Fujii Kaze comes throughout a bit shy at first, however after he will get comfy, his quirky humorousness and excessive cheekbones evoke a barely subdued Jack Sparrow.
The relaxed tone in his voice matches his cozy clothes, punctuated by cool equipment — a classy pair of third-eye sun shades and sandals. For the quilt photograph of his newest album, Kaze wears an extended head protecting draped over his bleached blond locks. The one he got here in in the present day was sewn by his mother.
Final month, the 28-year-old Japanese singer-songwriter offered out his present on the Greek Theatre forward of the launch of his long-awaited new album, the nine-track “Prema,” which was launched Friday, his first full-length launch since signing to Republic Data final yr.
He appears completely happy to return to a spot the place he feels a robust connection, having spent 5 months recording and touring in L.A. from late 2023 to the summer season of 2024. He additionally spent a while within the metropolis about three years in the past throughout a inventive lull.
“Lyrically and musically, I did everything I could do,” he specifies. “ I was kind of burned out at the time. And that’s when they took me to Los Angeles. I don’t know why, but this place was so inspiring.”
First taking off in his house nation, Kaze (he follows the standard Japanese order of utilizing household title first) rose to worldwide fame when “Shinunoga E-wa,” a B-side launch from his debut album, “Help Ever, Hurt Never,” went viral on TikTok.
“I basically love all generations of people, I love kids, and I really love my parents,” Kaze stated, mulling over his cross-generational enchantment.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
It has since racked up greater than 253 million views on YouTube and over 287 million Spotify streams. Final yr, he turned the primary artist to launch NPR’s inaugural Tiny Desk Live shows Japan, a efficiency that acquired over 21 million views. His solo headlining present at Nissan Stadium final yr drew over 100,000 folks over two days.
In contrast to most of Japan’s present international artists, Kaze’s reputation is just not primarily drawn from anime tie-ins, notes J-pop YouTuber Kushun in his minidocumentary on the artist, drawing a parallel between his success with “Shinunoga E-wa” and “Ue o Muite Arukō,” also called “Sukiyaki,” by Kyu Sakamoto, the one Japanese music to prime the American Billboard charts again in 1963.
You wouldn’t know all this from his unassuming demeanor. Valuing in-person connection he has a love-hate relationship with social media, regardless of rising to fame fueled by Gen Z platforms.
And whereas loads of 20-somethings had been in attendance, the viewers on the Greek was additionally crammed with individuals who bear in mind document shops and large album rollouts, and a few even introduced their children.
“I basically love all generations of people, I love kids, and I really love my parents,” he stated, mulling over his cross-generational enchantment.
His mother and father, specifically his father who was an aspiring jazz musician, loom giant as inspiration. “My older brother is 13 years older than me, so, basically, I grew up with people across a wide generation, and I always want to please my parents.”
A part of his enchantment lies in his capacity to take from his multigenerational upbringing and steadiness it with a present sensibility. His voice has an on-trend soothing high quality, lending itself to music that’s iconoclastic but basic — rooted in his early influences, particularly American R&B and soul, and interspersed with Japanese parts.
“I think he’s a really incredible musician,” stated Meredith Edmonds, a 20-something leisure exec who attended Kaze’s Greek Theatre efficiency. “It’s not just about his lyrics but also the fact that he plays multiple instruments. You can tell that he loves it … he is just kind of silly and fun and is not afraid to be completely himself.”
“American festivals, [they] kind of liberated me,” Kaze stated. “There are people who don’t know about me, and that makes me feel free … which makes me want to fight to get them to notice me.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
After releasing a collection of standalone singles, he launched into a 2025 summer season tour taking part in European jazz festivals at Montreux and North Sea, and a North American tour larger than his first. He additionally made his debut at landmark U.S. summer season festivals. He returns to the U.S. in October for a collection of dates to shut out the American leg of his 2025 tour.
The North Sea Jazz Pageant was intimidating. (He blames Erykah Badu for this.) “I saw her on YouTube or something, and she was mind-blowing, oh, otherworldly. She made me nervous,” he stated. Montreux was barely much less so and felt like a “one-man show,” whereas Lollapalooza and Exterior Lands had been stimulating.
