Pop Culture dictionary

(PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen

[pen pahy-nap-uh l ap-uh l pen]

What does (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen mean?

(PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen is a viral novelty song by the Japanese performer Pikotaro. It’s about having a pen, a pineapple, and an apple … and giving Drake some dancing competition.

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Where does (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen come from?

(PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen was released in 2016 by Kazuhito Kosaka, a Japanese comedian better known by his stage names Daimaou Kosaka and persona Pikotaro.

Kosaka says he was inspired to write the song when he picked up a pen to write and thought about the apple trees in his native town while glancing at an open can of pineapple on the table. In the song, while dancing awkwardly to a goofy beat in tacky animal print clothing, Kosaka repeats that he has a pen and an apple, fitting the two words together (“Apple pen!”) and repeating it while miming a pen and pineapple (“Pineapple pen!”).

There’s not much more to the song than that—but that’s its infectious charm.

The deliberately absurdist (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen was produced for roughly just $1,000 in August, 2016. It was initially popular amongst Japanese students, but went viral after superstar Justin Beiber tweeted a link to the music video in September, 2016, stating it was his favorite video.

As of Jun, 2018, (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen had been viewed over 200-million times on YouTube, where there are countless lip-sync and parody versions. It even went #1 on the Japanese Billboard charts and was referenced in the 2017 Emoji Movie. (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen has been called the new “Gangnam Style,” referring to a music video by Korean rapper PSY that went massively viral in 2012.

Examples of (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen

Each evening, they watch the same TV news broadcast of a pre-election Donald Trump, and get Dad to perform a rendition of Pikotaro’s novelty hit, “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen).”
James Hadfield, The Japan Times, June, 2018
The man who brought you the viral YouTube sensation of 2016, "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP)," is booked to perform for the president of the United States next week, according to reports from The Guardian and The Washington Post.
Anna Menta, Newsweek, October, 2017
Yes I do the cooking / Yes I do the cooking / Yes I do the cooking / Yes I do the cookin / Yes I do the cooki / Yes I do the cook / Yes I do the coo / Yes I do the co / Yes I do the c / Yes I do the / Yes I do the p / Yes I do the pp / Yes I do the ppa / Yes I do the ppap / Pen Pineapple Apple Pen
@MaidRips, June, 2018
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Who uses (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen?

(PPAP) Pen Pineapple Apple Pen is mostly sung, viewed, alluded to, or otherwise referenced for the silly joy its intended nonsense brings. Celebrities have performed the song. Its simplicity even united people across cultures and language barriers.

Outside parody videos, (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen also gets amply riffed on in clever images.

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Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of (PPAP) Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen that will help our users expand their word mastery.

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