We’re premiering the Tokyo-based rapper’s new music video exclusively on Crack Magazine.
Nina Utashiro is a New York-raised, Tokyo-based rapper and former magazine editor. Utashiro founded her independent magazine PETRICHOR back in 2018 after working in-house as a editor at various fashion titles for some time. Through the magazine, Utashiro refined her skills and channelled her creative energy into essays, poetry and writings, as well as visual content. The magazine found an audience within Tokyo’s hip-hop scene, with Utashiro also finding favour as a rapper as she gradually shifted in a more musical direction.
This summer, Utashiro will release a new EP entitled Operetta Hysteria. The project melds classical music references (and titles) with a more contemporary, underground sound that draws inspiration from UK drill and ’80s industrial music. The project leads with new single Aria. The track dropped today (14 May) alongside an accompanying music video directed by filmmaker and art director OSRIN, who’s part of the Meidaimae-based creative crew PERIMETRON. The gory, horror-inspired visual pairs Jean Paul Gaultier looks with unsettling choreography and visual effects.
“It was an intense experience,” Utashiro tells Crack Magazine over email. “There were some things I did for the first time in my video: choreography, VFX, crying on cue. So, it was fun, but very very tense. I wanted this to top everything I’ve made in the past, and I wanted to experience something new.”
Meanwhile, OSRIN said, “Nina’s music, presence, and level up were simply exciting to shoot. I wanted to create a sophisticated joke with her.”
Aria is out now. Stream the single here and watch the new video in the player above.