88rising: Joji

Bio

Name: George Kusunoki Miller

Date of birth: 18 September 1992

Place of birth: Osaka,Japan

Stage names: Pink Guy, Filthy Frank and currently Joji

Genres: Comedy, R&B, Trip Hop and Lo-Fi

Instruments: Vocals and ukulele

Joji was in 6th grade when he first caught the music bug. Lil Wayne had just released "A Milli" and Joji remebers going home and opening up Garage Band to try and remake the beat. It has been non-stop since then and he found himself and his friends writing songs and learning production skills on the internet.

Joji however gained fame through his successful Youtube Channel where he played comedic characters called Filthy Frank and Pink Guy. He is the official creator of the Harlem Shake viral dance trend and explained that him and his friends had a few costumes lying around and decided to film that video on a whim. They had no idea of the amount of attention that the short video would amount to.

Original Harlem Shake Dance Video

Through creating content for Youtube Joji learned a great amount about how to understand demographics and what people wanted to see and hear. This resulted in 88rising contacting him to be a media consultant, they then found that Joji was creating music and the rest is history. Joji accredits Keith Ape for being that pioneer who created a bridge for Asian artists to be recognised in the U.S and believes that 88rising has begun to lay a foundation onto that."88rising has found a way to turn potential gimmicks into long-term brands."

On 29 December 2017, Joji stated that he would stop producing content for his Youtube comedy channel due to his health conditions. He also admitted to losing interest in creating that type of content.

He wasn’t enjoying the stuff he was making towards the end and says that people would tell him that there was so much more he could be doing with his talent. The difference with Joji music compared to his other content is its not formula based and he feels more connected to it. Its the type of music and sound that he'd like to be listeneing to.

Describing how he found his sound he explained that he was influenced by lo-fi and grew up listening to old school Boom Bap mixed with modern stuff on Soundcloud. His other musical influences are the likes of James Blake, Donald Glover, Radiohead and Shlohmo. Joji said that those genres opened the door for him. With regards to production he likes to keep the instrumentals textural and make sure the instrumental is packed and full with nostalgic sounds.

Joji's debut studio album Ballads 1 reached number 1 on Billboard's top R&B and hip-hop chart in November 2018. He became the first Asian-born artist to acheive this.

Joji has seamlessly transitioned from comedic internet star to an artist that can be taken seriously within the industry. His music is soulful, smart and poetic and is a staple for when those "sad hours" creep in.

Essential Songs

You Suck Charlie

Slow Dancing in the Dark

Yeah Right

Yeah Right - Genius

Run

Sanctuary

Test Drive

No Fun