J-pop prepares an assault on the West in '09
.......from Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20090101r1.html


Sorry lots to say, no time to say it, exam and appraisement season ....

Feel free to comment !

Edit:
Gorillaz .........O2 Arena .......Damon Albarn was on his knees before one Yukimi Nagano performing ?The Binge? ......

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2579:gorillaz-o2-arena-review&Itemid=27

Check out the last Paragraph......nuff said !!



Swedish Mum and Japanese father ........But the future has already arrived and Yukimi is making her mark .....


http://www.basic-soul.co.uk/features/Yukimi-Nagano-21-page.htm

http://blog.mtviggy.com/2010/07/09/yukimi-nagano-of-little-dragon-in-yet-another-collaboration/

http://blog.mtviggy.com/2010/10/11/swedens-yukimi-nagano-talks-about-collaborating-with-gorillaz/

Well Hikki already go world wide. I guess Japan proud of her.

I agree with MISIA she have a great vocal but i think she already go world wide like Hikki, after she sang for World Cup S Africa 2010 with 'Maware Maware'.

Anggun, one of Asian (an Indonesian) whose already succeed in Europe. Even though now she's a French citizen, but she never forget where she came from.

Sandhy Sandoro, another Indonesian who won for New Wave competition in Latvia. He lived in Germany and released his album there. He also colab with Celine Dion and other music legend on some event (which is Hikki havent done it ) :P

There is another Indonesian female singer released her album in UK (forgot her name)

There is a Phillipine little girl that have a nice vocal ( cant recall her name ) she sing in Oprah and S Korea tv show.

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yeah i know.. hehe I was kidding..

Just to add, there are other Asian musicians in the Western world. Mike Shinoda's probably one of the most prominent. There's also Jin Auyeung. Jay Chou's going to be more recognized in the US thanks to the Green Hornet, although as an actor and not as a musician. There's others, but I'm too tired to think of more (or to look them up).

I'd like to point something out:
Utada became famous for making American music in Japanese.
She basically introduced AMERICAN R&B to the Japanese. Thus, she had a unique sound. I think because of that her music is less "surprising" than before, but still very good.

After all, let's face it, nowadays J-Pop is American music in Japan. There are no real differences.

And honestly, if you think that American have underlying racism, so do the Japanese, they are even hostile to ethnic Japanese not born in Japan. (ie Utada)


Also, the thing about Ne-Yo, absolutely nobody knows he is part Chinese, they just think he is 100% African, which somewhat bothers me for some reason.

(Also, just to note, Namie Amuro is not 100% Japanese, she is part Italian)

I would like to see Utada, Shimizu Shota, Jasmine, Shiina Ringo, and Wang Leehom try the Anglophone market. All of them have a good control of English, have worked with American producers, and have really good voices as songwriters and singers.

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So? Fact check: Hikki's first album technically was Precious. Her original deal was with Capitol/EMI. She's more famous in Japan, but her start was technically in the US.

As far as FEM goes, while they don't bring up their race at every possible moment (thei name is already a statement on their ethnicity), why should that matter? Should't Asian musicians making it big in Western markets be a good thing, redardless of if they're originally from Asia and regardless of how much they play the race card?

I made this forum specifically to make the point that despite being the world's definitive melting pot, there is still a lot of racial bias and stereotyping even in something as universal and relevant to all people as the music industry. It happens to white, black, and hispanic recording artists almost religiously by media, fans and critics alike irregardless of their style, success or talent. Yet we have not one major mainstream Asian artist, of any ethnicity from that continent to speak of, that has made distinction and acceptance into the American lexicon...

I suppose one could argue that Amerie (half Korean),Ne-Yo, Kelis (both half-Chinese), Chad Hugo (The Philippino half of The Neptunes), Nicki Minaj (whose apprently half-Indian; go figure) and Karen O from 'The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' are indicative of strides being made towards that notion, but I can honestly say myself as a non-Asian minority that really doesn't account for a truly Asian ambassador on the music front, not to discriminate or downplay their success in anyway!(IOW it needs to be someone of Japanese,Chinese,Korean,Indian,etc. who will be accepted by the mainstream even when they perform and record in their native tongue or where they were born). I guess you could say M.I.A but given her inconsistent chart presence in songs or album sales, I'd say she's more of a post-underground anomaly than a mainstream maverick (not to say I don't admire her defiance in classifying herself and her work as "Other" and sporting it quite well)...

Quote:

So? Fact check: Hikki's first album technically was Precious. Her original deal was with Capitol/EMI. She's more famous in Japan, but her start was technically in the US.

As far as FEM goes, while they don't bring up their race at every possible moment (thei name is already a statement on their ethnicity), why should that matter? Should't Asian musicians making it big in Western markets be a good thing, redardless of if they're originally from Asia and regardless of how much they play the race card?

^Its interesting as some of you have pointed out that Utada is from New York, so does she REALLY count as an Asian,and even more insularly, a true Japanese pop phenomenon given she doesn't even hold citizenship there anymore? Even more, if or when she does break it big in the U.S., is she technically a real'crossover' or foreign act to make the acheivement?

The answers to both are an emphatic though slightly debatable YES. She is after all ethnically/racially Japanese, although American-born and at least partially raised, with flawless English speech to boot. She relinquished her dual citizenship in favor of American for reasons we don't know, but either way, she has repeatedly stated how alienated she can feel by both cultures and communities often time when living in the former or latter (I think that's one reason it seems like Koda Kumi, Ayu, Namie,and other 'nationally and ethically' pure bred Japanese singers sometimes are more embraced than she is, @ least on the fronts of fashion, award shows,and the publicity like by some circles). Regardless, her most successful music, English or Japanese, in terms of physical sales thus far all happened when she was in her teens and DID have dual citizenship, so whenever she gets back around to doing her 'global music' again, as she call it, it'll be fun and interesting to point out to people that never heard her before then that she was never truly 'J-pop' nor any other classification in the first place; I think she wouldn't have it any other way!

yeah but she's trying to enter as an Asian star, all of the news reports from 2004 stated this, whereas I didn't see FEM playing up this fact, they were entering as just an electro act.