nayeonline - Tumblr blog

nayeonline · 4 days

Text

A comprehensive guide to the one and only 4s4ki

Introducing you (yes, you) to the Japanese alternative electronic singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and musical virtuosa 🔮

☆ General info:

4s4ki (pronounced and fka Asaki, her real first name) was born March 11, 1998 in Saitama Prefecture and is currently based in Tokyo. She owns her independent management label SAD15mg and is a member of creative collective Sasakrect, while being signed to Victor Entertainment subsidiary Speedstar Records for publishing.

☆ Background:

4s4ki grew up on grunge and punk music such as Nirvana, Avril Lavigne and Paramore, and was up to date with rappers and musicians on NicoNicoDouga and SoundCloud. She taught herself to produce music on DTM, GarageBand and Logic in high school, taking inspiration from electronic producers such as Porter Robinson and Grimes. She started singing to create vocal tracks for her demos seeing that nobody was willing to send her vocals. As a professional musician, she started off with writing songs for stage productions, idol groups and other artists. When she was asked to provide vocals for demos and background tracks, she was told her talent was too good to go to waste and that she should pursue her own music career, despite 4s4ki herself initially disliking her own voice and finding it to be basic. She started busking and videos of her singing went viral, and she later ended up meeting Sasakrect’s president, signing with the collective and making her debut.

☆ Discography (and buckle up because we will be discussing every single one of her eras):

4s4ki currently has 5 studio albums, 1 LP and 5 EPs under her belt. A vast majority of her work is fully self-written, composed and produced, while producers and musicians both domestic and international appear as frequent collaborators or special features in her projects. She debuted January 31, 2018 with her single Gender, and later released her debut EP Bokuwa Bakadayo in March. Since her debut, her work has since developed tremendously, and Bokuwa Bakadayo is a piano/synth-heavy ballad pop project which is the most drastically different from her current work. It showcases her soft, soulful vocals and her piano and composition skills, with the lyrics handling romantic and platonic relationships (sometimes fading away), personal feelings and, as the EP title says, feeling like a fool.

youtube

Nemnem EP (2019) features Animal Hack as an co-producer and introduces a more multi-layered, electronic sound to her work. The base of her musical and visual style is now set and her vocals are now purposefully slightly autotuned and manipulated. The lyrics remain sad and mellow, from fairytales (pun intended and you’ll see how 👀) to sleeping pills, losing hope and being in pain.

youtube

With her debut album Your Dreamland (2020), 4s4ki brings out co-producers that she regularly works with to this day for the first time (Kotonohouse, maeshima soshi, gu^2, Gigandect), incorporates various EDM genres and begins using 3D alien/creature characters in her visuals, which would later become a staple in many of her music videos. Gratitude towards her friendships is at the heart of the album, and while it’s one of her most cheerful projects to this day, it’s laced with escapism and is closed off with a song about being dissatisfied with a life that just sucks. Fun fact: Platonic and Sakio is Dreamland (Sakio simply being a nickname at a former part-time job of hers) were made drunk together with gu^2 after bad days of work, which is why their lyrics are unserious, according to 4s4ki.

youtube

Iei Ni Yeah (2020), her second studio album, sharply contrasts Your Dreamland sonically. With Masayoshi Iimori (another current frequent collaborator) on the production on all of the tracks, we’re now faced with a more intense EDM sound, with genres such as American hyperpop, hardstyle and trap. The lead single I Love Me and visuals of the album are heavily inspired by video games, which once again, both brings in fun and symbolizes the desire to escape. On Liar, 4s4ki and CVLTE reminisce memories amidst a relationship losing trust.

youtube

Hyper Angry Cat (2020) is a double-disc album that compiles Your Dreamland, Iei Ni Yeah and 5 post-Nemnem singles along with 4 new songs. Title track Hyper Angry Cat is another Gigandect-produced rebellious chiptune track, and Chronicle’s intimate, devastating lyrics, melody and MV will tempt your tear glands.

youtube

Digital EP Undead Cyborg (2021) contains 5 tracks (the production of which was entirely handled by 4s4ki herself) accompanied by absurdist, quirky 3D visuals. Mega Jokki and Reimen are one-minute jingles, containing lyrics like “I’m supersonic Kirby” and “Good night baby, my stomach hurts so much / Unexpectedly, I can’t eat cold noodles”. Sugar Junky is 4s4ki’s very own eccentric spin on the 2021 hyperpop wave which is also featured on next album Castle in Madness, along with Happiness theory where she questions the dynamics between joy and sadness. The EP ends with the dark piano-only track I’ve always wanna kill you, facing internal battles and frustration.

