an interview with
KAZUO KAZUO
Kazuo is a young rapper based out of NYC who spent his life growing up between Japan and the States. He recently dropped his first studio album AKUMA and Tastemakers wanted to sit down with him and talk to him about the project and his inspirations. Interview
Tastemakers Music Mag (TMM): Do you want to start by introducing yourself really quick? Kazuo: My name is Kazuo, I do music, I’m hella introverted; I pretend that I’m not because ya know, nobody really likes the quiet guy and I hate being told that I’m quiet, because it’s just like I have nothing to say, what do you want me to do about that? But yeah [laughs], I make music, I produce, I make videos, I make either people laugh or angry at me. It is what it is.
Designer: Stephanie Miano (Interaction Design)
Fall 2020
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Kazuo: Oh, that’s a throwback. I started making those out of boredom, I think I made the “Why I Hated Japanese School”. My old laptop broke and I always wanted to make that type of video, so the audio Is recorded from my old iPhone 6. I didn’t even script the video, I just had little bullet points like okay talk about this, put it in your own words. I was making songs like I had this song called “GAIJIN”, I guess it’s still out [laughs]; I have a song called “GAIJIN” and I plugged it in “Why I Hated Japanese School”, but I just wanted to get to the more complex stuff, like the things I wouldn't just bring up in a song just to explain further about my life. Also, I was trying to be an aspiring comedian, so that was my outlet to tell jokes. TMM: Yeah, that’s the way to do it. Did you always know you wanted to do some type of entertainment, even before you started releasing music?
TMM: It is what it is. [laughs]. You say you’re introverted, but I feel like that’s not the vibe that I’m getting from you as someone who’s also introverted.
Kazuo: Yeah, absolutely. I've always thought that, you know, since a young age that I’m kind of funny. Also, I don't want validation from other people, but I also do want validation.
Kazuo: Yeah you can just kinda put on a mask and then just come off as really interesting. You witness a lot of extroverts so you’re able to copy them, but it’s really exhausting doing that 24/7. Luckily, I only get to do that like right now.
TMM: Story of my life; I love saying that I'm funny to myself, but I hate when other people say I’m funny because then it comes with an expectation.
TMM: Nice, sorry if this is draining you at all [laughs].
Kazuo: Exactly. I hate when people introduce me as the funny guy, like just find out for yourself.
Kazuo: No, this is not like a chore to me [laughs], this is actually pretty fun!
TMM: Exactly. Where do you draw your inspiration from, both for your music and in general?
TMM: Glad to know! Okay, I got some fun questions now. So you lived here and in Japan, what was that like and how did that influence your music and your style? I see a lot of aspects of that on your Instagram also.
Kazuo: I don't want to come off as narcissistic, but just me, honestly. I don't know. I listen to a lot of music and I'm always open for inspiration. Like I'll listen to anything and I do listen to anything, you know, nothing's off limits for me. If I hear something that I just like, whether it's somebody’s vocal cadence or like a lyric or an instrument I like, I'll be like, “Yo, is there a way I can put my own spin to this or apply this to my own work.” So, you know, stealing is sometimes cool. Just don’t steal too much [laughs]. I'm always like, looking for inspiration and I'm the type of guy that likes putting my own spin onto things. From there it can even just be like a lyric I had in my head and that’s where the journey starts basically.
Kazuo: It was pretty exhausting going back and forth. Basically, I was born here and spent my first five years of my life breathing here and then to Japan, but I don’t really remember my early years so my first memories came from Japan. So everything when it comes to like “normal” things, the standard is Japan to me, then I came back here when I was like 15 and it was just like crazy culture shock. I'd visited the states before like a few times, but it was never long enough for me to ever get used to it until I moved back here. It was just crazy like the people I would deal with like back in Japan versus the people I had to deal with people here and it was pretty interesting. It provided me so much perspective and pretty much shaped how I am now. There's only a few people I know from my life who've had a similar experience with me and I just like sharing that because I think it is kind of, you know, unique and I want people to either relate to it or just like get an understanding of some of like a lifestyle that's different from theirs. TMM: Right, that’s valid. I know you also liked to release videos on YouTube back in the day. Kazuo: Oh, yeah. TMM: Was that your way of introducing people to that? I know you made one on American school versus Japanese school.
TMM: So spinning off that, you dropped a whole bunch of singles before and then you just released your album. What prompted you to drop a full project? Kazuo: Fan pressure. Honestly, fan pressure. I was making albums as like side projects; I never dropped an album before AKUMA, but I'd always wanted to drop a project, like an album of my own. I went through so many traps of concepts I had, and it would either not go anywhere, I’d think I'm just not like talented enough to pull up this, I don't have enough resources for this, or I'm gonna have to pay some somebody $700 to do this. Just things like that, like lack of resources. Or let's just say I wanted to make a synth wave album because I'll go through a synth wave phase for like two weeks, then after making three synth wave beats I'm like, “Okay, I don't want to do this anymore.” So yeah, it's just like some ADD stuff too, you know, I can't just like stay
