Tanaka (musician)
Musical artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tanaka (Japanese: たなか; born February 12, 1998) is a Japanese rapper, vocalist and lyricist. He was known by the moniker Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi (ぼくのりりっくのぼうよみ, Boku no Ririkku no Bōyomi; "Reading My Lyrics Monotone") from 2014 to 2018. In 2021, Tanaka formed a band with Ichika Nito and Sasanomaly called Dios.
Tanaka | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi (ぼくのりりっくのぼうよみ, Boku no Ririkku no Bōyomi; "Reading My Lyrics Monotone"), Shigaisen (市街戦; "Street Fighting"), Shigaisen (紫外線; "Ultraviolet") |
| Born | February 12, 1998[1] |
| Origin | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan[1] |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument |
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| Years active | 2014– |
| Label | Connectone |
| Website | bokuriri |
Life and career
Tanaka (birth name unknown) was born in Yokohama, Japan,[1] and went to school in the same area.[2] He first became interested in releasing music in junior high school,[3] and began uploading songs on the Japanese video streaming service Nico Nico under the moniker Shigaisen (市街戦; "Street Fighting") from February 2012, at the age of 14.[4] This name (later changing the name to Shigaisen (紫外線; "Ultraviolet")) was his utaite moniker, a Nico Nico specific term for a person who uploads sung vocal covers of Vocaloid songs.[5][6] Among the songs he covered were Ishifuro's "Yurufuwa Jukai Girl", Denpol-P's "Hitorinbo Envy" and Hachi's "Donut Hole".
Tanaka became interested in rap music through the Nico Nico community Nico Rap, especially a rapper in the community called Vacon. After becoming friends, Vacon inspired Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi to try releasing original rap songs.[3] In late 2012, he uploaded his first rap song, "One Night Stand and Rain".[7] He decided on his stage name late at night while uploading the song, arbitrarily choosing the phrase Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi (ぼくのりりっくのぼうよみ; "Reading My Lyrics Monotone").[3] He felt that his voice while rapping sounded as if he were singing in a monotone instead of rapping, so decided on the name because of this.[3][8] Originally he wanted to form a band, however did not have any friends who wanted to join in. As a student at an elite high school, he found that his friends had little interest in music, so he decided to release music as a solo act.[8][9]
In April 2014, Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi released a free to download extended play through the independent hip-hop label Idler Records,[10] a label run by Denpa Girl member Hashishi.[11] Later in 2014, he was announced as one of the finalists of the Tokyo FM teen music contest Senkō Riot, after submitting the song "Sub/objective" because it had the biggest response on the internet.[12][2] Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi submitted another song, "Fuckin' Summer Vacatioooooon!!!!!!!!!!!", for the contest's annual contestant compilation album.[13]
In December 2015, Tanaka released his debut album Hollow World as Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi through newly founded JVC Kenwood Victor Entertainment sub-label Connectone,[11] His second album Noah’s Ark (2017) features a collaboration with Latin jazz producer Nicola Conte,[14] and "Be Noble", the theme song for the film March Comes in like a Lion Part 1 (2017).[15]
In September 2018, Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi announced that he would leave the music industry, by releasing a final studio album, Botsuraku, and a compilation album, Ningen, on December 12.[16] In 2019, he announced that he would change his stage name to Tanaka.[17] In April 2021, Tanaka formed a band with Ichika Nito and Sasanomaly called Dios.[17]
In 2025, he contributed to the original soundtrack of the Netflix original series Glass Heart.[18]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [19] |
JPN Billboard [A] | ||
| Hollow World |
|
39 | 17 |
| Noah’s Ark |
|
24 | 22 |
| Fruits Decaying |
|
18 | 15 |
| Botsuraku (没落; "Downfall") |
|
20 | 17 |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [19] |
JPN Billboard [A] | ||||||||||
| Parrot's Paranoia |
|
— | — | ||||||||
| Dystopia (ディストピア, Disutopia) |
|
26 | —[B] | ||||||||
| "—" denotes items which were ineligible to chart, or charted on a Billboard sub-chart. | |||||||||||
Compilation albums
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [19] |
JPN Billboard [C] | ||||||||||
| "Patchwork" (パッチワーク, Pacchiwāku)[33] | 2015 | — | 86 | Hollow World | |||||||
| "Sub/objective"[33] | — | 39 | |||||||||
| "Newspeak"[34] | 2016 | — | 73 | Dystopia / Noah's Ark | |||||||
| "After That"[35] | — | 53 | Noah's Ark | ||||||||
| "Be Noble" | 2017 | 77 | 50 | ||||||||
| "Sky's the Limit" | 45 | 27 | Fruits Decaying | ||||||||
| "Tsuki to Sanagi" (つきとさなぎ; "The Moon and a Chrysalis") | — | ||||||||||
| "Wana" (罠; "Trap")[36] (featuring Soil & "Pimp" Sessions) |
— | 85 | |||||||||
| "Rinne Tensei" (輪廻転生; "Reincarnation")[37] | 2018 | — | —[D] | Botsuraku | |||||||
| "Boku wa Mō Inai" (僕はもういない; "I'm Not Here Anymore")[16] | — | 86 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes items that were ineligible to chart on Oricon singles chart, or items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Sunrise"[39] | 2014 | Nqrse | Compilation Album W.W.W 2014 |
| "Cock Pitt"[40] | Rikon Nozaki, Shakabooz, Nera_K, Twoface | None | |
| "Fuckin' Summer Vacatioooooon!!!!!!!!!!!"[13] | None | Senkō Riot 2014 | |
| "Idler Stella"[41] | 2015 | Denpa Girl, Nera_K, Rikon Nozaki | Who |
| "Fukurou Session featuring Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi (streamed online live on 2016.06.21)"[42] | 2016 | Sakanaction | "Tabun, Kaze" (single) |
| "Game of Life"[43] | 2017 | Sasanomaly | Game of Life |
| "Kubinawa" (クビナワ)[44] | Denpa Girl, Sasanomaly | Health | |
| "Nanisama" (何様; "Someone")[45] | 2018 | Sky-Hi | Best Catalyst: Collaboration Best Album |
| Suspected, Confused and Action | 2019 | Asca | |
| Foolish | 2019 | Teddyloid | Silent Planet: Infinity |
Songwriting credits
List of songs written by Boku no Lyric no Bōyomi for other artists.
| Year | Song | Artist | Album | Co-written with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | "Kiss Is My Life" | SingTuyo (Shingo Katori and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) | "Kiss Is My Life" (single) | Yoshi Kenkai (Loyly Lewis) |
| "Anymore" | Miyakawa-kun | Star Land |
