Yuki Chiba

, formerly known by his stage name Kohh, is a Japanese rapper, singer, and songwriter.

Early life Chiba was born in Oji, Kita, Tokyo, Japan. He was raised by a single mother along with his younger brother, a fellow rapper known as Lil Kohh. His Korean father, whose Korean surname (고 / Koh) became the basis of Chiba's stage name, died by suicide after jumping off an apartment building while high on drugs. Chiba's mother struggled with an addiction to methamphetamine. Chiba grew up around violence and drugs along with his crew of local friends.

Career

Chiba started producing and recording music at the age of 18 with while making various mixtapes, until he met producer 318 and started releasing material under the label Gunsmith Production. He saw an early underground success within the sub-urban Japanese scene when he produced Lil Kohh's song "Young Forever". The accompanying music video went viral in Japan.

In 2014, Chiba released his major 2nd studio album titled Monochrome. The album was a fair success among the urban acts and its lead track had a big reception on YouTube.

In 2015, KOHH along with Japanese artist Loota collaborated with Keith Ape's track "It G Ma" (잊지마) which became a major hit single in Japan and South Korea apart from gaining international media attention. Back in Japan, Kohh resumed his work and continued working on his album Dirt after releasing his delayed first album 梔子 (Gardenia). Dirt was released on October 28. The album was also released internationally via iTunes in October 23. Chiba was featured along with OG Maco on the track "Buchiagari" by Japanese DJ Ryow.

In 2016, Kohh collaborated with Frank Ocean on the single "Nikes", available on the physical album copy of Blonde. Chiba was featured in a song by Japanese American singer Hikaru Utada, titled "Bōkyaku", from their sixth Japanese album Fantôme.

In 2018, Chiba was featured in an exclusive bonus track "Runway", in the Japanese iTunes version of Mariah Carey's Caution album.

Chiba's fifth studio album Untitled was released by Nippon Columbia on February 2, 2019.

In 2021, Chiba retired the moniker Kohh, choosing to go by his birth name Yuki Chiba. He would later state in 2024 that he would no longer be performing any songs from the era as well. Chiba took a three-year career break before returning on February 12, 2024. He uploaded an official music video called "Team Tomodachi" (チーム友達), which went viral. Team Tomodachi has had multiple remixes with other artists such as Duke Deuce, ¥ellow Bucks, Jin Dogg, Bun B, Watson, and many more.

Chiba was featured on American rapper Megan Thee Stallion's 2024 track "Mamushi" from her album Megan. The song went viral on social media and became Chiba's first-ever entry into the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 68. He made his US TV debut at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards when he performed the song alongside Megan Thee Stallion.

In November 2024, American artist Will Smith released his own remix of "Team Tomodachi", marking one of the highest-profile Western collaborations on the track. Smith announced the remix to his 70 million Instagram followers, later sharing a video teaser that amassed over 3.5 million views.

Reception Chiba has been mentioned several times as a major influential force to the Japanese hip hop scene in recent years. Chiba has occasionally criticized how small the hip hop scene is in Japan and has tackled major mainstream TVs for its negligence of noticing hip hop. Chiba has also been praised for his smart use of topics like drug use and violence within the Japanese society which are considered controversial in the country. After being featured in "잊지마" (It G Ma, Korean for "don't forget"), KOHH received even bigger praise from international audiences who recognized his use of the phrase 'Arigatō' (Japanese for "Thank you") in his verse as one of the highlights of the hit Korean-Japanese collaboration and praised the artist, whose performance on the track helped launch his career. M-flo's Taku Takahashi has appointed Chiba as one of the main acts in the Japanese hip hop renaissance.

Several videos featuring Chiba have gone viral on social media like YouTube, Facebook and Vine among others.

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Oricon chart Monochrome Released: July 30, 2014 Label: Gunsmith Productions Formats: CD, digital download 57 梔子 (Gardenia) Released: January 1, 2015 Label: Gunsmith Productions Formats: CD, digital download 26 Dirt II Released: June 17, 2016 Label: Gunsmith Productions Formats: CD, digital download 38 Untitled Released: February 2, 2019 Label: Nippon Columbia Formats: CD, digital download 80 Worst Released: April 29, 2020 Label: Nippon Columbia Formats: CD, digital download 12 The Lost Tapes Released: September 25, 2022 Formats: Digital download n/a Team Tomodachi (The Remixes) Released: 2024 Formats: Digital download n/a Star Released: December 11, 2024 Formats: Digital download n/a

