Hikaru Utada's U.S. Debut

[Arc Light]

Whoa. Let's not stoop to name-calling. Yours is an opinion just like anyone elses.

lol...who's name calling? I was once an idiot as well, until I saw the light and realized the err of my ways.

Wait...wrong speech.

I recently introduced some friends of mine to X-Japan. These guys were old-school Metallica fans, Megadeth fans, and bands that are along those same lines. I showed them my X-Japan DVD, and they were like: "Whoa dude...these guys can f*ckin rock! Where are they from?" Well, disregard that second part...lol. Like homeboy said...Americans only listen to what's put in front of them. If someone were to sneak some J-Pop or J-Rock onto the radio, people would take notice.

By the way...my sister is a Personal Trainer at Gold's Gym, and she's the trainer for the Team Training classes. Her classes are set to high-speed music provided by me...BoA, Hitomi Shimatani, Morning Musume, Every Little Thing, Tommy February6, Namie Amuro, just to name a few.

 

[kirei_na_me]

Well, I am not exactly a newcomer to J-Pop/J-music. I'm familiar with a lot of these singers/bands and have listened to them. The first band I listened to was Dreams Come True, which to me, is the best I've heard yet, and I listened to them on a regular basis for awhile. I think the lead singer has a great voice.

At least I have actually listened to some of it before I formed an opinion of it. You know, my husband is Japanese, and he is a musician, and he does have CD's in his posession. I also have TV Japan and International Channel which air J-music shows(besides Enka ). It's not like I have never heard any of it before. Of course, a lot of you are right. Most people will not even try it, because they will automatically assume it's not good enough.

I would be open to hearing suggestions, though! ;-)

 

[Flashjeff]

...it's not like she NEEDS the money bad from American ppl She has her popularity in Japan for years now so I don't think it would matter

It was the same with Pink Lady who were all but deified back in the late 70's, but they, like Hikaru wanted to achieve international fame and, good or bad, the only place to achieve that fame is in the U.S. And yeah, Americans and their blatant reticence to listen to anything not in English remains an insurmountable barrier for Asian artists to be recognized here. Sad but true.

 

[=w=eezer]

Wow! This is news to me.. I'm so excited that Utada Hikaru will have her debut in America! I'm not a big fan of hers, but I'm glad America is getting some Jmusic exposure, because I think japanese music is among the best out of all the countries in the world.

In my opinion, I don't think she's a very talented singer, but as we all know for female singers, voice is not what's needed to make your popular. As long as you're super hot or cute you'll be popular. So going by looks, I think she could make it.... Also does anybody know if the album will be mainly English or Japanese language? I think this might affect her popularity in America as well.

 

[Arc Light]

What's funny about it is, most people woudln't listen to J-Pop for the same reason they wouldn't try Sushi. It's different from what they're used to, and they think it won't taste good. :?

 

[infinitijapan]

i love hikki!! but i dont think she will do good in america only because of the looks and well also american have a odd taste for music they usually like ****'e music as long as it has good visuals like some nasty looking blonde ***** who dress's like a **** -poke poke britney ugly *** spears- but if america cared more for talent like id say japan mostly dos then she would be more then famous...she would own us! but then yoshiki would come out with violet uk and screw her over ^_^. but yes hikki is amazingly talented and she composes such beautiful music. and about her copying american r&b i like her music that was on her last cd like "final distance" and "colors" they were very good!^_^(final distance made me cry once) but if she gos back to the music that was similar to her debut japanese cd then i would be sad or if she made bad american music...eww. also dont forget cubic u ^_^

 

[RockLee]

When I hear Final distance I think of Japan..and visiting my friend..I miss her allready

 

[Dream Time]

Americans only listen to what's put in front of them. If someone were to sneak some J-Pop or J-Rock onto the radio, people would take notice.

people need to use the internet to find out more about music
television and radios airs many **** music like Britney Spears and the nu metal bands

we have to search the stuffs by ourselves
don't just sit there and listen to what the tv and radio stations give to you
we are humans,not robots or computers.

 

[playaa]

Well, what was said before.. It is nothing but marketing here in the U.S. to be successful you have to Tour, and Market, and adverise more then everybody else, That's all it shameful but true.

 

[Twisted]

I think that goes for all commercial music in every country in the world.

 

[infinitijapan]

yea ur right thats true in every country but i belive in some places its easy then others. dreams of being the no.1 artist in iraq haha jk

 

[noodle]

heh. iirc, before she made her japanese debut there were doubts as to how well she'd sell- because her japanese (speaking) might not be good enough or somesuch.

i would assume that she would sing in english. no problems there. and she already has a not-so-insignificant fanbase among j-pop/anime fans... i think her chances are good.

 

[MHtrStevie]

Replying to an old message...

I wasn't trying to say she won't suceed because I personally don't like her, she won't succeed because people don't want to hear some generic rehashing of what pop/R&B was 5 years ago. Even acts like Britney Spears and Beyonce sound fresh and new in comparison.

Ah... sorry, I tend to hear "generic rehashing of what pop/R&B was 5 years ago" and interpret that as a negative statement about the music, mentioned as a reason why one doesn't/shouldn't like said music. If you meant that as a positive aspect of Hikaru Utada's music, then I apologize. Speaking for myself, if Hikki's music is "5-year-old generic rehashed pop/R&B" then I can't wait to hear more of this generic rehashed stuff and couldn't be included amongst these nebulous "people" you mention... who are these "people"?

I'm rather surprised by your statements, since I don't remember ever hearing any music five years ago that sounded anything like "Sakura Drops", "COLORS" or "Dareka no negai ga kanau koro". If I were to guess, I would assume the one album of hers you listened to (as you mentioned before) was probably her first album, which was released in... hmmm... 1999. To do the math, that would be about five years ago... in other words, the style of R&B that was current at that time.

But that's not even the point here... whether or not you like/dislike her style of music, you have to actually hear that music in order to make a judgment on it. Unless Island/DefJam is willing to make a Herculean effort on their part, this is probably not going to happen and that will be the first and only reason for her failure... if most of America can actually say Hikaru Utada's music is "generic" and "rehashed", then I'd actually consider that a success because it implies most people in America actually know who she is! I don't have faith that America will get a chance to make that judgment, but I'll be working hard to do my part in seeing that some will get that chance.

It's a sad fact of the music industry that not everyone will have an equal chance to be heard, and it's a problem faced not only by Hikaru Utada... but by thousands of artists both inside and outside of the U.S.

Actually, I was referring to other mainstream J-pop artists that are popular (in Japan). Many of them have what I would call a "Japanese" sound, in other words not just trying to copy of American music.

Hmmm... I could put similar J-Pop artists together by style, but unless by "Japanese sound" you mean they're singing in Japanese, I can't agree with you there. I've heard more than enough J-Pop music to say confidently that there isn't a "Japanese" sound any more than there is an "American" sound. Both countries have artists which represent numerous styles of music, and both have their fair share of innovators and copy-cats at every level of popularity, from the #1 hit down to the most obscure "alternative" artist. And I feel pretty confident in saying this holds true in almost any country around the globe...

Just out of curiosity, what other popular groups in Japan (besides Utada, of course) do you think are simply copying U.S. artists without adding their own unique sound to that equation?

:?

Oh, and sorry for being long-winded again... perhaps I'm giving too much thought to these issues... *grin*