Home Made Kazoku is a trio consisting of members Micro, Kuro, and DJ U-Ichi. The band was originally formed in 1996 the name as part of the hip-hop group Funhouse. Micro joined the group in 1999 and Hoze left in 2001 to form the duo HB, with the remaining members renaming the band to Home Made Kazoku. Vocalists Micro and Kuro are
Japanese-Americans originally from
Louisville, Kentucky and
Chicago, Illinois respectively. From 2001 to 2003, the band performed in various
Nagoya nightclubs. Shortly after being signed on through local radio station Zip-FM, the trio released the album
Home Sweet Home, from which its similarly titled song became one of the most requested songs on Japanese radio stations for the rest of the year. In early 2004, the band was chosen to be part of a country-wide tour known as the Japan Club Tour. During the tour, the trio gained a large portion of their Japanese fanbase, and were also signed on by the recording company,
Ki/oon Records. The trio made their major debut with the release of their mini-album . In July 2004, Home Made Kazoku released their first single,
Summer Time Magic, which ranked 15th on the
Oricon record charts for nearly 10 weeks. After a series of singles, including
Thank You!!, which was used as the second ending theme for the anime
Bleach, and
Shōnen Heart, as well as the second opening theme for the anime
Eureka Seven, the band's first full-length album was released "Rock the World". "Rock the World" entered the Oricon charts. The record was in fifth place on the Oricon chart for its first week, and would stay in top 20 for the next eight weeks.
Rock the World sold 191,744 copies and became the 78th best selling album of 2005. After their first album, the group went on several tours and concomitantly released several singles. They also released their second and third albums, "Musication" and "Familia". Of special note, tickets to their second tour were sold out within the span of one hour, a record in Japanese music. In January 2007, it was announced that they would perform the first ending theme to the anime
Naruto Shippūden entitled
Nagareboshi Shooting Star which entered the Oricon charts at 10th place. One of the member, Micro, was featured on the
Abingdon Boys School song "Lost Reason" as it appeared on their
self-titled album. Home Made Kazoku has performed for a promotional commercial for a product called "Walky Walky" with their song "Easy Walk". In addition, Home Made Kazoku's single,
No Rain No Rainbow, is the movie theme for the second Naruto Shippūden movie. In 2011, Home Made Kazoku returned to Naruto Shippūden for the third time with the song "FREEDOM", which was the 17th ending theme. The band played their first show in the US at
Otakon 2010 in Baltimore, MD, and returned for Otakon 2013 alongside
T.M. Revolution. Their official blog stated in August 2016 that the trio will go on indefinite hiatus by the end of the year. According to the comment by group member Micro, the group is taking a hiatus to "grow individually and take on new challenges." The group's members have since been pursuing solo careers, including DJ U-Ichi's work on his
YouTube channel and Kuro working with former member Hoze on the soul group Enband. == Style ==