How Joji made his second album, Nectar

In 2018, the Japanese-Australian singer-songwriter, producer and former YouTube star Joji (real name George Miller) became the first Asian-born artist to top Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. If you’ve seen the 2013 viral dance video that used Baauer's "Harlem Shake" as its soundtrack, then you may well know of Joji, the mastermind behind the viral sensation, who operated under the satirical guises of Filthy Frank and Pink Guy.

The 28 year old had amassed over 7 million subscribers on his TVFilthyFrank YouTube channel before deciding to focus on music full time, but this creative transition wasn’t unexpected. Albeit with a comedic slant, he’d been releasing tracks as Pink Guy before publicly quitting YouTube in December 2017, a month after releasing his first Joji EP, In Tongues. Then came the lo-fi BALLADS 1 (which contained the beautiful, disconsolate multi-platinum lead single, “Slow Dancing In The Dark”), which also reached No.3 on the main Billboard Top 200 chart, firmly establishing Joji’s creative crossover.

However, if BALLADS 1 was Joji’s self-struck nail in the coffin of his comedy beginnings, then Nectar heralds his next life. His second album is a Herculean 18-track effort featuring collaborations with, amongst others, Diplo, Lil Yachty and Rei Brown.

As he gears up for this new era, GQ spoke with Joji to discuss his remarkable new album, his love of sci-fi, and writing happy endings.

Where did the idea for the album title come from?

Joji: Originally it was based on finding dead ants in my freezer and joking about calling the album Nectar after that, but I was trying to put a lighter spin on it. At the end of the day, every life form is chasing something.

What draws you as a musician, when it comes to telling stories in your work?

Joji: My mission statement was to write love songs with a slightly darker twist. It’s no different from writing a script, or giving a speech, or a presentation on something you learn about from the outside. “Mr. Hollywood”, for example, is hypothetical; what you would imagine when someone gets too cocky. It’s a trope and an age-old story that’s told time and time again. The album is also a critique of materialism, to an extent. “Pretty Boy” (which features Lil Yachty) is a song making fun of similar lifestyles.

Is it safe to say that you’ve never been interested in the celebrity lifestyle?

Joji: I don't mind how other people do their thing, the loud stuff just wasn't so much for me.

You clearly have a love for the sci-fi genre as you’ve woven a themed storyline into three of Nectar’s singles (“Sanctuary”,” Run”, “Gimme Love”) – what excites you about it?

Joji: Every three or four years some director drops an insane sci-fi movie, one we all collectively look at and say, “Damn, that’s crazy.” I love exploring these “what if?” otherworldly concepts. Now that there’s so much CGI, people jump to the action and ignore the story, and now that movies are coming out at a faster rate, it's harder to find the gems. Personally, Signs is a better sci-fi movie than anything involving hardcore spaceships. You don’t even see the alien until the end. I think we could have way more of these “Damn, that’s crazy” movies if we tried.

In the video for “Daylight”, you and Diplo work for a highly strung director and the Pretty Boys – an aged, fictional boy band you’ve created. What stories can you share from the set?

Joji: I remember being starstruck to actually meet the Pretty Boys in real life. Up until then, I had a remote crew shooting with those guys and never met them. To see them in real life was surreal and it blew my mind that they’d actually learned some choreo as well. They were absolutely killing it and were all just wonderful and professional. One of the older guys very politely asked me what key the song was in, and I didn't know.

Although your work generally explores darker themes, is Nectar also a reflection of the times we’re in?

Ultimately, the long-running idea with Joji songs is that they have about the same contents as any regular pop song but are dished with an often sideways view. It's cool to look at normal themes from a strange perspective – the lighter, happier songs approach it with a "quirky" spin, while the darker ones kind of talk about the honesty of it. However, I think the music and the times we’re living in are unfolding independently of each other.

In 2017 you said of your music, “I just want to make people sad and horny”. What’s the goal for 2020?

Joji: I think the "sad and horny" thing was just a light, funny quote from when I was only focused on production. I think I was referring to when I used to sample old Christmas jazz songs for fun, which make people feel lonely on the holidays, and didn’t mean for it to trigger this sad look at all. In 2020, I'm looking to just provide quality, enjoyable music. I’m sorry, I can't think of anything super profound."

Nectar by Joji is out Friday 25 September

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