Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi feat. Yuki Chiba (千葉雄喜)” has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), marking the first time a hip-hop track featuring Japanese-language rap has reached that milestone.
The song appears on Megan’s 2024 album “MEGAN” and was produced by Koshy, who also worked with Chiba on his track “Team Tomodachi” (チーム友達). “Mamushi” became a global hit after fan-made dance videos spread online, carrying Chiba’s Japanese verses to an audience far beyond Japan’s rap scene.
The RIAA counts one digital single sale, or 150 on-demand audio and streaming plays, as a single unit. A track reaches Gold status at 500,000 units and Platinum at one million. Kenshi Yonezu’s “KICK BACK” previously became the first Japanese-lyric song to earn RIAA Platinum certification; “Mamushi” is now the first Platinum single built around Japanese rap specifically.
Who is Yuki Chiba?
Born April 22, 1990 in Oji, Kita-ku, Tokyo, Yuki Chiba first debuted as KOHH in November 2012. He drew international attention after appearing on Keith Ape’s viral 2015 track “It G Ma,” and went on to feature on albums by Frank Ocean (2016) and Hikaru Utada (2016). In January 2020, he announced his retirement from the KOHH persona, releasing the farewell album “worst” that April and formally closing the chapter with a joint live show alongside The Cro-Magnons at the end of 2021. Since then, Chiba has worked under his own name, writing the essay column “Yuki Chiba’s Zatsudan” for the literary magazine Bungakukai, producing and directing the music video for Yan Seku’s debut album “NATURAL PUNKS,” and running the Oji-based clothing label Dogs.
Author’s Comment
I love this one, because it’s proof you don’t need a major-label marketing budget to cross an ocean — you just need a beat people want to dance badly to on their phones. Chiba spent years quietly rebuilding his identity after walking away from the KOHH name at its peak, and now his verses are sitting on a plaque next to Megan Thee Stallion’s. Japan’s music industry loves to talk about ‘going global’ in glossy press releases, but this happened almost by accident, through TikTok choreography, not strategy. That’s the real lesson: the internet doesn’t respect genre borders, it just wants the hook. I, for one, am delighted the RIAA now has to spell ‘Oji, Kita-ku’ correctly.
