She wrote Is is trap? based on Tokyo.
The place that she pursuits her dream is Tokyo. Coming from Kyoto to Tokyo for audition, she mentions that Tokyo is really a fascinating city with things flowing everywhere. But in the other hand, bad things/bad information spread very fast. Is it a good trap or bad trap, you decide it while moving forward.

is there new information here?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/768c5b655...vjlo1_1280.jpg

Aw, I love that. Kuu, you own my heart~

Just saw the MV for Touch Down - I LOVE the song and MV :D Kuu is soo sexy and the song totally rocks :)

I love when they explain what's behind a song, it becomes instantly dearer to me! <3

I though the song was about a guy, not a city :laugh Thanks for explaining the song, I appreciate it more now.

I don't know, actually. I always thought that songs without PVs on singles were always B-sides. I read that on here a couple of times, but I could be wrong though, I just assumed. It would be better if IS THIS TRAP? is an A-side, because it's an awesome song.

So Is This Trap? is some kind of personal song from Kumi. I appreciate that as it doesn't happen that often.
Makes me loving the song even more now!

the promo poster says there will be a lottery for 10,000 first press buyers of the single
it's for a mini live to be held on early september, curious about it

and it seems there are tie-ins for the three summer trip songs

Recochoku Ranking:

Best Looking Female Artist in Swimsuit

1位：大島優子(AKB48)
2位：倖田來未
3位：山本彩(NMB48)
4位：小嶋陽菜(AKB48)
5位：前島亜美(SUPER☆GiRLS)

You know Kuu is the queen when she's the only one on that list that isn't from a group LOL

This sexy Queen with body that slays everyone <3 I haven't seen those other girls in swimsuit and I don't plan to. Lol

I was watching Black Cherry tour today and when I came across real Emotion I couldn't help myself repeating the perfomance. That version was utterly amazing. Wish she could release a studio ver. of it, or - even better - a song like that someday

real Emotion from Black Cherry tour is amazing. Like it much better than the original actually.

^Me too. I would love for her to do a studio version of it, as well as the rock version of Bling x3 she does in lives too!

A full disc with those live versions but recorded in studio would be the most amazing release ever! BUT from DMP, Shake It Up and hands from Kingdom Tour, the acoustkc version of TAKE BACK... *dreaming*

^ i've always wanted that! those versions are truly so much better than any remix that anyone ever makes of those songs. love the different arrangement versions. Cutie Honey from the BC Tour, Get Up & Move with Blistah(?) I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch but I always love them.

I thought that Is This Trap was a b-side, too. I feel like the tracklist kinda gives away the order of importance of the songs, as Lalalalala is the first song on the CD, has a PV and is being performed at shows.

The whole "what is a b-side / what isn't a b-side" thing is quite confusing. I mean, Ayu's INSPIRE single was titled "INSPIRE" but 'c/w GAME' was written in smaller text, where GAME also had a PV. But, I don't think it was considered a double a-side...? I thought b-sides were songs that only appeared on singles and not on albums, so when Will appeared on (miss)understood, that was a curveball right there. Basically, I only know what the b-sides are after the fact (like Life on Mirrorcle World, and ever free, etc.)

"The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist or the record producer or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that has a history of its own."

The thing is, there's not an actual rule for it. Basically, A-sides get promotion through radio and/or music videos, while B-sides are just bonus songs.

So, do we know if they're playing IS THIS TRAP? on radio?

^the rip we got is from the radio lol. also I love that little part on the promo poster that says Koda Radio "Summer Trip"

I know, but I mean as if they just played it once like a special or it's really getting a lot of spins.

^Ah, 'IS THIS TRAP' might be an A-side then, if it's getting played on the radio. But like you said, I suppose it depends how many times it's being played? It could have been a special 'one play' thing, like you said. (I have no idea how radio works LOL)

Based on what Kuu herself has said about Is This Trap?, I think it fits that description. :laugh

Also, since a PV is a promotional video, and Is This Trap? has none, I again say this song qualifies more as a b-side. I think b-sides to get airplay, but they aren't pushed as much as the a-side by the company, in this case avex.

Those are just my thoughts, and I could be wrong.

But being a b-side doesnt determine if it gets on album or not... especially with Kuu. "Hashire!" had a PV and was totally awesome but it never made its way onto an album or compilation album either.

^ Not to mention Run For Your Life and futari de... :P Plus, she has a few songs like girls which had no PV but got a good amount of promotion

Odd thing about RFYL though is the PV was on Kingdom but not the song itself...

