Buddha Brand

Buddha Brand (ブッダ・ブランド Budda Burando) is a Japanese hip-hop group consisting of rapper and producer Dev Large, Nipps, CQ, and DJ Masterkey.

The four members of Buddha Brand met in New York City in 1988 and performed under several names (Uwasa no Channeru, Numb Brain Buddha Brand) before settling on the name Buddha Brand in 1990. During this period, Dev Large and DJ Master Key were regular DJs at several clubs in Brooklyn, including Gorilla's Den and Soul Powers.

Buddha Brand returned to Japan in June of 1995 and released several recordings between 1996 and 2000

The band broke up and would posthumously release one last album in 2019 after the passing of founding member Dev Large in 2015.
CQ and Nipps have since become Buddha Mafia