A TOKYO LIVING LEGEND: MEET THE DUKE OF HARAJUKU
When you hear the word Harajuku, you might associate it as being trendy, kawaii, or fashion-focused. But there is somebody you need to know about before thinking about any of that. Somebody who paves the path for both Japanese and foreigners. Somebody who is the ambassador for new things in Tokyo. Meet The Duke of Harajuku.
Tokyo has been the epicenter of music, fashion, art, and many more creative fields for decades. Birthing names like Takeshi Kitano, Hideo Kojima, Hayao Miyazaki, and a plethora more, everything starts, takes place, and ends here. The Duke of Harajuku is one of the next names to be added to that list.
Born and raised in Rome, Georgia, The Duke is now one of Tokyo's core members representing youth culture. With his debut album, "Razzle Dazzle" which dropped in 2020, he is quickly becoming one of the musical icons you cannot miss when talking about Tokyo's music culture. But The Duke is not just a rapper, not just a producer, he is a creator, a curator.
We sat down with The Duke of Harajuku to discuss everything from his background, favorite video games, and his role in Tokyo.
HEY DUKE, THANKS A LOT FOR TAKING THE TIME!
Could you please introduce yourself to the Sabukaru network?
I am the Duke of Harajuku. Yeah, and I’m an artist. I make music. Since I’m in Japan, people like to call me a rapper because you know, in Japan you have to put everything into a category. But yeah, artist, musician, that’s who I am.
Can you tell us a little about what you do? Who is the Duke of Harajuku?
I mean, music is my main thing. Besides my own music, I produce. I’m not on the keyboard or the computer making beats but I help put the sounds together. Like this sound is good, let’s do this, let’s make it sound like this. And I do that along with writing for other artists. Producing, writing, doing my own music. I’m interested in all fields though. Music is definitely my main thing, but I dabble in fashion, I dabble in… I honestly want to get back into painting again, but the main things I’m doing right now revolve around music, if we’re talking about art.
Did you use to paint?
Yeah, I definitely drew. As a kid, I was always into some kind of creative arts, but I came to Tokyo and it became music.
How long have you been in Japan?
So I came here in 2011 when I was 17. Right after the earthquake. I graduated high school that year, so I think it was August when I came to Japan. And I was actually in Yokohama at first, and then down the line, I ended up coming to Tokyo.
How did you get to where you are right now? Could you give us a little background on your life story?
After High School, one month after I graduated, I came to Japan through this business called “Gogo Nihon”, and they offer a free service to help foreigners get into Japanese language schools in Japan. And I found that while I was in high school, and I ended up applying to that, and I was able to pick which school I wanted to go to, where I wanted to go, and I chose Yokohama because it was the cheapest school to go to through that program. I went there, and then I started college. If you’re familiar with Temple University, that’s where I went. So basically language school was how I got to Japan. And then I ended up going to college, and that's what kept me in Japan.
So originally you liked Japan and you wanted to come here?
Originally, like most foreigners that are in Japan, it started with my interest. The first thing was of course anime, Dragon Ball Z. I got Bulma tattooed right here (shows tattoo of Bulma on right forearm). The original anime cutie, especially for my generation.
If somebody told you about becoming the Duke of Harajuku in maybe 2011 when you just started your first year in Japan, would you have believed this whole story?
Heck, no, heeeck no, no way at all! Not at all, because I didn’t even come here to do music, I just came here because I was interested in Japan, and I really wanted to learn Japanese. That’s what I wanted to do. I was one of those kids in high school, especially my senior year. That’s when it really kicked off, and I just went crazy, obsessed with the pop and subcultures of Japan. I would come home from school, go home, get on the computer, and just start researching stuff about Japan. It started with that, and then I figured out how to come here, but me coming here was never to do music.
But I grew up in a musical house, so because of that I was always naturally good at music, and I was in a gospel choir and things like that. To sum it up, I moved to Japan, started language school, then went to college, and that's where I met Kenchan, and Vick and everybody. The rest is history.
