[News Figures] J-Pop 'Night Dancer' Imase Rising Through Short-Form Videos

Gaining Popularity with Simple and Easy Melody
Studied Lyrics and Composition Alone... A Song Capturing 'TikTok Sensibility'

Japan's rising singer-songwriter Imase (23) is gaining popularity with his song "Night Dancer." On the social networking service (SNS) TikTok, a dance challenge has been ongoing, and he became the first J-pop artist to enter the top ranks on the domestic music platform Melon. On the 13th, about two years after his official debut, he held a showcase in Korea to meet his Korean fans.

Imase's "Night Dancer" has been used as background music for TikTok dance challenges, accumulating over 1.2 billion views. Popular K-pop groups such as IVE, STRAY KIDS, and ATEEZ participated in the challenge. Riding this wave of popularity, the song entered Melon's overseas comprehensive chart (peaking at #2) and the Top 100 chart (peaking at #17) at the end of February.

Japanese singer-songwriter Imase. Photo by Universal Music

Imase is a 22-year-old rookie artist. Born in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, he learned songwriting and composition starting in 2020 and debuted with the song "Have a nice day" after just one year. He began to gain recognition by topping the Spotify Japan Viral Chart, which is based on music sharing via SNS. He then released "Night Dancer" in August 2022. Currently, detailed profiles such as his education and hometown remain undisclosed even in Japanese popular magazines. Among fans, unofficial profiles are created by collecting information about his favorite foods, hometown, and the car he drives from his official Twitter messages.

According to the Japanese popular magazine "Tokion," which interviewed Imase in March last year, he did not know how to play any instruments at all. Imase said, "I started producing music around November 2020. Until then, I didn't know how to play any instruments. I wasn't studying music professionally either. At most, I just liked singing at karaoke."

Japanese singer Imase taking photos with fans at the showcase in Korea. Photo by Imase Official Twitter

The reason "Night Dancer" gained huge popularity on TikTok is also related to the fact that he is a TikTok user himself. He reportedly analyzed many popular songs on TikTok, which fueled his passion for music production.

Imase said, "On TikTok, many songs become popular, and watching that made me think, 'I want to try making one too.' I even searched for chord progressions that seemed likely to be popular." He added, "So for the initial work, I focused only on piano and bass, keeping it very simple, and then created the melody and vocals." Indeed, "Night Dancer" was made with a simple melody that anyone can easily hum along to.

The short song "n1ght," also created by Imase, was made with a simple melody. He said, "(n1ght) is about BPM 90, so I thought that putting 6 to 8 syllables within 4 bars at that tempo would make a good song." He added that this was not an impromptu decision but the result of continuous research. BPM stands for Beats Per Minute, a unit used to measure tempo in music. The average BPM, similar to a heartbeat, is 128.

Expressing gratitude for the great popularity on TikTok and the entry into Melon's overseas chart, Imase held his first showcase in Korea on the 13th at Musinsa Garage in Mapo-gu, Seoul. He said, "Korean people told me, 'This is why we listen to Imase.' I felt proud thinking that my song is loved beyond language barriers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.