I think when she releases the multi a-side singles she leaves some of the songs off the album to make room for new material. When choosing songs, they probably take into consideration fan reaction to songs. I don't remember Hashire! being that popular, or Run For Your Life, for that matter. However, Girls seems to be a fan-favorite, kinda like Walk, where it had no promotion, but people latched onto it.

That might've been because after the single came out and Kuu's management was deciding what to do with the upcoming album, they decided to give every song a PV. That can happen with her next album and I hope it does because JAPONESQUE's PVs were pretty high production

do you guys think Kuu should make her own label and record there, just like Namie did with her last album FEEL??

Nah, she's already in a small label. I just wish they'd promote her more.

Well, perhaps before it might have been a good idea, but since Japonesque and Color the Cover are both really well done projects, in terms of budget, maybe (and I underline maybe) avex just started to take her seriously again after a while and we'll see more amazing stuff soon enough.

If she's gonna change her style or something in that way, I dont see a reason for moving from RZ :P

If she releases an album like FEEL, then no.

If she releases a song like Alive, then maybe...

half the album can be like FEEL...the rest have to be koda hybrids.

2 more weeks to go and still looks so far... '-'

^There has been one live performance actually. She sang LaLaLaLaLa and Cutie Honey. Too bad that it was uploaded on that stupid website that always hates me so I couldn't see it tho.

I just realized how much I want a new album already omg. It feels like it's been forever since JAPONESQUE was out. I guess I'm just not used to this waiting haha. XD

^^Color The Cover was sorta a new album. I dunno, but those "cover" CDs always feel like new albums to me. I guess cause I'm not familiar with the artists or songs she covers for CTC and Eternity L&S.

IS THIS TRAP is quite addictive.I like it a lot more than LaLa...La..etc.

I mean a new studio album, not a cover album or a compilation album. :D For me studio albums are a lot more important than anything else because it means lots of new original songs and no covers. :D I mean, Kuu makes amazing covers and all that but I appreciate more of the original stuff she releases. I'm a fan of both cover albums but I would still pick an original studio album at any time. :)

All I meant was personally they feel like an ORIGINAL one to me since I NEVER am the slightest bit familiar with any of the originals she covers for those. However, I see what you mean though. I DO want a brand new studio album myself. Just not quite yet. Maybe by end of August would work easiest for me financially. :)

Btw, drdolce, I'm on Skype right now if you'd like to chat about things more there. :)

Are we talking about colour the crover?
I agree with SoldierofSilence. It feels like an original album. Also, I like that kumi injected herself into some of the songs to make them her own (pink spider)

I also feel like a cover album is like a new album. I knew of one song before hand on both albums, Jontetsu on the recent cover album, and that butterfly song from the first.

^I agree. Shake Hip really felt like a Kumi song to me.

Totally agree with you as well. The same does not go for me when it comes to ETERNITY tho, cause that album had a more mature sound around - maybe except for Megumi no hito and BMB. It's not that Kuu couldn't put herself into the songs then, they just had another style that wasn't usual for her.

^To be fair, she does have mature songs under her belt, but an album of them is new for her.

Hey am i the only one here who hasnt heard ITT yet?

are there any links for the new versions of lalalala and touch down?

Just heard Is This Trap. Not sure how to feel about it though. I like it better than LaLaLaLa but I don't really love it (yet). Maybe it'll grow on me.

a-nation goods for kuu are up and they look amazing!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E5%8...63568610378832

Love it all except the hat and the tshirt. I'll probably get the fan and sports towel. I wouldnt use clear files and sadly not a knapsack either. However the knapsack is gorgeous. :D

reuploaded by ilovekuu @ jpc:

a-nation island Departure + stadium fes. Goods

The cap is my favorite goodie :yes They all look amazing, though I think the t-shirt is too much black-and-white when compared to e.e.

My favorites are definitely the sports towel, knapsack, jumbo fan and Summer Trip (ones of her) clear file set. I'm FOR SURE getting the jumbo fan and sports towel.

Oh my, I love everything! :heart
I'll buy everything this year as it's not that much as well.
That second pic on the fan! Gorgeous!
And another sports shirt, just love!

I really really like the hat

I like the hat but i could have that same design customized myself in LIDS for less....

I had a 2NE1 hat in the same cap color & style and the letters in same font custom done in the store just last year for about $30CAD total.

better quality of the uchiwa

http://i.imgur.com/IEk9oap.jpg

love love lovee that pic on the right :heart

She looks so tall in that pic lol

^Isnt she only about 5ft?

I neeeeeeeed that fan. All of the stuff I want, but I neeeeeeeeeed the fan.

What is this from?

oh dear lord :luv2


She DOES look so tall. Photography win. She's just, a great model.