So you said you started in Yokohama, then came to Tokyo. How did you get the name Duke of Harajuku?
One of my school friends in college, he gave me the name. Actually, before I was the Duke of Harajuku, I was Tracksuit Tremayne, which is my middle name, because I used to always wear adidas tracksuits. And then I just became “Antarius”, which is my real name. Just the A’s in my name were switched to V’s because that was around the time A$AP Mob and all of them were around (and popularized turning A’s into V’s), so I was VNTVRIUS. And then after that, I was Tracksuit Tramaine, but that was only for a brief amount of time. I was Tracksuit Tremayne at first and then I thought “that’s not it”, and then I went to VNTVRIUS, and then I was like “man, I have to fully embrace being THE Tokyo gaijin dude rappin”. Then my friend gave me that name and I was like “yo, that’s fire, I’m gonna have to stick with that”, and I just stuck with it.
So no plans to change that name any time soon?
Nope. I can’t change it now, even if I wanted to. (laughs)
Why was it Harajuku? Did you like Harajuku?
Oh yeah. It’s for people that really know about Japanese fashion, street fashion culture, just the kawaii stuff. When people think of the colorful, fashionable Tokyo, it’s Harajuku. I feel like Shibuya is a more common name because of titles like Tokyo Drift, and it just has more of a worldwide appeal, it’s more known. But it’s really all about Harajuku if we’re talking about the culture, and Ura-Hara brands. And I was always into that too, so it just makes sense. I was working there too, that’s a whole different part of the story.
I was working at this store, called SKOLOCT. That’s really what officiated me as the Duke, working with Skoloct… He’s a Harajuku legend in his own right. A hard-nosed, proud of his art type of person. He taught me a lot. I learned a lot from him, about being an artist. But SKOLOCT, he’s been around since the beginning of everything, like BAPE and all of that. He was there, he helped build the original NOWHERE store. I don’t remember if he built it or did the interior, it was one or the other. But even his brand, you can see that he’s a handyman, you go to his shop and he has wooden pieces that he hand-made, furniture and things like that. I was working there for a year and a half or so, and during my time there I was able to meet all kinds of people, like Junya Watanabe , and just a lot of people. A lot of fashion legends. It just led to me meeting a whole lot of people doing all kinds of things. He’s pretty much like my uncle because he took care of me in a whole lot of ways, and some things I can’t even say until I’m able to write the biography, when I’m like 85 years old or something (laughs). But yeah, he took care of me. That’s when I officially became the Duke when I was there because I was able to be so deeply entrenched in all of this Harajuku, Ura-Hara culture. I was working there every day.
How long have you been into music and rapping?
So like I was saying before, I grew up in choir because I’m from Georgia. There are churches everywhere, on every corner. Especially in my city. I’m from Rome, Georgia actually. Everybody is in church, and all the kids are in the choir to some extent. I was in the choir for as long as I can remember. But because of that I was always into music, and just growing up around my parents, my grandparents, and listening to soulful music all the time, I was just always surrounded by good music.
So I actually did record some songs when I was in high school, all on my phone through an app. So that’s when I first started playing around, recording my voice, but the first official song I made was when I came to Japan, like my freshman, sophomore year of college. I bought the Bluebird mic, the one that everybody buys when they just start recording, and I recorded my first song which was called “Dolphin Lotion”, which became a cult classic among my peers, and people that knew of me at the time. That’s how it started, and it just went from there. I started recording music on my own, and then I eventually met Kenchan, and I found out he was just creating stuff, and I was like oh man. Through him, I just met a whole bunch of other creatives, and that just showed me “Oh, people are really chasing art, and trying to make a living off of being a creator”. And I was introduced to that world, and even that thought frame, through Kenchan, who’s a part of Tokyo Vitamin. But yeah, I guess that’s how I started making music.
