Taku Takahashi wants you to know, he's a positive person.

The producer and DJ, who is one half of the group m-flo, says that when he controversially tweeted "F*ck Jpop 2012" three years ago, it was more of a plea for something new than old-fashioned Net rage.

"It was about the industry and the format," Takahashi tells The Japan Times at the recent Waku Waku +NYC festival in New York. "When the term 'J-pop' was created, it was an alternative. People needed it in the 1990s to separate themselves from kayōkyoku (Japanese-style pop music). 'J-pop' had more of an American or European influence, so it needed a name — people like Tetsuya Komuro and Misia. But it's not something different anymore ... we call everything J-pop.