So, there has been a recent flood of female rappers in the Asian music scene; if you don’t have a rapper in your girl group in Korea then you’re not a girl group at all! Granted that only applies to this generation of girl groups, but still… it’s very… I’m not sure I like it. Each song has a rap intro and/or outro. I blame Yubin from Wonder Girls. But she’s ace, so I’ll let her off. JASMINE is a J-pop singer who debuted this year with sad to say which is pretty awesome! It has a cute melody, her rapping skills are pretty sweet too. The song isn’t overly produced like a lot of music these days, but it does sound a bit dated, not a bad thing, but you can totally hear it playing on a 90s radio station. Sadly, she dresses a bit like Jentina… which is horrific.
Abe Mao – Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu
4 SepI recently discovered this artist whilst going through WordPress, jumping from blog to blog. I’m pleasantly surprised. She has a very distinct voice, it reminds me of JYONGRI’s, with a bit of Koda Kumisan thrown in too. Her sound is a mixture of pop and rock and seems to be an edgier and more mature version of YUI. That’s not to say I don’t love YUI, but to me, one of YUI’s strong points is her vulnerability, I think Abe Mao is more fierce. Check out my favourite song of hers below~
aiko – milk
4 SepI guess I’m a pretty bad blogger for not being up-to-date with the goings on in the J-pop world. I used to be on it! But now I’m happy to just wait for my favourite artists to put out new songs. But I shouldn’t be like this! The Japanese music industry is alive and kicking ^_^ This song is by aiko, who is amazingly popular in Japan but doesn’t seem to covet fame like Kumisan or Hamasakisan. I never really got into aiko though, granted, she’s a good singer. Her voice is very interesting and she makes great little indie-pop records which I should love! Maybe I should pay her more heed. I love her song 星のない世界 (Hoshi no Nai Sekai; which was Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate’s theme song) but other than that, don’t know much about her. But this little song is sweet and refreshing – just like a good glass of milk ^_~ It’s got a little bit of a jazzy/reggae sound going on. I like it lots.
Koda Kumi – Alive/Physical Thing
4 SepI don’t really like Koda Kumi… Her voice isn’t one that I find very nice to listen to and her style isn’t one that I like. Having said that though, she does release quite good music now and again. Particularly like her Winter themed releases and there were a few good songs on Kingdom. She’s releasing a new single soon (I think she’s trying to beat Ayumi Hamasakisan to most singles released by an artist ever in the whole history of time and space). Alive/Physical Thing is one half ballad and one half dance tune. I prefer the former, because it has some European instruments going on. Kind of like when I heard Christina Milian’s Dip It Low and was like: ‘!!! That has Asian sounds!’; I’m lame, I know.
Angela Aki – 愛の季節 (Ai no Kisetsu)
4 SepI was thinking today that this blog is a little bit K-popcentric… I rarely post about anything but K-pop… I think it needs to open up a bit! So! I’m posting about one of my favourite J-pop artists (arguably second behind Utada Hikaru). Angela Aki is awesome and not necessarily what you’d expect from the bright lights of Japan’s pop world. She’s like… Dido… but with bigger hair and glasses. Don’t let this put you off though! She writes beautiful songs and has an amazing voice. She recorded the Final Fantasy XII theme song. Anyways, I always witter too much about stuff. She’s finally back after being away for ages with a new song, Ai no Kisetsu (Seasons of Love). It’s the theme song for some J-dorama. I don’t watch J-doramas or animes or anything so I don’t really know about them. It’s beautiful, I love it ^_^ PV is very beautiful; I’m so thrilled she’s back!
BoA’s 9th Anniversary – Top 9 BoA MVs
3 SepBoA recently celebrated her 9th year in the music industry (can you believe it? in the industry for 9 years and only 22!); to honour this achievement I’ve decided to post my top 9 BoA MVs/songs. Enjoy~
Do The Motion, from 2005’s Outgrow, is arguably BoA’s finest song. Produced with a sweet, summery jazz sound, it showed BoA’s versatility and hit the top spot of Japan’s Oricon chart. It remains BoA’s only number 1 single to date. The video is pretty sweet; the European feel and BoA’s simple dance routine compliment the sound of the song really well. You can tell BoA worked really hard on this single and it deservedly is my number 1.
