Ayumu Imazu. He’s the artist behind “Obsessed,” the song and dance challenge that had just about everyone, well, obsessed last year. Born in Osaka, Ayumu Imazu started dancing when he was six. When he turned 14, he spent three years studying in New York, during which time he got a taste for a wide range of different music and dance styles. Today, he weaves together airtight dance moves with laid-back music, all while switching back and forth between Japanese and English seamlessly. There’s no mistaking the Ayumu Imazu vibe. We sat down with the artist to talk about his latest promotions during his recent visit to Seoul, just a day before the release of his new single, “LIVE IT UP!” (feat. Furui Riho), on April 23.

I heard you came to Korea for some video footage. How has your short visit to Seoul been so far? [Note: This interview took place on April 22.]
Ayumu Imazu: I’m here for some YouTube footage and a brief dance challenge collaboration, among other things. There’s a video coming out soon, so people should keep a close eye on TikTok. (laughs) I’m from Osaka, and last night, I had Osaka’s “soul food,” takoyaki, here in Korea. What an unforgettable experience. I was surprised by how much katsuobushi there was. (laughs)

You’ve been performing in a wider range of places over the past few years. For example, you recently toured in the US with MAX, who featured on your song “Obsessed.”
Ayumu Imazu: Let me tell you, performing in concert with MAX in the US felt like I got a performance power-up. While I do tend to have a lot of English lyrics in my songs (laughs) I think it’s about more than lyrics, and that you can connect with people through music and melody, too. And I especially feel like dance is a universal language. I love that about it, and I hope to keep performing in all different kinds of places. I’m mainly based in New York at the moment, but I travel back and forth here and there, including Japan. This whole lifestyle, whether I’m coming to Korea like this or performing in the US, just feels natural to me. It has a positive impact on me.

As many people know, you’ve been immersed in music and dance from a young age. You also studied in New York as a teenager, which was something of a unique path compared to your peers. Did you find you adjusted to that lifestyle fairly easily?
Ayumu Imazu: I moved to New York when I was 14. It’s already been 10 years, but it had a huge impact on me because I was at an age where I absorbed everything like a sponge. The whole experience left a positive imprint on me that persists to this day, and I feel like it’s the whole reason the music I’m making today exists. Naturally I wanted to hang out with friends in my school uniform after school sometimes or join a school club (laughs) but looking back, I’m glad I ended up living a slightly different life. I got to experience things that most people can’t until they’re older, and that’s connected to the music I’m making now.

You place emphasis on the choreography in some of your newer songs. There’s also a sense from your music videos that everything from the theme to the style choices are carefully tied together. Is there anything in particular that you focus on when making your music and presenting it to the world?
Ayumu Imazu: To be honest, I don’t consciously think about choreography when I’m making a song. Dance is just something that’s naturally a part of me, so when I’m making a song or writing a melody, that sense of rhythm kind of just works its way in. That’s probably why, even when I come up with the choreography after I finish writing a song, it still feels natural when people see it. As for making music videos, as you mentioned, I do pay close attention to every little detail. From the theming to the color grading and the outfits, I collaborate with the directors all throughout.

Your song “Obsessed,” which you released last year, became massively popular on social media. Do you now put extra consideration into social media when you’re releasing a song or communicating with listeners?
Ayumu Imazu: There’s times when I feel like my music is a perfect fit for social media, but I don’t consciously make music with social media in mind from the outset. For example, I don’t think “I should do this or that because it’ll go over well on social media” and let that compromise my vision. Having said that, since “Obsessed” blew up thanks to social media, I’m going to keep looking for ways to use it to get the word out about my music.

Your new single “LIVE IT UP!” (feat. Furui Riho) drops on April 23. What are you hoping to say with this song?
Ayumu Imazu: Whenever I’m making music, I always include a message in each song. I write a lot of songs about love, for instance. I like leaving room for listeners to interpret the songs in their own way, so I usually leave some space for that on purpose, but for “LIVE IT UP!” (feat. Furui Riho), I wanted the message to be clear and straightforward. I basically wanted to say, “You only live once, so let’s live it up,” and I think the lyrics capture that perfectly.

Were there any particularly memorable moments from when you were writing or recording it?
Ayumu Imazu: The opening stands out most in my memory. There’s a line that goes, “But I haven’t left the house in a week,” which I wrote when I was in New York in the winter and it was too cold to even go out, so that part feels really real to me. (laughs) I also ended up collaborating with the featured artist after getting the hookup from a fashion label. Furui Riho and I already knew each other, and I always wanted to collaborate with her, so I was super excited when we got the opportunity to sing together.

It seems like you’ve been finding more ways to connect with your audiences lately. You’re in the middle of “HALL TOUR 2025 ‘ERA’” in Japan, with the final show coming up soon. Was there a particular message you wanted to convey to your audiences during this tour?
Ayumu Imazu: I’ve done three tours over the past three years: “knock. knock.,” “RUN4U,” and “EYE TO EYE.” My latest tour is all about the idea of an “ERA,” which symbolizes the end of one era of personal growth while also marking the beginning of a new era. Dancing and singing for audiences during the tours I’ve done so far has really helped me build confidence. What makes me happiest about this latest tour is that I finally have a live band like I always wanted. I see live performances as being like a festival—a place where everyone gets together to enjoy music. In that sense, I hope my concerts will stand out as a highlight of my fans’ lives.

What kind of image do you hope to portray through your music and live performances moving forward?
Ayumu Imazu: For me, it’s important to show my true, authentic self onstage, and even though that’ll always be important to me, as both I and the scale of the stages I perform on continue to grow, I also want to show a more polished, cooler side of myself. I think it’ll feel like a natural progression. Oh, and I performed at a festival in Korea once, but I’d really like to have more opportunities to connect with people in Korea on the stage. I’m always grateful to my Korean fans for listening to my music.