Dua Lipa dropped a remix of her single “Illusion” featuring Creepy Nuts, Japan’s breakout hip-hop duo that made waves with its viral hit ”Bling-Bang-Bang-Born,” the No. 1 song on Billboard Japan’s mid-year tally for 2024.
“Illusion (Creepy Nuts Remix)” is the latest remix of the track off the “Houdini” artist’s latest album Radical Optimism, released in May. The original, a song about a character that breaks away from her formerly weak self and is now assertive when faced with another potentially toxic relationship, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and also reached the top 10 of the U.K. Official Singles Chart. The song has been streamed more than 250 million times worldwide, and the music video viewed more than 35 million times.
Why was Creepy Nuts tapped to collaborate with Lipa, a Grammy-winning star who recently headlined this year’s Glastonbury? It all started when Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” reached the top 10 on the Billboard Global 200 chart in March. The catchy hip-hop banger peaked at No. 8 and became the fourth song by a Japanese artist/act to break into the top 10 on this tally. The other three are “Glimpses of Us” by Japanese-Australian artist Joji (No. 2 in 2022), “Homura” by LiSA (No. 8 in 2020), and “Idol” by YOASOBI (No. 7 in 2023). “BBBB” also hit No. 3 on the Global 200 Excl. US chart that focuses on all territories outside the United States, and the track’s global breakthrough caught Dua’s attention.
Lipa asked Creepy Nuts to do the remix via her team in Japan and the duo consisting of rapper R-shitei (“R-rated”) and DJ Matsunaga readily agreed to the offer, resulting in the exciting collaboration between two chart-topping global acts. The remix — surprisingly, it was the “Nidone” pair’s first collaboration with an artist from outside their home country — combines Matsunaga’s catchy track with R’s signature rapid-fire bars and lyrics paying homage to the “Levitating” singer’s past works by including their titles.
“The track turned out well, and it was a fresh challenge that brought out a new side of us as well,” says Matsunaga, while R notes, “I looked to the original lyrics of Dua Lipa’s ‘Illusion’ and participated in the world it depicted, letting the illusionist in me appear in the lyrics that I wrote.”
Dua Lipa is set to return to Japan for the first time in six years this November for two arena shows, which sold out on the day tickets went on sale. The “Dance the Night” songstress has been recognized by Spotify as “the first artist in history to hold five songs with over 2 billion streams” and “the 25th most listened-to artist of all time.” Her album “Radical Optimism” has been streamed over 2 billion times worldwide and topped the Official UK Albums chart, making her one of the world’s top artists in both name and reality.
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” recently dominated Billboard Japan’s mid-year Japan Songs chart — a tally that tracks songs from Japan being listened to in countries around the world — by topping the lists for six countries. On July 20, the “Nobishiro” duo performed at the AFEELA Pregame Performance at Dodger Stadium Center Field in Los Angeles, performing live for the first time in the U.S. Creepy Nuts will hit the stage in Tokyo Dome for the first time for their LIVE at TOKYO DOME concert on Feb. 11, 2025.
“[The remix] is precisely us, and it’s also a new side of us that was brought out because the song was Dua Lipa’s ‘Illusion,’” say the duo. “It’s in both English and Japanese but turned out smooth; we hope you enjoy it.”
Dua adds: “Be sure to listen to the remix by these two amazing talents.”
Stream “Illusion (Creepy Nuts Remix)” here: http://dualipa.lnk.to/illusioncreepynuts
