0:00
Aw. Mhm. Mhm. Aw. Aw.
Search this video
0:10
Hey, what's going on everybody?
0:10
From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
0:12
It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
0:15
And today I'm joined by Joji.
0:18
He's the meme lord behind YouTube cult heroes Filthy Frank and Pink Guy.
0:20
His second full-length project Pink Season soared to the top of the iTunes charts earlier this year.
0:26
And good news, there's more new music on the way.
0:27
Joji, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is exciting.
0:32
I've always wanted to be on this. This is sick.
0:35
Well, how are you with hot food?
0:37
I've never actually tested myself.
0:37
I've never seen how far I could go, but my guess is my taste levels are pretty white. Okay.
1:04
This is already on there.
1:05
Oh, it's Oh, it's already Oh, okay. So, we're starting here. Mhm. Okay. Mhm. All right.
1:20
So, I want to start by talking about Filthy Frank and Pink Guy, naturally.
1:23
What's the biggest mess you've ever made during a video and how long did it take to clean up?
1:28
I bought like $300 worth of chicken hearts.
1:30
You know, they're like tiny.
1:32
Someone was throwing chicken hearts at me, a bunch of people, and they got behind the fridge and just like chicken hearts all over the apartment.
1:41
It took 3 days to clean it, and then we had to get a maid.
1:46
And the maid came, and the maid said, "No."
1:49
And we still had to pay her, too, because she came all the way. For an appearance. Yeah.
1:52
So, the maid couldn't handle it, and we just kind of left it.
1:54
So, there's still chicken hearts in that apartment, like rotting to this day.
1:59
What's the closest you've ever been to getting your ass beat in the field?
2:02
Back in the day, I was very very rude.
2:05
We were kind of bullying a guy in an elevator.
2:07
We cut the footage, but that set another guy in the elevator off.
2:09
You know, it escalated to an intense level.
2:13
Like, someone called the cops and stuff.
2:15
Have you ever been arrested doing these videos?
2:18
Funny enough, I've been arrested for everything but that. Okay. I can feel it.
2:31
But, I can I can still go.
2:34
So, oftentimes internet trends seem to come out of nowhere.
2:36
All of the sudden, you'll just see everybody's dumping ice buckets over their head or planking on the street. Mhm.
2:42
And you have unique perspective when it comes to that, for being the person credited with originating 2013's biggest internet dance craze, the Harlem Shake.
2:52
I thought the song had like a special quality to it.
2:54
I had a bunch of costumes laying around and three or four friends there.
2:58
When the drop came, like the idea was we were just going to kind of stay like almost idle, you know, but we were kind of like air humping.
3:04
And then, I uploaded that.
3:06
Like, it was literally like overnight, everyone was doing it.
3:10
And it must be bizarre, too, when you see Jimmy Fallon and LeBron James and the rest of America doing something that was birthed by Pink Guy.
3:17
You know, like is that kind of a mind [ __ ] Yeah, no, I I kind of look down on them for that.
3:23
I was like, you guys are stupid. Why?
3:24
Like, I mean, I'm not bitter about it.
3:26
I think I think it was it was a great thing, but I didn't I still don't understand why people got so hooked on it. Damn, I'm so hungry. Going in.
3:40
Cracking bones, I love it. Get in there. Got to do it.
3:45
So, Japanese food has really taken America by storm.
3:46
We're in the throes of ramen mania. Sushi is everywhere.
3:49
But, as someone who's actually lived in Japan, what do you think of the foods that people are missing out on?
3:54
What do you see as the next big mainstream crossover?
3:58
Tonkatsu is pretty underrated here still.
4:00
That's like fried pork cutlet. It goes well with rice.
4:03
It goes well with cabbage.
4:04
I see it here, obviously.
4:04
But, I think people specializing in that will be a new thing soon.
4:12
And then, you know, I think the reason that people always focus on these crazy Japanese things, whether it's, you know, tentacle porn or weird Kit Kat flavors, is that it's from the outside looking in a difficult culture to understand. Mhm.