So was it just like “peace out language school”?
Well, no, so this is all while I was in college, and I was still going to school while I was doing the music stuff too. I can definitely say I was a special case in my school, for Temple. Because like most people, they get to Temple, and they just stick with the same group of friends. But because I started doing the music, I was like, more than most, able to be in the Japanese scene, and knew what was going on. I met people, and just really was able to be on the ground level of Tokyo culture. And on top of that, I’m just such a nerd about music and stuff, that even before I came to Tokyo I was already super researched and studied up about what was going on. If you know Yentown, and PETZ, and Killa Crew at the time when they were big, and even past that like Saru, I was listening to Saru when he was at his beginning because I was a music nerd, I was trying to get really good at Japanese, I was listening, constantly digging and searching for cool, unheard of Japanese music. That just allowed me to find out and know about all these different artists that were here.
What was life like back in Georgia? How has Georgia had an impact on you and your style?
So Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, which is a super big city, but Georgia in general as a whole is a country place. It’s not a place where you live a fast life, even in Atlanta. Atlanta might be faster than most places, but it’s still nothing like Tokyo life. I’m from Rome, which is 2 hours North West of Atlanta. I was just like most people, playing sports, football, wrestling. I mean honestly I was never super into sports, but I had to do some kind of extracurricular activity, and football was the one that was the coolest sport in the south. Like I mentioned before, I grew up in a choir, I grew up going to church every week, multiple times a week. I’m really a church boy. I’m like a good ol’ country church boy. For real, that’s where I’m from (laughs). That’s how I grew up.
So you would say a lot has changed about you since?
I’ve grown up. I’ve grown the fuck up. I’ve become less naive and just more of a realist, and just have a good understanding of the reality of… reality. Pretty much.
What would you say your relationship with Tokyo, your relationship with Japan is like?
I don’t even want to be the one to say it, because I don’t like to say anything good about myself because I’m too humble, but I’ve oddly become an ambassador for a lot of things out here. Not only in the music culture, even when all the Black Lives Matter stuff was going on. I was getting interviewed, I’ve just been out here so long, I pretty much have become like a go-to guy for several types of things. I just became the Duke of Harajuku. I still got a long way to go, like, I’m not in a race with anybody, I’m in a race with myself. I know I still have a long way to go, as far as my music and just establishing myself as an artist, and just being able to live full time off of my creations. But I’m definitely in an interesting position. It’s crazy man.
Your style seems to be heavily influenced by many aspects of Japan, but what would you say is your biggest Japanese influence/inspiration?
I would say video games, but if not video games, just music. It’s hard to say what my biggest influence is, because a lot of things influence me. But if I had to choose one, it would definitely be the video games. Yeah, growing up, that’s where the majority of my time was spent, playing video games. Cause, yeah, I wasn’t one of those kids hanging out with people and going out all the time. Even though I played football and off of that I had some amount of popularity, I was just such an oddball and introvert, that I was just, at the crib playing games all the time. On my computer or something like that, just keeping to myself. So yeah, I would definitely say video games.
Do you have a favorite video game/series?
That’s a hard question too, there have been games that have left big impressions on me, like I’m replaying Final Fantasy VIII right now, which is like, yeah. The end goal is to look like a Final Fantasy character, for me, as the Duke of Harajuku. That’s the end goal. To be able to have that kind of drip, cause they got the like, I mean it’s pretty well known, but the fashion in Final Fantasy has always been, especially after like VII, I feel like from VIII, because I feel like VII was still flat, simple, as far as the in-game graphics were. But from VIII, that’s when stuff got crazy. Like the main character Squall, he got the craziest outfit, like a leather jacket, the white fur, the gunblade, three belts on, like the fashion is crazy.
