Interviewer: Cook Oliver（HIPHOPCs）
Introduction
A few months have passed since our last interview.
This time, I had the opportunity to speak with Daimon-san one-on-one.
I’d like to revisit the depth of Daimon Yayoi’s career once again.
Born in Osaka.
She’s behind SHINGO★Nishinari-produced “Heel de Nioudachi” (Standing Tall in Heels), the feminist anthem “NO BRA!” with Akko Gorilla (MV surpassed 1 million views), and “KETSUFURE,” which exploded to 2 million views in a single day after an American woman’s tweet.
That track was even picked up by New York’s legendary radio show HOT97.
Performing over 80 shows annually, she’s dominated Japan’s club scene with her unique DJ×LIVE style.
She leads the female crew “SISTERHOOD” and hosts “SIS SIS” events internationally (last month in LA).
She’s also contracted with avex as a dance instructor and choreographer, even handling stage production for a-nation.
And now, she’s in LA.
In 2025, she released “BACK IT UP” featuring Grammy-nominated Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire and Dominican Republic’s Jenn Morel.
This trilingual track weaving Japanese, Spanish, and English marks her complete shift toward global activity.
Since then, she’s given birth and become a mother.
What is the “strong woman” who stood “tall in heels” thinking about in LA?
We spoke with her about her newly released track “Circulation.”
“Circulation” Was Written Purely on Instinct
Cook Oliver Thank you for your time. Getting straight to it—what did you focus on lyrically with “Circulation”?
Daimon Yayoi This song came together pretty quickly. Usually I go into sessions, decide on a theme, and if I can’t finish writing that day, I take it home to work on. But this one was immediate. I didn’t overthink it much—just wrote down how I was feeling at the time. It’s a song I wrote purely on instinct.
Cook Oliver Lines like “Overthink you make me confuse”—I feel like this is more of a giving song from you than before. Is this a track where you processed some struggles?
Daimon Yayoi When I write lyrics, I can’t really do fiction. I usually write about things that happened, friends, relationships—mainly things that happened to me.
When I hit walls in life, I often face myself through lyrics and process things that way. In the past, while I was writing strong songs like “Heel de Nioudachi,” there were times when my inner self hadn’t caught up to that “strong part” yet.
Why wasn’t it working out, various breakups—throughout life I felt like I could live more freely, but something was always tangled up. In music and relationships, every time there was a separation, I’d face it and think “why did it turn out this way?” As I kept thinking, my heart gradually caught up. My heart started catching up to songs with strong passion.
In the end, following your own heart is better than following someone else’s definition of success. That’s what gets you closer to success, or rather, that’s all there is. When I reached that philosophy, that’s when I wrote this.
“Not an Anthem-Type Song”—But 100% Authentic
Cook Oliver It feels stripped down. Maybe because it’s in English, it hits even harder. How’s the response been?
Daimon Yayoi I’ve released various songs, and the ones that get heard by a lot of people are usually the strong ones. Since Cook-san has listened to various tracks, you know there are different kinds, but until now my mellow songs were just me writing what I wanted to write and putting them out—they didn’t really stand out. The ones that got attention were always the strong songs.
People around me said about this song, “It’s not the kind that becomes an anthem, right?”
Cook Oliver I see.
Daimon Yayoi But for me, this came naturally and I could express 100% of my unfiltered self, so I’m really confident about it.
Cook Oliver I really feel that. Maybe some people aren’t getting the lyrics because it’s in English, but I’m thinking “this is incredible.”
Daimon Yayoi Right. So it resonates gradually. That’s the feeling.
Cook Oliver Rather than instant viral success, it’s a song that slowly seeps in. It reminds me a bit of your vocal style from the “Work Hard, Love Hard” album era. This one’s all in English, right?
Daimon Yayoi That’s right.
Favorite Line: “I just wanna follow my heart anyway”
Cook Oliver In this track’s verses, is there a particular line you especially like?
Daimon Yayoi The end of the chorus: “I just wanna follow my heart anyway.”
Cook Oliver I love that part.
Daimon Yayoi It’s like, there’s all this stuff going on, but anyway, I’ve decided to try following my heart. That’s what I meant when I wrote it. I like that part.
