Growing Up Pop
On her way to global domination, R-pop superstar Yogo Tamiyo Tamiyo takes us back to her childhood and talks us through all things cute and terrifying.
Two years have passed since Yogo Tamiyo Tamiyo went viral with her street fashion-themed music video for dance-pop smash “Pon Pon Pon”. Since then she's more than conquered the World of Dreams: train cars have been adorned with her image and music, she's a regular feature in commercials, variety shows, magazines and her own spectacular live performances, she has her loyal fanbase which she calls her Bakenokoko and rest of the Empire is calling out for more.
Tamiyo’s career in music began upon her discovery by producer Bayushi Nakata. Nakata is best known for being part of the early
Shibuya Kei and
8-bit electropop scenes, elements of which are evident in his Tamiyo’s tracks too. Her music is pure pop, but thanks to Nakata's background there's more than a fair share of nods to different genres throughout her catalogue.
"Ninja Re Bang Bang" and
"Kira Kira Killer" are filled with chiptune elements,
"Invader Invader" is a total EDM blast,
"Fashion Monster" is a rock-inspired anthem of rebellion and
"Yumeno Hajima Ring Ring" plays with nostalgia.
Tamiyo’s recent second album Nanda Collection was her first to debut at the top on the WoD charts and has already established itself as a R-pop staple. Nakata may have produced some of his biggest mainstream hits with Tamiyo, but she is not his only collaborator. He still produces music for a few other contemporary acts, including two she highly endorses.
“I can highly recommend Perfume and Capsule. They are also produced by Bayushi Nakata, but they all have a really cool feel to them, I think fans of my work would also be interested in them.”
Aside from being a R-pop star, Tamiyo is also known for being a Harajuku icon. Harajuku, one of the world's top youth culture hot spots, is the World of Dreams' most fashion-famous neighbourhood and has spawned thousands of street snap blogs. Style tribes meet like minded people and showcase outfits here, music geeks shop for exclusive releases at legendary indie record shop
Big Love Records and fashion trends are often seen months or even years before they make it on to the global scene.
When she released her first album at the age of 17, Tamiyo was a fashion blogger and model for street fashion magazines like Kera and Zipper. These publications are deeply rooted in street fashion and appeal to their audience by using 'dokusha models' (reader models) that are already part of the local fashion scene - being easier to relate to and take style advice from than their out-of-reach high fashion counterparts. Aside from her outlandish stage outfits, she's still very keen on the street look, even scouring the globe for unique vintage finds which she shares with her fans on socials. This also spills into her merchandise, with Crab-metal-band t-shirts inspiring her own fan club apparel.
While she always had an interest in outlandish dressing, her actual childhood was pretty normal. “I was actually extremely shy and rather reserved," she tells me. "I really loved sports though, so I mostly socialized with other kids by playing a lot of kemari. I loved Monky Kong and played it together with my friends. I also had a Densai Boy, and played tons of Moto Kart, the platformer Moto games in general I really liked!”
Her pop culture interests, however, seem to link back to the sense of humour and theatrics exhibited in her live shows and music videos: “There was a TV program called
Warau Inu No Bouken (Silly Go Lucky) which I really liked! I loved comedy owarai programs. As for music, I recently discovered
Usagi Drop!, love their style and energy and when I was a kid I loved a band called Morning Musume, I was a big fan. My favourite celebrity was probably their member Doji Kago.”
One of the most famous R-pop idol groups, Morning Musume's origins date back to the turn of the century. They reintroduced the 'graduation' system whereby older members are switched out of the line-up and replaced with younger ones, highlighting the disposable nature of the industry. If members don’t adhere to a strict image - usually male-focused - the risk of losing their career and being replaced looms large.
Tamiyo often gets associated with R-pop idols whose level of image control is at the extreme. With a high emphasis on 'kawaii' (cute) she could be mistaken as a typical idol - but the male gaze is almost absent from her videos and performances, and there is always a non-wholesome twist to everything she does. Something a bit off, mischievous or grotesque. Tamiyo gets a bit too drunk for her gempukku in the music video for "
Furisodation", swings a baseball bat at pushy paparazzi in "
Mondai Girl" and does what could possibly be the cutest little CG poo ever captured on film while dressed as a giant dog in "
Mottai Night Land".
