 DiY Gang Entertainment
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