Joji (musician) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joji
ジョージ
Joji performing in 2018
Born	George Kusunoki Miller (1993-09-16) 16 September 1993 (age 31) Osaka, Japan
Alma mater	New York Institute of Technology (BA)
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.

George Kusunoki Miller (ジョージ・楠木・ミラー, Jōji Kusunoki Mirā, born 16 September 1993), known as Joji, is a Japanese-Australian singer, songwriter, and rapper. He was also known as Filthy Frank and Pink Guy, who were comedy characters. Joji's music mixes different styles like R&B, lo-fi, and trip hop.

Miller started The Filthy Frank Show on YouTube in 2011. He became famous for playing funny and strange characters on his comedy channels. These channels included "TVFilthyFrank", "TooDamnFilthy", and "DizastaMusic". His videos often featured comedy hip hop, funny rants, and ukulele performances. They were known for their surprising humor and became very popular online.

He helped make the Harlem Shake an Internet meme. This helped Baauer's song "Harlem Shake" become a big hit. As Pink Guy, Miller released two comedy albums and an extended play between 2014 and 2017.

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

Early life

George Kusunoki Miller was born in Osaka, Japan. His father is Australian and his mother is Japanese. He went to Canadian Academy, an international school in Kobe, Japan. He finished school there in 2012. When he was 18, he moved from Japan to the United States.

YouTube career

Miller created his first YouTube channel, "2cool4u92," in 2006. The first video on this channel showed a 13-year-old Miller breakdancing. This is the earliest video of him known on YouTube. In 2008, he started the DizastaMusic channel. On this channel, he uploaded sketch comedy videos.

The DizastaMusic channel became popular in 2011. This was when he created the character Filthy Frank. Miller described Filthy Frank as an "anti-vlogger" for YouTube. He later announced that new "Filthy Frank" videos would go on a new channel called TVFilthyFrank. This was because his old channel had too many copyright issues.

His TVFilthyFrank channel had many series, like "Food" and "Japanese 101." This channel now has over 7.8 million subscribers. Miller also created a third channel, TooDamnFilthy, in 2014. This channel featured series like "Cringe of the Week."

In 2017, Miller released a book called Francis of the Filth. It shared more about The Filthy Frank Show. In late 2017, Miller announced he stopped making Filthy Frank content. He explained it was due to "serious health conditions" and losing interest. He later said he had no choice but to stop comedy because of his health.

Music career

Pink Guy (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 comedy characters became much more popular than he expected.

His music as Pink Guy was often very funny. It matched the humor of his YouTube channels. His second album, Pink Season, reached number 70 on the Billboard 200 chart. As Pink Guy, he released two albums and one extended play. He performed live as Pink Guy for the first time in 2017. By the end of 2017, Joji stopped making all Filthy Frank and Pink Guy music.

Joji (2015–present)

Besides his funny rap music as Pink Guy, Miller also made more serious music as Joji. This became his main focus in late 2017. He told Billboard that Joji is not a character. He said, "Joji's just me."

Miller started making music with friends while growing up in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. After moving to Manhattan, New York, he developed his Pink Guy persona. This led to his Joji music. He originally planned a Joji album in 2014. He later released two songs as PinkOmega, which were later included on the Pink Season album.

He wanted to keep his Joji music a secret at first. He thought his fans only wanted his comedy music. In late 2015, he released two songs under a different name. But people soon found out it was Miller. In 2016, he announced 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" and "Will He." He also performed live as Joji for the first time in Los Angeles in 2017. His first official music project as Joji was an EP called In Tongues. It came out in November 2017.

In May 2018, Joji released "Yeah Right." This was his first song to appear on a Billboard chart. It reached number 23 on the R&B Songs chart. His album Ballads 1 came out in October 2018. It quickly topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart. After the album, Miller announced a tour in North America and Europe.

In 2019, he released the single "Sanctuary." The music video for it was uploaded to 88rising's YouTube channel. In 2020, he released another single, "Run." He performed this song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He then announced his album Nectar, which was released in September 2020.

In June 2022, Joji released "Glimpse of Us." This song reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In November, he released his album Smithereens. He toured North America in 2022 and 2023 to promote the album. In 2023, Joji performed in Australia and announced his Pandemonium tour.

Artistry

Joji's music is often described as trip hop and lo-fi. It mixes sounds from trap, folk, electronic, and R&B. His songs often have a slow, sad feel with "soulful vocals" and simple music. Joji calls his own songs "dark love songs." His 2020 album, Nectar, explored common themes in a new way.

He has been compared to electronic artist James Blake. Joji has said that James Blake, Radiohead, and Donald Glover are some of his influences. He also said his music was inspired by growing up in Osaka. He listened to boom bap music while at Canadian Academy.

Impact

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

Discography

Studio albums

As Joji

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

As Pink Guy

• Pink Guy (Mixtape, 2014)
• Pink Season (2017)

Unreleased albums

• Chloe Burbank: Volume 1

Tours

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

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Joji para niños

• List of YouTubers