Prefer her before her "comeback", her last album was boring Engrish pop nonsense.

No
She seems like a product to me. She isn't involved with any of her music, to my knowledge. She may have written one or two songs, but that doesn't cut it. Even Rihanna has co-written more songs than Namie. I like her music purely for how it sounds. I do not care for her one bit. I care for Koda Kumi, Ayu, etc... but not for Namie. She always looks miserable while all the other artists look happy. Even angela aki ditched her depressed look and looks happier than ever. In some ways, you can call her the Japanese Rihanna. Not a good title.

I like her music, but no, I don't respect Namie herself.

Yes she has been in Music to long for me not to
But she doesn't write/compose her own music that often (what I've noticed), she have the tendency to repeat her musical style and her dancing seems lazy for me and her live concerts are almost unwatchable for me. This is just my opinion, I like Namie, but not a fan per se.

I respect her, I mean, what has she done that would make me think less of her? I know a lot of people are saying, "She doesn't write any of her songs!" but that doesn't mean much to me. I definitely admire artists like Ayumi Hamasaki and Kana Nishino for writing their own lyrics, but some people in the music business are performers not lyricists, and that's alright by me.

Yes, I respect her. She's an artist that works hard at what she does.

Yes, icon.