Castle in Madness (2021) is 4s4ki’s first project under Speedstar Records, hence being considered her “major label debut album”. Luckily, she was given plenty of freedom by the record label, and that’s part of the reason why her musical range is showcased excellently like in her previous projects if not better, from very bright and pop-like to melancholic and from banging and sharp to serene. This album marks her first international collaborations, with Puppet (gemstone), Zheani (Fairytale, this was the pun in the Nemnem section) and Smrtdeath (Alice), as well as including co-writes and production from long-time musical partners. You can tell from its title that Castle in Madness is gonna be insane and whimsy through and through: you’ll come across punk rock, more of the intense hyperpop, Shaka Bose-produced otherworldly dizziness, more of the Gigandect-produced chiptune craziness, Kotonohouse-produced sweet EDM and beautiful tranquil interlude/outro tracks to catch a breath. (We also thank Shaka Bose for supporting her from the beginning of her career, inviting her to perform at live shows and exposing her to diverse musical influences and musicians.) With the accompaniment of diverse and high-quality visuals, this album is one powerful and unique way to step out into a bigger career.

youtube

Next up are complementary digital EPs Here or Heaven (late 2021) and Here or Hell (early 2022), which express two extremes while being solid, expressive projects on their own. The two are yin and yang in a sense. Here or Heaven, the yang, starts off and mostly sounds bright and sparkly, yet constantly stores this sorrow and anger which ends up exploding as cries and growls in the final track Blackhole. Here or Hell, the yin, on the other hand, has a gritty, edgy finish to it, but somehow feels freer and less tensioned in spirit. Even with Punish being likened to a doomscroll by Pitchfork, and another track being titled “KILL MY SELF, I tried” and discussing suicidal ideation, there’s comfort in the dimness. go to glory, the outro of Here or Hell, embraces pain and lets go at last. The visuals from this era range from cyberpunk and 90s vaporwave-inspired lyric videos to something more down to earth, such as countryside roads, synthetic flowers and rooms with blue lighting.

youtube

Now we get to the grand, legendary Killer in Neverland (2022). Had any of 90% of today’s artists released this masterpiece, it would be their magnum opus point blank, however 4s4ki’s artistry is constantly developing and transforming, so it’s truly uncertain when she’ll reach her peak, and that’s if she‘ll ever “reach” it instead of keeping on improving. Even though 4s4ki’s work has always been complex and well-established, Killer in Neverland proves her full confidence in her own production and creative vision, and presents her as one of the greatest producers and musicians of our time. The tracks are impeccably high-quality even for an empress like her, and this quality combined with incredible sequencing and transitions makes Killer in Neverland an outstanding BODY OF WORK. I’m holding myself back from describing the tracks one by one because having no idea what comes next is a keystone in the album listening experience and I want you, the future listener, to experience exactly that (and share your thoughts with me after you’re done hehe). What I can say the drum & bass heaven that started with Punish continues and other genres include but aren’t limited to rock and goa trance, and Cross out is the first song she’s ever written. All of the song stand out on their own yet they all feel so deconstructed. Very few portray isolation, deconstruction and the calm before or after the storm through their music like 4s4ki does. For the visuals we’re now in Kwangya, with its digital forests and neon skyscrapers, with the addition of the absurd 3D aliens and cyber-extraterrestrial land. Video games and animations return as strong influences and symbols of escapism once again, now with utmost emphasis. Killer In Neverland gives you a preview of the cyber purgatory that’s her inner world in every way imaginable.

youtube

As of right now, 4s4ki’s latest album is Code Ge4ss (2023), which is an official collaboration with the Code Geass anime franchise. The lyrics are themed after the anime’s characters and plot events, but don’t let that mislead you into thinking the project is any less special or personal in any way. I wasn’t really going to describe it in detail as it’s another mind-blowing album experience without beforehand descriptions (kind of more like a puzzle rather than the deconstructed glass shatters of Killer in Neverland), but I lengthily reviewed it in my 2023 top albums/EPs list anyway (Code Ge4ss sitting pretty at #3 if you wanna read the full thing), and I’m pasting a segment here to save you scrolling time:

