The Pioneers of New Gen 3D Art and Vocaloids - Osean World and Deko
The digital era weighs like a curse over humanity. Social media platforms and the constant flow of news through the Internet plague us with shame and stress.
However, a duo in Atlanta completely shifted this narrative through art and music. Using the cyber world as a weapon against the industry, Osean [@oseanworld] and Deko [@deko.777] have crafted a world so intricate yet intriguing that fans can’t help but be drawn in.
The two are well-known for their joint project, Yameii [@yameiionline], a Western-Vocaloid that raps as the duo has described her. Bigger than her “Tikotok hits” that many may seem to know her for [Baby My Phone], Yameii is the powerful, albeit clumsy, protagonist of Osean World.
She zips between physical and virtual reality with the help of Osean’s visuals: manga and anime that document her adventures and the story of Osean World, and Deko’s music production and rapping when he hops on the mic with her. Yameii’s songs are not to be forgotten as music videos breathe life into the deep lore of Osean World and further extend the depths of the rabbit hole. Yameii’s carefree and ditzy attitude is reflected in her light and catchy lyrics as well as masterful production from Deko’s part that combines 808s, trap beats, Avana vocals, and more.
Individually, Deko and Osean have been in and around the creative world for a while. Deko began to carve his name as a producer, having credits on the massively successful Migos song Walk It Talk It among other hits. Osean has been a visual artist for most of his creative life as well, having visual credits on multiple projects with the likes of Trippie Redd, Lil Uzi Vert, MadeinTYO, Lauv, and more. Both growing up in different parts of Atlanta, the two met by chance through the connections of mutual friends and now continue to dominate the virtual and physical world with their uniqueness and creativity.
Their collaboration has resulted in the next big chapter of contemporary art and music. Bridging reality and the Internet, the Osean World and Yameii universe is a time-bending, divine yet godless land simultaneously futuristic and parallel to our times. Complex lore awaits fans as well as Easter Eggs and hints, a new album, a manga, an anime, holographic innovations and so much more.
sabukaru had the luck to be able to meet up with Osean and Deko during their last trip to Tokyo and dove right into their glitchy Vocaloid cyber realm of art and hip-hop.
Please introduce yourselves to the sabukaru network.
D: Hi, my name is Deko. I make all kinds of music and random art stuff, and I'm the man who's going to be King of the Pirates [One Piece reference].
O: I’m Osean. I make art and all forms of media. I like making art, when I'm bored, when I'm happy, when I'm sad. It's just what I do.
When did you guys start your artistic career?
D: I've always tried to play instruments and I found Fruity Loops in middle school. It's FL Studio. That's where I kind of stopped all other ideas and dreams and just kept playing with the box. My brother had Fruity Loops on a laptop that he used in high school, then he went to college and got like, I guess a college laptop, and I got the hand-me-down laptop with no internet. I was just going through whatever he installed and Fruity Loops was on it. I was in the fourth grade.
I was pressing buttons and it made noises, and I was like, I don't know how to use this, but this is fun, I think it makes music. And then, when I found it in middle school, I was like, what's that fruit program? But I was writing mid music.
O: My dad and all my brothers were really into art. I would sneak around and play on their sketchbooks and see what the hell they were drawing. They didn't take it seriously, but then I was like, “I think I'm gonna take it seriously.” I got me and all my friends to draw comic books when we were in school and we would do like stick figure comics and shit all the time. The teachers would [confiscate] it, but that gave us the motivation to draw more of them because it was like, “They took it, I guess we got to make another one.”
Who is your biggest inspiration both artistically and lifestyle-wise, from anime characters to real people?
D: In a nutshell, I love, love Luffy. I resonate with [him] just being stupid and having fun sometimes, but then also not being that stupid and kind of being awesome. Other than that, music-wise, Daft Punk, Lil Wayne, Blink 182, Skrillex, Porter Robinson, Madeon. All of that laying around. Like all of it. Young Thug's probably like the best person in the world, but sucks that he's going through what he's going through. But super, super inspiring to me.
O: I have too many. Let's break it down. Okay, so it's kind of funny because a lot of them are not main characters but are actually evil villains. I like Madara from Naruto a lot and the simple part is just like, he's just really powerful. And the scale of his power was like, mad OP.