This next song is one of my favourite songs of all time! It’s the song I listen to when I’m in a great mood and it makes me even happier. It’s also the song I listen to in the mornings if I need a bit of get up and go. Sweet Impact is from BoA’s 2007 album, The Face and was pretty successfuly (reaching the top 5 of the Oricon). The Face is a great album (my favourite BoA album for sure). Although, actually, when I first heard this single I was disappointed and didn’t listen to it again for a good while. A few months later I was hooked ^_^ The MV is awesome too, BoA does a great homage to Michael Jackson
QUINCY was the song that started it all for BoA and me. Released in 2004 on her Best of Soul best of album, it was one of the first J-pop songs I got into aside from Utada. In fact, BoA is the second J-pop artist I got into after Utada so she always has a soft spot in my heart. Who’d have thought I’d still be loving her 5 years later? I can remember listening to this song, getting hooked, coming into college the next day and telling everyone about it. It’s not BoA’s most famous song, but I love it ^_^
永遠; Eien (Forever) was released as a promotional single from BoA’s japanese release of her debut English language album (which was released with a best of album; the whole release was called Best & USA – does that make sense? ^^;). From the very first time I heard this song I loved it. It was a return to the BoA that I loved. Catchy melodies, a hook of a chorus, sweet vocals. It’s one of my favourite BoA songs ever and shows how BoA has matured as an artist over the years.
メリクリ; Meri Kuri (Merry Christmas) is also from her Best of Soul album. It was BoA’s first Christmas themed song and hit number 5 on the Oricon charts. I love this song, it’s very simple and very sweet. I love Christmas and love Christmas songs so this is perfect for me ^_^ It also shows off BoA’s very good voice (something for which she is not always given credit). The MV is simple as well and shows a softer side of BoA.
This retro BoA! Amazing Kiss is about 8 years old and taken from her very first Japanese album Listen to My Heart. It’s very very 90s pop (overly produced should I say?). This is a bit silly, but I love it ^_^ It’s weird to see BoA so young and being so talented. Especially considering the fact that 8 years ago I was messing about in class.
Valenti is BoA’s biggest selling single (with over a 200,000 copies sold), it’s a catchy pop song with a real dance vibe. I think this is what people would suggest BoA’s sound to be like. I like this song, it’s cool, it’s not my favourite song though but if it comes on, I don’t mind tapping along to it ^_^ There’s Japanese, Korean and English versions to boot! My favourite is probably the Japanese one though.
This is another Christmas inspired song. It was a huge success for BoA (which I think she was surprised by). It was narrowly beaten to the top of the charts. It’s a beautiful ballad with BoA proving that she can sing beautifully with heartfelt emotion and not just dance around to club beats. Winter Love is perhaps one of her best songs and should perhaps be higher up on this list… *scratches head*
I Did It for Love is BoA’s second English single and features the vocal and production talents of Sean Garrett. It’s a killer tune! It’s an awesome song! It’s a bit repetitive and I know BoA has been slated by a lot of people for still having an accent. But I think that’s rubbish, I can understand her perfectly well and she’s Korean! What’s the problem with accents? Not everyone has to sing in the same General American accent to be successful. Sadly, BoA’s American career doesn’t seem to be going too well, perhaps America is just not ready for an Asian popstar yet. Which is a shame, there’s loads of a talent there. Anyways! This rounds up the list. I hope you enjoyed it, I wish BoA many more years of success! I I I I I did it did it did it for love~ ^_^
BoA – I Did It for Love
17 AprSooo… the video for the much hyped second single from BoA’s self-titled English debut album, I Did It for Love, has recently dropped! And it’s pretty darn awesome! I’ve never seen BoA dance as amazing as she does in the video. It’s non-stop, incessant dancing something special! It’s amazing! The video reminds me of Rihanna’s Umbrella a lot, but I can’t think of any singer/entertainer that can dance as good as BoA. No one. Nope, no one at all! Britney, Ciara, Rihanna, Shakira, Beyonce, whoever you want to suggest, BoA, technically, is a much better dancer!
The song itself is also pretty cool, definitely one of the best from her album. I also think this being treated more like the proper first single, Eat You Up was more of a taster, to introduce BoA to the country, and now this is the proper single. Anyways! Check it out! It’s definitely my favourite PV of the year so far!
平 和 愛
BoA – 永遠
18 Feb
平 和 愛
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