Finesse’Boy Interview: Taiwan, Japan and Why Hip-Hop Is Not Homework

Editor’s note: This is the English edition of a HIPHOPCs interview first published in Japanese on February 10, 2026. The conversation was translated and lightly edited for clarity without changing the speakers’ meaning or order. Later release information is separated from the interview below.

Finesse’Boy has spent years moving between Taiwan and Japan, treating cross-border work not as a marketing pose but as part of his life. In this exclusive conversation, the Taiwanese rapper speaks about finding Eminem at age 10, the 2018 track “Benz (Remix),” the difference between studying hip-hop and living it, and what Japan’s craft culture taught him.

He also describes, in his own words, his history with Yuki Chiba, formerly known as KOHH. That section is preserved as Finesse’Boy’s first-person account at the time of the interview; it should not be read as independent reporting about either artist’s current private relationships.

A dreamer who writes music like a diary

Lucie: Many listeners in Japan may have first encountered you through songs with JP THE WAVY, Showy, PETZ or DJ JAM. For readers meeting Finesse’Boy for the first time, how would you introduce yourself?

Finesse’Boy: More than anything, I’m a rapper who keeps dreaming. I do what I love and keep making music. I make each piece almost like keeping a diary, reflecting the emotions that change from day to day.

Lucie: What first brought you to hip-hop? What drew you into the music and culture deeply enough to take it seriously?

Finesse’Boy: I found hip-hop when I was around 10. I came across Eminem, started listening and got pulled in. When I was young, I did various things I’m not proud of. Before I knew it, almost everyone around me was connected to the hip-hop scene.

Later, I left my job and my old way of living behind, and I started trying to become a better person. From then on, I committed myself seriously to music.

Over the previous two years in particular, I finally began to feel that I was becoming real. I had not released a cohesive project for three or four years, but I planned to release a new mixtape in 2026.

Lucie: Let’s return to one of the records that introduced your name to a wider audience. Apple Music lists the 2018 release as “Benz (Remix) [feat. DZKNOW & 瘦子]”, while Spotify displays “Benz Remix (feat. DZKNOW & 瘦子)”. On both services, Finesse’Boy is the primary artist; Higher Brothers member DZKNOW and E.SO, credited in Chinese as 瘦子, are the featured artists. How did that collaboration happen, and what did the song change for you?

Finesse’Boy: I knew them before I started making music. When I made that song, I was smoking weed and, honestly, I think I was pretty out of it. At that time, I didn’t have the mindset of respecting other people. I wrote with my ego completely exposed.

But “Benz (Remix)” became the beginning of everything for me. It was also what pushed me to change in a major way.

Context: The comments about his youth and cannabis use are Finesse’Boy’s own retrospective account. HIPHOPCs does not add allegations or infer specific conduct beyond his words. Apple and Spotify punctuate the title differently, but both identify Finesse’Boy as the primary artist and DZKNOW and E.SO (瘦子) as featured artists.

“Hip-hop is a lifestyle, not homework”

Lucie: How do you see Taiwan today, both as a place and as the home of its hip-hop scene?

Finesse’Boy: People in Taiwan are very open to different cultures and people. They are kind to visitors, wherever they come from, and there is a lot of passion. Taiwan is where I was born. It is my roots.

I shout it out proudly wherever I am. It is my irreplaceable home, the place that made me who I am.

Lucie: What has changed in Taiwanese hip-hop over the past few years, and what still has not changed?

Finesse’Boy: Hip-hop culture is growing in Taiwan, and more young people are starting to make it. That is good. But they should travel more, see the world and understand hip-hop more deeply.

To me, hip-hop is a lifestyle, not homework.

As the scene grows, I feel that more people approach the culture as if they are completing an assignment. I’ll say it again: it is a lifestyle. Whether someone has technique is not the main issue.

Everyone can understand hip-hop differently. Everyone can have their own hip-hop. What draws me in, though, is something real and original: stories about hustling, trapping, working hard to survive and continuing to make music. Those stories mean something to me.

This culture is not so light that you can pick it up casually and throw it away just as easily.

Lucie: In an earlier interview, you identified a lack of international perspective and individual taste as problems in Taiwan’s scene. Your description of hip-hop as “homework” sounds like a different problem from a simple lack of knowledge. What does the scene need in order to grow?

Finesse’Boy: People are finally beginning to notice that the mainstream market and the shape of the industry have not really changed yet. Because we are in Asia, change will take time. But the number of people joining the scene is definitely growing.

That is why we have to act now. We cannot wait for someone else to do it. I want to show the next generation what it looks like to keep dreaming and keep going.

