I thought it was about time BJ had a proper J-Pop thread where the few fans of the genre that this forum has can discuss new releases etc.

 

I don't profess to know all that much at all about the genre beyond the past couple of years/the biggest female singers but Kiseki knows a lot, if he sees this thread he'll be able to tell me where I've gone wrong :P To summarise for the BJ female singer fanboys (yes, I include myself in that!) these are the four 'divas' most often grouped together when J-Pop is discussed:

 

Ayumi Hamasaki - Nickname 'Ayu'

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Coverkl6.jpg

She has distinctive (scary) eyes. I don't know much about her and the songs I know I don't much like (she seems bland to me) but she's arguably the most popular, though no longer the biggest-selling, J-pop female.

 

Factfile:

Age: 30

Studio albums: 11

Compilation/Best Of albums: 5

Remix albums: 19 (!)

Singles: 47

Landmark singles: Poker Face (first top 20 single, 1998), Trust (first huge hit), Love: Destiny, Boys & Girls, A (biggest-selling single with over 1.5 million copies sold), Seasons, M, H, Mirrorcle World (adapted from an interlude on her 2007 album Guilty), Days/Green (latest single)

Next release/s: 'Rule/Sparkle' Feb 25th / 'Rule' is the international themetune to the film 'Dragonball Evolution'

In summary: Ayu is inescapable. Her next album (due 09) will sell BIG.

 

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Koda Kumi - Nickname 'Kuu'

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/Kodakumi01-you-01.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Kodakumi03-ddd.01.jpg

Kuu is hilarious. Clumsy, cheeky, like a little kid. She sells the least of these 'big 4', particularly since a comment she made last year about women's amniotic fluids going rotten past the age of 35 which saw promotion for her Kingdom album shelved and her sales halved. Considered by many to be in a bit of a creative lull at the moment... I'm not sure I agree with that.

 

Factfile:

Age: 26

Studio albums: 6

Compilation/Best Of albums: 3

Singles: 41

Landmark singles: Take Back (debut), Real Emotion (first huge hit), Love & Honey, You, No Regret, Won't Be Long ft.Exile, Freaky, Moon, Taboo

Next release/s: Triple A-side single in April / 'Collaboration Best' album (a duets GH basically) & 'Driving Hits' (compilation album) March 25th.

Other notes: For her second BEST (GH) album in 2006, she released 12 singles, one a week for 12 weeks in a row ('You' and 'DDD' from the 12 are pictured above).

In summary: Kuu isn't the force she once was but she's still a major player with a very large fanbase. And she's CUTE!

 

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Namie Amuro

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/60s_70s_80s.jpg

Namie is incredibly popular, lately more so than ever. She's seen as something of an 'underdog' from what I can tell, but with every release she makes a bigger name for herself. On internet forums she's the most talked-about J-pop artist, probably because her music is the most Western/accessible. Namie was hugely popular during the mid-to-late 90s until she switched from a pop/dance-pop musical style to a more R&B sound; her 2000 album Break The Rules sold just 335,000, compared to the 2 million of 1997's Concentration 20. Since then however she's worked hard to create a name and a sound for herself. 2007's Play sold 550k (respectable given the sales slump) and her 2008 GH Best Fiction sold an astounding 1.5 million copies.

 

Factfile:

Age: 31

Studio albums: 8

Compilation/Best Of albums: 4

Singles: 36

Landmark singles: Body Feels Exit, Don't Wanna Cry, Can You Celebrate?, Never End, Baby Don't Cry, 60s70s80s/What A Feeling

Next release/s: Double A-side single 'WILD/Dr.' March 18th / New studio album in 2009

Other notes: 60s70s80s contained three songs, each reflecting a certain era. The 60s song was 'New Look', sampling the Supremes' 'Baby Love'. 70s song was 'Rock Steady' and the highlight was the 80s song 'What A Feeling', which sampled Irene Cara's song of the same name.

In summary: Namie's next album is likely to be a massive seller. She has universal popularity.

 

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Utada Hikaru Nickname: 'Hikki'

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r16/Tiiko416/preview_UtadaHikaru-UltraBlue.jpg

Seen as a bit of a tomboy compared with the glamour of Namie and Ayu and the sluttyness of Kuu, Hikki is the biggest-selling of the 4. Since her debut in 99 she has only released five Japanese studio albums, most recently the million-selling (and amazing) Heart Station in 2008. She is also the only one of the four to have released in English - growing up in America, her English is perfect and so she dabbles in English releases from time to time. 'Exodus' was released in America in 2004, and despite only peaking at #160, she's trying again this year with 'This Is The One' (topic for the single 'Come Back To Me' in R&B) produced entirely by Stargate and Tricky Stewart, with Ne-Yo co-writes.

