elevASIAN spoke with Lotus Juice before his show in Los Angeles. Sitting by himself backstage at the Lodge Room, he discussed his journey, influences and experience as a composer and performer.<\/p>\n
The following conversation has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n
![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/OKVIVYMGDFBKVHCTJ2JVK2446E.jpg\")
Fans chant in unison as Lotus Juice performs. (Photo by Aaron Ogawa) <\/p>\n
Q: \u201cHow are you finding Los Angeles so far?\u201d<\/p>\n
A: \u201cDidn\u2019t really get to see it. I love the weather, though. I mean, it\u2019s hot, but it\u2019s less humid than Japan. I\u2019m hoping to come back next year for another tour because this is my first time working with my business partner. It\u2019s been nothing but — nothing but amazing. [The] last tour I had was in November, and it was kind of tough for me to concentrate as a musician because I had to do all the work. This guy made everything so easy for me. So yeah, we\u2019re doing pretty good, and we\u2019re already discussing more cities, probably eight, nine cities. Yeah. Everything\u2019s new. We\u2019re in a risky business, but it\u2019s all for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q: \u201cWhat was your first experience with music like, if you remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
A: \u201cI grew up in New Jersey. My musical background is \u201890s Hip-Hop and R&B, like Biggie and Wu-Tang, A Tribe Called Quest. Even living legends like Tupac and Dre. R&B: Boys to Men, Brian McKnight, Joe. So many good artists in the \u201990s. That\u2019s what I grew up listening to. In college, my friend asked me to perform at his event, and never in my dreams would I grab a mic, right? And I\u2019d never written a verse before. I still suck at freestyles. But he convinced me to perform, and I had a friend who had a synthesizer, and we just made a beat in like 15 minutes, and one thing led to another. I was performing, and that one performance led me to perform in other clubs as well, and it just went nonstop during college, and yeah, that was the beginning. I wasn\u2019t thinking about [becoming a] professional musician, thinking about any of that, just enjoying music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q: \u201cYou have a background in Japan, of course, but you also grew up stateside for your adolescent years. Did having that Japanese American background influence the type of music that you make today, or any aspect of your career?\u201d<\/p>\n
A: \u201cI grew up listening to \u201890s Hip-Hop and R&B, and I think that\u2019s the backbone of everything that I do musically, but when I lived in Japan, I was doing shows every weekend in clubs in Shibuya or Shinjuku or Harajuku, and I needed a change. I got to know this R&B duo group called \u2018Blitz.\u2019 They kind of shaped me, or introduced me to the music industry in Japan. We toured Japan, and that\u2019s when I started realizing maybe this is what I want to do. Maybe it is something that I could pursue. And talking to them, they love American culture. So we clicked and tried a lot of stuff. And if I didn\u2019t speak English, I wouldn\u2019t be doing \u2018Persona\u2019 songs because the only rappers that Shoji Meguro was looking for were English-speaking rappers back then.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2EB5A72SXBDCRALRGCEL3BEKCA.jpg\")
Lotus Juice gesturing towards the audience. (Photo by Aaron Ogawa) <\/p>\n
Q: \u201cIt\u2019s been twenty years since \u2018Persona 3\u2019 came out on the PlayStation 2. How was working on that game? And how has it influenced your career?\u201d<\/p>\n
A: \u201cIt changed everything. Back then, Atlus (the developer of \u2018Persona\u2019) was a small company. Nobody spoke English, right? So when I went to the studio to record \u201cMass Destruction<\/a>,\u201d he told me the lyrics were already written. But it was broken English. [It] didn\u2019t make sense. So he allowed me to rewrite it on the spot, and I wrote it, changed it up in 30 minutes and that\u2019s the original \u2018Mass Destruction.