In late October, a beloved L.A. duo, Valerie Akiko Campbell and Justin Romero of Freak City , met with another beloved duo in Tokyo, Nene and Ryugo Ishida of the Yurufuwa Gang .
Freak City is a cult fashion brand and the Yurufuwa Gang is a rap duo, but in the words of Campbell and Romero, “[we] speak the same language when it comes to fashion and art” — all four artists got their start in underground subcultures. “We share similar triumphs and struggles — from working with our partners and love being the foundation of it all.” They add, laughing: “We also both believe in aliens.
” Ishida describes coming together with Nene as nothing short of “miraculous.” The two met at a nightclub eight years ago and have since produced five albums together. “It’s everything together.
Job together, life together,” says Nene, though they’ve recently started to pursue solo work again. Nene is on tour this year with a new album, “Gekiatsu,” and Ishida will go on tour next year. The duo cites L.
A. — “the music, the vibe, the fashion” — as a major influence. “We made our second album in Los Angeles, that was our dream,” says Nene.
“People in Los Angeles really embraced us and gave us confidence.” For the shoot, Freak City made two custom looks for Nene and Ishida that merge the worlds of L.A.
and Tokyo, pulling from “kawaii, punk and rap star.” The Yurufuwa Gang were also joined by nightlife icon Sunny Bunny, DJ Bananaoka and Dasa, the owner of .
