DA PUMP -- if...

There was a re-broadcast of last week's "Uta Kon"（うたコン）where basically it was a clip show emceed by the two hosts from remote locations due to the pandemic.

One of the acts featured was good ol' DA PUMP. Now in the last couple of years, frontman ISSA and his new crew have become famous for "U.S.A.", but I also remember the original singing and dancing 5-man unit. DA PUMP had a couple of clips on the show. One was for their 30th single "Sakura"（桜）from last year, and then there was their 12th single, "if..." from September 2000. By the music video for the song was filmed in Aokigahara Forest, known ominously as the Suicide Forest.

Written by m.c.A-T and composed by Akio Togashi（富樫明生）who are actually the same fellow, remembering how he sounded in performance, there's that same combination of rap and heartfelt delivery against the R&B beats. Although I wasn't a huge DA PUMP fan back then, I remember hearing the song now and then through their commercials and TV appearances.

According to J-Wiki, although I think "U.S.A." did much better in the rankings, "if..." supposedly remains as the group's most successful hit after selling approximately 348,500 copies. It almost broke into the Top 10 by placing in at No. 11 but ended up outside of the Top 100 in the yearly rankings by scoring a No. 130 ranking in 2000 and then stubbornly holding at No. 123 a year later. "if..." is also a track on DA PUMP's first BEST compilation, "Da Best of Da Pump" which was released in February 2001. It became a million-seller as it hit No. 1 and became the 14th-ranked album of the year.