When first started performing in venues across Tokyo, the arrival of a turntable and a microphone onstage would be the signal for people to hit the bar. The Japanese hip-hop duo – consisting of and rapper – would need to rely on their fast-flowing raps, clever wordplay and infectious beats to grab their attention away from the bar and back to the stage.

As one of the most successful and prominent battle MCs in Japan, having won the Ultimate MC Battle Grand Championship three years running, R-Shitei joined forces with DJ Matsunaga, the winner of the DMC World DJ Championship. Their unique styles and skills complemented each other perfectly and they formed the hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts.

In the years that followed, Creepy Nuts have gone on to receive global attention with songs such as ‘Bling-Bang-Bang-Born’ and the opening theme for the hugely popular anime Dandadan, ‘Otonoke’. The group have also gained a reputation as must-see live performers, having headlined Tokyo Dome in 2025 and delivered a viral performance at Coachella earlier this year.

Creepy Nuts will continue to ride the wave of success throughout 2026 as they open for during the Asia leg of his huge ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour. By performing in front of tens of thousands of The Weeknd’s fans, the Japanese duo will have to call upon the formative skills they acquired during those early performances in clubs across Tokyo and grab their attention with their dynamic raps and unique brand of hip-hop.

CLASH: How does it feel to be joining The Weeknd on the Asia leg of his After Hours til Dawn tour?

It’s an honour, but it’s also very nerve-wracking as well. Emotionally, I’m going back-and-forth between excitement and nervousness.

We are a Japanese hip-hop group and we are presenting a show with turntables and a microphone, it’s all quite minimalistic. But to be able to join The Weeknd on his tour fills me with real joy. I’m expecting great things.

These upcoming performances will be in front of tens of thousands of people… For some perspective, I want to talk about your first live shows. What are your memories of these early performances as a group?

Our first few shows were in clubs and live houses. When we were on the bill with artists from other genres, it was especially difficult. When we would set up the stage with a microphone and turntables, that was the signal for the crowds to hit the bars. It was about grabbing people’s attention, speaking to them and making them stop. We had to experiment with different methods to get people to pay attention to what we had to offer.

Using those skills and experiences must be perfect for the upcoming shows with The Weeknd as you’re looking to grab the attention of his fans in the same way.

Exactly, we have to grab the attention of people who are there to see The Weeknd. It’s all about communication and that connection with the crowd so that we can win them over.

I agree with R-Shitei. In the beginning, it was all about trying to attract people’s attention and R-Shitei was freestyling to get people interested and make people stop in their tracks and listen to us. It was almost like a street performance where you have to try to get people walking by to stop.

In Japan, we have been getting more recognition so there’s no need to do that now. But now, we are in a different stage of our careers where we are performing overseas. It’s almost like we are going back to scratch and resetting. It’s not about doing the same thing and going back to zero and starting in the same way that we did before, that’s not the way to go about it.

This time, it’s also about the difference in language and culture and how to overcome that. I would say that the main difference now compared to the early days is that the songs themselves are meatier and have more substance. They’re much easier to listen to. We just have to believe in the strength of the songs.

What were the early conversations like with The Weeknd when he came to Tokyo? Did you know that you were going to be invited to open for his tour, or did this take you by surprise?

We were taken completely by surprise! Actually, when we met him in Tokyo, it was to say hello and we spent 30 minutes just talking and chatting. At the end, he just said, “Okay, we’ll see you again somewhere.” Then all of a sudden, we got this offer to tour with him on his Asian leg of the tour… it was a complete surprise.

The track was actually created before Coachella. For me, I create music based upon whatever I’m feeling and what music I’m into at the moment. I want to continually change and evolve and make new sounds. With the sound of ‘Running Wheel’, that’s just what I was feeling at that moment. Actually, It’s more about wanting to bring what I’ve created overseas, rather than bringing influences from overseas into our music.

Lyrically, It’s different for me. ‘Running Wheel’ is all about my experiences at Coachella and international dates. If you listen, I actually mention Coachella in the lyrics.

Coachella was such a huge moment, not only for Creepy Nuts but Japanese hip-hop as a whole. How did you feel ahead of the show? You said that you were feeling nervous ahead of The Weeknd tour so I can imagine you’ll have been going through similar feelings with Coachella?

