RHYME SO ‘POSEABLE’ QUIRKY MUSIC VIDEO

Shinichi Osawa, whose career began in the 1990s, has linked up with a 25-year-old Australian artist RHYME to create a new piece of artwork. RHYME SO

88rising, the label that NIKI, Rich Brian, and Joji call home, announced the establishment of a new Japanese sub-label named 88INFINITY, which will be distributed by 88rising. It was launched in conjunction with the imprint’s first release, a supercharged single called “POSEABLE” by Australian-Japanese future pop duo RHYME SO, which is comprised of Japanese DJ Shinichi Osawa aka Mondo Grosso and emerging Australian vocalist, DJ, and poet RHYME. “POSEABLE” is a supercharged single by Australian-Japanese future pop duo RHYME SO.

Poseable was released earlier this week on 88INFINITY, which is the second country-specific sub-label launched by 88rising, following the debut of Paradise Rising in the Philippines last year.

The single is accompanied with a cheesy music video, which stars Japanese actress Mari Natsuki, who you might recognize from the film Spirited Away, in which she voiced the character of Yubaba, among other roles. Natsuki appears as a Grandma figure in the video, which features a host of Japanese influencers and dancers as well. A capsule hotel in Shinjuku and an izakaya in Shibuya were used to film the movie, providing all of us Japanophiles with a glimpse into a world we’ve been yearning to return to for years.

The video, which was shot in part in a capsule hotel in Tokyo, is a parody of society’s obsessive desire for digital validity, as the characters leap from one Instagram-worthy position to another. There is a cameo appearance by Mari Natsuki, the beloved Japanese actress best known for her mother roles in Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and the Japanese remake of Bewitched. Mari Natsuki appears in the video as herself. The song’s chorus, “or grandma sends you home,” is a tribute to grandma’s unwavering sense of what’s good and what’s not. Mari plays the part of the taste-making grandmother.