This is a Billboard Japan Women in Music interview.
began in 2022 in the same spirit as Billboard’s Women in Music that launched in 2007, honoring artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.Rachel and Mamiko were friends before they started rapping together as chelmico, and they have since checked off many items on their list of career goals including a major label debut, music festival appearances and collaborations with artists they look up to.
The two of you have spent a decade together since your late teens, which is an impressionable age for anyone. Could you share how you started working as a duo?Yeah, youth! We started rapping together when I had to do this five-minute performance at an event and I asked my friend Mamiko to rap with me.I was a senior in high school and studying for college entrance exams at the time. Rachel sent me a chat message asking me to do it and I declined at first.
There weren’t too many female rappers at the time in Japan compared to today. Were there any setbacks when the two of you got started?There were even fewer duos, so I kind of figured we’d make it. But we tended to be underestimated. People thought we didn’t come up with the lyrics ourselves and would ask who did the writing and stuff like that.Part of the reason for that could have been because I’d do things like take photos with an instant camera onstage.
So that’s how you resolved such things. Did you two ever talk about that discomfort you felt at that time?We talked about it a lot. If we felt we were being looked down upon, we’d hype each other up, saying, “Let’s best them onstage!” We were able to press forward because we were a team.I think people who work alone are tough because they have to speak their mind on their own.
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