Known for his iconic raps in the legendary JRPG Persona 3 Reload, Lotus Juice’s talent goes far beyond that of a typical hip-hop artist. His international upbringing and personal struggles to fit in have enabled him to write about real-life experiences and hardships. Now collaborating with renowned composers like Shoji Meguro and Taku Iwasaki, Lotus Juice continues to inspire audiences around the world.
We met up with him at Bijutsu Con in Ratingen, Germany, to chat about his background, his entry into music, his work with legendary composers, and how the iconic songs of Persona 3 actually came to be.
We're at the Bijutsu Convention in Ratingen right now outside of Düsseldorf, where you'll be performing this weekend. How are you feeling and how was your time in Germany so far?
Lotus Juice: I'm feeling great! It's a blessing to be here. It’s my first time in Germany, so I came without any expectations. But the people and the food have been great. I had a bagel here. I was reminded how bad the bagels are in Japan because they are so much better in Europe. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to hang out that much because I had to work. But it's been nice so far.
You grew up spending time in both Japan and the US. How do you feel like this shaped your unique style and approach to rap?
Lotus Juice: Oh yeah, I mean everything. I moved to the States with my family when I was eight where I still was like, what comes after A, B, C? I had no idea. It was difficult to study in another language because I was a stupid kid. (laughs)
Luckily people were cool in my elementary school but when middle school rolled around, people went through their teenage years and adolescence, they changed, you know. Although Asians were considered a privileged minority in the States, there was still racism. I felt most at home in New Jersey with my friends but whenever I went to the city, like New York City, people treated me differently, I received condescending looks. I was a basketball player, so whenever I would go to a court, there would be guys coming up to me saying things like, “You're Asian, you can't play basketball.” I would crush them though, I was a decent player. But all of these things shaped me who I am.
That’s where hip-hop played a big role in my life. Although my family wasn't poor and we didn’t grow up in a tough neighborhood, the themes of struggle in those lyrics are what really resonated with me. After graduating from high school, I went back to Japan. For 10 years, I was gone and I had to get adjusted again. I couldn't really speak Japanese to people my age anymore because I was only talking to my parents. It was a reverse culture shock for me.
In New Jersey, I felt somewhat at home but still felt like an outsider. Now back in Japan, they treat me like an American, so I don't feel like home either. But I use it as an advantage for me, especially in work settings. It’s rare to be able to speak English in Japan so there are more job opportunities. I didn't think I would go into the music industry though but it definitely shaped my career and my skills from a different perspective.
Back in ‘98, there were so many U.S. copycat Japanese rappers. They would talk about guns and drugs and I'm like, “You don't have a gun, you don't do drugs. You're just a fake gangster.” I would never talk about those things because I didn't live like that. All I want to talk about is about life. I wanted to be a normal human being before being on stage.
That's also something that I can relate to Persona. I don't like bragging, except for maybe some skills, but no hoes, bitches, drugs, cars or money like the typical hip-hop gangster stuff. I care about real life and struggle. Something that’s true to me. That's what I think makes me unique. I don't pretend to be somebody else. I don't pretend to be cool. No $100,000 necklace. Even if I could afford it, I just don't think it looks good on me. It's just not who I am. And that's why I think... fans can relate to my songs.
That was a long answer, I’m sorry.
What was the point in time where you decided for yourself that you want to pursue music?
Lotus Juice: I started music when I was 18/19 years old. It’s a funny story. One day, an exchange student from Georgetown, he was organizing an event within our college when he went up to me and was like, “I need some performance. I want you to rap.” I was like, “Hell no!! What are you talking about!?” At that point, I had never performed and never even dreamed about it. Somehow, he managed to convince me. There was a dude, a friend of mine at the time, who had three synthesizers in his dorm room. He quickly made a beat and I was very impressed! In the end, we did perform it but it was a bad show. It was horrible. I'm so glad we didn't have smartphones back then. (Laughs)
But that led to me performing at clubs for three to four years and I was just doing it for fun. That is until one day a R&B singer saw me on stage and asked if I wanted to feature their songs. Just two weeks later, we were performing in front of like 500 people. He quickly became my best friend and soon enough we were touring Japan together. He taught me how the industry works and that was a point where I started considering it something that I could maybe pursue.
How did the opportunity to collaborate with Shoji Meguro and ATLUS SOUND TEAM first come about?
Lotus Juice: I met my friend. His name is Kichi. One thing led to another and I ended up touring together with his group. That’s when I got greedy. I wanted to make my own single. So I did. I produced it all by myself. It sold a thousand copies on the internet. I was like, “Cool, okay!” So I made another single. Again, it sold a thousand copies. Back then I sold them on my own too. I had to send each one out, you know, check the bank account and everything. It was hard work.
Then I was like, “Let’s make an album.” So I put in the work. It was hard. It was all a learning experience. This time, I sold it through an independent label. It didn't sell at all! They didn’t do any promotion, they basically did nothing for me. But it reached Shoji Meguro.
My friend called me up one day and said “Are you interested in doing game music?” Mind you, I was a cocky young mc back then. I was like, “Well, I gotta hear the beats first and if the beat sucks, I'm not gonna do it.” He sent me the track and I was taken aback. I was like, “Wow this is game music?”
So that's how it happened. It felt like destiny and I'm glad I did it.
What were some of the challenges and some highlights during that process?
Lotus Juice: I've met so many talented musicians. But about 80-90% of them drank their life away. They partied a lot and weren't dedicated. I knew I wasn't as good as them, so to compensate I must have written or practiced making beats at least three hours a day and sometimes even eight hours. So when that opportunity came, I was ready.