Authenticity before strategy

Lucie: Choosing hip-hop as a career in a smaller Asian market takes courage. Is the next step mainly a question of timing?

Finesse’Boy: Yes. I think it is a matter of timing. It is not simply a question of talent; continuing is what matters. A deeply rooted hip-hop culture still needs time to grow across Asia. Eventually, more people will understand it.

Lucie: What matters most if artists from Asia want to enter a genuinely global arena, including the United States?

Finesse’Boy: Be yourself without pretending to be someone else. That is everything.

The scene is full of talented people, but too much of the music can sound like a copy of America. We have to do it our way, with our style and our own color. That is the major challenge.

There are many young people in Taiwan making good music, but sometimes it all sounds so similar that it does not stay in my memory. Then I think, “I could just listen to the same song again.”

The important thing is not a clever strategy. It is continuing to be yourself. If you keep going without lying about who you are, people will feel it.

What he values in Japan—and how he describes Yuki Chiba

Lucie: You visit Japan often. What does the country mean to you, musically and personally?

Finesse’Boy: I respect craftspeople. People in Japan master their fields, and the work is incredibly detailed.

Japan has absorbed a lot of influence from America, but it reshapes those influences into something original and places them inside its own culture and history. Japan can welcome cultures from many places. That is why I like it.

Lucie: Yuki Chiba, formerly known as KOHH, has appeared on your social media, and you described him as a close friend in an earlier interview. How did you meet, and how would you describe that relationship?

Finesse’Boy: KOHH was the first friend I made in Japan. We first met about 10 years before this interview, when I had not started making music yet. We became close while traveling between Japan and Taiwan for shows. Since then, he has been a mentor to me. He taught me how to face my emotions.

To me, it goes beyond friendship. It feels like family, like a brother. He gives me the motivation to keep dreaming and moving. He made his dream happen and followed it through. I am proud of him.

Attribution boundary: The description above is Finesse’Boy’s account at the time of the interview. For independently sourced background on Chiba’s career and catalog, see the HIPHOPCs Yuki Chiba profile.

Looking ahead

Lucie: Which rapper in Taiwan’s current scene should readers check first?

Finesse’Boy: Me.

Lucie: No hesitation. Finally, what did you have planned next at the time of this interview?

Finesse’Boy: I planned to release a mixtape in 2026. Everything was ready.

Living the lifestyle is one thing; making the work is another challenge. For several years, I had mostly released occasional singles. This time, I wanted to share my own story as a complete work, which is why I chose the mixtape format. I wanted people to feel excited for it.

Lucie: Thank you for speaking with us, especially right after your performance.

Finesse’Boy: Of course. Thank you too.

Release update: what official catalogs show now

The interview captures Finesse’Boy’s plans when the conversation took place. Apple Music lists the nine-track collaborative album 龍兄虎弟 (Brothers in Crime in Apple Music’s U.S. storefront) with Teezy on January 30, 2026. Apple Music also lists the single “WALK IN THE DOOR”, released May 22, 2026.

HIPHOPCs has not confirmed that 龍兄虎弟 (Brothers in Crime) is the same project he called a mixtape in this interview, so we do not merge those two claims. Readers can follow the current catalog through Finesse’Boy on Spotify.

Continue through HIPHOPCs

• Yuki Chiba: full profile, from KOHH to “Team Tomodachi”
• Chiba Yuki & BABYWOODROSE’s Documentary and its US production system
• Tokyo Rap Atlas: 37 years without one “Tokyo sound”
• More HIPHOPCs exclusive interviews in English

Sources and methodology

• HIPHOPCs Japanese interview — source transcript and speaker order.
• Apple Music: “Benz (Remix) [feat. DZKNOW & 瘦子]” — Finesse’Boy as primary artist, featured credits and release date.
• Spotify: “Benz Remix (feat. DZKNOW & 瘦子)” — storefront title variation and the same primary/featured credit structure.
• Apple Music: 龍兄虎弟 / Brothers in Crime by Finesse’Boy & Teezy — collaborators, track count and release date.
• Apple Music: “WALK IN THE DOOR” — release date and label listing.
• Finesse’Boy on the Beyond Rap podcast — dated earlier first-person context.

Official artist links: Instagram · Spotify · Apple Music

Translation and verification: HIPHOPCs translated the Japanese transcript, checked release titles and dates against current official catalogs, and kept personal-history statements attributed to the interviewee. The English featured image is an original HIPHOPCs editorial card generated from a text-only abstract brief; it contains no third-party photograph, logo or likeness.