Key Takeaways
- Takashi Murakami has spent three decades shaping music culture visually for artists from Kanye West and Pharrell to Billie Eilish and NewJeans.
- Murakami has been part of some of the biggest musical moments in that span, from Kanye's Graduation rollout to Pharrell's "It Girl" video. Along the way he's also worked with Future, J Balvin, Drake, Post Malone, Juice WRLD, and more.
- His newest chapter—as part of the MNNK Bro. supergroup with JP THE WAVY—signals a full evolution: from designing album covers and merch to actively co-creating music, all while staying locked in with a younger generation.
Takashi Murakami can’t sing, rarely raps, and his dance moves appear limited to subtle hand gestures.
Even so, the Tokyo-based contemporary artist has remained instrumental in music over the last three decades, creating cover art for stadium-status albums and centerpiece pianos for rap royalty.
A key figure that Pharrell Williams bows to and Billie Eilish leans on, Murakami’s Superflat theory resonates louder in 2026 than when he created it over a quarter century ago. The rising popularity of anime and manga influences the biggest acts in each hemisphere and across genres, with Murakami still serving as the go-to auteur when visualizing vibes and creating colorful worlds.
His latest collaboration is with 32-year-old Japanese rapper JP THE WAVy. The duo, who call themselves MNNK Bro., have been working on new music—Murakami as writer and muse, JP as performer. Or, as Murakami recently told us, he considers himself the Yoko Ono of the duo.
MNNK Bro is just the latest Murakami venture. Here's a history of his music collaborations over the years.
Check out the cover story with MNNK Bro. (and shop the collection here.)
2007: Kanye West’s Graduation Rollout
Kanye West set his shutter shade sights out East when working on his pop art masterpiece, Graduation.
At every step, Takashi aided aesthetics from Ye’s custom Lester Lampert Jesus Piece to the album’s cover art. An animated “Good Morning” music video and Virgil Abloh-assisted Glow in the Dark Tour merch sealed the deal of the Chicago and Tokyo connection.
In 2017, Murakami spoke with Complex News about how the two connected. According to the artist, Ye had been interested in his work, which eventually led to Kanye visiting Murakami's studio. Murakami also described how they split the creative work on Graduation's cover, with Ye driving the concept and Murakami bringing it to life visually.
2009: The Art Basel “Simple Things” Exhibit with Pharrell Williams
While Pharrell Williams was hitting a low point musically, he turned to visual art alongside Murakami. Their Art Basel piece, "Simple Things," is a diamond-draped meditation on everyday pleasures, housed inside a six-foot sculpture of Mr. Dob. It sold for $2 million in just 30 minutes.
2014: Hatsune Miku’s "Last Night, Good Night (Re:Dialed) Pharrell Williams Remix” Music Video
Hype Williams has Belly, Takashi Murakami has Jellyfish Eyes.
The latter lent itself to a music video for the Skateboard P remix to “Last Night, Good Night,” raising the bar for the visualizers that would soon speak to YouTube-native music consumers.
2014: Pharrell Williams’ “It Girl” Music Video
The fifth and final single from Pharrell’s GIRL album, “It Girl,” got the full-on Murakami treatment in both visuals and art exhibit.
An animated music video produced by Takashi proved the victory lap for Pharrell’s chart-topping comeback, backed by commissioned gallery work showcasing Mr. and Mrs. Williams kissing atop Murakami’s famous flowers.
2017: Future’s Self Titled Album Art
Chemistry textbook covers and clipart have become viral, iconic, and shrewd across Future’s discography.
For his self-titled masterpiece, the Dungeon Family golden child invested in himself by having Murakami leave the loud Pantones at home in favor of a hazy portrait where shaking watch faces eclipse expressions and crystallize a moment.
2018: Kanye West & Kid Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts Album Art
Exploring nostalgic feelings and inventive strokes, Kids See Ghosts saw Kanye and Kid Cudi rekindle their collaborative spirit, while Murakami revisited his 2001 ukiyo-e woodblock print, Maji Fuji.
The album, artwork, and matching merch all felt fresh and familiar, with a studio shot of the three pop art auteurs acting as better promo than any single.
2019: Billie Eilish’s “You Should See Me in a Crown” Music Video
Billie Eilish’s lead single from her solo debut placed the teenage talent at the top of the art world, providing the platform to collaborate with Murakami on the song’s music video and matching merch.
The two titans would re-upped their kinship in 2020 with a Uniqlo capsule collection.
2019: Drake’s October’s Very Own Apparel Capsule
Licensed apparel tied to teams of all types has been the collaborative lifeblood of Drake’s October’s Very Own clothing line.
In 2018, Oliver and company revised the playbook with a capsule collection modeled by Takashi and highlighting his work, envisioning the iconic owl with a familiar flower-like face. The two entities would spin the block with another collaboration just a year later.
2020: J Balvin’s Colores Album Art
Like Ye before, J Balvin began his Murakami conquest with a diamond chain, then ushered in an era of album art.
The unmistakable Colores cover did Diamond numbers on the charts while also crossing over to clothing collabs from Guess.
2020: Bösendorfer Concert Grand 280VC Piano for Drake
Sure, having a bunch of Murakami artwork hanging in the hallway is a huge flex. But what about owning a custom grand piano built by Murakami himself — an instrument that could theoretically help you make hits?
Who's to say whether Aubrey's playing it or letting it collect dust? In either event, it's a flex that stole the show in his "Toosie Slide" video.
2021: Travis Scott x Eliantte & Co Melted Utopia Dream Chain
Honoring his own big brother by way of Graduation-era nostalgia, Travis Scott sought Takashi Murakami for his flooded Jesus Piece as Utopia approached. Half homage, half flexing, the melted medallion served as a precursor for the sonics to come.
While an album rollout inspired the piece, the chain reaction would be fully felt in 2025 when Cactus Jack brought back Murakami for a wide-ranging clothing collection.
2022: Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache Merch
The Post Malone and Takashi Murakami merch for Twelve Carat Toothache subverted expectations and traditional platforms, creating a collision between two unbounded artists.
2023: BLACKPINK’s Pandakashi collection
When K-pop supergroup BLACKPINK collaborated with Murakami in 2023, they debuted a new character: Pandakashi, a panda with colorful teeth featured throughout the capsule collection, which included everything from t-shirts to keychains.
2024: Juice WRLD’s The Party Never Ends Album Art
Months before his tragic passing in 2019, Juice WRLD traveled to Takashi Murakami’s studio to hash out album art concepts.
The finished product wouldn’t be realized for five years, showcasing a sea of fans awaiting the posthumously released and properly titled The Party Never Ends.
2024: MNNK Bro. Supergroup
A playful spirit and timeless art have kept Takashi Murakami in touch with the youth well into his 60s. Such is seen by perhaps his boldest music collaboration yet: the forming of the supergroup MNNK Bro. with rising rapper JP THE WAVY.
From lacing Louis Vuitton with tracks to dropping music videos that place Murakami in the metasphere, the unlikely link-up is unhinged and imaginative in the most Murakami ways possible.