 

Factfile:

Age: 26

Japanese studio albums: 5

English studio albums: 2 (soon 3)

Compilation/Best Of albums: 1

Singles: 27

Landmark singles: Automatic/Time Will Tell (debut), Addicted To You, Can You Keep A Secret?, Flavor Of Life

Next release/s: English single 'Come Back To Me' (Stargate) / Album 'This Is The One' - released in America on March 24th

In summary: Not always hugely exciting, but a big talent and has the most dedicated fanbase.

 

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Other J-pop artists

Well there are loads obviously, including some hideous and outrageously popular slushy boybands, but of the women, Yui is a relatively new artist who is very popular. Hitomi is one of the most famous of all, but she went from being one of the biggest-sellers during the 90s to selling nothing upon her last album in 2006, a big fall from grace. Amy Suzuki is famous for ripping off English-language artists, especially Kylie Minogue, in every respect from styling to melodies. BoA sings in Japanese, Korean and English and is about to launch an American album (a few of you know 'Eat You Up', the single). I think that's it...

 

Other things to note about J-pop

They release strangely! They have LOADS of double A-side singles. Often a single will have a title and contain two/three a-sides (eg. Koda Kumi's 2008 single 'Moon' contains the a-sides 'Moon Crying' and 'That Aint Cool' ft.Fergie). Albums are usually preceeded by three, even four singles, and then once the album is released no more singles are, which means massive first-week album sales. Often album tracks will be given music videos to help promote the album on release week. Even artists who don't sell that many albums can generally sell out massive arena tours; touring is a necessity basically for all of the J-pop lot. Nearly every J-pop song contains a few phrases spoken in English; it's always fun picking them out!

 

Anyway that's just a summary for anyone wanting to know a little about J-pop. It's the most amazing genre, so much more exciting than British/American/Australian/European pop music...

And while I'm here I'll post about the greatest of them all, Namie, whose new single 'WILD'/'Dr.' just leaked. Listen to 'Dr.' below:

 

 

A-mazing.

I love j-pop music :wub: adore Ayu first of all :heart: and like the other 3 divas as well :D

and Jark can u pls link me with Namies new single in mp3 ^_^ :P

I can't say I listen to j-pop at all. I did like that Koda Kumi song with Fergie that Boyan sent to the BJSC a lot but the song he sent by Namie Amuro sounded quite bad. I reckon I'd like some English songs from this lot if I listened to them.

My favorite j-pop song ever. :wub:

 

 

I've never really been HUGELY into Japanese/Korean music (I always like the odd song but I never fully get into an artist), but I adore Hikki.

I did like that Koda Kumi song with Fergie that Boyan sent to the BJSC

That Ain't Kuu (It's Fergie!) was terrible. :( Such rubbish. There's loads better than that on the TRICK album!

That Ain't Kuu (It's Fergie!) was terrible. :( Such rubbish. There's loads better than that on the TRICK album!

Yes, it is a bit Fergie-heavy which is probably why I like it. Does this album have any other English songs on it?

Only one, 'Venus', a cover of the famous disco song:

 

 

Pretty fun. :P Can you really not cope with Japanese language-songs though? :o

J-Pop singers always have the most amazing style about the way they dress/craft their image. Could give Lady GaGa a run for her money...

Only one, 'Venus', a cover of the famous disco song:

 

 

Pretty fun. :P Can you really not cope with Japanese language-songs though? :o

Ooh, I like that. ^_^

 

It's not just Japanese songs, any language I can't understand. I don't see any point in listening to songs if I don't know what they're saying other than to think "oh, she has a nice voice" since I'm awful at spotting what a badly produced song is, so it's not likely that I'll appreciate the production, even.

I don't get that at all. TBH I never really listen to song lyrics, and I half-speak Japanese anyway, so I guess it's not the best example.

 

My favourite current J-pop act is Perfume. Amazingly crafted edgy girl group pop, make Girls Aloud look like B*Witched. Here's my favourite song of theirs - Chocolate Disco:

 

Very informative read Jark ^_^ I shall take a gander when I have YooToob access ;o

I'm addicted now to Namie's new songs Dr. / Wild :wub:

Kuu :wub:

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/22803673.jpg

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/19965509/trick1.png