KUROMI

KUROMI is Sanrio’s black-hooded character and self-styled rival to My Melody, introduced in 2005, who has developed into a recording and live artist in her own right. Her music activity began on her birthday, October 31st, 2021, with the launch of Sanrio’s #KUROMIFYTHEWORLD project, which centres on encouraging people to become the best version of themselves. The project opened with the music video for ‘Greedy Greedy’, KUROMI’s first original song as an artist, with lyrics by Ameko Kodama and music and arrangement by Takafumi “CO-K” Kokei. The song subsequently arrived on streaming services that December. In 2023, KUROMI featured on British singer-songwriter Mae Stephens’ ‘Cheeky But Charming’, bringing the project into an international artist collaboration.

KUROMI began full-scale music activity in 2025 with a major-label debut through TOY’S FACTORY. Her first EP, ‘KUROMI IN MY HEAD’, arrived on October 22nd, 2025 and paired KUROMI with a varied group of Japanese creators, with Satomi Shigemori and MAPLE HONEY on ‘KUROMI♡Profile’, Shuichi Mabe on ‘Happy Halloween!!’, Kairiki Bear on ‘Tuning Dancer’, Daoko and Hidefumi Kenmochi on ‘Dolce Vita’, and lilbesh ramko on ‘OHIRUNE DAY DREAM’. TOY’S FACTORY described the EP as genreless, with each of its five tracks approaching KUROMI from a different musical direction. She celebrated its release the same day with her first live performance as the artist KUROMI, a free show for around 700 people at KABUKICHO TOWER STAGE in Kabukicho Cinecity Plaza, Shinjuku, where she performed using her 3D-look artist design. On December 28th, 2025, she made her music-festival debut at COUNTDOWN JAPAN 25/26.

In January 2026, KUROMI took the project on the road for her first tour, the three-date KUROMI Tomeihan Zepp TOUR 2026 ‘KUROMI IN MY HEAD’, playing Zepp Namba, Zepp Nagoya, and Zepp DiverCity Tokyo with guests PEOPLE 1, NOMELON NOLEMON, Daoko, Todoroki Hajime, WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA, and PeanutsKun. Her second EP, ‘HYPER KUROMISM’, followed on June 24th, 2026, with contributions from Takuya Koyama, Rockwell, Yuho Kitazawa, TAKU INOUE, Tamaya2060%, Takuya Nakayama, Hayato Komiya, and Daiki Okuno. It also gave KUROMI her first lyric-writing credit, on ‘DETARAME’.

KUROMI’s live activity moved overseas in August 2026, when she performed on all three days of KCON LA for her first overseas live performance. Her next collaboration, ‘DND feat. KUROMI’ with Ado, is due for release on September 25th, 2026 after KUROMI approached Ado with an offer to work together. The song continues the self-affirming thread that has run through KUROMI’s music since #KUROMIFYTHEWORLD, tuning out outside noise and other people’s expectations while encouraging listeners to follow their own path.