Hatsune Miku and Grimes Release New Collab Single “Miku-Maxxing”
Image by James RichardsonGrimes has teamed up with Hatsune Miku and Japanese Vocaloid producer SatapanP for Miku-Maxxing, the first single from a new international project designed to push Vocaloid music further into the global mainstream.
Miku-Maxxing arrived across major music streaming services on August 14 alongside an official music video, marking the first release from the upcoming collaborative EP EMERGE M♡DE MIKU.
Hatsune Miku began as singing voice software developed by Crypton Future Media before growing into one of Japan’s most recognizable virtual performers, inspiring an enormous online music community alongside concerts, games and collaborations around the world.
The new track pairs Canadian electronic artist Grimes with SatapanP, the Vocaloid producer behind songs including YABABAINA and Singularity-Rarari, bringing together two creators with very different backgrounds in internet-driven music.
SatapanP has quickly become one of the more prominent names in the current Vocaloid scene, passing one million YouTube subscribers within two years of debuting while YABABAINA has accumulated more than 15 million views.
The official Miku-Maxxing music video places Hatsune Miku inside a game-inspired digital world referred to as Cyberland, where the environment gradually breaks apart through corrupted code, glitches and collapsing virtual scenery.
Low-poly visuals, animation and mixed-media elements are combined throughout the video, tying its constantly shifting digital setting closely to the project’s wider focus on music, technology and virtual performance.
Miku-Maxxing is the opening release from BEYOND BORDERs, a joint Japanese and US music initiative created by Dwango to connect established international artists, producers and songwriters with Vocaloid producers working in Japan.
The project is intended to help Japanese Vocaloid creators reach a larger international audience through collaborative songwriting and releases aimed directly at the global music market, with Los Angeles-based music venture Nebula17 leading its US A&R and marketing strategy.
Several major international artists are already attached to EMERGE M♡DE MIKU, including Grimes, Odetari, George Clanton, Frost Children, MOLIY, slayr and XAMIYA.
Japan’s side of the project includes SatapanP alongside picco and jon-YAKITORY, while its wider production team brings in songwriters and producers who have previously worked with artists including Ariana Grande, Tate McRae, Bad Bunny, KATSEYE and XG.
The concept was first introduced earlier this year before material from the project was presented in the US during JAPAN MUSIC VOCALOID at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles, where SatapanP and picco appeared alongside kz(livetune), TeddyLoid and HachiojiP.
Miku-Maxxing is available to stream now, while the complete EMERGE M♡DE MIKU EP is currently scheduled to arrive in September 2026.
Additional singles and further information about the artists involved are set to be revealed as the project builds toward the EP’s release.
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