From February 3 through September 1, Takashi Murakami will hold a new exhibition, “Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto”, at Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art. JP THE WAVY will be in charge of the theme song for the exhibition.
This collaboration came about after Murakami reached out to JP THE WAVY after hearing his song “Pick N Choose” at his daughter’s dance school recital. When he heard the song, which plays on the “Pokemon” character Pikachu, mixed with the sight of small children dancing, he felt like it was a hip hop version of his signature “Superflat” art movement of the past 30 years. Thinking of “Pick N Choose”, he thought of the seminal band Happy End, which created a revolution in Japanese music during Murakami’s youth. Like rock, hip hop was also imported from the United States, but has been remodeled by Japan for its own use. He wondered if a “hip hop version of Happy End” could be created, using “Pick N Choose” as its starting point.
Hearing the song also made Murakami think of having a theme song for his exhibition, something he had never had before. JP THE WAVY, a massive fan of Murakami (to the point of having tattoos of his work), readily agreed to the proposition. He said that he felt immense pressure while making the song; so much so that it was the longest it had ever taken him to make a song. In the songmaking process, he was able to go into the studio with Murakami, and find out what he wanted to include in the song, which in turn deepened his knowledge of Murakami’s art.
The resulting song, “Mononoke Kyoto”, was written by JP THE WAVY, and takes inspiration from the exhibition’s themes of “Mononoke” “Kyoto”, as well as the works in the exhibition itself. Murakami is featured on the song. “Mononoke Kyoto” can be heard at the exhibition by scanning a QR code there.
Murakami said that this theme song is the first in a set of collaborations he wants to do with JP THE WAVY and his friends, in order to have this “Happy End of hip hop.”
Check out photos of the two in the studio below!
