If you’re a teenager on the internet, you definitely know of Joji one way or another. Joji, born George Miller, was first a wildly famous internet comedian. He was known as “Pink Guy” or “Filthy Frank” from 2011 to 2017. He also dabbled in vlogging, under the username JojiVlogs. He amassed over 7 million subscribers on YouTube, making shock comedy videos and parody music. Some of the shock humor included eating rat burritos, cooking hair cakes, and making obscene and offensive ukulele raps. But at the same time towards the end of his Filthy Frank career, Joji was working on more serious musical projects. His EP “Chloe Burbank” was quietly released in 2015 while he still was creating content on Youtube. While Joji would rather distance himself from his past life as a comedian, his fanbase is a serious overlap of fans of both his comedy and serious musical work.
Joji’s first proper release was his EP In Tongues, released in 2017 after his YouTube retirement. This was his first release under his name, rather than Pink Guy or an alias on Soundcloud. In Tongues is available on streaming platforms such as Spotify and iTunes. In 2018, Joji released “Yeah Right,” which would later feature on his debut album BALLADS 1, and “Yeah Right” charted #23 on Billboard R&B.
Due to Joji’s fame in many corners of the internet, his songs from all eras of his life have been popularized on TikTok. His music has inspired “the microwave challenge” to the song “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” off of BALLADS 1. People are dancing to the extremely profane song “She’s So Nice” off the Pink Season album. People are creating “POV” videos to “old yeller,” a Joji Soundcloud hit.
From all of these types of music, Joji has truly refined his music taste and talent. The production of his work, and his vocal range, have significantly become more refined. This is evident on his newest release NECTAR, which was released September 25th, 2020. The album includes features from big names such as Diplo, Omar Apollo, Lil Yachty, and rei brown, a long time opening act of Joji since his Soundcloud days.
Joji is a truly captivating online personality. With an interesting backstory, the evolution of his music and content going from vulgar rap songs to extremely emotional and vulnerable ballads and music videos topping charts worldwide is shocking. It is undeniable Joji has refined his true passions as a visual artist and musician. NECTAR is out now on all streaming platforms, and definitely worth the listen, especially if you are a longtime supporter of Joji, and it is a true work of art and progress.
