When discussing the past of famous singer-songwriter “Joji,” the term “controversial” is an understatement. George Miller, now professionally known as “Joji,” is the creator of lo-fi/R&B hits such as “Glimpse of Us” and “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK.” He has 23.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify. In 2018, he reached number one on the Billboard Top 100 R&B hip-hop albums chart, making him the first artist born in Asia to do so. With such fame and critical acclaim, the average fan might not even know that he first gained popularity as a YouTube comedian. Known as “Filthy Frank,” Miller once created videos full of grotesque and offensive humor. He continues to succeed and has slowly transformed his image through years of calculated shifts in persona. But the internet has a long memory, and his Filthy Frank videos can be accessed, no matter how much distance Miller puts between himself and his comedian days.
In today’s political climate, Joji’s past is baffling at best. Fans might wonder how a creative goes from posting the grotesque “Hair Cake” video (for which searching is not recommended) to a serious musician. Lyrics like “Souls that dream alone lie awake” and “I used to be/Somebody in another skin” seem distant from his nausea-inducing Filthy Frank days. His “edgy humor,” the type that plagued much of YouTube in the early 2010s, would leave modern fans enraged.
George Miller was born in Osaka, Japan to Australian and Japanese parents. He originally posted comedy content on YouTube with channels like “DizastaMusic,” which gained popularity in 2008. “DizastaMusic” was the channel where the Filthy Frank show was born, and where Miller first grew his fanbase. Through this show, Milller created a character called “Pink Guy.” “Pink Guy” became one of the most prominent figures in Miller’s extensive universe. The channel eventually became a show with linear progression, character development and a slew of characters that all interacted, creating a tangle of overlapping atrocities. Fans were infatuated with the wide-ranging storyline, and there is even an extensively detailed Filthy Frank Wiki. Miller created the original Harlem Shake video, which went massively viral in 2012 and currently has 67 million views on YouTube. When he eventually switched to the channel “TVFilthyFrank” in 2013, his cult-like fanbase followed him, and he grew his popular content into an empire.
Miller’s alter-ego “Pink Guy” was the form he first demonstrated his passion for music, a stepping-stone to becoming “Joji.” As the years went on, TVFilthyFrank began putting out more and more musical content, usually as “Pink Guy.” He rapped lyrics meant to shock the audience with absurd and offensive content, including “Pink Guy Cooks Ramen and Raps.”
In 2015, Miller released his first song under the moniker “Joji,” titled “Thom.” Unlike his Pink Guy content, “Thom” was serious business, nothing funny or satirical about it. It featured a “lo-fi” tone with rap overlaying a calm instrumental. His fan base was not happy about it. He eventually had to disable comments on the soundtrack because his fans were bullying him. The fanbase that loved his comedy evidently did not like Miller creating serious,inoffensive content.
Miller retired the Filthy Frank show in December 2017. In a statement on Twitter, Miller wrote, “Unfortunately, I no longer enjoy producing that content.” He explained that he has “several serious health conditions, including but not limited to; throat tissue damage, and neurological conditions.” Miller has a disorder that triggers seizures when he is under a lot of stress, which he discussed in a since-deleted 2013 video. His first album as an artist (albeit under the moniker “Pink Guy” instead of Joji) was titled “Pink Season” and included the same satiric tone and shock humor as his other content. It was released in January 2017 and debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200.
In order to pursue his true passion — serious music, not the obscene and satirical “Pink Guy” music he had been producing to satisfy fans — Miller put his energy into rebuilding his image as Joji. In a Billboard article from December 2017, he explained that Joji is not part of his ensemble of characters from the Filthy Frank show. “Joji is just me,” he explained. He also stated that he was going to produce music that he wants to hear. His first official Joji album, titled “Ballads 1,” was released in October 2018, nearly one year after retiring Filthy Frank.
Though Joji and Filthy Frank are fundamentally intertwined with Miller’s history, Joji’s explosion of popularity left some fans unaware of his past internet presence. In 2020, “#Jojiisoverparty” trended on Twitter, drudging up some of Miller’s most offensive content, including him saying a racial slur in one of his songs. Some long-time fans defended him, stating that he created his content under the guise of satire. They argued that the Filthy Frank character did not reflect Miller’s actual personality or beliefs. They even mocked those who had not known about Joji’s extensive past. This interaction cemented the dichotomy between longtime fans, listening to Joji because he was Filthy Frank, and new fans, unaware of this history.
Joji’s path from satirical comedian to lo-fi and R&B artist is one of the most implausible narratives in pop culture. Some will listen to “Slow Dancing in the Dark” unaware of the past extensive, unhinged character acting. Some of the one billion Spotify listeners of “Glimpse of Us” have probably never heard Miller meme-rapping as “Pink Guy.” Those going to see Joji on tour will never see the aptly-named Filthy Frank make racist and sexist jokes online. Perhaps that is for the best. For those who have seen it, even “just a glimpse” is plenty disturbing.
