I'm African-American as well. And let me tell you. The looks I get when I go around singing her songs, you would think that I'm going around singing about something violent.

My love for music transcends every care that I have to give about anybody else's opinion in this world. I like what music I like because it sounds good, because it has feeling, meaning, and just outright talent. Utada encompasses EVERYTHING I love about a musician. She has RANGE, she can WRITE, she sings with FEELING, and she can do all sorts of vocal acrobatics, which is just an extra added bonus.

Ultra Blue and Distance are equally my favourite albums of hers. Equally, for slightly different reasons. Distance I feel like is her "Oh I bet you didn't think I could really get down, huh?" and then she hits you with songs like Addicted to You, Can You Keep a Secret, WAIT AND SEE, KETTOBASE, like, come on.

Ultra Blue shows her transcendence from just sticking to one genre. She shows here that she can do it all. Trance, Atmospheric, Ambiance, Ethereal, all while keeping her individual sound about her. She's, like, a genius.

The unfortunate thing about her that typical people here in the west seem to dismiss about her is the fact that she IS Japanese and people just don't understand what she's saying, and that turns them away, for whatever reason, before hearing her amazing voice. It's frustrating, I know, I deal with it all the time. My own sister, who, minus rap (I don't like most rap), has pretty much the same taste in music and artists as me, but just can't get behind Utada because she is speaking Japanese in her songs. A sad thing, really, because if you let her, she can change your life. Utada makes you appreciate the finer nuances of music, as you mentioned in your video: Harmony, melody, counter-melody, instrumentals, all of that is well thought out in all of her tracks, and you can tell. This is why I love her.

This went a lot longer than I expected but just know that you are DEFINITELY not alone. *raises hand* I luckily have a few friends that love her as well (not as much as me though), but we're definitely with you 100%.