Milo Kobayashi
Milo Kobayashi opens up about artistic evolution, embracing his multifaceted identity, and finding creative freedom through music. From personal transformation to ambitious festival dreams, he reflects on his journey toward becoming an unapologetically authentic artist and bringing his unique vision to bigger stages.
1. Your music blends hip-hop with your identity as a cosplayer, producer, comedian, content creator, and self-described blerd. How do these different sides of your personality influence your music, and how important is it for you to create a world that reflects your full identity rather than fitting into one category?
It’s like different voices that speak to me, so I’m never fully living in just one singular world, ya know?
It’s very important to have that part of me being multi-faceted because life is just as complex. I never been just into 1 thing, it’s always been me juggling multiple hats. Being black and different means, you’ll hear people tell you all your life how you can’t do something because they put you into a box and I’ve always been about proving those who doubt me wrong. It truly feels like I’m a kid again making stuff and showing it off to my mom, but this time I’m showing it off to her presence that I feel around me while everything else is kind of an afterthought.
2. You collaborated with Chef Zay from The Batch, who has been helping you develop your sound and sharpen your bars. You actually connected with him on Instagram six months before moving to Charlotte. How did that connection evolve into a creative partnership, and what has being part of the Batch brought to your artistic growth?
I was looking for different mixing engineers in the area for recon before I moved to Charlotte because I wanted to hit the ground running. The area I grew up in had studios and talented people, but like I said in frog shiii~ it’s alot of crabs in the bucket mentality down there. Zay was cool to me from the jump, cold approaching him like that through instagram dms. Whenever tryouts for the batch happened, I just showed up and rapped and played my beats for everybody and completely thought “yeah I fumbled that, I’m so awkward and my beats are trash so i doubt i’ma hear from anybody again in this room besides watching parasocially online” and when Zay messaged me a week later offering me a spot on the team he saw that I reached out and it was like a “oh we been in contact already” kind of situation and said he wanted to help me get my bars up too because everyone in the group who are the main vocalists are fucking crazy on the mic. Everybody in that mf inspire me and they really dont understand how influential they are to me. They show me that you gotta come at these records from the soul, talk like you mean that shit, and don’t be afraid to voice your input and speak up if you’re not feeling something. And most importantly, DONT OVER THINK SHIT!
3. You describe this release as your personal Naruto-inspired Sage Arts arc, with life moving strangely since you started taking music seriously. What does this chapter represent in your personal journey, and how have your experiences entering bigger rooms and meeting new people changed your perspective on yourself and your ambitions?
This chapter of my life is like a hard wake up? I’m not letting people or things get under my skin. I stop caring to explain myself to people who go out the way to misunderstand me. I don’t fight for one-sided friendships anymore. I’m standing up for myself and cutting off anything and anyone who can’t act right. Getting into spaces where I’m around internet personalities I’d watch passingly years ago and people and artists in the music industry used to be such an intense thing to me, but now It feels normal and like I belong now. It inspires me to work harder, and don’t let a no stop me from pursuing what I want in life. It made me set bigger goals and ambitions for myself that I feel like everyday people don’t really have nowadays. Everyone is fine with sitting in mediocrity until they eventually snap, and I just refuse to settle for a life I do not deserve. Shout out to Mia Goth in X.
4. You mentioned Rich Brian, Dev Lemons, and your friends in The Batch as important sources of inspiration. What do you admire most about their creativity, and how do you transform those influences into something distinctly your own without losing the individuality that defines your music?
I met Brian at his show in Charlotte and getting to talk to him and fan out was crazy. Him and Dev lemon’s recent music videos and projects “Where is my head?” and “hunting what we already killed” really spoke to me to bare my soul on these songs and see what little weird creations come from it. I ended up buying a green screen because I wanted to do more visuals but without having to spend shitloads of money to make those ideas come to fruition. I play my songs and write down any visualizations that pop inside my head. The video teaser I did for crunchyroll months before the song was done was literally something that popped in my head while I was working on the song, and then I just layered more of what I was going for when I had the make the lyric video visualizer for it. It’s just added on top of already existing ideas really.
5. You called this your favorite body of work so far, explaining that, unlike your previous releases, you never seem to get tired of listening to it. You also highlighted “Bufo Spit” as a track that changed your life and “Frog shiii~” as one of your favorite songs to relax to. What makes this project feel different from everything you’ve created before, and what do these two tracks reveal about the different sides of Milo Kobayashi?
Not to fully shit on my older discography when I used to go under the name “Milo, the great” but my music was ass. I was making ass music and a lot of those collaborations I had with people ended up doing shady shit behind my back thinking I wouldn’t know, or was using me for clout and attention.
This project feels like me with no leeches siphoning my energy. It’s showing me changing from a music artist whos making stuff here and there to a full time artist who’s actively building his fanbase day by day. Crunchy i’m telling you the shit I think about late at night while my girl is sleeping next to me, Goodbye is me having the realization that everyone who claims to be in your corner isn’t really going to be in your corner, bufo spit is me accepting that truth and talking my shit because I am that guy, milly in the bus is me daydreaming about the future of my career, and frog shii is about me in the present just coasting through life and coming to terms that I’m just a different bread.
6. Your artistic philosophy revolves around metamorphosis and becoming your true self, while your music combines storytelling, humor, and the perspective of a blerd navigating an unusual world. Looking ahead, what kind of artist and creator are you working toward becoming, and what would performing at Bonnaroo in 2028 through your #MiloForRoo28 campaign mean for the next stage of your journey?
I’m working on becoming an undeniable force. I want to play festivals and more shows. Creator wise, it’s working towards being unapologetically myself and implementing my ideas to my best ability with no team besides my girl and the batch. The MiloForRoo28 campaign is me fighting for the opportunity to play at ‘that tent’ stage because I’ve seen all my favorite acts on that stage and made so many memories at it. I just want to give somebody in the crowd that inspirational story that I was just in the crowd like them and now i’m here. Saba was in the same position and the year I saw him at roo he said the same exact thing and it really spoke to me and made me set that goal right then and there. BONNAROO COMMITTEE I KNOW WE TOOK A YEAR OFF BUT PLEASE LETS GET THIS BALL ROLLING IT WOULD BE A DREAM COME TRUE!!!