Now, don’t get me wrong. I love j-pop. Utada Hikaru is my second favorite j-pop songstress, following Koda Kumi. She is very vocally gifted, has a marketable personality, quite attractive, and writes her lyrics (always a bonus). So why is it I’m not hearing her music on the radio? Or rather, hearing about her music being on the radio? We all know I detest that thing.
She is one of Japan’s most successful singers, blessed with a voluminous and unwavering Asian fanbase. It’s only natural she would try her hand at success in America but if she really expects to build a loyal fanbase here she better rethink her game plan. How did I hear about her? The same way most Americans (with a TV) did, the Kingdom Hearts commercials. But those came out seven years ago and I hadn’t heard squat from her since then. Funny, since her second English album Exodus came out in April 2004.
And now that her third English album has been released, with already one single out, why is it that the second single is going to be released in Japan only? I thought she wanted to keep her English and Japanese careers separate? I thought she was trying to be successful in America? Now let’s face it, Asian breakthrough in America is difficult. We openly embrace European and South American acts but when was the last time we saw an Asian act successfully break into the American music industry?
What kills me the most about her English works is the lyrics. It’s common knowledge that in j-pop the lyrics are not meant to make sense. They are poetically unintelligible in a quirky, catchy way. American lyrics (halfway decent ones anyway) are clever and tend to rhyme. In her Japanese song “誰かの願いが叶うころ” (“When Someone’s Dreams Come True”) she croons, “To the extent of the small Earth’s rotations, I learn to be kinder. Once more, I want to embrace you as softly as I can.” Now that’s beauty right there, I knew I loved this song for a reason (never read the English translation until now). But her first single from her second English album, “Easy Breezy”, tells us another story. “I still remember the ways that you touched me. Now I know I don't mean anything to you. You're easy breezy and I'm Japanesey. Soon you'll mean exactly nothing to me.”
Ya know that turntable scratching sound you hear in movies and such as a sound effect, the one that is usually used at a “Say what?!” moment? Yeah, that just went off.
Japanesy. Japanesey. Japanesey?! Say what?! Remember how I said before she’s a singer-songwriter? Yeah, you see where I’m going with this. It’s bad enough she’s working with big names like Timbaland and L.A. Reid, because then we actually expect it to be quality material. Had she been working with no name producers we might be a little more open-minded and receptive to her works.
Oricon, a Japanese music stats company reports that 誰かの願いが叶うころwas in first place on the Weekly Singles Chart for 22 weeks, as well as number one on the Daily Singles Chart and fourteen on the yearly singles chart. Easy Breezy, which was released the same year, failed to chart.
Her promotional efforts have not been the greatest either, and even the Japanese media is criticizing her for it. I would provide details for this one but sadly they are far and few between. Her promotional attempts are just that bad I suppose. I can say that on the Billboard 200 her latest English CD reached 69. I own it, and lyrically it is only a step up above her previous flop because she sounds generic and manufactured, mainstream music fodder. So I ask you again, why is it she hasn’t found success on the American radio? Commercial is what you need to be to have a hit.
Fun fact- Elton John predicted that “She could be the first Japanese recording artist to really make it in the West.”
Juno Recommends-
- Read- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31175-2004Oct13.html (an interview she gave back in 2004 about Exodus, the CD featuring Easy Breezy)
- Watch- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinuGu8WSZY (a collection of Japanese Nintendo DS commercials with Utada’s song Easy Breezy)
- Listen- ULTRA BLUE (my favorite album of hers, features the lovely誰かの願いが叶うころ)
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