Japanese mannequin rap duo FEMM unveil new track ‘Sit Down’ with mind-blowing digital-analog hybrid performance video

Japanese mannequin rap duo FEMM has released a new video from their latest six-song EP ‘404 Not Found’. An extended version of ‘Sit Down’ comes to life with a mind-blowing “How did they do that?” video that throws digital and analog elements crashing together – and shot entirely in one take.

‘Sit Down’ was produced by super-spicy Japanese bass duo HABANERO POSSE. The unsettling combination of tough female rap vocals over a fiercely raging industrial track feels startlingly fresh.In the new accompanying video, the track’s intense drop that rattles the eardrum and shakes the brain is beefed up even further by visuals on an epic scale.

The video was produced by 2ndFunction, who captured the video’s performance in one take with a fixed-angle single-camera shot. With AVC as the tech organizer, CG for the video was handled by BRDG members Scott Allen, Takayuki Miyatake and Kakuya Shiraishi, with lasers by Yamachang.

The video shows a live performance in which the members of FEMM interact in real-time with massive screens and other objects. On a stage 25 meters wide by 15 meters high, huge 3D objects fitted with LED screens move around and disappear or reappear, controlled via a technical production system called KINESYS. In the video’s multifaceted multimedia world, concepts such as size, dimensions, area and even gravity seem to deviate from the laws of physics, creating a new analog performance work where the lines between virtual and real are kept deliberately unclear.

As a girls’ anthem with a darkly humorous message, mannequin rap duo FEMM’s acclaimed breakthrough single ‘Fxxk Boyz Get Money’ found an audience with teens and influencers in the United States, quickly spreading around Europe, South America, and Asia. FEMM’s debut album ‘Femm-Isation’ brought Japanese female rap to a whole new audience, reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s World Albums chart in the US.
Their latest EP ‘404 Not Found’ was released in November 2020. Its title is a reference to the error code that appears when a web page cannot be accessed, repurposed to imply “brand-new music that doesn’t exist (yet), no matter how hard you search for it”. As the title suggests, the EP combines dark trap tunes with a low center of gravity and videogame-fueled digital hip-hop to deliver a unique “hyper pop” style. The EP offers radical rap styles over fierce industrial tracks, pulling in elements of ‘dark pop’, a style that combines musicality and message and is now sweeping the world’s music scene. Rather than simply riding this trend, FEMM draws elements into their own sound to offer a whole new musical experience and a rich seam of emotion.
The EP’s sound was crafted in collaboration with producers such as Danny L Harle (Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama) and Star Boy (DaBaby, Lil Uzi Vert) as well as female Japanese track-makers ANJULIECAT a.k.a. YUA and Diana Chiaki, who was approached directly by the members of FEMM as fans of their work. While on the visual front FEMM has leaned on artists such as Weirdcore, a regular video collaborator of Aphex Twin who has also worked with Radiohead and 1975. This exciting approach continues with the clip for ‘Sit Down’. Check out FEMM’s new video to experience a world that has never before existed, a world that blurs the lines between humans and machines, borders, and languages.

01. Sit Down (producer: HABANERO POSSE)
02. Bury Me (with all my $$) (producer: YUA)
03. Peach (producers: Danny L Harle / Radical Hardcore Clique)
04. Play By The Rules (producer: Diana Chiaki)
05. Boss (producer: KM)
06. Level Up feat. Duke of Harajuku (producers: Star Boy / Loesoe / Radical Hardcore Clique)

FEMM (sometimes recognized as an abbreviation for Far East Mention Mannequins) is a Japanese electronic dance music duo, composed of RiRi and LuLa. After a series of buzz singles between 2013 and 2014, FEMM released their debut studio album Femm-Isation in October 2014 as a digital release. FEMM’s major debut and first physical release, Pow!/L.C.S., was released in February 2016.FEMM is a music project that portrays “real-life mannequins”, whilst RiRi and LuLa are recognized as the leaders of the FEMM Agency Syndicate, an agency that supports the independence and rights of mannequins (hypothetically their fan base). RiRi is managed by agent Honey-B, and LuLa is managed by agent W-Trouble. Honey-B and W-Trouble communicate on RiRi and LuLa’s behalf because mannequins cannot talk. Despite the group’s lack of charting success, FEMM has received prospects from several Western social media websites and journalists alike. The group has been widely commended for their fashion style and their commercial appeal, alongside the accompanying songs they have recorded. FEMM has been cited as the world’s “first mannequin duo”, and have been highlighted by publications including The Huffington Post and Perez Hilton online as future prospects for mainstream music.

FEMM – Level Up feat. Duke of Harajuku (Music Video) Prod. Star Boy / Loesoe / R.H.C.