hikakin

We’ve talked about Japanese YouTubers before, and there certainly are a lot of awesome ones out there! One of the most famous is the beatboxing Hikakin, who was even featured in YouTube’s 2014 Rewind video. His musical skills have even caught the attention of the world at large, and Hikakin has performed with (and wowed) foreign artists, like Ariana Grande. There are plenty of folks around the world who are fans of the bespectacled YouTube star’s skills, but it looks like some of them are losing patience with his seeming lack of actual beatboxing.

As if he’d heard all of those complaints directly, Hikakin just released a new video with none other than Ne-Yo! Click below to check out the two artists make beautiful music with nothing more than their sexy mouths!

Ne-Yo, of course, is one of the most widely recognized songwriters and singers in American R&B and pop music today, but Hikakin doesn’t seem the least bit fazed by his collaborator’s fame. If you’ve never seen his beatboxing before, it won’t take long to realize that his confidence is not in the least misplaced.

▼Hello, floor. Meet my dropped jaw.

But Ne-yo isn’t the first major American pop singer to work with Hikakin. He’s also collaborated with the giant-eyed Ariana Grande, first recording a beatboxed version of “Baby” in February.

Earlier this month, Hikakin got another chance to meet up with Ariana, performing “Break Free” together in the most uncomfortable chairs we’ve ever seen.

And if you still want more of the duo, check out Hikakin showering her with Hello Kitty goods and Ariana’s slightly befuddled expression. We’re not sure if she’s high or he has a crush, but the awkwardness is so thick you could make angel food cake out of it.

▼Don’t worry, Hikakin. We’re not judging.

But don’t try to force Hikakin into a pop corner–he’s just as capable of mixing it up on stage with Aerosmith as he is sitting in the studio with Ariana.

▼Sadly, the guy behind the mixing board didn’t think we should be able to hear Hikakin clearly…

There are numerous more videos of Hikakin performing with others and alone on his original YouTube channel, but perhaps our favorite is his 2012 Skrillex beatboxing.

Of course, Hikakin has a ton of fans–his original channel has almost 1.5 million subscribers and in total those videos have accumulated over 300 million views. Of course, that’s nowhere near “Gangnam Style,” but still it’s pretty amazing for a beatboxer who started out seven years ago with nothing but this video.

▼As one commenter wrote, he looks like an old construction worker.

So, why has a large number of Japanese Internet users turned on the skilled YouTuber? Well, it has something to do with his other channel Hikakin TV.

▼If you can get through more than 1 minute of this, you’re stronger than us.

While the Hikakin channel is still host to all his beatboxery and musical appearances, this other channel is basically a giant cash in. Partly, you could chalk it all up to pure YouTube economics–to make money on the platform, you need advertisements and viewers, which means lots of videos people want to see. Hikakin TV is updated everyday, meaning more videos and has over 1.8 million subscribers and over 780 million views–well over double his music-only channel.

But all that is understandable–this is his job, and if he wants to make money, he has to produce lots of content. Obviously, not many people can produce new music every day, but what seems to be irking a lot of Internet commenters is his non-musical content. There are food videos, video game videos, Minecraft videos (yes, it’s a game, but he has a special section for it), and other videos talking about random…stuff.

▼Like cacti.

However, it’s not just that he’s basically advertising stuff (so, so, so much stuff), but that his beatboxing videos have largely disappeared. Even more damning, a number of Twitter users have said the only people who watch Hikakin’s videos these days are…kids?

[tweet https://twitter.com/momIjI1819/status/541254561298530304 align=center]

“You know, it seems like the only people around Hikakin are children.”

While that’s obviously an exaggeration (we think), it’s not hard to see that his musical content–which is what made Hikakin famous–has been lost in the weeds. Nevertheless, if you are interested in more beatboxing videos, it looks like you can easily skip the commercial stuff by subscribing to his old channel.

It might not get updated regularly, but when it does, it’s sure to impress you!

Sources: Naver Matome, YouTube (Hikakin), YouTube (Hikakin TV)
Image: YouTube (Hikakin)