DA PUMP

Japanese boy band Da Pump, consisting of Issa, Daichi, Kenzo, Tomo, Kimi, Yori, and U-Yeah, originally started in 1996 at the Okinawa Actors School, with ISSA being joined by fellow students Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. Following a DUI arrest in 2005, Shinobu went on a hiatus, and in 2006, officially left the group. Continuing with three members until October 2006, they announced Yukinari’s departure, forcing ISSA and Ken to seek out new members. In 2007, they debuted a new seven-man lineup, which continued until 2009, where Ken left to follow a solo career. Following a prolonged hiatus, the band released their single “New Position” in 2014, vanishing again for four years until May 2018 with the release of “U.S.A.”

ISSA has stated he is a big fan of the tokusatsu series Kamen Rider, and has worked with the franchise on many projects. Kamen Rider 555’s opening “Justiφ’s”, Kamen Rider: The Next’s theme “Chosen Soldier”, and Kamen Rider Zi-O’s theme “Over ‘Quartzer’” are all songs he made for the franchise. He also played a Shocker Leader in Kamen Rider: The First, and fourteen years after, would go on to play Kamen Rider Barlckxs in the movie Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer, where he – along with the rest of Da Pump – would perform the film’s ending theme “P.A.R.T.Y. ~Universe Festival~”