There’s been a whole lot of buzz stirring on the internet lately, and that all stems down to one simple question — what’s going on with m-flo? Among the cryptic tweets from the group promising a surprise announcement at their ‘revival’ performance at the Universal Studios Japan Countdown New Years Party, as well as their sleek new artist imagery, there’s a whole lot to discuss. It may seem like we ourselves would know all the answers to this, after all, we are a publication founded by m-flo’s own Taku Takahashi — though I assure you we don’t. There’s perhaps nothing Taku is more cryptic about than his work with m-flo.
It all started with a tweet from Taku Takahashi’s Twitter account made on November 22. It was straight to the point and didn’t quite play around. The caption proclaimed “First day of recording for new #mflo,” attached to an image of three pairs of glasses. It’d be fair enough to assume that the front and back pairs belong to both Taku and VERBAL, though who could that middle pair belong to?
m-flo ver4 レコーディング初日
First day of recording for new #mflo pic.twitter.com/JNu6KZMbRJ— Taku Takahashi (@takudj) 22 November 2017
Two days later we get another peculiar post from Taku’s Twitter account. He’s a producer, producers post pictures of their studios all the time — we get it. But one thing in particular that caught our eyes at the end of his tweet was the phrase ” 次のエムフロウ” which you would translate to “The next m-flo.” Huh, interesting that theme would appear again. That being said, the group’s 20th anniversary is right around the corner.
自分の素直な気持ち良さを徹底的にあえて追求することにしてみてる。手グセ解禁。色々寄り道して出た結論。次のエムフロウ pic.twitter.com/1smQkJtbg2
— Taku Takahashi (@takudj) 24 November 2017
Jump forward a couple of days and we see some group related activity posted for the first time in a little while on the official m-flo Twitter account. This time, however, it’s in the form of a new artist picture. It’s everything you’d expect from a signature m-flo piece of imagery, all the way down to the glasses. Speaking of those glasses, there appears to be an open slot in-between both Taku and VERBAL; that’s interesting. The duo is known for working alongside incredibly talented vocalists, so I’d dare take a shot at suggesting maybe we’ll see somebody fill the spot.
【m-flo】#新アー写 公開しました‼️ pic.twitter.com/gnpkJqnDbl
— m-flo_official (@mflo_official) November 27, 2017
Then, later on, that very same day we saw Taku quote-tweet the announcement that the group would be performing at Universal Studio Japan Countdown decreeing it an “m-flo revival” and promising a “special surprise” at the event. He then went further in saying that there’s going to be even more activity from the official account, and to be sure to follow it to stay updated.
今年もUSJカウントダウンに出演します。しかもm-floとして。サプライズもあります。そして、m-flo復活にともない、 @mflo_official も活発に動いていくんで、ぜひフォローお願いします(´◡`๑) https://t.co/lApvUsrp2E
— Taku Takahashi (@takudj) 27 November 2017
Shortly thereafter Taku would again go on to play with the hearts of fans, re-posting the groups latest imagery. This time, however, the image was altered with the words “Coming Soon…” layered over the top, and perhaps most interestingly, acknowledgment of there being a person in the middle. This was delivered through the image’s caption “m-flo. Who is it going to be in the middle?”
Staying true to Taku’s prior comment, of course, today we saw this tweet go out from the official m-flo Twitter account announcing that we could expect further announcements come December 15 (JST). On top of that, we should all stay wired for what comes next.
12月15日に大事な発表があります!お見逃しなく#mflo
— m-flo_official (@mflo_official) 28 November 2017
We’ve got a very important announcement coming on December 15 (JST). Stay Wired #mflo pic.twitter.com/bnRGfhZNZZ
— m-flo_official (@mflo_official) 28 November 2017
With the 20th anniversary of the group just around the corner, our imaginations are running wild with what could come next for the multi-platinum selling duo. In the meantime, however, you can bet we’ll be wired to both their Twitter and Facebook accounts waiting to find out more. Now just one question remains, who’s going to fill that space in the middle?