“I think I can be more aggressive, kind of wild, especially on the festival stage, rather than my own show or something. Because … especially American festivals, [they] kind of liberated me. There are people who don’t know about me, and that makes me feel free. They can just pass me by or something, which makes me want to fight to get them to notice me.”
His profession trajectory reads like a fairy story as he first got here to public consideration with YouTube piano performances recorded at his childhood house in Satoshō, a small rural city in Okayama prefecture. Amongst his oldest movies nonetheless on-line is certainly one of a precocious 12-year-old Kaze taking part in his electrical piano. Solely the darkish shades he sports activities and a wry half-smile trace on the performer to return.
In truth, he has no reminiscences with out the piano, a relentless companion since he was 3. “I remember, the score, the musical score, was turning black because of all the pencils from my teacher … he [the piano] has been there all my life,” Kaze stated. “I don’t know why he’s there, but one thing’s for sure: I’m very thankful for him. Because without him, I couldn’t make music.”
“I want it to be simple and clean … it purifies me, writing in English. It makes my vision and feelings clearer. So I really love the process,” Kaze stated.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
He has sung in English for years, protecting a head-spinning array of American and British artists from the Carpenters to Lizzo. Nevertheless, “Prema” marks his first try at writing songs of his personal in English, his second language, a problem he has taken head-on.
It’s a daring however hard-earned transfer contemplating he’s identified for his lyricism in Japanese, tackling themes as deep and broad as mortality, types of love, larger which means and gratitude.
“My lyrics have never been very poetic,” he counters. “I would say they’re kind of straightforward, especially recently, my Japanese lyrics are getting simpler. I want it to be simple and clean … it purifies me, writing in English. It makes my vision and feelings clearer. So I really love the process.”
Two songs from the nine-track “Prema,” which suggests “all-encompassing love” in Sanskrit, had been launched earlier this yr: the bouncy, Jamiroquai-like “Hāchiko,” rooted in Japanese folklore, and the hovering yacht-rock love ballad “Love Like This.” The accompanying movies are characteristically visually beautiful. He has usually collaborated with Mesudayuma (MESS), however on the French Riviera-themed “Love Like This” (his first as a romantic lead), he turned to L.A.-based director Aerin Moreno.
Religion is a recurring theme in his work, and it surfaces notably in older songs like “Hana” and “Grace,” however when pressed, he doesn’t elaborate on a specific dogma, and his supervisor politely intervened earlier than he may get too far on the topic. The brand new album continues referencing his spirituality.
“Prema,” a frivolously funky uptempo ballad a la Michael McDonald, is probably his most direct expression as he declares within the refrain: “Prema, don’t you know you are love itself / Can’t you see that you are God itself.” “Prema is 100% me,” he stated. “Because I finished writing the song all by myself. And the lyrics are kind of hip-hop-influenced, like I’m boasting, but in a spiritual way.”
“I want to thank Los Angeles overall, because when I was burned out and had no inspiration, L.A. vibes, the weather, the air, the people helped me a lot to move on as a musician,” Kaze stated. “So, I’m very thankful for Los Angeles.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
Kaze additional challenged himself on this undertaking by working with an array of producers: People Shy Carter, Dan Wilson and Rob Bisel (he’s labored with Bisel earlier than), Nolan Lambroza (a.ok.a. Sir Nolan) and Greg Kurstin, in addition to Canadian Tobias Jesso Jr. Aiming for a basic Nineteen Eighties by way of early-2000s sound, he cites Michael and Janet Jackson as influences for the kind of affect he was aiming for.
A fan of albums, he needed each music to be a possible hit single. Serving to with this aim was famous Korean DJ/producer 250, the one producer to work on all 9 tracks. “I wanted to show the world the power of Asia as well,” Kaze stated of 250, who’s Korean.
General, the album leans closely towards the late ’80s, like within the guitar riff intro of the synth-heavy “I Need U Back,” whereas the quirky breakup music “Casket Girl” feels like a slinky backdrop to a sizzling L.A. summer season night time.
That is perhaps simply nice with Kaze. “I want to thank Los Angeles overall, because when I was burned out and had no inspiration, L.A. vibes, the weather, the air, the people helped me a lot to move on as a musician. So, I’m very thankful for Los Angeles.”
