From Harlem shaking in 2013 to releasing platinum award-winning projects, George Kusunoki Miller, professionally known as Joji, has experienced a career worth exploring. He evidently creates music for himself and understands the importance of vulnerability. Joji’s thought-provoking creations combine genres of R&B, trap and hip-hop, but he did not start out in those genres.
Starting out as an obscene comedian, Joji began his career portraying the character “Filthy Frank”. Joji obviously wanted Frank to cause conversation by mixing satire with distasteful topics such as mistreating women. Because of this, he rose to internet fame quickly. Frank began on the DizastaMusic YouTube channel but eventually moved to “TVFilthyFrank” due to YouTube’s guidelines. December 29, 2017, Joji announced Filthy Frank would no longer undergo production. By ending the Filthy Frank era, Joji opened a new door for himself. He no longer created music to convey a character, instead he made music to express his feelings. By keeping Frank separate from his other musical projects, the transition allowed him to successfully cross over.
“I like to let [listeners] learn to keep the two separate because I don’t want a shitty Pink Guy [song] with a bad message that I made like four years ago to be like, ‘Oh, that’s Joji.’ I guess that’s the difference, Joji’s just me. So naturally as I got older, I got tired of that humor. People’s tastes change. People’s humor changes,” Joji said.
Shortly after the end of Filthy Frank, Joji began releasing music under the 88rising label. Joji eventually dropped his debut project “In Tongues” February 14, 2018, and while his debut did not garner extraordinary feedback, this project set the tone for Joji’s style and provided fans with a sample of what to expect from him.
“As stuck people do [While discussing the period before In Tongues], I was indulging in vices and just drinking a lot. It got to the point where I was just showing up to the sets and the PAs knew there had to be a six-pack of beer there.”It [In Tongues] was not only a transition in my career but in my life too. Now I feel as if it was a rebirth, and I get to start fresh, and I get to leave this bad stuff behind,” Joji said.
Joji followed up this extended play (EP) with his debut album “BALLADS 1”. Featuring artists such as “Trippie Redd” and “Clams Casino”, Joji pleased listeners with this album, giving fans hit songs such as“SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”, “YEAH RIGHT”, “CAN’T GET OVER YOU” and “ TEST DRIVE”. This album received momentous recognition and showed audiences the end of Filthy Frank.
Joji has shown admirable consistency throughout his professional music career. After the “BALLADS 1” era, Joji released two singles in 2019, serving as an intermission while “DON’T U KNOW I LOVE YOU” and “CAN U HEAR ME” serve as hidden gems for fans.
Over the last five years, Joji graced listeners with stellar projects with hit songs such as “Gimme Love”, “Run” and “Sanctuary”; and surprisingly, best-selling ballads such as “Glimpse of Us” and “Die for You”. Joji shows no intent in slowing down, as he released his chart-topping sophomore album “Nectar,” in 2020 and his praised sophomore EP “SMITHEREENS,” in 2022.
“Joji always manages to string together beautiful lyrics to create ballads from yearning to the feelings that come with heartache and losing what once was yours, but now you have to move on with the memories. He puts that into gorgeous melodies that capture the audience,” NC junior Olivia Gonzalez-Langhorne said
Joji’s internet troll-to-singer pipeline remains the first of its kind. He held on to his dreams and achieved them. While currently on his “PANDEMONIUM” world tour, Joji continues to take over the internet and continues to deliver projects that defy expectations.