4:25
What do you see as the biggest misconceptions about Japanese cuisine when you hear people from America talking about it?
4:32
Honestly, honestly, I'm not a sushi snob at all, right?
4:34
I just eat [ __ ] fish on rice. It's chill, you know?
4:37
But, the really nice sushi in New York City, to me, is the same taste as like a sushi place at a train station in Japan.
4:50
What's up with the women-only train cars? Oh.
4:53
Well, that's cuz there's so much sexual harassment in Japan. It's crazy. No one talks about it.
5:00
I've been sexually harassed.
5:00
Like a old dude will will grope me.
5:02
Cuz everyone's so packed in. Packed in.
5:08
Sometimes when a lady's pushed up against me, I have no choice but to smell her hair. Really? Ooh. All right. Okay. I taste the ginger. Getting hotter.
5:28
Stayed on top of it, though. Little face sweat, Joji. Mhm.
5:32
I have a Asian old man poor sweat.
5:34
So, once it gets to a certain level, I'll be I'll be sweating, yeah.
5:40
So, for better or worse, you have one of the more emotionally charged fan bases on the internet.
5:44
And I've heard you speak before about feeling suffocated from time to time in your personal life.
5:49
When you think about the crazy faces to face or the pranks with, as you put it, the very elaborate fans, is there a story that stands out?
5:58
It's important to have a fan base that is that involved in you, and I respect that. Thank you.
6:04
But, yeah, sometimes, you know, it gets a little gets a little rowdy.
6:08
In fact, the the only time um I want to be approached is is when I'm with a girl, cuz it looks cool.
6:15
But then I often get uh tweets after that saying, "Oh, I saw you, but you were with the girl, so I didn't want to bother you."
6:22
And you're like, "Damn, dude." Bother me. Yeah, make me look cool.
6:30
Okay, now we're getting there. Yeah. Okay. Very cool.
6:37
All right, Joji, so we have a recurring segment on our show called Explain that Gram.
6:40
We do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context. Right.
6:45
do is I'll show you the picture, and then you can just tell me the bigger story. Does that sound good? Yeah.
6:49
I hope you got the right Instagram. I have like three. Uh-oh. What about um Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Sushi Trash. Did I do it right? the one. That's Sushi Trash. All First things first.
7:02
Everyone thinks that's fake.
7:02
After the Harlem Shake, um some some awards some net awards show flew me out to do it live.
7:10
Aerosmith had had performed at what Wherever the [ __ ] I was doing that thing at.
7:15
Two famous people that are like older, they think this [ __ ] is amazing.
7:19
So, he came and he was like, "Wow, look you started that. That's that's amazing.
7:25
Like, can we see it live? Haha."
7:25
You know, and I was like, And he was like, "Yeah, yeah." All right.
7:32
Bud Light break with Post Malone. Yeah.
7:34
He was like, "Let's meet at Rolling Loud."
7:34
And I saw him, and I ran up to him.
7:37
I was like, "Oh, it's me."
7:39
And he looked at me, and he didn't recognize me out of character, so he was like, "You good?"
7:42
Like he thought he thought I was like some crazed fan.
7:44
And I looked at him like eye to eye for a couple seconds. I was like, "Post."
7:51
Like and this that would have been the end for me if he had just like been like, "I don't know who you are."
7:56
And then finally his eyes light up and it he he puts two and two together.
8:00
And he was like, "Shit, like come to my place after this. Like let's hang out."
8:04
That gentleman with the stomach. I don't know, man.
8:08
He he brought these strippers um and they were they were doing some like not even stuff that strippers would do.
8:17
A little off the beaten path. Yeah, yeah.
8:18
Like Post was shocked by it.
8:20
He was like, "What the [ __ ] is this?" Oh.
8:22
YouTube Mount Rushmore with Max Mofo, iDubbbz, and Tai Lopez.
8:27
We were at this after party thing and Tai Lopez showed up and obviously Tai Lopez is Tai Lopez. Legend.
