Tsubaki × Watanabe Chika: Positively embracing the blood that seeps through

Are you aware of the gritty presence of female rappers and copywriters—a lone flower blooming amidst the fiercely competitive hip-hop and advertising scenes dominated by male powerhouses? On one side, a millennial female rapper hailed by Taika, who handled casting for this series, as "the number one choice on the scene." On the other, a rising star copywriter who swept both the 2016 TCC Best Newcomer Award and the TCC Award. These two sharp young women, whose piercingly essential expressions are drawing attention, exchanged words.

Their early days honed in Fukuoka

Watanabe: Ms. Tsubaki, you're originally from Fukuoka, right? I was also on assignment in Akasaka, Fukuoka City for three years until last October. During that time, I worked on various projects for Nagasaki Bus and other clients in Kyushu.

Tsubaki: I always thought the Nagasaki Bus posters were great whenever I saw them. I've always admired copywriters. What kind of work do you do?

Watanabe: Simply put, a copywriter focuses on words as the core means to solve a client's problem or concern. What kind of activities do you do as a rapper, Tsubaki?

Tsubaki: I mainly do live performances, but I've also released albums. And lately, I've been doing freestyle battles, which are popular now.

Watanabe: What made you start rapping?

Tsubaki: When I was a teenager, hip-hop culture came to my hometown, and the older guys formed rap crews by age group. The boys in my grade weren't really up to it, so I started out with the mindset of representing them.

Watanabe: So you were the first female rapper in your hometown.

Tsubaki: Yes. I was also the youngest, and they wouldn't acknowledge me, saying "Hip-hop is a man's turf." But I was convinced I'd be the last one standing. So I started doing live shows on my own and began organizing events in Tenjin. Still, I could never forget the things I was told just because I was a woman. I acted out against being female, and I struggled a lot in my early days.

Watanabe: I also believe the person who nurtured me into a copywriter was my boss during my Fukuoka days. Like a lioness pushing her cubs off a cliff. It's only natural, really, but he trained me rigorously. Yet, strangely, I gradually started finding this work interesting. It's fundamentally about taking responsibility for words and ideas and working hard, but I began to understand the real thrill of it.

Tsubaki: What's the real thrill of being a copywriter?

Watanabe: Hmm, well, when you can shoulder it, you feel something. I didn't know this before joining the company, but advertising is teamwork. In Tokyo, you might have several copywriters on one project. As a newbie, you're often under a senior. But Kyushu is smaller in scale, so you're pretty much on your own. In Kyushu, I learned to shoulder the work.

Punchlines pulled from the crucible of words

Watanabe: How do you create poetry?

Tsubaki: I have a separate "lyric notebook" and a "rhyme notebook." In the rhyme notebook, I jot down fragments of words that might work for rhymes. Words that pop into my head while working or catch my eye around town. I then transfer those rhymes to the lyric notebook. I'm a pen-and-paper person; smartphones aren't reliable.

Watanabe: Do advertising slogans ever serve as inspiration?

Tsubaki: Yes, they can. In rap, the intro and chorus phrases are super important. I want to include a line that sums up the song, like a catchphrase, so I analyze the structure of copy myself. Like, "This copy has a soft landing after the impact." How do you write copy?

Watanabe: Well, in my case... I create a sort of melting pot of words for each project I handle. I thoroughly research the client's story, user feedback, their online positioning, and consolidate all that information. From there, I try to pull out the essence – "So, what exactly should we be saying?" Without solid research, I can't tell if the words that come up are just random ideas or good copy. I'm still a rookie. I prioritize the stage before writing, and ideas often come to me when I'm out conducting interviews rather than sitting at my desk.

Tsubaki: Do you do any training?

Watanabe: There are exercises like copying existing copy, but unless there's a purpose, it just makes me sleepy (laughs). I believe practice is the best training, so I think the path to skill improvement is doing real work across a wide range of patterns. What about rap?

Tsubaki: Rap training is only freestyle for me. Sometimes I do it alone, sometimes with friends in the studio. Back in Fukuoka, I even did cyphers in front of the station for a while.

Watanabe: Can lyrics sometimes come from freestyle?

Tsubaki: Since it's improvisation, you can't just take it at face value and turn it into lyrics. But you can get a feel for the flow and energy of rapping over a beat, or sometimes a good phrase for a theme just pops out.

Watanabe: For example, what about a topic like "food grudges"? Imagine a situation like, "The pudding I left in the fridge got eaten!"

Tsubaki: That's the theme of "A woman's grudge over food is scary," right?

Watanabe: I think obsession with food is a universal human desire.

Tsubaki: Reminds me of the battles with my brother back when I lived at my parents' place (laughs). But for an ad, the girl has to look cute, right?

Watanabe: If we go for cute and heart-fluttering, it risks feeling cliché. Maybe it'd be more interesting to deliberately show her in full-on resentment mode.

Tsubaki: So, like, "I'm on a diet, but today's my cheat day. I've been waiting to eat this as my reward."

Watanabe: "The total daily calories girls obsess over that you'll never understand."

Tsubaki: "Hate is the highest calorie!"

Watanabe: (claps)! That's how punchlines come about! It made me think, "Yeah, totally?!"

It's not just bright; I'm drawn to that Nakajima Miyuki-esque worldview.

Tsubaki: Rappers string together real words, right? I thought ads could only express things like "positive vibes!" and "the future is bright!"

Watanabe: This is just my take, but I think if there's no raw emotion bleeding through, it won't resonate with people. You have to pick up on that festering core part; otherwise, people can't move forward. How to convey that to clients is something I agonize over every time. They always want it sugarcoated.

Tsubaki: My lyrics are dark, but even if the impression is negative, if it doesn't give you the will to live, there's no point in rapping. I don't write lyrics that end in destruction.

Watanabe: So you value that sense of relatability?

Tsubaki: I think people tend to relate more to darker shades. I love Nakajima Miyuki's worldview.

Watanabe: Me too! I love "Star on Earth." The lyrics are incredibly well-crafted.

Tsubaki: My favorite is "Fight." The verse structure is outstanding. It plays out these utterly despairing listener stories sent to a radio show, then wraps it all up with a positive "Fight!"
※ Verse: The part of a song other than the chorus