The last we heard of Pikotaro, he was entertaining President Trump during his visit with Prime Minister Abe at the end of November 2017. Now, we have an explanation for the silence; he was working on one of the most confusing musical collaborations we’ve seen in a very, very long time.
His new track, “Vegetable,” featuring idol group Momoiro Clover Z was dropped on YouTube in an almost silent manner today. The track follows a similar formula to his previous “hit,” PPAP, in that it’s a very simple and repetitive song with some silly choreography attached. Adding to the bewildering nature of the release, the idol group (recently reduced to four members) is credited as Momoclo-chan Z on the single. There are more questions to ask, but rather than ramble on about my confusion, maybe we should just let you watch the video for yourself:
Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not the first time a reputable pop act has collaborated like this on a track with a comedian. My immediate thought when hearing about this was the 2002 collaboration (I’m dating myself, I know) between Morning Musume sub-group Mini Moni and legendary comedian Ken Shimura’s Bakatono-sama alter-ego. The only major difference being that their song was far more produced, and done in the staple Mini Moni style rather than following something more fitting of their collaborator.
While it’s definitely fun to see performers break out of their routine to do silly things from time to time, it’s still nice for them to make some kind of sense thematically. I’m not sure about you but I know I’m going to be scratching my head about this whole thing for a couple of days at least.