A foreigner in the j-world?

[Jack]

Just completely out of curiosity, is there any English born person that sings in japanese language?
If there is how are they seen as being; good or bad?
Have some people tried and just not suceeded?

Another little curiosity, all members that post in this massive section, would you if* you had talent to be a performing artist, would you be a part of the
j-pop scene or go for the big American market?
Also, if you were to be a performing artist in the j-pop scene, would you yourself be singing in japanese?

Im slowly emmersing myself into the j-rock world, so i dont blame anyone that flames this thread down. Nearly lost a leg last time a posted in this section, j-rock-fans are like kids with candy-bars.

 

[hebiichigo]

I remember hearing of a native English speaker who sung in Japanese once, but this was years ago and I cannot remember his name at all. He was rock, I guess, not that popular.. But I just cannot remember who he was

But I do know Crystal Kay who is Korean-African American and she is a very popular singer. But she was born in Japan, I think.

 

[Kinsao]

oooo - I don't know who that is. Like Jack2, I've never heard of an English person that sings in Japanese. (Incidentally, who is that Welsh band with a Japanese drummer? I forgot...)

Oh, there was some guy who's Myspace page link I posted once, but I forget which thread that was on :sorry: ... he's American and makes music influenced by both Western and Japanese bands. He's a guitarist, though - I don't know whether he sings. (I messaged him but never got a reply )

Now, if I could snap my fingers and be a famous musician, I'd shamelessly go to the biggest market! To me, music (writing and performing) is about communicating your emotions and thoughts, so the more people you can reach, the better. ------ But, thinking about it more, I actually think my heart lies in the European market. Because that's my culture. In fact, I feel closer to European, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures all, than to American (N and S) and African cultures; that's just me though and my heritage and the way I've been brought up, I guess. ------ But my first point still stands.

But if I could make a dream come true like that, well then, I'd choose the whole world and who is going to stop me! :box:

I wouldn't sing in Japanese. Well, if I became really fluent one day, I suppose I might, but there has to be a reason for it. Like, sometime when Kyo sings in English, because the harsher sound better fits the mood of the song. There might be a technical reason like that. But generally speaking, no. Of course, if for some reason I ended up living in Japan I suppose I could one day end up singing in Japanese... like if you join a band with your friends and they are all Japanese, it would make sense... but I'd have to be incredibly confident in the language first. ☝

 

[neostereo]

I haven't heard of any singers like that, either. Hmm, I think I'll go and do some searching now. XD

 

[Nana007]

Crystal Kay is probaly the only one I can think of. But she still is mixed asian. I don't know of any none Asian singer who was succesfull singing in Japanese in Japan. I am not sure, but I think Christina Aguilerra before she was famous in the U.S did something with a J-pop singer. But I don't know if she was singing in Japanese (I doubt it). And then their was the short lived coconuts musume that whole group was American (Hawaiin) and only two of them had Japanese blood and only one Mika Todd actually new Japanese when they were together.

Yea but that would be interesting to know. Because my best friend he is mixed black and japanese, and while not fluent he speaks it fairly good. He wants to have a J-Rock band.

 

[Davey]

Only know BoA, but she is Korean... Love her though, just didn't hear a thing anymore...

 

[dniwer]

There are a lot on California based American J-rock singers on myspace

 

[POISONxIVY]

J
Another little curiosity, all members that post in this massive section, would you if* you had talent to be a performing artist, would you be a part of the
j-pop scene or go for the big American market?
Also, if you were to be a performing artist in the j-pop scene, would you yourself be singing in japanese?.

Coming from a musician's perspective I wouldn't say that when you are in a band you purposely try to market a certain country. (All though I would love for my band to tour Japan, I think every band has hopes of touring any country other than the one they live in) I think singing in other languages is fine, and if you know how to speak it well it can be really cool in music, but those Californian based Jrock bands comes across as weird to me. They aren't even Japanese, so they are not jrock. I would just advertise my band as whatever type of music it is. Like industrial metal or whatever, not "jrockﾂ" There are so many different styles of Jrock music, just like any kind of rock music, the only difference is they are Japanese. There are a lot of sub-genres to music, but I don't really consider ﾂ"jrockﾂ" a genre. Sometimes a bands success happens without the band even doing any marketing in that country. A lot of it has to do with the record label you are signed to, and how they handle promotion. (Or if they get hooked up on a tour with a band that is already known in another country, then they get the exposure too) I have quite a few friends in bands that some how made it big in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan even. They didn't start the band with intensions of it turning into a worldwide success. It really depends on the type of music, and image the band has. If that is going to attract the eyes and ears of someone in another country, then they have the chance of being successful there as well. A real musician isn't going to care about numbers, or what country they are big in. What matters is doing what you love to do, and touching other peoples lives with your music. Of course it is a great feeling to have a large fan base, but even just having a couple fans is a great feeling as well!

 

[dniwer]

I called them "jrock" bands because they sing exclusively in Japanese, which I do think is strange and unnecessary, but to each his own.

 

[Hyde_is_my_anti-drug]

I am part of a band but we don't want to make it here (USA) we want to make it in Japan. And yes, we would sing mostly in Japanese. We plan to live in Japan for the rest of our lives (as soon as we can f**king get there).
As far as foriengers making it in Japan and singing in Japanese I don't know of too many. Wang Leehom (although Chinese not Western) is one.

 

[dniwer]

Nikita is one of the J-rockers I know on myspace. He's a black guy from Cali, but he only sings in Japanese. He has a pretty nice voice and he's a total sweetheart! Here's his myspace page Nikita Heart (nikitaheart) on Myspace. If you talk to him he'll talk back, like I said, he's a total sweetheart.

I just personally think that a band shouldn't limit themselves to one language if it's not their native language. It just seems a bit contrived, like they're trying too hard. Of course if you're bilingual, using another language in many of your songs or even the majority of your songs is fine and even kind of cool, but to ONLY sing in Japanese is something that even Japanese people don't do half of the time. When I eventually move to Japan, if given the opportunity, I would definitely do vocals for a band, but our music would never 'exclusively' be in Japanese or English. Also, I'd want success in every country... WORLD DOMINATION!!! I write poetry and lyrics all of the time and I know when I write it's a reflection of myself and it would feel fake to write everything in just Japanese (well, if I was fluent in Japanese I mean), but like I said, to each his own...

 

[neostereo]

Hmm. Actually, I started to think this, and there's The Trax, a Korean rock band, they don't do their music in japanese, but they are produced by Yoshiki. Mm, leaves me thinking if they can speak Japanese.

I think, if I was in a band, I'd sing in English [though it's not my native language, but I am quite fluent], and maybe some parts in Japanese. I dislike Finnish. XD But anyways, I can't sing at all. x_x

 

[epigene]

I think the most popular "foreigner" in the Japanese music industry today is Shen, the American guy in the duo Def Tech:

http://www.deftech.jp/html/eng/index.html

Both of them are bilinguals.
Their music is currently very popular among young people. I think their music and lyrics are definitely good and appreciated even by foreigners in Japan.