hololive

Translation by @saku_X3 - these are only sections of the full interview (I think it's here(?) but I'm not JP-fluent). I've OCR'd the text and copied it below with no intentional changes other than formatting.

🟡 RP = Radio Personality (I don't know their name)

🟡 RP: Can you tell us how you got started in rap music?

🔴 Calli: When I was a student, I saw a music video of a band called Fake Type. on YouTube, which got me hooked on Japanese Internet rap. My major at school was animation. I wanted to make animation music videos, but I was really into the band's music, and I wanted to try my hand at rapping.

🟡 RP: How did you feel at first when you started rapping?

🔴 Calli: I was a little scared because I didn't have confidence, and I was a little hesitant, thinking, "Oh no, I want to make it, but I don't want to make it." But thanks to my friends, I got a little more confident, and I thought, "No, I want to try it once, just for a little bit," and I also thought, "Well, if it doesn't work, I'll quit right away" but my friends told me, "No, you'll get good at it someday"

🟡 RP: Your friends gave you power?

🔴 Calli: Yes. I'm very grateful to those two friends. It's thanks to them.

🌠 Suisei: When you debuted, I don't think there were that many Vtubers who make rap music. Did you feel fear that you were gonna use rap music as an asset?

🔴 Calli: I was really scared because HoloEN made a lot of buzz and became more popular than I thought it would. I had a lot of regrets at the start, and I thought, "Maybe I should quit." But thanks to my fans, I gained confidence.

🟡 RP: So Sui-chan, how did you see Calliope's unique style of music when she debuted?

🌠 Suisei: Her first song was so, it's an ordinary word but, it was so cool. It was cool and radical. I don't think there were that many Vtubers who used their radicalism as an asset, especially in hololive. And while there were many people whose weapons were cute, Calli came along with the weapon of coolness, and since I like coolness, I thought, "Omg she's so cool!" and I listened to her songs a lot.

🟡 RP: Did you want to make cool music from the beginning, Calliope?

🔴 Calli: Yes, I've always wanted to write a cool song, but my real personality is a bit of a, you know, clumsy? careless? So there may be a gap, but that's just the way it is, but I want to be cool, so I want to make cool music.

🌠 Suisei: That gap is also her charm.

🟡 RP: Next, I would like to ask you about collab songs. Can you tell us what you value when you collab, Calliope?

🔴 Calli: I really value matching the vibes with my collaborators. I try to utilize each other's strengths and make sure that my sound doesn't detract from my collaborator's strengths. For example, I have been making very dark songs lately, but if they want to make a bright song, I would like to challenge myself and make a song that is a combination of dark and bright.

🌠 Suisei: Are there any collab songs that have left a particularly strong impression on you?

🔴 Calli: "Kira Killer", that I collabed with Zutomayo. I learned a lot about how to rap in Japanese and a lot of other things, and since ACA-Ne has a rather gentle voice, I tried to rap in a calm and gentle way.

🌠 Suisei: Your rap had a gentle vibe.

🟡 RP: So that's what it means to match the vibes.

🔴 Calli: That's right.

🌠 Suisei: Did you write the lyrics together for that long rap in the song?

🔴 Calli: I was told that it should not be 100% English but with a little Japanese. So I asked ACA-Ne to help me add Japanese lyrics.

🌠 Suisei: So first you wrote English lyrics and then ACA-Ne added Japanese?

🔴 Calli: Yes.

🌠 Suisei: I was really curious about how you two wrote the rap part, because the use of Japanese words was very ACA-Ne-san-like. So I'm glad to hear about it today.

🟡 RP: So the vibes were well matched there, too.

🌠 Suisei: I think there are enough elements of both to make me wonder which wrote it, so I think you were able to match the vibes well.

🔴 Calli: Oh, good. I'm glad to hear it.

p.s. Here's Kira Killer