Have you heard of Apoki? If you don’t live in South Korea, that’s perhaps not a surprise, but Sony Music would like to change that.
Apoki is one of the increasing number of ‘Vtubers’ – virtual characters with popular YouTube channels. She has more than 290,000 subscribers on that platform, as well as 3.7 million followers on TikTok.
Apoki has been releasing music since early 2021, and now through a partnership between her creator – startup VV Entertainment – and Sony Music Solutions in Japan, she’s releasing her first English-language track. ‘West Swing Feat. E-40’ comes out tomorrow (26 August) featuring veteran US rapper E-40 and with a sound harking back to New Jack Swing in the late 80s and early 90s.
So, retro music meets a cutting-edge virtual artist (“a rabbit-like being living somewhere in space” no less!) complete with a ‘Comeback Livestream Event’ on release day across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
A teaser for the track has been launched to stoke fans’ excitement in the meantime.
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