Definitely, Final Fantasy VIII is always one of those ones when I think about it, I’m like, bro they were ahead of their time. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or what but I’m definitely obsessed with Final Fantasy VIII. Anything Final Fantasy though. Yeah, but if it’s Japanese, you know Katamari Damashii? Are you familiar with that? That’s a game that, pretty much in my head at the time, solidified to me what Japan was. Like, the crazy music in that game, yeah one of the best soundtracks ever man. Just the world that was built in that game, along with the music and the colors and the gameplay and everything, it gave me the impression like “oh this is what Japan is all about. This is Japaaan!!!”. That’s the game. That game gave me that mindset. Yeah, I could go on and on about games.
What’s your favorite game soundtrack?
Soundtrack? I have a lot, but Bomberman Hero’s OST, that’s definitely one of them, up there in the top 3, like super cool, futuristic drum & bass. What’s another one… Cruis’n! The entire Cruis’n series, like Cruis’n USA, Cruis’n World, I don’t even know if those are Japanese games, but Cruis’n World has a super crazy soundtrack. Like I always go back to one song on there, that’s called, Euro, Euro-something, but the song is crazy. The transitions, it’s like super heavy punk metal, and then it transitions into this beautiful like, Euro-beat, it’s just a super crazy song. Yeah, music is everything man. Music.
Where do you play games in Tokyo when you have time? Do you go to Akihabara?
I mean right now, I play on my Playstation 4 at home of course. But yeah I definitely go to arcades, when I have money to just blow. Because you can’t if you wanna go to the arcades, you gotta have more than like ichiman (¥10000=about $100) to just blow, if you’re really tryna be in there.
You’ve gone from working at Chick-fil-a in Georgia to becoming the Duke of Harajuku. Probably not your average Joe’s life story. What pushed you, what motivated you along the road?
For one, I gotta be somebody. I gotta be successful to do something with my life. Two, just to become successful and be able to not only get my ideas out but experience the world and travel, even before the world, just Japan. Three, for my family. I’m not from a wealthy family, I’m like a lower middle class, everybody had to work. Not the easiest childhood. I’m not saying I had it the worst though, there are definitely people who had it worse than me out there. To be able to take care of my whole family. Like the last song on the album, Never Stop. Literally.
Do you ever miss the states? Are there any moments that make you wish you were in the states, or vice versa when you are in the states?
A little bit of both. I definitely miss the nature where I’m from. I do also miss the looseness of America, as far as rules and stuff like that. It can get annoying here sometimes, like how annoying and strict everything is (laughs). I feel like a lot of it is changing right now, because people can’t be lied to anymore I feel like. Forcing people to evolve and adjust to a modern world. But yeah, I definitely miss America at times, my family is there too.
How would you explain today’s music scene? Is Japan poppin, or is it dasai (not cool)?
Honestly a little bit of both. You gotta understand, where I’m from, Georgia, that’s where trap originated. When I came to Japan, that didn’t even exist here, it was still boom-bap and all. I was kinda disappointed when I came here because everybody has their preconceived image of Japan being futuristic and all. But when I got here, as far as rap music, it was still super boom-bap. Don’t get me wrong, there were others, like Nature Danger Gang, they’re insane. There are always aspects of Japan that are interesting, but for me coming from where trap music was, where the sound of America was. But I was still able to find cool music, like SARU, Killa Krew, Yentown, I didn’t look at Japan negatively at all.
I did have an understanding of how they were kinda behind on the sound, but I was always just searching for something I was interested in. But on a worldwide level, Japan’s music is not up there with the powerhouse that is KOREA. I mean Korean is giving American pop music a run for its money and that’s saying a lot. Korean music is world-fucking-wide. That’s one thing I wanna do, like the label YG, they have a group in Japan they’re producing. NiziU. They’re doing quite well, but there’s still more that can be done. One of my goals is to be able to help produce a super-fire Japanese girl group. With all my Japanese influences. That’s on my list of things I have to do. Again I’m a music nerd and highly critical of all music.
