Joji (musician) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George "Joji" Miller
ジョージ
Joji performing in August 2018
Born	George Kusunoki Miller (1993-09-16) 16 September 1993 (age 31) Osaka, Japan
Alma mater	New York Institute of Technology (BFA)
Occupation	Singer songwriter rapper comedian
Years active	2008–present
Musical career
Origin	Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan
Genres	Joji R&B alt-R&B trip hop lo-fi Filthy Frank / Pink Guy Surreal humour satirical music satire comedy hip hop shock humour black comedy
Instruments	Vocals ukulele
Labels	88rising 12Tone Warner
Associated acts	Trippie Redd
YouTube information
Years active	2006–2017
Genre	shock comedy, surrealist humour
Subscribers	7.85 million
Total views	1.26 billion
Network	ScaleLab
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 4 Sept, 2024.
Signature

George Kusunoki Miller, known as Joji, is a Japanese-Australian singer, songwriter, and producer. He was also known by his past names, Filthy Frank and Pink Guy. Joji's music is a blend of R&B, lo-fi, and trip-hop styles. Before becoming a popular musician, he was a well-known comedian on YouTube.

Miller started The Filthy Frank Show on YouTube in 2011. He became famous for playing funny characters on his comedy channels. These channels featured comedy hip hop, rants, and ukulele performances. His videos were known for their surprising humor and became very popular. Miller even helped make the "Harlem Shake" an internet sensation. As Pink Guy, he released two comedy albums and an EP between 2014 and 2017.

In late 2017, Miller stopped The Filthy Frank Show to focus on his music career as Joji. He signed with music labels 88rising and 12Tone Music Group. He released his first two studio albums, Ballads 1 (2018) and Nectar (2020). Both albums reached number three on the Billboard 200 chart. His songs "Slow Dancing in the Dark" and "Sanctuary" became very popular. In 2022, his song "Glimpse of Us" became his highest-charting hit, reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. This song came before his third album, Smithereens (2022).

Joji's Early Life and Education

George Kusunoki Miller was born in Osaka, Japan. His father is Australian, and his mother is Japanese. He went to an international school in Kobe, Japan, called Canadian Academy. He finished school there in 2012.

When he was 18, Miller moved from Japan to the United States. He then studied at the New York Institute of Technology. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2016.

Joji's YouTube Journey

Miller started his first YouTube channel, "2cool4u92," on September 23, 2006. The first video on this channel showed a 13-year-old Miller breakdancing. This is the earliest known video of him on YouTube. On June 16, 2008, he created another channel called DizastaMusic. On this channel, he uploaded videos that were mostly sketch comedy.

His DizastaMusic channel became very popular after he created the character Filthy Frank in 2011. Miller described Filthy Frank as an "anti-vlogger" on YouTube. By October 2021, the DizastaMusic channel had over 1 million subscribers. In August 2014, Miller announced he would stop posting new content on DizastaMusic. This was because the channel had received many copyright and community warnings. He then created a new channel, TVFilthyFrank, for future Filthy Frank videos.

The TVFilthyFrank channel featured many different series. Some of these included "Food," "Japanese 101," and "Wild Games." As of October 2023, this channel has over 7.88 million subscribers and more than one billion views. Miller also created a third channel, TooDamnFilthy, in July 2014. This channel had series like "Japanese 101" and "Cringe of the Week." By October 2021, TooDamnFilthy had 2.33 million subscribers.

In September 2017, Miller released a book called Francis of the Filth. This book shared more details about The Filthy Frank Show. On December 29, 2017, Miller announced that he had stopped making Filthy Frank content. He explained that he had "serious health conditions" and was no longer interested in the show. In September 2018, he confirmed in an interview that his health made it impossible to continue with comedy.

Joji's Music Career

Pink Guy: Comedy Music (2012–2017)

Miller always loved making music. He said he started his YouTube channel to help promote his music. He told Pigeons and Planes that he always wanted to make "normal music." But his Filthy Frank and Pink Guy characters became much more popular than he expected.

His music as Pink Guy was often funny, just like his YouTube videos. His second album, Pink Season, reached number 70 on the Billboard 200 chart. As Pink Guy, Miller released two albums, Pink Guy and Pink Season, and one EP, Pink Season: The Prophecy. In March 2017, Miller performed live as Pink Guy for the first time at SXSW. On December 29, 2017, Joji stopped making all Filthy Frank-related content, including Pink Guy music.

