
In 2012, he contributed the track "Luv Can Save U" for the 20th installment of Konami's arcade rhythm game Beatmania IIDX, and for the 21st installment an extended mix of the aforemented track. He has continued to work on Sega games under the skankfunk alias, including Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō and Super Monkey Ball 3D.ĭuring the earlier years following his departure from Sega, Naganuma contributed a handful of tracks to various Sega games such as Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō and Super Monkey Ball 3D, under the skankfunk alias. Following his work on Yakuza Kenzan in 2008, he left Sega to become a freelance composer. The boss of its team did not allow him to work on the soundtrack of Sonic Rush Adventure. He also created a remix of "Fuusen Gum" for the anime Gin Tama, but similarly was not credited at the time.ĭuring his later years with Sega, Naganuma was part of Yakuza 's team, where his role was mostly limited to voice editing and producing sound effects. For contractual reasons, he used the "skankfunk" alias as he was still employed at Sega at the time, while Air Gear had nothing to do with Sega. The following year, he was responsible for music supervision and composing two tracks for the anime adaption of Air Gear, itself being influenced by Jet Set Radio.

In 2005, he composed a large portion of Sonic Rush 's soundtrack, of which he was later nominated at the Golden Joystick Awards for Soundtrack of the Year. He would go on to compose for its sequel Jet Set Radio Future in 2002, along with Ollie King in 2003, also developed by Smilebit. He took inspiration from big beat music for the game. In 2000, he served as the lead composer for Jet Set Radio, serving as his breakthrough work. His application was accepted, with voice editing for Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru Monogatari and composition for Hip Jog Jog being among his first works with the company, the latter of which he worked with senior composer Kenichi Tokoi. Naganuma sent demo tapes to Sega in 1998. He was also aiming to become a singer-songwriter in the J-pop industry, although he dropped this plan.Ĭareer 1998–2008: Work with Sega During 1993 to 1997 he worked as both a DJ and bartender. He then decided to have a job in the music business. When he was fourteen, he became interested in western music and composed his own songs.

Naganuma started his musical career by playing the electronic organ, aged five, under the influence of his older sister.
