WurtS

Overview

WurtS (pronounced "Wurts") is a Japanese solo artist, musician and video director born in the 21st century who self-produces everything from songwriting, composition and arrangement to artwork and visuals. He is signed to EMI Records / W's Project and managed by UKPM. He began releasing music experimentally on YouTube and TikTok in 2020 and broke through in 2021 with "Wakattenaiyo" (分かってないよ), which went viral on TikTok. At live shows and media appearances he usually wears a hat that hides everything but his eyes.

Career

2020–2021

In 2020 he started posting songs on YouTube and TikTok and self-released "Shihonshugi no Isu" in November. He began full-scale activity in 2021, founding the independent label and project "W's Project" within UK.PROJECT.

In January 2021 he posted only the chorus of "Wakattenaiyo" on TikTok, and it passed one million plays in about a month; by June 2025 its total streams exceeded 150 million. He released his first digital EP "Lemon no Hibi" on March 17, "MAGICAL SOUP" on June 9 and "Radio Sausage" on September 8. "Little Dancer feat. Ito (PEOPLE 1)" from the latter was used in a Toyota Corolla series commercial. On September 29 he released "BOY MEETS GIRL", a tie-up for Suntory's energy drink ZONe and its IMMERSIVE SONG PROJECT. "Wakattenaiyo" was nominated for TikTok's 2021 buzzword awards. His first album, Once Upon a Revival, came out on December 1 with a CD release (the track "NERVEs" was used in a TikTok commercial) and won Tower Records' 2021 "Tower Rec-men Artist of the Year". On December 26 he held his first online live, "WurtS ONLINE LIVE 2021 supported by ZONe".

2022

In January he ranked No. 1 on Nippon TV's Buzzrhythm 02 "BEST 10 to buzz this year" and was chosen for Spotify's RADAR: Early Noise 2022 and as "BEST BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST" at the SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARDS 2022. In March, Once Upon a Revival won the Grand Prize (Blue) at the 14th CD Shop Awards 2022. He released "Talking Box (Dirty Pop Remix) / SPACESHIP" in April, and held his first in-person live shows, "WurtS LIVE 2021-2022", at LIQUIDROOM on April 18 and WWW X on May 18. In May he wrote "Futari Keikaku" for a short film in the "Jun'ewadan" series; in June he hosted the "W's LIVE 2022" tour with PEOPLE 1; in July he contributed "SWAM" to Pocari Sweat's inter-high campaign. With "Cosmic" on August 17, he announced that EMI Records (Universal Music) had joined W's Project. In September WurtS no All Night Nippon 0 aired and he released "Re:Deadstock feat. WurtS", a rebuild of a PEOPLE 1 song. The EP MOONRAKER followed on November 16 and a sped-up version of "Wakattenaiyo" in December. From October he was also a Monday regular on J-WAVE's SONAR MUSIC.

2023

He wrote "Utopia" as the theme for MAPPA's one-million-subscriber YouTube celebration, released "Melt" as a JR SKISKI campaign song, and teamed with Moto of Chilli Beans. on "Time Lag!". His first one-man tour, WurtS LIVEHOUSE TOUR I (15 shows in 9 cities starting March 24), sold out every date immediately. "BORDER", a collaboration with SAKAMOTO DAYS, arrived on June 5, and the digital EP BACK on October 4, followed by LIVEHOUSE TOUR II (12 shows in 11 cities, including Zepp venues) from October 7.

2024

On January 18 he released "SF Tokyo", the insert song for TV Asahi's drama Great Gift and his first drama tie-up. The hall tour WurtS CONCERT HALL TOUR I ran in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka from March 19, and LIVEHOUSE TOUR III (19 shows in 16 cities) began May 21. The EP "Evolution" was released on May 22. "NOISE", the theme for the film Blue Period, followed on July 24, and on September 25 he released "Souls feat. suis from Yorushika", which was used in a Volkswagen Tiguan TV commercial in November. His second album, Genki de Ite ne., was released on October 30, and on October 31 he performed his first Nippon Budokan concert, "WurtS LIVE AT BUDOKAN".

2025 and beyond

On January 9, 2025 he released "BURN", his first collaboration with yama and the second-cour opening of the TV anime Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Disturbance, and began the two-man tour LIVEHOUSE TOUR IV on January 15. The Blu-ray/DVD of WurtS LIVE AT BUDOKAN was released on April 16, and "BEAT", the theme of Nippon TV's drama Koi wa Yami, on April 30. He continued with "Doukashiteru" (July) and "UPDATE" (September), then released the EP Digital Love on November 26. "SOMEDAY" followed on January 14, 2026. On January 23, 2026 he announced an indefinite break due to poor health, cancelling three one-man shows in February and a March joint event, and withdrawing from a festival scheduled for March 22.

Musical Style and Background

WurtS says he was born from the personal research of an unremarkable university student with zero musical knowledge, and treats his music career as one more part of that research. As a child, a Lady Gaga "Poker Face" video he watched through his father's influence amazed him and sparked his interest in music, leading him to overseas music and foreign culture such as film; the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock made him aspire to be a musician. His hallmark is full self-production, covering songs, artwork and video, and his TikTok-born pop has expanded through tie-ups with commercials, dramas, films and anime.