“Pen Pineapple Apple Pen”, also simply known as “PPAP” was a song nobody expected. It was a simple song created with mundane lyrics that hold no meaning at all. And it was sung by a local comedian, who only Japan knew.
The music video of the said song was uploaded in August 2016. It was modest, with one man donned in yellow garbs with animal prints on it, singing to the novelty song in the plain white background. That man is Pikotaro and thanks to this song, he became a worldwide star. “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” is the first song he created and it has created parodies and even official remixes were made.
As a matter of fact, Pikotaro created this song just because he came from an apple country. Japan has Mt. Fuji and fuji is translated into English as apple. The pineapple idea came to him simply because there was an open can of pineapples beside him when he was thinking about the song.
The music video became a viral hit, earning more than one million views on the day it was released. Because of his spurt in popularity, the song was hailed as the new “Gangnam Style” and was eventually released as a digital single on October 7. The song did not just hoard millions of views, it also entered music charts, debuting in Billboard Japan Hot 100 in top 4 and Billboard US Hot 100 at number 77.
It also made a record worthy of Guinness World Records. It earned that title of being the shortest song to date with a length of only 45 seconds. With all these attention Pikotaro and the “PPAP” song getting, one would wonder how much he’s already making.
In a recent interview with Fuji TV’s “Nonstop!” talk show, he talked about his fame and revealed how much he made. He made it evident that he was indeed surprised about the sudden fame. He also said, “It has really turned into something incredible.”
Then he went to talk about his earnings from his song. “I haven’t received a single yen from the song. Remember, ‘PPAP only recently became well-known,” he admitted. The news shocked a lot as the singer confessed this shocking truth.
With “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” doing well in the charts, one would only hope that Pikotaro would be given the payment he deserved for the song he created. Pikotaro is a fictional singer and writer that Japanese comedian, Daimaou Kosaka portrayed. As of now the music video for “PPAP” has more than 170 million views on YouTube.
