"PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)" (Japanese: ペンパイナッポーアッポーペン, Hepburn: Penpainappōappōpen) is a single by Pikotaro, a fictional singer-songwriter created and portrayed by Japanese comedian Daimaou Kosaka.[1][2] It was released as a music video on YouTube on 25 August 2016, and has since become a viral video. As of January 2024[update], the official video has been viewed more than 160 million times.[3] PPAP spawned parodies, and was hailed as the new "Gangnam Style" by various newspapers and online media.[4][5] The single itself reached number 1 on the BillboardJapan Hot 100 chart. At the time of its release (with a duration of 0:45), it became the shortest single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, a record that was later broken by Kid Cudi's "Beautiful Trip" (0:37).[6] At the end of 2016, the song charted at number 6 on Japan Hot 100 Year-end Chart.
On 4 April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pikotaro uploaded a remix of the song titled "PPAP-2020". In the remix, Pikotaro pretends to combine his hands with soap, and repeats "Wash! Wash! Wash! Wash!" while pretending to wash his hands. In the end, he tells the viewers to "Pray for People And Peace."[7][8] In Mashin Sentai Kiramager the Movie: Be-Bop Dream, Muryo Hakataminami, portrayed by Kosaka, sings PPAP to wake the Kiramagers.[citation needed]
Background and composition
Kosaka, the creator of "PPAP", said in an interview that he came up with the song sitting in his house. He was listening to the tune when he picked up a pen to start writing. He thought about his background of being from Japan's biggest apple-producing region (Aomori Prefecture) as he also realized that he had an open can of pineapple slices on the table.[9]
The song originated as a music video released on YouTube on 25 August 2016. In the video, Pikotaro, dressed in a yellow snake/leopard animal print costume, dances around, and then sings English lyrics like "I have a pen, I have an apple. Uh! Apple pen" while making the gestures of holding the named items and combining them. The video's expense was about 100,000 yen.[9][11]
On 26 September, Pikotaro released a video on how to do the dance and the gestures.[12] On 27 October, Pikotaro posted a "long version" of the music video.[13]
On 17 November, Pikotaro made an appearance on the Japanese edition of Sesame Street, where he joined Elmo and Cookie Monster in singing their version of the song titled "CBCC (Cookie-Butter-Choco-Cookie)".[14][15]
Pikotaro has since revisited the compounding-words concept of PPAP in later music videos, such as the musically similar "Beetle Booon But Bean in Bottle (BBBBB)" [sic].[16]
Release
"PPAP", alongside three other works by Pikotaro, was released to digital storefronts through Avex Music Creative on 7 October 2016.[17] An instrumental version of the song was made available on 12 October 2016.[18]
Reception
Viral spread
The video accumulated about 1 million hits in its first month of play.[19] Kosaka remarked it was mostly popular among Japanese students.[9] On 27 September 2016, Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber shared the video on Twitter, captioning it as his "favorite video on the Internet".[19] The video had since gone viral, averaging over 1.5 million hits a day, and being touted as the new "Gangnam Style" by various newspapers and online media.[20][21][22] It has spawned many videos from people doing their own versions. On the YouTube music video charts it reached number 1,[23] and stayed there for three weeks in a row.[24] A PPAP Cafe in Tokyo was open for 20 days starting from 1 November 2016.[25]
Chart performance
The song debuted at number four on the BillboardJapan Hot 100 dated 22 October 2016.[26] The following week it climbed to number three[27] and the week after that it peaked at number two.[28] After dropping to number three, it topped the chart for the 14 November edition.[29]
The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States at number 77, and at 45 seconds in length, becoming the shortest song to chart in its history at the time. The previous shortest song was "Little Boxes" by The Womenfolk, which reached number 83 in 1964 and was 1 minute and 2 seconds in length.[30] The fact was recognized by Guinness World Records.[11][31] The song has since reappeared twice more, at number 82 for the week of 26 November, and 93 the week of 3 December.[24]
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