Japan’s JP The Wavy dropped down a few notches from last year, but not for lack of hustle. He had another great year, but the competition was rough! From what we already know about the year coming up, expect Wavy to be easily in the top five again next year. First off, Wavy is not new to this. He’s been steadily turning out hits and dope videos ever since he broke through with 2017’s ‘Cho Wavy de Gomenne,’ and he hasn’t looked back.

In 2024, he blew the art form wide open when he collaborated with contemporary street art icon Takashi Murakami for his art exhibit in Kyoto. They joined forces for a new song and some wonderfully blinged-out merch, and Mononoke Brothers AKA MNNK Bro. was born. Then this year they did it again, this time with Louis Vuitton for Murakami’s new collection, complete with a dope new single and video, ‘LV Murakami’, and a surprise performance at Art Basel in Hong Kong. We hear a bigger production is in the works, but we can’t let the cat out of the bag yet.

Considering Hip Hop’s roots are at the nexus between music and visual art, JP The Wavy is building on a tradition that includes everyone from Fab 5 Freddy, Rammellzee, and Jay Z. Now that’s dope.