The Adelaide-born 19-year-old musician is creating J-Pop that refuses to be kept in check, as she is also busy tattooing her own arms.
Someone sent her a message on TikTok, and Mia Takarabe acted like any ordinary teen would be expected to do and assumed it was fake.
In reality, she wasn’t wrong because shortly afterwards she was working with Steve Aoki. Then she was performing in Tokyo in front of 20,000 people for the first time in her life. Typically artists get prepared for such performances but Mia skipped the process. “Heartless” is the song she performed with Aoki and it managed to reach the Billboard’s Dance Airplay chart and hit the 40th position.
Observe her roots. Adelaide, with a father from Japan and a mother from India, has three cultures in her background. She grew up navigating through various traditions and practices and never claimed one as her own. This multicultural background is reflected in her music which she considers not J-Pop, but a mix of different pop types. She suggests that J-Pop should not be limited to an exclusive category, and that it is pop music in general.
The visuals in her live performances are of equal importance. She designs all her stage clothes, writes sketches, paints, and has around 13 tattoos, most of them done by her. Her style can refer to many sources including Baroque art and architecture, cyber punk, Japanese fashion, and many others.
According to her, she pursues a career based on creativity, meaning, and joy rather than expectations of a business. While that is not hard to say at 19 years old, especially as she has proven with certain evidence, the truth is it is still a daunting claim to validate.
The next album is called “PURPLE & PINK,” and it is going to be released very soon. The title suggests that she is still going strong.
Some performers follow trends. Mia, on the other hand, is apparently more fascinated in creating trends.
Mia is our Issue XV cover star. The full exclusive interview is available only in the physical copy.