You’re exactly right. My greatest ammunition is my words but going abroad, that’s obviously not going to work as it does here in Japan. It’s not as effective. We figured that there would be some songs that people would know but there would probably be a lot of songs they did know. How would that translate into a live show, especially with the language barrier?

I was feeling a mix of nervousness and fear initially but we did it. I leaned into the experience and we gave everything we had and the crowd went wild. Afterwards, I was feeling, “Oh my God! We’ve lived this and got through this!” There was joy in that feeling of accomplishment but it was probably more relief, having been able to live through that.

Talking about the fans going wild… I saw a comment on a Reddit page about how fans at the Brooklyn show were going “feral” during the performance of ‘Otonoke’. What was that experience like?

It was just so incredibly gratifying. Everybody was singing along and they were having such a fun time. But it was hard to believe that it was happening as well — that they were jumping up and down, going wild and singing along to the songs. It made me incredibly happy.

With your background in freestyling and DJ’ing, I’m really interested in how you approach anime theme songs… Do you have to follow a brief or is it spontaneous?

It always starts with the music and I create what I want to create at that particular time. If the anime team is actually asking us to come up with a song, it must mean they’re giving us free rein. We don’t really have to follow a particular brief. They are expecting something experimental so I go about it with my own interpretation and create whatever I want at that moment.

I’m always thinking about sounds that are new or have never been used before and it’s a good opportunity to experiment with an anime opening theme. I’d like to come up with sounds that people are surprised by when they hear them. Even if it’s a little left field, he feels that the anime team will probably be able to accommodate it with the anime visuals from the opening scene. There is also part of me that knows R-Shitei will do something with the flow or lyrics and just make it work. In a way, I’m asking both parties to accommodate me.

I know that DJ Matsunaga is going to come up with some very challenging beats, that’s a given. I want to match that with my rap and flow. But in terms of creating something for the anime world, I have to find something within the story or within that world, whether it be the protagonist or characters, that I can relate to and put myself in their shoes or in that situation. I need to see how the characters correspond with my life.

Usually, if I’m freestyle, I compare characters to myself and my own life. But, when I was writing the lyrics for ‘Otonoke’, I reversed that. Instead, I inserted myself into that Dandadan world and tried to find something that I could relate to. In this case, it would have probably been Okarun, the main character who takes on the demons and monsters and becomes one with them. When he’s at one with them, that’s when his power really comes out.

So I took that idea and flipped it, and asked, “What if it was like a relationship between the artist and the listener?” What if there was a problem that the creator had and the listener empathised with that? When there is that relatability, the listener and the creator become one and become powerful together. It’s almost like being possessed by the music and becoming one.

Are you working on new music? If so, are you a group that thrives creatively when you’re touring? Or, do you need space to unwind and reflect afterwards?

There’s strength in waiting until after the tour, after everything is done and we can reflect in a calm and collected space. On the other hand, there’s also something about being on tour and being in the midst of that dizzying rush that brings out new ideas.

If you live in the same routine every day, then the lyrics don’t come out as easily. Coachella and this upcoming tour with The Weeknd are all experiences that aren’t ordinary. They’re not part of everyday life. Every time something new happens, whether that’s getting married, when your child is born or even just growing older with friends, when the scenery and landscape in front of you changes, that’s the time when new words come out.

So maybe during this tour, entire lyrics and verses won’t come forth but I’ll have little scraps of memos from those experiences that I can turn into something after it’s all done. But having said that, I haven’t come up with one good way to form lyrics yet. It’s all about just trying to thread and weave the words out of all the dizzying experiences that happen every day. 

In the future, I feel that all these new experiences, like touring with The Weeknd or going to places that we’ve never been to before, will feed me. Those will be the experiences that will bring about new lyrics, sounds and flow.

For me personally, I feel like it’s better to create tracks after everything has settled down. In my case, I have to create tracks at home so it is physically difficult to make music on the road. It’s better to have that moment in time when I’m focused and when everything is in the right place to allow me to be in that zone. Making beats is different from writing lyrics because new experiences and being on tour might have more influence on lyrics. I don’t think that has much influence on me. The tracks are capricious in the way they come about.

If you’re working on new music, what can we expect from the sounds and themes?

We are in the process of working on new music. Having experienced Coachella, touring America and now with this upcoming Asia tour, I feel like these experiences will influence new lyrics. The sound will be quite playful and we are looking to take on new challenges.

Catch Creepy Nuts on tour with The Weeknd on the After Hours Til Dawn tour later this year.