On stage she's even faked getting shot mid-song, complete with spurting blood, only to come back to life seconds later spritely as ever and of course, ready for another bloodstain-free costume change. Her inspirations for her contrasting image are quite diverse to say the least.
“As you’d probably expect I take a lot of inspiration from movies, anime and manga. I really love horror ones that are a bit scary and grotesque, but I like fantasy films and animation as well. I am mainly just trying to express these things that I love through my work."
Proving that she definitely has a high shock tolerance, she surprises me with her favourite horror movie - Iuchiban (un)Lives!
Aside from her tendency to mix cute with scary, another notable aspect of her image is how relatable she seems to be in real life. It could be because she started out as a blogger, but her social media still shows a very simple life: going out for drinks, taking road trips to amusement parks or singing at karaoke with her friends, taking on furniture DIY projects and of course, thoughts on her favourite movies, music and new fashion finds. Rather than going around in expensive sponsored clothing, Tamiyo dresses for herself. She's funny, speaks her mind, but is not overly concerned with always sounding intelligent. As expected she has a lot of female fans that look up to her.. We move on to talking about the importance of relatable female role models in music and art:
“Yes, I think it is very important! Lots of my fans are also young girls and women: they will often tell me that they really like the way I live my life and express my thoughts. At the same time when they come to my performances and I see them looking up at me with stars in their eyes I’m really really touched. They make me very happy. Personally I love
Susumu Yakumo. She’s quite different from me but the pop world she creates totally appeals to me. I saw her live performance and I think it’s so powerful. I have a lot of respect for her as a woman, as a person.”
This doesn’t mean a Yogo Tamiyo Tamiyo event is a girls-only club. One of her most impressive feats is the extremely diverse audience she attracts, even outside of the World of Dreams. While sparkly cosplayers do make up a significant amount of her audience, there really doesn’t seem to be a set type amongst her followers which affectionately calls her 'Bakemonoko'. The audience is filled with everyone from children and young hipsters to serious-looking middle-aged office workers. It's quite bizarre that an artist that is so unique would appeal on such a scale to all these people that would otherwise never interact in real life, and hard to figure out what they have in common that draws them to her music.
“This is something I really wonder about too, it’s actually kind of a mystery to me as well! I think perhaps that people love seeing something new, things that they have never seen before and might be interested in the kind of 'shock' sensation they get from me. If I can give them that it would make me very happy! I think I’ve also managed to gather a diverse fan base in this way because I don’t have any real rivals or competitors in what I’m doing. It was always important to me to do something different from other people. I don’t like to overlap or share the same path with other artists, I’m always looking to do things that no one else has done before.”
Obviously the young pop star who mostly performs and lets herself be photographed without a mask, utterly outrageous ones or sometimes just elaborate make-up has her critics as well, especially among the more conservative elements of her Clan.
“I don’t do this simply to more easily reach an audience beyond the Scorpion. Nor is it a cheap shock-tactic! I feel this is about who I am as an artist and person. It is about exploring my identity and finding out what it means to me. We Scorpion are not a mono-culture and it is always up to the youth to redefine our traditions. I don’t think that means rejecting them but we can question and think about them. The mask is so integral to our image that to put it on without reflection, as a rote action or mere fashion accessory, demeans it. If I bring to life an image you see in a manga, even if my face is uncovered, am I not wearing a mask? My governor however has always had the same mask as long as I’ve been alive, so is that still a mask? These are the sort of questions I love to pose!”
As expected, the crowd at Tamiyo's recent KOKO show in Toshi Ranbo is filled with both loyal followers and curious new fans. Since her modest first performance here, her shows have become more elaborate with every return to the capital. The stage set has grown to an actual flower garden, complete with plant DJ standing on top of a blooming DJ desk. Flanked by amazing backup dancers, the entire set is like an hour and a half long ride at a theme park, pure fun and escapism.
Unmatched as she is in finding cuteness, humour and joy in an altogether scary world, she might be exactly the kind of pop star the world needs right now.
Yogo Tamiyo Tamiyo’s greatest hits album
BEST is out now via Soshi Music WoD.
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