Mixtapes List of mixtapes, with selected deals TitleDetailsYellow Tape Released: November 28, 2012 Collection of Chiba lead songs and featuresYellow Tape 2 Released: August 31, 2013 Collection of Chiba lead songs and featuresYellow Tape 3 Released: June 30, 2015 Collection of Chiba lead songs and featuresYellow Tape 4 Released: December 20, 2016 Collection of Chiba lead songs and featuresComplete Collection 1 Released: May 20, 2015Complete Collection 2 Released: May 20, 2015

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist TitleYear AlbumNotes"Gimme the Lights"(DJ Tatsuki & DJ Chari featuring Yuki, KOHH, and Young Freez)2012A.C.E. Time 2nd Season"I Need Her Remix"(Vito (Squash Squad) featuring Nipps, KOHH and Cherry Brown)Yellow Tape"New Days Move (Remix)"(Aklo featuring Salu, Staxx T(Cream), KOHH & Shingo☆西成) "G.O.L.D"(DJ Ken Watanabe featuring KOHH)2013"G.O.L.D Part 2"(DJ Ken Watanabe featuring KOHH, Kayzabro and The Y's)"Don't Stop Remix"(DJ Ryow featuring DJ Ty-Koh, KOHH, Dizzle and Socks)"Bank to Bank"(Anarchy featuring KOHH)DGKA (Dirty Ghetto King Anarchy)"Hate That Booty"(Zeebra featuring Y's and KOHH)25 To Life"Somewhere"(Loota featuring KOHH)Dessin"Boyfriend #2 (Remix)"(Kowichi featuring Young Hastle, KOHH and DJ Ty-Koh)2014The Diner"プリンス"(Y's featuring KOHH, Mony Horse, and Jigg)Love Hate Power"Turn Up"(DJ Ryow featuring KOHH, Smith-CN and Zeebra)#Idwt – In Dreams We Trust"Hiroi sekai"(Relax Rekords featuring KOHH, J $tash, and Young Sachi)Relax Gang Vol. 1"aaight"(DJ Souljah featuring KOHH, Maria (Simi Lab))"Break the Records (Remix)"(AKLO featuring KOHH & 漢)The Arrival"I'm So High"(T.O.P. featuring KOHH)Underworld Anatomy"Moon Child"(Anarchy featuring KOHH)New Yankee" #ヤッチャッタ"(Minmi featuring KOHH)2015New Minmi Friends -"Bad" "Minmi" To Iu Neta wo Rapper Track Maker Ga Douryouri Shitanoka-"ピラミッド"(Salu & the dreambandgunjo featuring KOHH)The Calm"Troy"(Lord 8erz featuring KOHH, 三島, and RAW-T)8ERZ EP"Lollipop (DJ KM Remix)"(JOYSTICKK featuring KOHH)"Tomareranai"(JOE IRON featuring KOHH, Steelo and Yuki a.K.A. Juto)Yellow Tape 1"チョーヤバイ"(GOKU GREEN featuring KOHH and MonyHorse)Yellow Tape 2"Hood rich"(J $tash featuring KOHH)Yellow Tape 3"般若 (Kazoku)"[(Hannya) 家族 feat. Chiba]"잊지마 (It G Ma)"(Keith Ape featuring JayAllday, loota, Okasian, KOHH)"Mix Grillz"(DJ☆GO featuring KOHH and HORI)Best for Crusing"Let Me Know"(タイプライター&YMG featuring AK-69 and KOHH)La La Palooza"Don't Get Me Started"(J $tash featuring KOHH)Hood Rich"24 7"(Brandon Thomas featuring KOHH)Good Things Take Time Vol. 3"Buchiagari"(DJ RYOW featuring KOHH and OG Maco)"Break'em All"(TeddyLoid featuring KOHH)Silent Planet"Bash"(SOCKS featuring KOHH)Never Dream This Man"All In"(Dumbfoundead featuring CA$HPASSION and KOHH)2016We Might Die"Air Force 1"(Barry Chen featuring Kenzy and KOHH)Rocking Gold"Bōkyaku"(Hikaru Utada featuring KOHH)Fantôme"Nikes"(Frank Ocean featuring KOHH)BlondeFeatured version appears only in a special CD edition."24365"(5lack featuring KOHH)2018"We Talkin Bout"(Higher Brothers featuring KOHH)2019Five Stars"Runway (Remix)"(Mariah Carey featuring KOHH)2022CautionRemix version appears only in Japanese digital edition. "Mamushi"(Megan Thee Stallion featuring Yuki Chiba)2024Megan No. 36 – Billboard Hot 100"JJK"(MGK with Yuki Chiba)2026

Accolades

MTV Europe Music Award 2017 KOHH Best Japan Act Space Shower Music Video Awards 2016 KOHH Best Hip Hop Artist 2017 KOHH Best Hip Hop Artist