We found this on the internet recently and had to share it. Charisma.com are a female Japanese duo making music that’s somewhere between electro-pop and hip hop. However, unlike other recent East Asian pop sensations, such as PSY’s goofy K-pop shomanship or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s vaguely sinister J-pop sensory overload, Charisma.com ditch the bright, upbeat sound of Asian pop in favor of a snarky take on Japanese pop culture that’s epitomized by the title of their first single.
We found this on the internet recently and had to share it. Charisma.com are a female Japanese duo making music that’s somewhere between electro-pop and hip hop. However, unlike other recent East Asian pop sensations, such as PSY’s goofy K-pop shomanship or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s vaguely sinister J-pop sensory overload, Charisma.com ditch the bright, upbeat sound of Asian pop in favor of a snarky take on Japanese pop culture that’s epitomized by the title of their first single. “Hate,” the duo (rapper Itsuka and DJ/producer Gonchi) tells Noisey, is about their disgust with Japanese teen culture’s obsession with “kawaii” (Japanese for “cute”). “I noticed that certain types of girls overuse the word ‘kawaii’ so much that it made me wonder, ‘Do you really find that cute?'” says Itsuka. “If you use that word so easily, it’s no longer a compliment worth receiving. I hate that.”
Charisma.com’s sense of disdain for the Japanese culture of cuteness does not mean that they aren’t concerned with looking good, though–for example, they dress quite well in the video for “Hate.” “I like fashion,” Itsuka tells Noisey. “But I don’t dress up in order to make people tell me I’m kawaii. I just like to wear clothes I like.” The things that happen in the “Hate” video are enough to keep anyone from tagging the group with the “cute” label. The duo begin the song seated at a dinner table as dancers who appear as nothing more than black silhouettes cavort behind them. As Itsuka raps the first verse with a disdainful effect that makes her look like a Japanese Daria, Gonchi begins feasting on a plate of live, wriggling bugs delivered to her by one of their dancers. Eventually, Itsuka gets up and starts dancing along with the song, while Gonchi (who reminds me a lot of Gir from Invader Zim in this clip) gets bored with the bugs and begins murdering the group’s backup dancers with various weapons including a pistol, a chainsaw, and an axe. The video ends with Itsuka picking up Gonchi’s discarded pistol, shooting her DJ in the face, then putting the gun in her mouth and offing herself.
Don’t worry kids, it’s only a video–Itsuka and Gonchi are alive and well, working in Japanese offices and quietly seething on their train rides to and from work. Their first EP, I I Syndrome, features plenty of other anthems of frustration with Japanese culture and its relentless, forced politeness. You won’t find them at the actual URL charisma.com–the name is a mistranslation; the group seem to have been going for something more like Charisma Inc, but what they ended up with is a much better name anyway. Their website is official-charisma.com, but it’s all in Japanese, so be forewarned.
By Andrew Necci