Who else? I also like Chopper because he’s cute, and his lifestyle is awesome. Damn, I like this new character Made In Abyss, [Nanachi]. She's like the one with the really cool pants and the ears and stuff. She's like a magical girl. I have a figurine. And then there's this character, do you know Dead Leaves, the movie? There's this character named TV Head, and the other one is named Panda. But yeah, those are some of my main ones. And then, from video games, Sonic from Sonic Adventure 2, and Silver and Shadow. They're like all my favorites and shit. Amy Rose's also really cool. She's kind of annoying, but she's also amazing. And fucking Rei from Evangelion. She's really fucking awesome.
You guys mentioned that you guys both grew up in Atlanta. Did that influence your career?
D: Yeah. I feel like everything we do is our Internet interests combined with Atlanta's culture. Because Atlanta's culture is so rich, I feel like you can't escape it, and it's so enjoyable that you just want to partake in it. Every 10 years, Atlanta does something nuts. I feel like, typically for the music industry, we'll do something new, and then it just radiates out toward the world.
We had the 2000s moment with Lil John's production, Zaytoven, and all that stuff, and also with a lot of influence from like Memphis and Three 6 Mafia. I feel like, right around when SoundCloud was [popular] and you had the era where Lil Yachty and [Playboi] Carti kind of blew up, with the underground stuff like Mako and Key!, it’s changed the way music sounded. They were making really interesting stuff at the time. And then boom, everything kind of sort of sounded like that, the plug beats and all that. And now it's just like, you know, who knows what will happen next!
O: Heavily. I was working on rap videos in high school and grew up listening to rap music. And it's like, yeah, you can't really escape it, especially if you live out there. But like, it's like one of those things where Atlanta and its culture are still superior over everything, regardless.
Osean and Deko are the pioneers of a new genre, creating a bridge between physical reality and virtual reality through art and music. Where do you see this new expanding field of art going in the future?
D: I personally want to start an entire counterculture-label-type situation where I want to fight the whole music industry by creating, and building off the independence of modern music. I feel like this is a time when there are obviously more artists than ever before. There's more music and some could see it as oversaturated, but I see it as like, now, there's this huge era for small businesses and music where you can make a good living doing what you love and still have a niche fan base because it's so much easier to get it out, connect with the people and get support from them.
So many talented people just posting on Instagram. I see so much talent that I just want the world to see. I don't even care, I don't want money from it. I just want to have a platform where people that are in a similar situation that we've been in before can just grow independently. I think it'd be nice. I think we would all hear a lot more better music and see better art, instead of what's thrown in our faces all the time.
O: I mean, same but with art. I always see these mega-famous artists and they sell their paintings for blah blah or whatever, and then, there are the small brands and artists, the most talented motherfuckers that I've ever seen, but they don't know how to monetize what they have.
I feel like if I didn't have the internet, I wouldn't be able to do like half the shit I’m able to do. I learned a completely new 3D software from fucking scratch. I learned how to literally sell fucking clothes on the Internet. I learned to make music. Before I met [Deko], I was like trying to do some Ableton shit [music program], and I met him through the Internet and he taught me how to even make even cooler shit. It's like the fact that I can do that shit by myself. I want to teach a bunch of kids how to do that stuff in the first place.
sabukaru is all about subcultures. You both take a lot of inspiration from Japanese media and translate a lot of those tidbits from various subcultures into your art. What are your favorite things about Japanese culture?
D: For starters, media and advertisement, like, oh my god, it’s everywhere and it's so good, they got me. I walk into the konbini [Japanese convenience store] and I’m buying shit I don't even need. Every time, I've spent too much money at Don Quijote, just on the Don Quijote merch.
There's an appreciation for the art out here, it is so special and unique. The art is crazy. The architecture is so nice. It was the first time I ever came to a city and thought, “Who did the city planning?” Like this is so [well done], in LA I ask it for the opposite reason, like “Who the fuck designed these roads?”
Growing up, I didn't realize how many things that I was obsessed with came from Japanese culture. I'm getting these things tattooed on me and I don't even realize [that they’re from Japanese culture] until I'm in Japan for the first time [pointing at tattoos of Japanese characters]. Yeah, this one's Spongebob but um, yeah. The first time I ever caught a Ghibli film, I was like six years old and I had no clue what I was watching, but it was immediately better than most of the American media for children that I had taken in. It was such a journey for me.