8:34
He's got a Lamborghini in his garage.
8:34
We were we were bothering him a little bit, you know what I mean?
8:38
I felt like a dick, but I heard everyone was asking him to say, "Here in my garage."
8:42
So he was he was already very bothered by that.
8:47
Why did you blur out your face in the picture with Jenna Marbles?
8:51
At that at that time she didn't know who I was.
8:54
So she uh she thought I was a fan, I think.
8:56
And then I met her again and then the tables had turned. She was the the fan.
9:05
I see you gave me the fattest one for dirty dicks. Mhm. Mhm. Wow.
9:16
You're really good with the the [ __ ] spice. What if I was bad?
9:19
What you know what I mean? That's true. I can't be bad.
9:22
Is there a story behind why you're so good at this?
9:24
I'm not really I don't have like any like hot sauce roots or anything.
9:26
We just were like celebrity interviews are boring.
9:29
How do we make them not boring?
9:31
And our solve for that was hot sauce, you know?
9:34
So I wasn't a hot sauce guy before.
9:35
I just had to become one quickly, you know?
9:37
So, you work alongside hip hop artists like Rich Chigga out of Indonesia and then Keith Ape out of South Korea.
9:42
And hip hop is so regionally driven, you know, Houston sounds like Houston, New York has a sound that's all its own.
9:48
How would you describe the hip hop movement that's coming out of these countries in Asia right now?
9:55
It's definitely influenced by American hip hop.
9:57
The way they're doing it, I would say it's it's it's it's a tribute.
10:02
Cuz even if you don't understand the language, you can still vibe to it, you know what I mean?
10:05
I don't understand what the [ __ ] Keith is saying on his song. You know what I mean?
10:10
And I'm I'm like, "Yeah, kill it.
10:12
You know, do it Yeah, do your thing, Keith." You know?
10:14
He's like, "Oh, thank you." Oh, my lips are burning. Ah. Yeah. Off rip.
10:29
This one hits right away.
10:30
This was quite a [ __ ] jump from Dirty Dick's.
10:33
Dirty Dick's was nothing.
10:36
This is a zombie apocalypse. Ah.
10:45
I can't wait to try the next three.
10:49
I I got to make sure I don't touch my eyes.
10:51
Yeah, cuz I see that happen all the time.
10:53
You have to learn from others' mistakes, you know? Exactly. No eyes, no genitals.
10:55
You can I've heard so many genital stories, too.
10:59
There are nightmare horror stories about the genitals in the Hot Ones coffee table book whenever it comes out. Oh.
11:08
So, when we had Ethan Klein on the show, he called you the best YouTuber of all time, mostly because you've succeeded in spite of being shunned by the platform. Yeah.
11:17
Do you take pride in being an outcast?
11:19
Do you think that's helped fuel you?
11:19
Or do you feel like you've been treated unfairly?
11:23
Well, well, for one thing, yes, I have been treated unfairly.
11:24
That's that's uh no doubt about that.
11:26
I'm not I'm not bitter about it, though.
11:28
I understand that, you know, it is a it is a platform, you know, they need to keep their [ __ ] clean.
11:32
I like to do what I like, you know, make the stuff that I think is good or that I think is funny or that I think sounds great.
11:38
You know, if you like it, you can you can tag Wow.
11:43
If you like it, you can tag along.
11:47
If you don't, [ __ ] it, you know what I mean?
11:48
That's yeah, it's it's all good.
11:50
When you look at things that are embraced by YouTube while you're left at sort of an arms distance, is there anything that leaves you scratching your head?
11:57
I mean, it is they they have uh put in an algorithm uh that favors long and persistent Ah, this is so hot. Oh!
12:19
I breathed in and caught it.
12:21
And and it it hit my throat. Wow. Oh. Now Now we're talking. Mhm. How am I doing so far?
12:32
Did I make it through pretty well?
12:36
Here's what I would say, Joji, is that you have some face sweat, obvious discomfort.
