Japanese hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” took the internet and music industry by storm last year, garnering billions of streams and downloads worldwide. 

Despite most of the lyrics being in Japanese, the catchy anime theme song rocketed to a global smash hit. 

“Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” zoomed into the top 200 and higher in the charts of many countries almost simultaneously shortly after streaming of the song began in January 2024.

Noriko Ashizawa, head of music planning and promotion at Spotify Japan, described the track’s meteoric trajectory of daily streams since its release on Jan. 7 as “unusual.”

In a few days, plays of the song shot up in the United States and also in European and Latin American countries almost without delay.

On Jan. 10, the track rose to No. 14 in Ukraine and No. 38 in Belarus, surpassing No. 57 in Japan, Spotify’s tally showed.

The song topped the charts in Japan on Jan. 18, while peaking at No. 2 in Ukraine on Jan. 13 and No. 11 in Belarus on Jan. 15.

“Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” reached the top 200 in 31 countries and territories, including Chile, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Morocco and South Korea, two weeks after streaming began.

The path it took contrasted with the J-pop duo Yoasobi’s “Idol,” which Spotify began streaming in May 2023.

In two weeks after its release, “Idol” made it to the top 200 in the daily rankings of streams in only eight countries and territories–all in Asia, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.

“Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” captured the No. 8 spot on the Billboard’s Global 200 weekly chart in March, which is based on streaming and downloads on leading online music services in more than 200 countries and territories, with Japan and the United States included.

For all of 2024, it came in No. 67th place.

Yoasobi’s “Idol” reached No. 7 in the Billboard’s Global 200 weekly chart in July 2023 and its overall ranking for 2023 was No. 42.

Creepy Nuts consists of rapper R-shitei and DJ Matsunaga. The duo made a major label debut in 2017, gaining popularity among young people.

Although the pair did not aggressively pursue cross-border music activities, the popularity of “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” worldwide placed the group firmly on the playlists of listeners.

“We had not anticipated that it would become such a big hit,” R-shitei told The Asahi Shimbun in December. “The track’s ascent brought us opportunities to give live performance overseas. The song is now like our new business card to the world.”

One reason may be that the track was adopted as the opener for the anime series “Mashle: Magic and Muscles” Season 2, a popular anime that has been streamed worldwide.

It helped too that the frenetic dance performed by anime characters to the “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” in the opening sequence hooked viewers.

TikTok users around the world scrambled to share their posts emulating the dance moves while swaying and swinging their closed fists right and left, just like the anime characters.

At the end of last September, song plays topped 9.4 billion on TikTok.

The dance moves were the brainchild of animator Shun Enokido, who also directed the opening scenes of the anime.

Enokido had little experience in choreography previously, but hit upon the moves that are both simple and infectious by relying on his gut instincts.

“I thought that it would be interesting to choreograph something ‘odd’ to match the song,” he said. “I was stunned to learn that children as young as nursery school mimic that dance. The song reached audiences that I had not expected and experienced previously.”

Patrick St. Michel, a U.S. music writer based in Japan who contributes to various media outlets, said “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” captured the hearts of listeners on a global scale offering an original sound infused with a Jersey club beat and a Latin rhythm.

Jersey club is a fast-paced dance music genre with a heavy bass, chopped samples and harder kicks.

An upbeat Latin melody akin to that of the marimba can be heard on the track.

One noticeable trend in the music world is that hit songs are increasingly transcending language barriers.

Listeners develop a liking for music as long as the sounds of the words match the song, even if they do not understand the lyrics, according to St. Michel.

The refrain of “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” is pleasing to the ear, enticing listeners to want to hear it again and again, he said.

A study of the world’s top 10,000 tracks that were played via streaming services by U.S. entertainment industry data analytics company Luminate Data LLC found that Japanese tunes accounted for 1.5 percent of the global total in 2021, 1.3 percent in 2022 and 2.1 percent in 2023.

Over the same years, English-language tracks saw a decline from 67 percent in 2021, to 62.1 percent in 2022 and 54.9 percent in 2023.

Seiji Isozaki, chart director of Billboard Japan, said he feels that the tastes of music listeners around the world have shifted over the last several years due, in part, to K-pop’s soaring success.

“They have begun to see non-English songs as cool,” he said.

Many Japanese artists have already built a loyal fan following abroad, even singing in Japanese.

Examples include Babymetal, a metal dance unit of three women; Yoasobi, a duo who creates music based on novels; Fujii Kaze, a singer and songwriter; Ado, a vocalist who sings in an unforgettable, powerful voice; and Atarashii Gakko!, a four-female vocal and dance unit.

These artists differ vastly in their music and performing styles.

St. Michel said streaming services exposed listeners to not only traditional "kawaii" J-pop songs by idol groups but also a wide variety of music created by Japanese artists.

One of the characteristics of J-pop, St. Michel said, is that it delves into various genres in a single song.

“A song such as Yoasobi’s 'Idol' incorporates a lot of touches that are not really embraced elsewhere –metal and gospel choirs being good examples, alongside much more popular trap percussion,” he said.

But he noted that it is rare in the United States and Europe to see these styles incorporated into the same song.

He also mentioned that J-pop stands out in the global music scene as many of its songs are influenced by rock music and rock elements at a time when rock music and its sonic elements are not as popular or widespread worldwide.

“Japanese pop, meanwhile, is still very rock-focused, and many of the biggest hits of the last few years have a very clear rock influence, even when working in elements of other styles,” St. Michel said, referring to Yoasobi and Ado. “The J-pop sound developed as something unique and separate from modern trends.”

It is important for Japanese artists not to chase global trends and to be fresh and different since listeners are out there who will love their offerings and be keen to support their musical activities, he added.

The Japanese government is moving to do what it can to help the domestic music industry grow.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has joined forces with music industry officials to draw up measures to expand J-pop’s worldwide reach.

The ministry said music streaming services made it easier for global audiences to discover not just songs used in Japanese anime and games but new artists.

One of the first steps the ministry is mulling is collecting data to gain a better understanding of the current situation.

No data is available on the overall value of the music industry’s exports.

(This story was written by Kenichiro Shino and Yusuke Miyata.)