O: It's everywhere. Don Quijote is a great example, like the little penguin motherfucker with the Christmas hat [talking about the brand mascot]. It's crazy because it's like one of those things where, as you go to Walmart, it's just a shopping spot, it's stale. It feels like you're going hunting, like I have to go get my meat then I'm getting the fuck out of here. At Don Quijote, it makes you more inclined to want things, it makes it more fun, even on the outside, the building's just colored and shit. There are pink trucks like that, shit, like it's cool, you know what I'm saying? The design and the buildings, the architecture where it’s [clear that they] didn't do this for the money, they actually cared about this thing. And now we get to make friends!
What is the basis of Yameii, the main character?
D: Yameii has been the main character in Osean World. [Osean] handed me his notebook for the first time and I was like, “Oh my god you're so good at drawing.” It was so nice that he left it at the house and [my wife] and I were sitting there, four in the morning, looking at his notebook. I was pulling up some of the Yameii stuff and it was just crazy. [Then, Osean] was kind of voicing Yameii using a Vocaloid voicebank and I was like, “Is that Avanna?” and he was like, “Yeah!” We're both Porter Robinson fans and both downloaded Avanna for our own reasons: he wanted to voice Yameii and I wanted to make vocal chops without paying for samples as a producer. I was really excited to use Avanna for something. I was like, “Do you want to make Yameii a Vocaloid?” and he was like, “I already kind of wanted to do that.” Then I was like, “Do you care if I make it rap?” and he was like, “That'd be sick.” That was basically it.
O: When I was doing the whole college thing, I was at the point where I was trying not to do music videos and do my own shit. I was already drawing a bunch of characters and then I was like, yeah, Yameii would be cool. It's a main character because I had the idea of making like a Marvel [character] as where there’s a bunch of people but then there's obviously your Superman and shit. I thought it would be cool if Superman also made music shit, but I don't know how to make fucking music right, so…
D: You do know how to make music.
O: Now I do but, back then, it wasn't like that crazy, so I'd be make a little bebop song and shit and when I first really like got into Ableton, I was like, “This is kind of cool!” And she was singing and doing all this random shit or whatever. It was pretty cool, you know?
D: We understood Atlanta's influence on the rest of the world so we were just like, “We just got to make the Atlanta Miku!” and make it so America would finally accept a Vocaloid.
O: And it worked!
There are so many little details and tidbits, how did you guys make all of this?
O: Just bored in a room. It's funny because we did it very smartly. He has the royalty checks and I do all the commissions, so we had money coming in the background and we just made way more spare time than the time we were doing for work, and half the time, when you do commissions, you don't really care, so you could really half-ass the fuck out of it and really spend time on your stuff, which is what I tell people all the fucking time. Like bro, if it's something you really care about, then go full out.
D: We spend like 100% of our time well because we really enjoy it. We wake up and we stay up all night and we're falling asleep at the desk, and then we wake up and gotta get back because there’s constantly new ideas we could work on. It’s a combination of passion. He's been working on the Osean World lore for years and I love making all kinds of things.
O: That's usually how it goes. It's funny, we be working all day, we don't go outside or, like, go for drinks.
D: Like we'll go to the park, maybe, to literally touch grass. We bought bikes because we don't go outside.
O: And we still bring the laptops.
D: We do, we ride to the park with our laptops and iPads, and we're drawing. It's so silly but we'll bring laptops to the beach.
What's your favorite part about Osean World?
O: It's the story building. It's fun because making the art and doing the animations and all that kind of stuff is cool or whatever, but I dream a lot and I write down the dreams [in a] crazy dream journal. I have seven of them, like big ass, huge books, like those fucking wizard books from those crystal shops. I like finding weird magical shit and so if I make the magical shit that people could find, then they will also be just as interested, so it's just sharing that mystery.
D: My favorite part is the world building, both visually but mostly conceptually. There's not many limitations based on the kind of model that he created for Osean World, so it's really nice. It makes it easy collaboration wise. Osean World is his thing, you know, but if I have an idea, it typically always fits. Like, I'll make Lil Hard Drive, who's not a canon character in Osean World but can very easily just be a character in Osean World.