12:40
The beanie was sort of a questionable decision, but I understand it.
12:44
I'd say this though, you're cracking wings open, you're cleaning wings.
12:50
You're definitely a fighter. I can't help it. I'm so hungry. Okay.
12:57
I can't I can't touch my eyes. I can't touch my eyes. I can't touch my eyes. Okay. Can't touch my eyes. Okay. Can't touch my eyes. Oh. Mhm. Mhm. Oh. Oh. I'm hearing the milk.
13:09
I'm I'm hearing the milk.
13:11
There's no shame in that. Mhm.
13:17
Wait, is this whole milk? It's whole milk, yeah. Whole milk's the best.
13:20
You can close your eyes and pretend like it's a milkshake. Huh. Okay.
13:26
Hold on, give you a second. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Take your time, man. Take your time. Wow. Ah. All right.
13:40
So, Filthy Frank is the embodiment of everything vile on the internet. Yeah.
13:45
And a commentary on how much traction you can get by indulging the worst aspects of human nature. Yeah.
13:50
As a master of the art of parody, I wonder if you have insight to other pop cultural figures that push the boundaries.
13:56
So, I'm going to bounce some people off of you, and you can tell me if they're post-modern artists, if they're geniuses, or if they're just batshit unhinged people. Sound good? Kanye West. Ah.
14:10
He's a He's a I think I think he's he's a genius.
14:15
Um he's he's made too much music that's so good.
14:20
Each album [ __ ] revolutionized the the sound of of what we listen to. Oh, I got it in my eye.
14:27
It's the sound the sound of what we listen to, and he's just got so many classics on his belt.
14:30
He can do whatever the [ __ ] he wants.
14:32
You know, I'm not going to support it, but I'll acknowledge that it's Kanye being Kanye.
14:38
You know, he's he's he's a little nuts, but who isn't? Alex Jones. He seems like a troll.
14:45
Um I don't think he believes that the water is making frogs gay. Riff Raff. I love Riff Raff. I love him so much.
14:51
I was texting him about ideas.
14:53
He was talking about um driving a Atari in the Safari Anaconda Honda.
15:01
Like he was like when he was throwing around ideas, and I was I was all about it. He's a great man. Shout-outs to Riff Raff.
15:12
You got to give me a minute. Take your time, Joji. Take your time, man. Ah. Feel alive. Blair's mega Okay.
15:35
This one hits a little slower, but I can feel it creeping. Mhm. That's bad. Mhm.
15:45
We're reaching uh maximum levels here.
16:01
On the music side of things, you have such range.
16:02
You know, Pink Guy will put out a project that's just floor-to-ceiling memes, while Joji will put out a project that our sister site, Pigeons and Planes, calls gorgeous and stunning.
16:13
First things first, what's the difference musically between Pink Guy and Joji?
16:19
Well, the uh It's not even the inside of my mouth.
16:24
It's It's everything around.
16:24
The lips, maybe your neck, behind the ears. I've been there. Oh.
16:34
I don't want to be limited to just one form of production. Sorry, hold on. Can't touch my eyes. Can't touch my eyes. Can't touch my eyes.
16:45
It's got a boxer up against the ropes, Joji. Eyes. Eyes. Eyes.
16:49
I'm Conor McGregor right now.
16:51
The Pink Guy stuff is easier to make, and it's more It's It's fun to make.
16:55
I was going to say, on a creative level, the outlets are probably very different. It's very fun, yeah.
16:58
The Joji music, it's fun, but I'm like Well, to demonstrate that difference in the outlets, what I want to do is give you some Joji lyrics, and I'll give you some Pink Guy lyrics, and then you can sort of decode them for me Jay-Z style. Does that sound good?
17:16
So, this first one is off Pink Life.
17:17
I don't need a [ __ ] marketing team trying to blow my [ __ ] I'm not a [ __ ] vlog [ __ ] with a lot of chicks trying to buy an autobiography about my dick.
17:25
A lot of a lot of people on the on the internet with uh dedicated followings will you know, they're only like like not even like 22 and they're putting out autobiographies.
