Alif Wolf Interview: Turning Pain into Music After RAPSTAR 2025
English translation of the original HIPHOPCs Japanese-language interview. Originally published in Japanese on December 4, 2025. Ages, plans and references to the present reflect the original interview, not a new interview conducted for this translation. The introduction, afterword and repeated phrasing have been condensed for this English edition.
Alif Wolf at RAPSTAR 2025
About two months before this interview, I heard Alif Wolf in the RAPSTAR 2025 cypher and kept replaying her performance. I wanted to understand why her words had stayed with me.
In one line, she raps about her mother wanting to sell her for ¥200,000. In another, she provocatively says her frustration with men could make her a lesbian.
That was the cypher that sent even people unfamiliar with her searching, “Who is this rapper?” To me, it felt like the moment this 19-year-old woman made her presence known to the scene overnight.
She said those words were not an attempt to go viral. We asked her about writing them, working alone and what RAPSTAR had changed.
Cook: Thanks for joining us. Without any flattery, I genuinely thought you were No. 1 in the cypher. Could you tell us where your artist name comes from and how you felt when you applied?
Alif Wolf: Thanks for having me. I think I talked about this on RAPSTAR, too: Alif is my English name, and Wolf has that lone-wolf meaning.
For my application video, I tried to keep my face out of the shot as much as possible. I think female rappers get judged on their looks.
I felt that if I won RAPSTAR as a woman, people wouldn’t be able to dismiss me on those grounds. I really wanted to change the way female rappers are judged.
Why She Held Nothing Back on RAPSTAR
Cook: I see. I’m curious about how you write songs.
Alif Wolf: In my usual songs, especially the ones about pain, I don’t explain every detail. I leave things unsaid rather than reveal everything. But for RAPSTAR, I decided not to hide anything. I put the pain and anger I was feeling straight into the music.
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Cook: You really did look as though you were fighting. There were moments when I could sense that you had been making songs like this alone in Saitama all along.
Alif Wolf: I remember a judge telling me, “You can tell just by hearing your voice. You’ve already won at that point. Don’t overthink it. You’re a genius. Go straight at it.” I was happy because it made me feel it was OK to be direct.
At that moment, I tried bringing out who I am, instead of forcing myself in a direction I wasn’t good at.
Cook: I’ve always had this impression that you’ve been doing everything alone.
Alif Wolf: I have been doing it alone all along. But talking with people my own age there, at RAPSTAR, was fun. It was my first time exchanging ideas so freely, including about collaborations. I think that changed how I develop my songs, too.
Cook: Listening to your songs, I get the impression that you turn pain into either anger or sadness through music.
Alif Wolf: Yeah. Without hip-hop, I don’t know if I would have made it this far, and I definitely wouldn’t be who I am now.
Cook: I think hip-hop has saved a lot of people. How do you feel now that the show has finished airing?
Alif Wolf: I got to experience things I’d never been able to experience before. It was a valuable chance to test myself, and I’m really grateful. I was nervous the whole time it was airing, but I’ve settled down a little now. I’ve also received lots of supportive DMs, and I want to work hard to live up to my fans’ expectations.
Cook: Was there a moment when you felt that something had reached people through the show?
Alif Wolf: Maybe partly because of the coverage, it seems to have reached my fans’ hearts, and that made me happy. Knowing there are people who feel sad for me even more than I do is really reassuring.
Cook: What about the response on social media? People were saying your answer song to listeners turned things around. [Laughs]
Alif Wolf: For better or worse, people kept talking about me. I felt it meant that much attention was on me. But I’m really grateful for both the positive and negative opinions; they make me want to work harder.
Cook: I feel like there are more malicious accounts lately, not just around music. Did your environment change a lot after RAPSTAR?
Alif Wolf: My followers really did increase all of a sudden, and I felt RAPSTAR’s influence. I’ve had invitations to collaborate, too, so I’m really looking forward to what’s next.
Cook: Right. On “Prologue,” released on November 17, I thought it was impressive how you treated your life as a book, connecting the metaphors of a page, a prologue and the next page. That book imagery runs all the way through it.
Alif Wolf: Yeah, I’m really happy to hear you say that. In terms of a book, so many of the pages were ones I barely managed to turn. I wanted to put that directly into the book imagery of “Prologue.” Maybe I made the metaphors consistent partly to tell myself, “This is still only the prologue,” and to say that everything up to now has been the prologue. It’s just like the cover artwork.
I’m planning to release a new song during December. I’m right in the middle of making it now, and I’d like to put out an EP next year, too.
Alif Wolf — YouTube Topic channel
Cook: Then we’d love to interview you again when you’re ready to announce it. Finally, is there anything you want to try going forward?
Alif Wolf: I want to do more live shows. I still don’t have much experience performing, and I’m also working on a collaboration. Including that, I just want to keep working hard. Please keep an eye on what I do next!
Cook: Thank you!
After the Interview
Alif Wolf was 19 and making music in Saitama at the time of this interview. She wanted more chances to share her music with people in person.
“There are people who feel sad for me even more than I do.”
Those words carried weight. Someone who had been making music alone was now hearing from listeners who cared about what she had been through. Her answer about hip-hop was just as striking:
“Without hip-hop, I don’t know if I would have made it this far, and I definitely wouldn’t be who I am now.”
Her music may not have broad pop appeal, but I heard hope in the way she gave voice to pain and anger. I hope she keeps making it for herself, even as other people recognize their own lives in it.
At the time, she was working on a song for December 2025 and hoped to release an EP in 2026.
Alif Wolf — Instagram: @___alifwolf___
Alif Wolf — YouTube
This interview was put together by HIPHOPCs writer Cook, based on an interview conducted after Alif Wolf’s appearance on RAPSTAR 2025.
Related reading
In a later HIPHOPCs interview, Alif Wolf discusses “What Did You Say?”, writer’s block and being recognized.
In Their Words: Japanese and English
Alif Wolf
ヒップホップがなかったら、ここまで生きれてるかわからないし、絶対的に今の私はいないと思ってます。
Without hip-hop, I don’t know if I would have made it this far, and I definitely wouldn’t be who I am now.
