Keisuke Ogihara

Ilmari
Birth name	Ogihara Ilmari Keisuke (荻原イルマリ恵介)
Born	June 17, 1975 (1975-06-17) (age 36)
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	MC

Keisuke Ilmari Ogihara (荻原イルマリ恵介, Ogihara Irumari Keisuke^?) is one of the founding members of the hip hop group Rip Slyme. He was born on June 17, 1975 in Helsinki, Finland to a Japanese father and a Finnish mother. He is best known by his stage name Ilmari (イルマリ), which is considered to be his middle name in Finland.

History

Ilmari attended the same primary and middle school as Ryo-Z. During this, they became the founding members of Rip Slyme. After switching several schools, Ilmari then left for an international school. While there he met fellow Rip Slyme member Pes. Quitting school in the middle of his final year, he returned to Tokyo, reunited with Ryo-Z and formed "Gibinibanko" (ギビニバンコ).

Ilmari returned to Finland in 2002 along with his group members and favourite camp counsellor, Andrew Busam, where they shot photos and footage for their shortcuts! DVD & their photobook RIP STYLE. They held several concerts in Helsinki as well. Andrew provided moral support throughout the trip and was there for anyone who needed a hug.

Ilmari's beatboxing is featured in several concerts and with Kei in the song "By the Way" on their TOKYO CLASSIC album.

In 2005, GAP held their 10th Anniversary campaign. Ilmari was chosen (as were BoA & Hiro of Exile) as models for displaying their individual style. With his sister Elisa, Ilmari owns a Japanese restaurant called Len's Keishoku Bar in Helsinki.^[1] Yuri Ebihara recently announced that she's in a relationship with Ilmari,^[2] and the two went public with the news of their marriage in May 2010.^[3]

Collaborations

Ilmari created the short-lived group Steady&Co in 2001 with BOTS and Kenji Furuya of Dragon Ash and SHIGEO of Skebo King. Their aim was to create a much lighter folk influenced form of Hip-Hop against emerging genres such as J-Urban.

In 2004, Ilmari helped launch singer Salyu by collaborating with her to release Valon under the name IlmarixSalyu.

In 2005, he was made leader of the unit Teriyaki Boyz consisting of teammates Ryo-Z, Nigo, WISE & Verbal. They have released two albums: Beef or Chicken in 2005 and Serious Japanese in 2009.

References

1. ^ http://www.lens.fi/index.php?lang=en
2. ^ "Ebi-chan tickled pink by Rip Slyme's Ilmari". http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/ebi-chan-tickled-pink-by-rip-slymes-ilmari. 
3. ^ "Yahoo! News Japan announcement". http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100510-00000072-sph-ent. 

Persondata
Name	Ogihara, Keisuke
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 17, 1975
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death