Profile: Kenshi Yonezu from Vocaloid P to Solo Singer

Kenshi Yonezu (米津玄師) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. His music label is Sony Music Labels. He is also known as a producer of Vocaloid or Vocaloid P under his stage name HACHI (ハチ). After being active as Vocaloid P on Nico Nico Douga. In 2012, he made his debut as a solo singer with the album “diorama”. Released in 2018, “lemon” became his biggest hit and biggest hit of 2018. It recorded over 2.5 million sales and the music video on YouTube has been viewed more than 700 million times.

Profile

Nama Lahir: Kenshi Yonezu (Kenshi Yonezu)

Nama Panggung: Kenshi Yonezu, HACHI

Date of Birth: March 10, 1991 (age 30)

Place of Birth: Tokushima, Japan

Blood Type: O

Height: 188cm

Active Year: 2009 – Present

Genre Music: J-pop · rock

Instruments: Vocals · Guitar

Label: BALLOOM · Universal Music Japan · Sony Music Labels · REISSUE RECORDS

Background

Kenshi Yonezu was born on March 10, 1991 in Tokushima Prefecture. Due to the influence of his mother, who is an art teacher, he has loved to draw since childhood and dreams of becoming a mangaka. When he was in 5th grade of elementary school, he saw a music video in the form of an anime of the band BUMP OF CHICKEN posted on the internet. After that, he began to know that there are people who draw stories with music and became interested in music. In high school, he started recording and producing his own songs using MTR.

Career as Vocaloid P

After graduating from High School, he joined a band called Ernst Eckmann and served as bassist and vocalist.

In 2009, along with the band activities, he started posting Vocaloid songs on the video-sharing service Nico Nico Douga under the stage name HACHI (ハチ). In May, she released her first work “Princess Sleeps with Electronic Sounds (お姫様は電子音で眠)” by Hatsune Miku.

In the following year, he released two Vocaloid albums “Hanataba to Suisou (花束と水葬)” and “OFFICIAL ORANGE” which were self-produced from illustrations, CD booklets, lyric cards, and others. In 2011, she released hit songs that garnered millions of views, including “Musunde Hiraite Rasetsu to Mukuro (結ンデ開イテ羅刹ト骸)”, “Matryoshka (マトリョシカ)”, and “Panda Hero (パンダヒーロー)” .

In Vocaloid career, she has high popularity and attracts attention not only from Japan but also from all over the world. Apart from that, he also does everything himself from the illustrations and videos posted.

Kenshi Yonezu Singer Career

In 2012, he started his activities as a solo singer using his own real name Kenshi Yonezu. He started his career by releasing music videos for the songs "Go Go Yuureisen (ゴーゴー幽霊船)", "vivi", and "Koi to Byonetsu (恋と病熱)". Starting in February, posted on YouTube and Nico Nico Douga for three months in a row. On May 16, together with the label BALLOOM, he released his first studio album “diorama”. The album was an immediate success, reaching number 6 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

On May 29, 2013, together with the label Universal Music Japan, Kenshi Yonezu released the first single “Santa Maria (サンタマリア)”. Followed on October 23 of the same year, she released her second single “MAD HEAD LOVE / Poppin' Apathy (MAD HEAD LOVE / )". At the beginning of his career as a singer, he did not do concerts or live performances. Until June 2014, he held the first live performance to be held in secret. On October 28, 5 days after the release of the second single, he returned to Nico Nico Douga for the first time in 2 years and 9 months since the song “Panda Hero (ンダヒーロー)” in 2010. He posted the Vocaloid song “DONUT HOLE (ドーナツホール) ” which was also posted on his official YouTube Channel.

In March 2014, the music videos for the songs "Living Dead Youth (リビングデッド・ユース)" and "Eine Kleine (アイネクライネ)" were released on YouTube. The song “Eine Kleine (アイネクライネ)” was chosen as the Tokyo Metro 2014 advertisement “Color your days.”. In addition, the song music video on YouTube has been watched more than 300 million times in 2021 and is the second most viewed on Kenshi Yonezu YouTube Channel after the MV "Lemon". On April 23 of the same year, he released his second studio album “YANKEE”. The album reached number 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart and was voted best album on iTunes Store BEST OF 2014.

On January 14, 2015, he released the single "Flowerwall" as a commercial for the Nikon D5500 camera. In August, he appeared in several summer festival events such as ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2015. On September 2 of the same year, he released the single “Unbelievers (アンビリーバーズ)” as a commercial for MIZUNO shoes “WAVE ENIGMA 5”. The following month, he released his third studio album “Bremen”. The album won the 57th Japan Record Awards for Best Album.

On September 29, 2016, he released the single "LOSER / Number Nine (LOSER / ナンバーナイン)" which was released with Sony Music Labels. On October 5 of the same year, in collaboration with DJ and music producer Yasutaka Nakata released the song "NANIMONO". This song was chosen as the theme song for the film Someone (何者). On December 10, he released his first book work “Kaiju Zukan (かいじゅうずかん)”.

On February 15, 2017, he released the single "orion". The single was chosen as the 2nd ending theme for the anime 3-gatsu no Lion (March Comes In like a Lion). On June 21 of the same year, he released the single "Peace Sign (ピースサイン)" which was used as the 2nd opening theme of the anime My Hero Academia 2nd Season. On August 16, in collaboration with singer DAOKO, released the song "Uchiage Hanabi (打上花火)". The song became a long hit from 2017 to 2018 and was chosen as the theme song for the anime film Fireworks.

On July 21, 2017, he returned as HACHI for the first time in 3 years and 9 months since “DONUT HOLE (ドーナツホール)” in 2013. Posting vocaloid song “DUNE (砂の惑星)” posted on YouTube and Nico Nico Douga . On November 1st, he released his fourth studio album “BOOTLEG”. Recorded sales beyond his previous albums and topped the Japanese Albums Chart including Oricon, Billboard JAPAN, and iTunes. In addition, the album won the 2017 CD Store Award and was the best album at the 60th Japan Record Awards.

On March 14, 2018, he released the single "Lemon" which was used as the theme song for the TV drama Unnatural (アンナチュラル). The song “Lemon” was a huge hit in 2018, selling over 2 million copies, topping Japanese Charts including Oricon, Billboard JAPAN, and iTunes. In addition, the music video posted on YouTube has reached 700 million views in 2021 and set the record for the highest number of views in the history of a Japanese artist. On October 31 of the same year, he released the single “Flamingo / TEENAGE RIOT”.

On June 3, 2019, she released the song "Umi no Yuurei (海の幽霊)" which was used as the theme song for the anime film Children of the Sea. On September 11 of the same year, she released the single "Uma to Shika (馬と鹿)". The single was chosen as the theme song for the TV drama No Side Game (ノーサイド・ゲーム).

As of July 6, 2020, Kenshi Yonezu YouTube channel has gained over 5 million subscribers, making him the first Japanese artist to do so. On August 5 of the same year, he released his fifth studio album “STRAY SHEEP”. Recorded sales of over 1.5 million copies, topped the Japanese Album Charts including Oricon, Billboard JAPAN, and iTunes.

Discography

Studio Albums

[2012.05.16] diorama

[2014.04.23] YANKEE

[2015.10.07] Bremen

[2017.11.01] BOOTLEG

[2020.08.05] STRAY SHEEP

Singles

[2013.05.29] Santa Maria

[2013.10.23] MAD HEAD LOVE / Poppin'Apathy (MAD HEAD LOVE / Poppin'Apathy)

[2015.01.14] Flowerwall

[2015.09.02] Unbelievers