\u2019 They loved it. So they called me back for songs called \u2018Burn My Dread -Last Battle-<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018Deep Breath<\/a>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was actually a company-saving game for Atlus. They were enthusiastic, and they were young producers and directors. So, in about a year and a half, they created [\u2018Persona 4\u2019]. That was a big hit too, and a few years later we were doing the \u2018Persona\u2019 concert, and I believe it was about 800 people, the biggest venue that I ever performed for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen I got an email invitation to perform in the states. I thought it was a scam at first because in the \u201990s, you\u2019d never see an Asian guy performing, not on TV, not anywhere. But so I was asked, and I went, and there were like 800 people, and they all loved me, and they all loved the anime songs that I did, and especially \u2018Persona\u2019 songs, and treated me like a star. I\u2019m like, \u2018wow,\u2019 and came back often to perform, and [I\u2019d] never in my life dreamt this life, so [\u2018Persona\u2019] definitely changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: \u201cIn 2026, \u2018Persona\u2019 is arguably at an all-time high in terms of popularity. How does it feel to be a key component of what the series has become today?\u201d<\/p>\n A: \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing. I don\u2019t take the credit at all. I was just there. I think I was just ready for the opportunity when the opportunity was just given to me. I remember meeting all the musicians in Japan who were already pretty successful. They would party every weekend, and I partied with him, and I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t deserve this because I\u2019m not established yet.\u2019 So I said no to all the invitations. I was like, \u2018I need to stay in the lab and just work on my craft.\u2019 And I\u2019m glad I did that, [because] when the opportunity came, I caught it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I should take all the credit for P3 music. Some of the fans say that if I were replaced by somebody, it wouldn\u2019t [be] the same vibe. I don\u2019t think [that\u2019s] true. I just did it my way, and that resonated with the fans, and I\u2019m happy about it, but. To me, I saw the growth. I saw what happened. I\u2019m happy where we are right now, and I\u2019m happy with Atlus. Right now, I\u2019m really focused on my solo stuff, as well as doing Persona shows. If they invite me every time, you know, who knows when P4 comes out, P6 comes out? [If] they only do P4 and P6 live, I\u2019m not [featured].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019ll be happy. I\u2019ll be more than happy to just go to see the show because, and I\u2019ll be happy for them. My career is not dependent on the \u2018Persona\u2019 series. It was for work, but I was very blessed because I love the series as well. I have so much love for it. I would have been happy if they went in another direction for \u2018P3 Reload\u2019 and found another rapper. I\u2019d be like, \u2018Cool. I\u2019ll still play it again.\u2019 I don\u2019t own the company. I don\u2019t make the games, so I was happy that they called me back. I gave them the best I could. The song is out there. It was nominated at MAJ (Music Awards Japan), great. But to me, the songs that we created, that\u2019s the past now. I don\u2019t want to stay in the past. I want to live in the moment, for the future. So that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n When he got onstage later that night, Nakamura appeared to be living in the moment. The crowd was energetic for his solo material, and even more so for the \u201cPersona\u201d songs he played near the very end of the night. The audience shouted for an encore until he returned to the stage, clearly flattered by the chants\u2019 volume.<\/p>\n Nakamura remained at the venue until its doors closed, talking, signing autographs and taking photos with the fans who had come to see him perform. Twenty years after his big break, it\u2019s clear there\u2019s something about Lotus Juice\u2019s music that still resonates with its listeners, and he knows it.<\/p>\n During the interview, he shared his belief that \u201cthere could be many other artists\u201d who could have shaped the \u201cPersona\u201d soundtrack the way he did. We\u2019ll never know for certain, but it seems a lot of people would disagree.<\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KLSPLERI4FF3FFGLT53WJC2KCE.jpg\")
All attention focused on Lotus Juice as the crowd moved in sync. (Photo by Aaron Ogawa) <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LYRRHXPZRBCI7A2T6V3BYFYT74.jpg\")
Fans wave their hands together with Lotus Juice. (Photo by Aaron Ogawa) <\/p>\n![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WZCNWOGX5VE5DB4BPMGXB5G5EA.jpg\")
Fans pose with Lotus Juice as he wraps up his Player One U.S. tour. (Photo by Aaron Ogawa) <\/p>\n