Joji: Serious Music (2015–Present)

Besides his funny, rap-based music as Pink Guy, Miller also made more serious music under the name Joji. This became his main focus in late 2017. He told Billboard that as Joji, he gets to make the music he truly wants to hear. He also explained that Joji is not a character like Filthy Frank or Pink Guy; Joji is just him.

When he was growing up in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan, Miller started making music and singing with friends for fun. After moving to Manhattan, New York, he expanded his music career. He first developed his Pink Guy persona, which then led to his Joji persona. Miller first mentioned a Joji album in May 2014, but he quietly canceled it. Later, he released two songs as PinkOmega: "Dumplings" in June 2015 and "wefllagn.ii 5" in August 2015. These songs later appeared on the Pink Guy album Pink Season.

Miller initially wanted to keep his Joji music a secret from his YouTube fans. His fans mostly wanted his comedy music. In late 2015, two songs, "Thom" and "You Suck Charlie," were released under a different name. However, it was soon discovered that Miller was behind them. In January 2016, he announced on Instagram that he would release a full music project called Chloe Burbank: Volume 1.

Joji began releasing music with 88rising in 2017. He released songs like "I Don't Wanna Waste My Time" (April 26), "Rain on Me" (July 19), and "Will He" (October 17). Joji also appeared in the song "Nomadic" with the Chinese rap group Higher Brothers. His first live performance as Joji was on May 18, 2017, in Los Angeles.

Miller's first official music project as Joji was an EP called In Tongues. It was released on November 3, 2017. A special deluxe version of the EP came out on February 14, 2018. In May 2018, Joji released "Yeah Right," which was his first song to appear on a Billboard chart.

Joji released his album Ballads 1 with 88rising on October 26, 2018. It quickly topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart. After the album's release, Miller announced a North American tour for early 2019. He was already touring Europe for Ballads 1 at that time. On June 4, 2019, Miller announced his song "Sanctuary" and released it on June 14. A music video for the song was also released on 88rising's YouTube channel.

Joji was featured on the song "Where Does the Time Go?" with Indonesian rapper Rich Brian. On January 30, 2020, Miller announced another song, "Run", which came out on February 6 with a music video. He performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on March 2. On April 16, Joji announced the song "Gimme Love" and his upcoming album Nectar. The album was first set for July 10, 2020, but was moved to September 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 10, 2022, Joji released the song "Glimpse of Us". This song reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On August 26, he released another song called "Yukon (Interlude)." His album Smithereens came out on November 4, along with the song "Die for You". To promote the album, Joji toured North America from September 2022 to 2023.

In February 2023, Joji performed his songs in Australia at the Laneway Festival. On June 6, 2023, Joji announced his Pandemonium tour for North America. More tour dates were later added for Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Joji's Music Style

Joji's music is often described as trip hop and lo-fi. It mixes sounds from trap, folk, electronic, and R&B music. His songs are known for being "down tempo" (slow), having "melancholic themes" (sad feelings), and featuring "soulful vocals." The music often has a simple, "minimalistic production." Joji himself calls his songs "dark love songs." His 2020 album, Nectar, explores common themes in a unique way.

He has been compared to electronic artist James Blake. Joji has said that James Blake, along with Radiohead, Shlohmo, and Donald Glover, influenced his music. Miller also mentioned that his music was inspired by growing up in Osaka and by the boom bap music he listened to at Canadian Academy.

Joji's Impact on Internet Culture

Miller's YouTube show had a big effect on internet culture. It helped create many internet memes. The most famous example is a video from 2013 that started the "Harlem Shake" meme. This meme helped Baauer's song "Harlem Shake" become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Joji's Music Albums

As Joji

• In Tongues (EP, 2017)
• Ballads 1 (2018)
• Nectar (2020)
• Smithereens (2022)

As Pink Guy

• Pink Guy (Mixtape, 2014)
• Pink Season (2017)
• Pink Season: The Prophecy (2017)

Unreleased Albums

• Chloe Burbank: Volume 1

Joji's Concert Tours

• Ballads 1 Tour (2018–2019)
• Nectar: The Finale (2021–2022)
• Smithereens Tour (2022–2023)
• Pandemonium (2023)

Joji's Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Joji para niños

• List of YouTubers