Dragon Ash (Katakana: ドラゴンアッシュ) is a Japanese rock group led by rap mogul Kenji Furuya. They are an icon in Japan and were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. They brought an American flavor to Japanese music and helped to turn rap music mainstream, with a mixture of rapping, rap-rock, punk and R&B influences. Some of their best known songs include Drugs can't kill teens, Life Goes On and I Love Hip-Hop. The group uses various samples, most notably from the famous American alternative group, The Smashing Pumpkins: these songs include Cherub Rock in which they sample the bass line from The Smashing Pumpkins song by the same name, and Grateful Days in which they sample the opening of Today by The Smashing Pumpkins; they also named one of their songs "Siva", after the Pumpkins song.