… Banging (kicking if you will) Jersey club beats, birds chirping accompanying glitchy trap instrumentals, screams followed by almost Machine Girl-level noisy circuit board sorcery, samples of characters’ speeches over electro guitar riffs, a piano interlude paired with opera runs taken from the show, pacifying ballads which are a mix of acoustic guitar and hard-hitting pots-pans and 8-bit synths, all closed by surreal orchestration with the classic electronica touches of 4s4ki and collaborator producer Kotonohouse. I’m sure I’d appreciate the Code Geass-themed lyricism on an even deeper level if I hadn’t paused watching the anime after 5 episodes like the terrible TV consumer I am. What I can be certain about is that everything about this project feels genuine and from within because it IS genuine and from within. 4s4ki couldn’t have been a more suitable choice for this collaboration, she’s been a fan of the franchise since elementary school and very few emit the weird cyber-glitchcore internet baby aesthetics the way she does. The cover art is stunning and references the series once again, and the Shirley MV leaves us with calming visuals that may remind you of Welcome to MY World by aespa, which spoke to the aespa x 4s4ki truther in me.

All of this makes Code Ge4ss another gorgeous project with incredible production, lyrics and visuals. 4s4ki never fails to masterfully express herself and expand her skills and creativity.

youtube

☆ More on 4s4ki’s musical/visual style and artistry:

As mentioned, 4s4ki can be broadly described as an alternative electronic musician, and she describes her music as “hyper new punk”. Though she’s often considered a “hyperpop” musician (even as “one of the Japanese hyperpop representatives”) and she regularly plays around with the genre, she doesn’t box herself into labels or convention. Her range comprises drum & bass, ballads, dubstep, 80s pop, trance, Jersey club, nu-metal and much more, and she revealed she’d like to try all genres in the future. She uses autotune and various vocal effects to manipulate her voice and make it sound haunting and enchanting, at first because she idolized singers with distinct voices and thought hers fell flat in comparison, and now more because she sees her voice as an instrument that can be edited to fit into and add to the track. Her lyrics express her inner feelings, often her extreme highs and lows, and can go from silly and almost nonsensical to soulful, deep and depressing. Her music videos can be set in vibrant virtual alien worlds or in various real-life settings. While she has a coherent sonic and artistic identity, she’s never hesitant to use her artistic freedom to experiment and explore, which keeps her audience curious and anticipating her next step.

☆ Some reasons why YOU should support 4s4ki:

Whenever I introduce someone to 4s4ki, I can’t help but feel boastful about the fact that she writes and produces her own music (as well as playing the piano and guitar), and that it’s THIS intricate and impressive. Whenever I listen to her songs and appreciate all the details that go into them, remembering that she’s the behind the craft makes everything hit harder. In a music industry where producers go under the radar and music making skills are under-appreciated, I believe we need to pay more attention to self-produced talents. And when said talents’ discographies are filled to the brim with hits, you have no choice but to keep an eye of them.

The reason why I described every project of hers in detail is mainly because I needed to illustrate her uniqueness and constant development. She says it’s simply because she gradually learns to express herself better and that reflects in the music, but being this consistent and major in your improvement isn’t something that everyone achieves. Not only is she obviously talented, but she also puts that talent to good use, refines her skill and keeps climbing up as a true artist. “Downgrade” simply isn’t in her vocabulary, and she never lets you down with her projects and singles.

Calling hyperpop and electronic music fans! If you enjoy artists like aespa, Namasenda, Dorian Electra, 100 gecs, Sega Bodega, Shygirl and you’re looking for another experimental girlie to check out, you’ve arrived at the right destination. I’ve already elaborated on her sound, discography, excellent album curation and everything she has to offer. Please join my 4s4ki x Sega Bodega (they’re long lost siblings) joint concept album prayer circle.

Management-wise, 4s4ki is an independent artist (has her own label, as I mentioned in the beginning) and she’s only really tied to a label for publishing and additional promotion. As far as we know, her label gives her pretty much full control over her work, which doesn’t hinder her artistic potential. So�� are you sick and tired of a good amount of your faves getting screwed over by their big management labels who have no respect for artists or art at all (pssst K-pop fans)? Do you want some peace of mind at last instead of worrying what atrocities are being committed in company meetings this time? Do you want to support an insanely skilled indie artist while advocating for artists under horrendous labels to gain their freedom? Then give her some streams, spread the word and help her get that bag. She’s already successful, with a dedicated fanbase and her projects and tours pulling good numbers, but she deserves to reach more people that would enjoy and understand her art.