Funny thing, after listening to those beat drafts from Persona, I was like, “Okay, so the song sounds great. What should I write about?” To which they replied, “It's okay. The lyrics are already written.” I thought that was kind of weird but I rolled with it. That was until I went to the studio and found out it's completely in broken English, clearly written by a Japanese person. It didn't make sense at all. So I suggested I could rewrite it but told not to put my name on it because the text just didn’t make any sense. Luckily Shoji was cool enough to accept my offer. I went to work right away. “Put it on loop,” I said. “The places that I’m gonna rap on, I'm going to fix it.” And I fixed it in 30 minutes. Recording it also took like 30 minutes. That's the original version of “Mass Destruction”.
I was still a young musician, so some of the words doesn't make sense. But I tried the best I could in 30 minutes. And they liked it. It was kind of challenging but... I'm glad I did it. I was prepared for this moment, the everyday work paid off while I knew other musicians were out partying. They used to call me saying, “Yo, there's this cute girl from TV with me right now. Why don't you come over?” I was like, no. Music is what I wanted to do and for that I needed to write, I needed to practice. I was still not good enough. So…that’s why I think I was prepared for the opportunity when it came.
And it paid off, right?
Lotus Juice: Yeah, definitely, definitely. I'm glad I did that.
What is your biggest takeaway from this huge project that is Persona 3?
Lotus Juice: First, it wasn't big at all. So the story behind Persona 3 is that when Persona 2 came out, ATLUS almost went bankrupt. They didn't sell that much. All the producers for Persona 2, they weren't fired, but they were off the job. So the young producers, young composers, young illustrators, they took over Persona 3. One day they got together in a meeting. They were like, “You know what, man? This could be the last time our company can make a game. Why don't we make something that's interesting to us? Forget about the industry standard. Let's just create something that we think is fun!”
That's why Shoji Meguro included English rap. Before that, there was no English rap in any JRPG games. That’s how they made history by believing in themselves. After two years, I didn't even notice it became a huge hit. Then P4 came out in 2008, two years after the launch of P3. That time around, we had the first Persona show. It was my first time doing a show in front of thousands of people. A huge band, directors, producers, there were so many people involved. I was so excited to perform in front of such a big audience. That's when I noticed it was a huge thing. And it just took off from there. It's definitely a blessing to be a part of it. I feel very lucky.
That's why I never slack off. Of course there are times where private life is catching up. Times where you don't want to write, you don't want to do anything. But whenever I get an offer from game/anime companies especially ATLUS I always give my 120 percent and it’s for that reason.
You mentioned that you performed in front of many people. Tell me how you felt at that moment.
Lotus Juice: Oh, it was funny because I felt like a cult leader. We were playing “Mass Destruction”. You know, that song with the “Baby, baby, baby…” So I'm looking at the crowd and they were all vibing but I wanted to see their hands up. So I slowly put my hands up and everybody also raised their hands. At that moment, I was like, “I'm a cult leader!” So that was fun. (Laughs)
Beyond video games, you lent your voice to some incredibly iconic anime tracks like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Soul Eater, Noragami, Black Butler, and so on. Do these projects stem from your personal love for anime or anime music?
Lotus Juice: Oh yeah. But when I was little, I wasn't really into anime. I tell you why. At that time Dragon Ball was huge, right? But the anime took like 15 minutes to just do “Kamehameha”. Like “Ka, ka, ka–” from different angles. Like, all the angles you can think of. (Laughs) So I was getting frustrated because I was a fan of the manga. But nowadays, animes are fast-paced and high quality.
With that said, I am a huge fan of JoJo. I’ve been reading the manga since I was like five years old. So when I got a call from the composer Taku Iwasaki's manager saying “I want you to do a song for JoJo.” I screamed, “What!?” I was outside too when I got the call. It was near my house. People were looking at me like, “What’s going on?” (Laughs) But I couldn't hold myself. I ended up inviting myself to do one more song because I was such a fan. I was like, “If you want me to do another song, I'll do it right now!” He was like, “O-okay.”
That was my first time doing an anime project. I've read JoJo so many times that I didn't even have to read it back. When the beat came I wrote it in 15 minutes and I didn't fix anything. The song is called “Overdrive” because I just knew it inside out. It's always fun to do anime songs. It mainly comes from Taku Iwasaki and it's always a great opportunity.
Did you read manga in the States as well?
Lotus Juice: Yeah. There was this Japanese supermarket called “Yaohan” back then. It has a different name now. I forget what. But we would go and I would beg my parents to buy it.
In Japanese?
Lotus Juice: In Japanese, yeah. I don't think there were localized versions back then.
Last question to wrap things up. What are you working on right now and is there anything exciting that your fans can look forward to next?
Lotus Juice: There are a couple of things that I'm currently involved in. Actually multiple. But I signed an NDA so I can't say much. But the one game that I made a song for just came out it's called “Densha Attack”. Shoji Meguro produced the song which I wrote. I didn't name the title, but it's called “Set for Destruction”. I was thinking that it has such a resemblance to “Mass Destruction.” But it sounds different, so it's cool. I'm already excited to play that game.
Any last words to your fans?
Lotus Juice: Thank you for supporting me. I mean, it's still surreal to travel the world and perform in all these places. I just went to Poland and now I’m performing in Germany. It’s not announced yet but I'm going to be in Spain, India and multiple places in the States too. And I'm sure there's going to be many more to come.
It's not just Persona fans but it's mostly Persona fans. The beauty of Persona fans is that when I'm on stage, they have so much energy. They're really enjoying themselves. And I get to see all the smiles on their faces and it’s rewarding for me. As a musician, there's a lot of practice behind the curtain. A lot of hard work. I mean, it's a lot of work. But when I'm on stage, when I see people enjoying themselves, listening to my music, it's just so rewarding. I feed off that energy. So I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support.
Watch the entire interview here: