Banana Ice

From Transformers Wiki

Shitamachi literally means "lower part of town", not to be confused with Downtown.

Banana Ice is the stage name of Harumi Kudō (工藤玄実 Kudō Harumi), a Japanese rap artist. He sang the theme song for the Japanese dub of Beast Wars, "WAR WAR! STOP IT", under the name Shitamachi Kyōdai (下町兄弟, "Shitamachi Brothers")

Banana Ice was relatively popular in Japan during the '90s; he even sang the theme song for the Japanese dub of Donkey Kong Country and also provided the voice for Funky Kong.

So far as his rap career is concerned, Banana Ice released several albums under the Shibaura Records label, beginning with RAPP!! in 1992. In 1999, he released a compilation album titled Rap Rapper Rappest and has continued to release new songs and albums as recently as 2009. Banana Ice briefly gained some controversial notoriety amongst rap fans around the world with the song "Imitation + Imitation = Imitation", wherein he condemned "B-Boys" (Japanese rappers who tan their skin and wear dreadlocks in an attempt to emulate African-American artists) as denigrating black people and their struggle while simultaneously ignoring social issues within Japan itself.