You released your self-titled debut EP back in 2019, produced by star-boy. How did the EP come to reality? What was your inspiration behind it?
He lived in Japan. We both were doing music, we just linked. I knew him, I had met him through a friend, and then star-boy ended up being friends with another homie, and it just naturally happened. Star-boy was still in high school at the time, but from the time I met him, I knew he was a genius. He had an understanding of things that others didn’t. He basically mastered Atlanta-styled trap beats, he was doing them in a way that was cooler and had a different feeling to them. He did what I was always thinking.
Source: Instagram @star_boy
Do you think you have changed, person-wise and music-wise since its release?
Oh yeah. I’ve definitely evolved. Razzle Dazzle was definitely an evolution from the Duke of Harajuku EP, and Post-Razzle Dazzle, my next project, it’s gonna be what I want. Harajuku pop music, filtered through me.
In August 2020, you released your debut album, Razzle Dazzle, along with your brand of the same name. What was the idea behind the album & brand?
It was definitely inspired by Pharrell. He had an album, titled BBC Ice Cream Presents… I can’t remember the name but that album was a way for him to sonically show what BBC Ice Cream was. The sound of what BBC Ice Cream was gonna look like. He released that, then he released BBC, that was pretty much what I was trying to do. Post that, I’ve never seen anybody do it that way. That was also my way of letting myself have an outlet of being able to make stuff besides music.
In your album, you have a crazy list of guests, Lil B, Gab3, and FEMM, just to name a few. How did these collaborations end up happening?
I mean, from knowing people. The Lil B collab happened through a dude I went to school with, he’s a producer. He knew Lil B, he had been sending beats to Lil B since high school. He hit me up and asked if I knew Lil B, and I was like “of course I know The Based God”. And then he came back to me with Lil B’s verse already on the song. FEMM, that came from a whole different thing. I always wanted to produce something for them, my guy Vick, or someone else, knew somebody that was connected to FEMM’s manager. He reached out for me, and I was able to work with them, produce a few tracks for them, and in return, they featured on one of the songs on my album which is honestly one of my favorite songs. Gab3, he’s always in Tokyo, and I ended up meeting him here a while back, I don’t even remember how. But yeah just someone who inspired me, definitely happy about that.
Is there anybody you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Definitely Pharrell. And in Japan... I’m all about fusing things. I just want to infiltrate the major labels more, I only want to work with girls. Honestly, I can’t make anything interesting with dudes, I can’t. Especially with what I’m trying to do, no dudes are doing what I’m trying to do. I’m about having both, the female vocals, the male vocals. Like idol type girls, I want to help make them cooler and appeal to a wider audience. Not really any specific names yet, just want to kind of bend genres and all.
Who are some artists that we need to keep an eye on?
I’m sure you already know about LEX, and of course Tohji. The girl that was on Razzle Dazzle Supreme, Kona Rose, she’s going to be a superstar. Literally.
In an interview with Neet Tokyo released back in early 2019, you mention that big corporations and record companies in Japan have too much power, and don’t know what’s up in the streets. Do you still believe this is the case? Is Japan moving in a better direction?
It’s definitely as a whole moving in a better direction, but it’s still the same system with just a different face on it I feel like. I was walking through Shibuya the other day and there was a girl on the screen of Tower Records, and the song she was playing was like a straight-up trap song. Just a normal-looking Japanese girl, that was proof for me that everything is moving in the right direction. It’s becoming harder and harder for labels to control artists, the same thing that happened in the US is happening in Japan.
Being able to work more independently because of the internet and technology and all that stuff. Labels in Japan are sort of desperate to figure out the next “It” thing, because I actually worked with SONY music for a little while years ago. Honestly there’s nothing they can really do, other than keep doing what they’re doing and realize that they can’t own artists anymore, it has to be a partnership. As long as you have the funds to fund yourself, the sky's the limit. You can do anything.
You are affiliated with Tokyo Vitamin. How did you meet them? What is your relationship with them like?