17:37
Like, what have you lived, you know?
17:39
There's a lot of that going on.
17:41
It's sometimes like you'll just see some 24-year-old chick who's like maybe gotten her open up with three or four times, then all of a sudden they think they're, you know, Bridget Jones or some [ __ ] Yeah, exactly.
17:49
And I'm not I can't I can't subscribe to that.
17:52
So, this next one is Joji song. Yeah. You suck, Charlie.
18:09
Men with with women you know, they don't want to they don't want to be fully tied down.
18:15
They're or they'll say like, you know, now's not the right time.
18:17
Now's not the right time.
18:18
It's kind of like that, you know, can you be a little bit stronger and hold on a little bit cuz you're in earthly comfort. Next one from Pink Guy.
18:25
This is off Meme Machine. I catch the memes. I spread the memes. I eat the memes. I [ __ ] the memes.
18:31
Without memes, I will die.
18:38
I don't [ __ ] know what that means.
18:44
And oh, this is a Hot Ones one. Smoking Ed's a legend.
18:47
I'm going to look this guy up.
18:49
So, this is the last dab.
18:49
We call it the last dab because it's traditional around here to put a little dab on the last wing.
18:56
You don't have to if you don't want to.
18:59
Just give it a I'm I'm a good sport. I'll I'll uh I'll do it.
19:04
Love the napkin stock pile.
19:06
Yeah, no, this like I got to do this. I'm a napkin man. Love it.
19:12
Playing fast and loose with the dab. Here we go.
19:16
Is that Is that Is that all right?
19:17
That's That's All right, Joji, how you feeling?
19:21
My My whole face uh It It It It's like maze. Yeah.
19:27
It It really It really hurts. Mhm. Mhm. Oh.
19:31
What a run it's been, my man. It's been a great run. Thank you for having me. Joji, anytime. Anytime. Fantastic. Cheers, my man. I like the mustard. Mhm. Yeah. WOAH. WOAH. WOAH. WOAH.
19:58
I GOT THAT ON my What's the thing that dangles in the back of your throat?
20:04
You've gotten the punching bag, huh? Yeah.
20:10
I'm still hungry, though.
20:12
So, as we've covered today, there are many sides of Joji.
20:13
Whether it's music, comedy, or being a self-loathing psychopath in a blue button-up.
20:18
Do you ever feel like you live in the shadow of these characters that you've created? Like me with the wings.
20:25
Is there ever a fear that fans won't embrace you outside of those personas?
20:32
That was a fear for very long time.
20:32
You know, people on the internet are mean.
20:36
I was doing music hand in hand with uh the comedy stuff.
20:41
The Pink Guy music started the same time as Filthy Frank.
20:43
But, I just didn't know if people would embrace the the serious stuff.
20:50
I wish I had the confidence the self-confidence to to to switch earlier.
20:55
Because now it's it's it's working out pretty well.
20:58
Well, I'll tell you this.
20:58
If it's a new chapter, you look reborn when I look in front of you today, Joji. Thank you.
21:04
Getting on top of the wings, clearing the board, leaving all the bones out in front so people know you cleaned them. I love that move.
21:11
Now there's nothing left to do.
21:13
Oh, oh, there's a trash can. Oh. I'm sorry. Uh this is so rude. It's not rude.
21:19
You have to let them know.
21:21
You have to let them know where you went sometimes.
21:22
Here it is, the red carpet for you.
21:24
This camera, this camera, or this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life. Big EP coming out.
21:35
That's the That's the first time I've said that.
21:36
Am I allowed to say that? Oh. Beautiful.
21:53
Hello Hot Ones fans, it's Sean Evans. New outro, same message.
21:55
If you like what you saw, throw us a bone maybe.
22:00
Please, it is dog eat dog here on the YouTube streets.
22:02
Hit that subscribe button, knowing that you subscribed to this seriously the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.
22:08
Thank you very much Hot Ones fans. I love you.