CHANMINA

Overview

Chanmina (ちゃんみな; Korean: 챤미나), born Mina Otomonai on October 14, 1998, is a Japanese and South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and music producer. She debuted independently in 2016 and released her major-label debut album Miseinen in 2017. She is signed to NO LABEL MUSIC / Sony Music Labels, is managed by Rainbow Entertainment, and is married to Korea-based rapper ASH ISLAND. She is trilingual in Japanese, Korean and English.

Career

Early life

Born in South Korea to a Japanese father and a Korean mother, she lived there until age three, then grew up moving between South Korea, Japan and the United States. Influenced by her mother, a ballerina, she studied ballet, piano and violin. In elementary school she was struck by the music video for BIGBANG's "Haru Haru", switched to hip-hop dance and began dreaming of becoming a rapper. She started writing lyrics in elementary school, began composing seriously in high school, and wrote her first rap in her first year of high school. She had planned to move to Korea, but her rapper friend Messhi persuaded her to stay in Japan. She entered the 9th BAZOOKA!!! high school rap championship and was eliminated in the second round.

2016–2017: Debut and major label

On April 18, 2016, she released her debut single "Miseinen" featuring Messhi, which topped the iTunes hip-hop rankings. "Princess" followed in August, and she featured on TeddyLoid's "Daikirai". In January 2017 her deal with Victor Entertainment was announced; the single "Fxxker" came out in February, and the album Miseinen on March 8, peaking at No. 59 on the Oricon chart. Her first solo show took place at Daikanyama UNIT on March 27. The EP Chocolate, recorded in Los Angeles, reached No. 10 on Billboard Japan Hot Albums.

2018–2024

She moved to Warner Music Japan's Atlantic Japan in 2018, releasing "Doctor" and "Pain Is Beauty", followed by the maxi single "I'm a Pop" in 2019. Her second album Never Grow Up (August 2019) had a title track used as the theme of the drama Jigoku no Girlfriend; it became a sleeper hit with over 10 million YouTube views and an RIAJ streaming gold certification. In February 2020 she released the EPs Note-book: Me. and Note-book: U., then "Angel" and the holiday single "Holy Moly Holy Night" with SKY-HI. "Bijin" (April 2021) entered the Japan Hot 100 at No. 65 after her THE FIRST TAKE performance. She joined a remix of Saweetie's "Best Friend", and "I'm a Pop" gained US success after appearing in the Netflix film Kate. Her third album Harenchi (October 2021) debuted at No. 16 on the Oricon Albums Chart. In 2022 she released "Tokyo 4AM" and her first Korean-language singles, "Don't Go" (feat. ASH ISLAND) and "Mirror". In March 2023 she announced her imprint NO LABEL MUSIC and the album Naked, released April 26. On November 4, 2023, she announced No No Girls, a girl-group project with SKY-HI's BMSG, serving as producer.

2024 onward

In July 2024 she announced her marriage to ASH ISLAND and her pregnancy, and in November announced the birth of her first daughter. Singles in 2024 included "FORGIVE ME", "20", "NG" and "FOREVER". On April 2, 2025, she moved to Sony Music Labels and relaunched NO LABEL MUSIC; the same day HANA, formed from No No Girls auditions and produced by her, debuted. She released "WORK HARD", "I hate this love song" and "SAD SONG"; six of her songs charted simultaneously on the Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 dated June 11, 2025, and she ranked 10th on the first-half Artist 100. She has appeared on THE FIRST TAKE with "Bijin", "Harenchi", "SAD SONG" and "WORK HARD". "i love you" followed in October 2025 and the live album AREA OF DIAMOND 2 in December. She made her first appearance at the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2025, performing with HANA. In June 2026 she announced a break for throat problems linked to hypothyroidism, and on July 11–12, 2026 she held her first Tokyo Dome shows, AREA OF DIAMOND FINAL.

Musical style

Chanmina blends hip-hop and rap with J-pop, writing her own songs and producing. She cites BIGBANG, Michael Jackson, Avril Lavigne and Awich as influences, and records in Japanese, Korean and English.