It was all pretty much through Kenchan. The way I met Kenchan, I already knew from day one that he was going to be somebody involved in my life in a different kind of way. I walk into class and there’s this Japanese dude with long hair, long mustache and beard, I just knew from that moment, “Ok this guy is gonna be my friend”. His energy spoke to me, first day of school, first class. He would always have all his friends over at his house, just like a collective of weirdos. Creative weirdos, artists, just going to Kenchan’s house and creating things. Just hanging out. Through that, I was able to meet all kinds of people.
Source: Instagram @vickokada
The first time I met Vick, it actually wasn’t through Kenchan though, it was at some art exhibition. I’ll never forget that because I had this Atlanta Braves jersey, and Vick was like “Oh, number blah-blah I know this dude!”, and I was like “Yeah, yeah, you’re right!”, and I don’t watch baseball, I was just going along with him. I was just wearing it because it was the Braves. But he knew Kenchan, they knew other people, and yeah. But to make this story short, it started at Kenchan’s house. Gatherings of friends at his house, hanging out, creating stuff, reading magazines, drinking.
How has Tokyo Vitamin changed you and your style?
That’s a good question. I wouldn’t be who I am today though. It’s a team effort. Everybody plays an important role in Tokyo Vitamin because from the get-go it was about furthering each other’s creative endeavors. We’ve all been doing things that we couldn’t be doing on our own. I’ve been performing in countries around Asia, we all just kept pushing, we saw the potential in what we have. We have international backgrounds, some of us were Japanese, some of us spoke Japanese but weren’t from Japan. I’ve been given interesting opportunities because of Tokyo Vitamin.
You guys had your sick collab with Hysteric Glamour. I heard what sparked this collab was you asking VERDY to do your graphics and outfits for your banger with LEX, “ICE CREAM”. Is this true? What was the whole process like?
So I have been hanging out with Nobu-san for a while. Not like we were always together, but we hung out a handful of times because of SKOLOCT. A year or so goes by, I haven’t talked to Nobu-san, and there was an exhibition at the Hysteric Glamour shop in Shibuya, and I went there. And Nobu-san, the thing that’s cool about him is that he’s always looking at new culture and everything. He’s on the older side, but he’s always intuned and tapped in. Yeah to make a long story short, Nobu-san was like “ohh, everything makes sense now, you worked with SKOLOCT, you’re Tokyo Vitamin, I was searching for music and found you!”. And he told me if I need anything, want to do anything, just hit him up. Hit him up a few times, we hung out, and the final night where we went to a Tokyo Hell’s Angels party, which was the coolest shit ever, super hard gnarly Japanese bikers.
They had the girl dancers and all, I was like “what the fuck, they really doing this in Tokyo?”, and everyone was all “YEAH LETS GOO”. I never thought I would be in something like this in Tokyo. After that, me and Vick, we went to dinner and hit up VERDY. The stars aligned, we all had dinner, we were able to all talk. Later, the Ice Cream video came along, and we asked VERDY to do the graphics. And we said let’s make college jackets. Then Vick said we should get Nobu-san to do them, this is the perfect opportunity. And we called him, and at first he was concerned about the time and being able to get it done for the video, but it worked out and we did it. It’s history.
Are there any projects that you can tell us about that are in the works?
My next album is coming out. The title is not confirmed yet, but the new album is definitely coming sooner than later. It’s going to be the best version of me for sure.
Do you have any last words for anybody reading this interview?
Never stop. If you have something you wanna do, as long as you don’t stop, and you do it earnestly, purely, the universe is gonna eventually look your way, and be like “OK, I feel the vibrations, I see what’s going on”. It’s gonna start giving you the pieces you need to put the puzzle together. So never stop.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME DUKE AND ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR UPCOMING PROJECTS!
Words by Casey Takumi Omori
Interview by Casey Takumi Omori
Layout by Koko Bond-Razak