When did you decide to start a manga and an anime?
O: Um, oh god.
D: I can summarize for you! Basically, and correct me if I'm wrong, working on the anime is a lot, so working on the manga does many things. It helps him put the plot line into existence, like actually writing the story and the text, and then creating a manga in 3D so it's multi-purpose. Even though it's stylized, [he] builds scenes that could be used in the anime. He’s been working on the manga every day for the past two years. Every time we're not doing, he's sitting on his laptop working on the manga.
O: Exactly. Making an anime, you have to do the colors, the compositions and you have to get fucking voice actors, do the animation, etc.
When I was doing season one, I just made like little videos of loop music and there were no voices at all. This was kept very simple and the entire story was very abstract. I was just kind of having fun with everything and shit. When I was getting ready to do season two, I actually built the story and did all this stuff, and it's been like what, almost three years now, and I'm like still working on fucking episode four.
D: Yeah, it's crazy that he does it all by himself.
What do you suggest that new fans start with?
D: It's whatever they want. Everything's designed to go as far as you want to, like those scavenger hunts. The deepest of the deepest people are going are the same people that are fully caught up with the manga and the Osean World lore.
O: I essentially wanted it like that too, it's like rabbit holes. When we first started it, it was mad crazy because like we would hide quests inside of the VR parties, so it was like this whole entire thing where like you pull up, there's a new song or whatever, and Deko was on Twitch streaming at the same time.
If you had to spend one day with one of the characters, who would you pick and why?
O: Probably Choice. I think it's the deepest character and one of the more powerful characters that I made, a lot more powerful than I can explain right now. I feel like, if I hung out with him, I would be able to explore all of Osean World in a single day.
D: I don't want to speak too into unofficial things, but the character that I think is most inspired by Osean himself is always being taught by Choice, so it's almost like he wants to learn from Choice. I would spend the day with Kami because Kami can fly, kind of like Appa in Avatar. I'd say Yameii but I feel like I know too much about Yameii.
O: You and Yameii are like the same person.
Any sneak peeks?
D: I'm gonna start working on the first solo Deko project in two years. There are a lot of things we want to add [to our shows] that aren't just the hologram, things like projection-mapping the whole venue, and just like, anything we can do to make people forget where they are. One thing at a time. Also, we want to try to make Yameii her own Vocaloid, so we're trying to like work with people so we have our own custom Vocaloid made. That can come with a lot of other cool advancements, like other crazy characters. Anything is possible.
O: Trying to get in there! Trying to get the whole production shit going on, like working on season two, working on art installations, and there's a bunch of secret projects that I can’t talk about.
D: Also, just trying to make conventions cool and stuff.
O: Yeah, trying to make conventions cool.
Is there any advice that stuck with you while you guys were coming up?
O: My dad was the one that told me to do what I want. If it doesn't feel right, then you shouldn't do it but obviously, do what makes you feel right. A lot of people do be complaining and I get it, life is very, very hard but life is going to continue to be hard. You know, being optimistic is a literal superpower. I could probably lose my foot and I'd still be like, “Yeah, I’m still here.”
D: Still got your drawing hand.
O: Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Be optimistic. It'll help a lot in the long run for sure. You can't see, touch, or feel the future, but thinking 10 steps ahead is enough, you don't actually have to pursue all of these things.
D: Balance. There are always two ways to think about something. You could always see the obvious of what's bad, but you can always try to flip it into something good. Your mindset will be a little better and it’s sometimes harder to do than say, but it's always worth it. Another thing is confidence. You just be yourself and don't worry about what other people think, because that's what makes you special, and if you're just molding to what other people are, you're going to realize you've been capping yourself off. And patience! I know there are a lot of people that get annoyed by him, but Gary Vee is really right about being patient and grateful. It's the good stuff.
About the Author:
Mizuki Khoury
Born in Montreal, based in Tokyo. Sabukaru’s senior writer and works as an artist under Exit Number Five.
Co-Author:
Seb Paez was born and raised in the Philippines before coming to Tokyo. He thinks you’re pretty cool.
