Artist Spotlights: Japanese American Rapper Kazuo is Proud to Be a Devil
Blending the sounds of New York City and Yokohama, Japan, Kazuo transforms two disparate cultures to achieve his unique style of rap.
Artist Spotlights introduces you to artists that may not be on your radar yet, but should be. With recently cancelled tours and income loss for small artists, there’s no time like the present to find new talent to support.
Written by Beril Lara Saygin
Photo courtesy of Kazuo
Recommended if you like: $uicideboy$, Rich Brian, Eminem
Although he’s a newcomer to the rap scene, Kazuo, a self-described “crestfallen vagabond wandering around with negative thoughts,” has already created excitement with the release of his first album, AKUMA, in July 2020. Nothing about Kazuo’s identity ‘makes sense,’ but it is these very contradictions that make his music so compelling. New York City-based, American-born, and Yokohama-raised, the Black-Japanese rapper proudly owns his various identities in his personal brand and in his music. Kazuo’s unique style is especially evident on TikTok, where he often teases portions of new songs or freestyles.
Photo courtesy of Kazuo
The rapper seamlessly flows between English and Japanese lyrics layered on top of hard-hitting NYC beats. In an interview with Listen Magazine, Kazuo describes his music as “a sword-wielding samurai wearing Timbs and a Yankee fitted.” Inspired by the gritty sounds of ‘90s rap, AKUMA is an unforgiving, explosive rap album that does not shy away from vulgarity. Right away, Kazuo makes it clear that he does not care what anyone else thinks. The first lyrics of AKUMA are “I don’t give a f--- / Y’all can suck my dick.” And the outro of his song “Onlyfans” is a sample of a phone call by his manager interrupted by Kazuo:
Manager:
“Hello … Records
This is Harvey, Kazuo’s manager
I don’t know how you got ahold of the album
But it’s very vulgar, we have to do some revisions
Just don’t listen to this shit—”
Kazuo:
“F— you, n—!
Hahahahaha”
The Japanese word akuma roughly translates to “devil” in English, and the album certainly delivers the demonic, explosive shock factor that its name would suggest. Kazuo is confidently self-aware of his vulgarity and grittiness and lack of conformity to one genre or one culture, yet he confidently embraces this contrast in his album.
Kazuo often raps about feeling like an outcast, in part due to growing up with multiple cultures: “Never did I fit it with the crowd / Even was hated by the outsiders / Was the weirdo to the weirdos / Had to learn to be a fighter,” he says in “88Rising.” He blends his Asian heritage into his music with influences from Korean rap and the Japanese language. Kazuo’s style is particularly striking when rap and Japanese culture are juxtaposed side by side. Upbeat, loud, expressive rap contrasts with a traditionally conservative Japanese culture. But Kazuo appreciates his bilingual, bi-cultural heritage by rapping in both English and Japanese, switching between the two languages with ease, often in a single line.
In addition to Japanese lyrics, song titles such as “Arigato,” “Kaiju Freestyle,” and “Ichiban” are explicit allusions to his Asian heritage. But Kazuo has a complicated relationship with his Japanese background. His lyrics and tone are angry: “Always told that I need therapy / I then agree like yes indeed / But I’m too broke to get a shrink, so I’ll just fall off mentally,” he declares on “Boombox!”
He is unapologetically critical of Japan and outspoken about the negative effects his childhood there had on his mental health. In addition to rapping about these issues, he has created TikTok and YouTube videos about the toxically competitive school culture, racism, and the difficult family life he faced there.
On his YouTube channel and in his song, “Scumbag,” Kazuo openly addresses the unique challenges and prejudices he faces as a biracial man. He feels stuck between two contradicting cultures: “No matter what I do, they got a problem so I rather do some dumb shit that'll make them wanna kill me.” Kazuo has also opened up about some of his identity conflicts: too Black for his Asian friends, and too Asian for his Black friends.
Kazuo is so much more than just spitfire rap lyrics and curse words. He blends his cultures in his music and personal style. But, in his own words, Kazuo isn’t Black or Japanese; he’s just Kazuo.
Listen to Kazuo on Spotify and Bandcamp. You can find him on Instagram @kazuotv and Twitter @HeyKazuo