☆ Follow her on Instagram (asaki_a_a) and check out her website (4s4ki.xyz)!

☆ Stream her latest single You know what / hey listen:

youtube

☆ And most importantly live, laugh, love 4s4ki.

#clocking in for my promoting 4s4ki shift

12 notes · View notes

nayeonline · 14 days

Text

obsessed with this tag game omfg, ty for the tag

ancient rome - unfortunately my roman empire is the actual fucking roman empire, I think about what the girlies back then were doing every day. Especialllyyy the emperors like Nero is one of the most wild people to ever exist - i could yap for days about nero, and I WILL thats the thing - this bitch had a ROTATING DINING ROOM, and (potentially) BURNT DOWN ALL OF ROME TO BUILD A MASSIVE FUCK ASS PALACE MADE OF GOLD. dont even get me started on caligula bitch omfg

why kpop is a genre and not just pop music in korean - i am actively drafting an essay on this topic and it irks me so much that people dont see this. Kpop is so much more than pop music in korean or pop music with more marketing, it has genre specific traits within the music, and while yes it encompasses a lot of styles IT IS A GENRE.

the loonaverse and loona's general impact on the kpop industry - i stand by the opinion that nobody in kpop has created a musical identity so distinct and recognisable as loona. Their lore is so expansive and influenced so many other groups to do something similar, but even 8 years after the first loona release nobody has come close to group lore that captivating and extensive. please god give me the loona ot12 comeback i will literally give anything

avatar the last airbender - well yes! probably one of the best shows ever made, go rewatch it if you haven't seen it recently, and if you somehow haven't seen it at all, get on that!! Skip the movie obviously, and maybe skip the netflix live action too ngl. 'zuko alone' best episode, season 2 best season, zuko, sokka, and iroh best characters

kafka on the shore by haruki murakami - murakami is consistently on thin ice to me bc of how he portrays women, including in this book, but it is still a masterpiece. its so surreal and so captivating and so insane and I LOVE IT. easily one of my favourite books ever, I've read norwegian wood which is murakami's more famous novel, and while its also really good, i truly believe kafka on the shore is his magnum opus. get it on your reading list nowwwwwwww.

tagging @chuuuvi @a-moth-to-the-light @blackpink (obviously no pressure) (anyone else feel free to do if you want)

tagged by mina to post about 5 things i can rant about for like an hour without prep :) ty mina <3 @jewishdainix

umm 1. succession that show has eaten me up i type this sitting snugly in its belly. and im not even the only one here im one among hundreds. anyway show of all time about capitalism and the horror of the family i could probably talk about shiv alone for an hour. normalgirl

2. jane austennn i have such a love hate relationship with these books they're the first books i truly fell in love with and i hate what theyve done for societys idealization of the victorian period. she wasn't as subversive as ppl paint her out to be; then again, it wasn't her goal to be so. she occupied a sally rooney esque spot where the goal was to portray social horrors and pleasures with wit; of course romance was a big part of that. anyway northanger abbey best novel ever. not really

3. the magnus archives um actually this post is getting too long. bye

4. realm of the elderlings specifically kennit ludluck. i could talk about this character forever well of course i know him he's me. stories that help you come to terms with the horrific things you've done, that portray victimhood and abuse and colonization so so well, that knows how to humanize (or rather personify bc i think human is a biological category rather than like a measurement of goodness but ykwim) the structures that prop up enable and even reward certain horrors..........."he knew the difference between a grown woman and a small boy well enough" you will always be famous. what a villain!

5. olivia rodrigo. yeah i have nothing to say about this i just spend inordinate amounts of time listening to her music and i have THOUGHTS on the music videos the art the tour etc etc. miss rodrigo i would be such a competent good personal assistant plz hire me

umm tagging anyone who wants to just say i tagged you<3 and also @mircallaruthven @captainahabgf @bejeweledmp3 @tiredguyswag @theatredelabsurde @lyinginthesnow <3

#tag games

31 notes · View notes