Why the Pixie Cut—”Because I’m Singing About Following My Heart”
Cook Oliver Is there a reason you went with the short hair?
Daimon Yayoi I’d wanted to for so long. I just really wanted to do it (laughs). I’d wanted to change it for ages.
The reason I kept this long hair for so long was because when I first debuted in music, I was in a girl group. Like today’s K-pop style—a singing and dancing girl group. I had this hairstyle even before joining that group.
Cook Oliver I see, I see.
Daimon Yayoi The agency said “Daimon-san, we want to establish your character with this hairstyle, so please don’t change it.” That went on for about three years. Then they were like, “It’s established now, so let’s stick with this forever,” and I kept it unchanged all this time.
I’d always wanted to change it, but there was never the right opportunity. I was like “I want to change it, but not yet.” But with this song where I’m singing “let’s be ourselves, let’s follow our hearts.”
Cook Oliver Very real (laughs)
Daimon Yayoi Right (laughs). So I cut it myself. Together with Mioshi-san.
Cook Oliver You cut it yourself?
Daimon Yayoi I cut it myself.
Cook Oliver What? The Instagram thing?
Yayoi Daimon Straight up (laughs). Yeah.
Cook Oliver Was it a turning point?
Yayoi Daimon I also gave birth last year, became a mother, and this year has felt different from how I used to feel about things. I’m not going to only put out mellow tracks like this from now on, but I cut my hair short too, and tried putting something out with a slightly different taste this time.
Cook Oliver I’m really looking forward to your next release.
It’s All My Real Emotions—There’s “No Persona at All”
Cook Oliver When you were putting out “MOB” with JKKMN, there was a lot of English too, right? You do reggae because you like it, you do hip-hop and singing, you like Rihanna and all that. Do you create different personas for that stuff?
Yayoi Daimon What’s a persona?
Cook Oliver How do I put it… like playing a reggae character when you do reggae.
Yayoi Daimon No, not at all. It’s all just how I’m feeling at the time.
Cook Oliver I see, so it’s exactly like what you were saying about your creative process earlier. I was really into “Uta Daimon” too.
Yayoi Daimon That makes me happy. That was really just a hobby for me, something I loved doing.
Cook Oliver I loved it so much. I loved the CHEHON era too, and the back-and-forth with Joints and everyone. Since coming to LA, have you started to see yourself more clearly?
Yayoi Daimon That makes me happy, yeah. Including race and different cultures, I do feel like things have become clearer.
In LA, “Time to Think Alone” Has Dramatically Increased
Cook Oliver In a previous interview before a performance, you talked about being conscious of Tyler [the Creator] and that kind of interesting approach. I always thought you think really deeply about things. Has what you’re conscious of in performances changed at all now?
Yayoi Daimon I’m the type who always wants to update, someone who wants to change in a good way.
Especially since coming to America. America is so huge. When I was doing music in Japan, the community was stronger. I’d go to clubs several times a week and have chances to meet people, or if I was in Tokyo I’d show up at pop-ups, lots of opportunities to be out at different places, so I was really moving within a community.
Since coming to America, especially in LA where everything is so far apart from each other. Studios, homes, everything.
Cook Oliver I see.
Yayoi Daimon There aren’t really many opportunities for “meeting up with your crew every day through horizontal connections.” I think New York is probably closer to Tokyo in that way, but LA is more like everyone doing their own creative work in their own studios, it’s this sprawling, peaceful kind of place (laughs).
Time alone to think increased, and compared to when I was in Tokyo, I have more time to think about my music alone, and I’ve been able to go without listening to my friends’ opinions in a good way. When you factor in the pregnancy period too, I really started thinking by myself a lot more.
Cook Oliver You have that song “Minna Urusai” [Everyone’s Noisy], right? I was thinking there must be people giving you advice (laughs).
Yayoi Daimon There were (laughs). For that song, I told the people giving advice “I wrote this about you” and sent it to them.
Cook Oliver Honest (laughs).
Yayoi Daimon When I was in Japan, there were a lot of people saying things like that. For better or worse. There were tons of people telling me “You should definitely stay here” or “You should definitely do it this way.”
Now that I’m physically distant from everyone, I naturally have way more time to be creative alone. I might be updating mentally.
About This Track
Cook Oliver Listening to this song, it feels very introspective, very authentic.
