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One Piece Rap Creator Shawn Conrad Does a Thank You Recitation For Fans

Shawn Conrad, the rap artist behind the iconic 4Kids One Piece anime opening theme song, posted a "Thank You Version" of the song on his YouTube channel on Tuesday. He recited the original lines of the rap before turning to the camera with a wink and saying, "Love to the One Piece fans for everything."

He also posted a video last week describing at length the circumstances in which he initially worked on the rap. The occasion marked his first time speaking about the rap in the 17 years since creating it. At the time, Conrad had been working with 4Kids as an audio engineer on various shows, where he would occasionally provide voices and other sound production assistance. He professed to knowing very little about One Piece when 4Kids first approached him to adapt the theme song into rap, and in the years since he has been surprised to discover how many people were deeply attached to it.

Conrad said that he received a page of suggested key words and lyrics, which he then adapted into the rap. He emphasized that he wanted to use simple and easy-to-understand words for One Piece because it was a children's show, but he also wanted them to sound cool. He broke down the techniques and his reasoning behind each line in the rap while referring to his past history making hip hop music.

The One Piece rap also received attention last month when comedian Gilbert Gottfried recited it on the video-sharing website Cameo.

Source: Press Release