Yayoi Daimon It might be introspective (laughs).
Cook Oliver Right. I sometimes get the urge to listen to reggae stuff like “Perfect Love” too. And Daimon-san, you really cherish your father. That’s so cool.
Yayoi Daimon Thank you. That makes me happy. There aren’t many people who listen that deeply.
OC Japan Fair—Representing Japan with “tokyo gal party”
Cook Oliver You have a performance at OC Japan Fair next month—is there anything you’re being conscious of?
Yayoi Daimon I’m doing a live show on the fashion stage, performing together with a styling team called Freak City.
Freak City is doing amazing work in America—they style Nicki Minaj, and now an R&B artist called SAILORR. They have this spiky, colorful style that fits with Tokyo’s aesthetic too.
※ Freak City L.A. (@freakcityla)
A fashion brand based in LA specializing in custom costumes, styling, and creative direction. They gained attention through collaborations with Billie Eilish, with pieces worn by Nicki Minaj, Doechii, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Rico Nasty and others. Built on neon colors and punk spirit with their ethos of “clothes for misfits,” they presented their SS’24 collection “THE NEW LA” on the runway in 2024.
Yayoi Daimon This time I’m calling it “tokyo gyal party”!
Cook Oliver Oh, that’s great!
Yayoi Daimon Fusing Tokyo and LA culture, and since it’s Japan Fair, I’m representing Japan. I’m planning to attack it with Japanese-style sisterhood, in my own way.
Cook Oliver Thank you so much. Sei reporter is going to head over there to cover it, so we’re really looking forward to it!
Yayoi Daimon Thank you.
Editorial Postscript
Last time, when Sei reporter first met Daimon at a Thai restaurant in LA’s Koreatown, they wrote: “There really are people who were born to be stars.” The grillz peeking through her smiles, eyes that sparkled when favorite topics came up. That Yayoi Daimon was the embodiment of a “strong girl.”
This time, what I felt was something a bit different.
The person who dominated Japan’s club scene “standing tall in heels,” got her name on HOT97 with “KETSUFURE,” made trilingual tracks with Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire, and kept performing 80 shows a year—that same person holds the most confidence in a track that she was told “won’t become an anthem.” That quiet conviction came through loud and clear.
In our previous interview, Daimon told us, “I’ve never done anything other than this job.” She started singing and dancing at 13, took the stage at 16, made her major debut as a teenager, and has been running with feminism as her banner since going solo. This person, for the first time in the vast landscape of LA, gained “time to think alone.” She gave birth and became a mother. And the song she wrote was “I just wanna follow my heart anyway.” The fact that it was a single line about deciding to follow her heart for now—this moves me deeply.
The episode of cutting her hair into a buzz cut herself is also symbolic. Hair that her agency told her “please don’t change” for three years—she chopped it off to coincide with the release of the song where she wrote “let me follow my heart.”
Her lyrics and actions are in alignment. Being able to declare that it’s not a “persona” (mask) but “all emotions from that moment”—I think that’s the core strength of the person that is Yayoi Daimon.
Next month’s OC Japan Fair will feature a performance of “tokyo gal party,” her collaboration with Freak City L.A. Daimon told us she plans to “represent Japan while attacking with a sisterhood vibe that’s authentically me,” fusing Tokyo and LA culture. Our reporter Sei will be on location to cover this performance, so please look forward to that report as well.
The strong Yayoi Daimon in armor is cool.
But Yayoi Daimon without the armor—I think she’s even cooler.
And I believe Daimon’s movements and music will continue to give courage to many people. As for myself, I want to express gratitude to Daimon for creating music that will stay with me through the long journey of life ahead, through good times and bad.
Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview.
── Cook Oliver (HIPHOPCs Editorial)
Interview by Cook Oliver（HIPHOPCs）
Yayoi Daimon（大門弥生）
Starting from Osaka’s underground dance scene, through SHINGO★Nishinari-produced “Heel de Nio Dachi,” to participating in 4SHOOTERS ONLY, sharing stages with Ice Spice and Sexyy Red. Since 2024, she has relocated to Los Angeles, continuing to transcend the boundaries between Japanese and English as a singer-songwriter/rapper.
Yayoi Daimon