So much california love this summer <3

Yup :laugh This reminds me of this epic pic:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls...c01fo1_500.jpg

that's the ~koda cheese~

That's a Japanese holiday that happens every third Monday in July... But I don't know where the source is...

@Gustavopc. She looks like some happy girl looking up at her big sister in that. Its so cute.
I'm a mere 4'11". I wonder if I'd be taller or shorter than her. :) :heart

that pic is so so hawt

Really like the fan, she looks great. Might get that and the towel.

Hey was just one her Official Facebook and the posts about the a-nation goods are now gone!! They were just there yesterday!! What happened?

Also, the 93 is on a lot of the goods. Is there some significance of that number? It's neither a birth date or her debut date...

They were a bit thick here. I love it!

IM DYING OF LAUGHTER CAUSE OF THAT PICUTRE OH MY GOD SHE OOKS SO HAPPY

It's a pun with her nickname. The number 93 sounds about the same in Japanese. She's using it pretty often for goods.

it's from playroom, they often post these kind of pics like calendars, holiday cards, etc

the pic itself is from one of her holiday with her staff which you can find on that fb account too

Ah, okay. Thank you!

Another question... what nick name of Kuu's sounds like 93? Isn't 93 kyuu jyuu san?

the kana for 3 is also pronounced as mi. (See: milk tea) so... Kyuu-Mi. It's mixing numbers with numbers with letters lol.

well 9 can also be read as ku, so therefore it's: 9=ku 3=mi kumi :D

OMG, this number thing is so nice!XD And the goods are so good!

Lol, finally a perfect explanation for that 93 thing. I've been hitting my head on the wall for years because I had no idea what it meant and how it was connected to Kuu. XD

And those goods are so lovely. I love those fans the most, especially the second one. That should be a single cover lol. :D

So Nice @ Live Tour 2013 ~JAPONESQUE~



I hope they improve the light and the colors of the footage, the tour seemed way more colorful than that.

^ The editing looks poor, but the perfomance seems to be so gorgeous! I need the BD now hahahahaha

From Koda Kumi frech fans page @FB

I was expecting more TV lives tbh

I AM SOOOOOO TEMPTED to watch all these clips on the Japonesque tour... and yet I don't wanna spoil anything for when the BR comes out... *shuffles back n forth trying to both decide n resist*

I was listening to Kuu today, and I wanted to ask you guys a question.

What keeps you guys coming back to Kuu?

Like, I've realized I've lost all interest in Ayu (I literally haven't heard a thing since Party Queen) but I keep coming back to Kuu. I just, I like everything she's doing right now. She's the only J-Pop act I'm still keeping up on. I haven't heard anything from Kana Nishino, BENI, Mika Nakashima, etc. in so long. But Kuu, I just keep coming back.

Kuu's just one of my loves I guess. Been listening to her since her debut. There's some stuff she's done which I haven't liked but on the whole I just adore her, Ayu, BoA n even though I'm disappointed in Namie's latest album I still love her too.

Kuu is far from my favorite, but she does have a very appealing factor about her. She's fun, and makes great pop songs. I don't take her very seriously as an artist, she's more of an entertainer for me which i guess is why i like her so much. I don't have high or low expectations when it comes to her music, cause she always drops at least one hot song for me to enjoy! That's what makes me come back to her.

Pretty much exactly this. She's extremely consistent (even if that sometimes leads to some of her tracks being totally rehashed) and puts out fun, well-produced music. Even if she really lacks on the originality front (but that's where enjoying more artistic singers, i.e. Ayu, Hikki, Ai Otsuka when she existed, etc. comes in), there's no doubt that she's a talented vocalist/dancer and she's just got such a magnetic personality, which people kind of underestimate as a factor. Like, there's just no reason to dislike Kuu :laugh You can be ambivalent to her, sure, but she's such a peppy, fun, talented person that there's nothing really to hate on <3

And she's a hell of a performer - there's no way you can watch one Kuu concert and not come back for more :lech

All the things everyone said.

For me, I like *her*. I think she imbues a depth to her music that is often overlooked. I think a lot of people take for granted how well produced a lot of her music is, and how much she is completely amazing at mixing sounds.

It's not just her producers/arrangers. I think she's involved a lot more than people think. I have mad respect for her vision when it comes to her shows and her albums.

She represents the total spectrum of what it means to be a talented, empowered female who makes her way in this world, and she does it with such grace, without underestimating the idea of fun.

She's FUN. She makes the world brighter by bringing entertainment, and she does it very well.

I don't need her to be an experimental artist with lyrics that peer into my soul. She peers into my soul in other ways, and she never disappoints, because she's just so incredibly genuine.

^I like how she's the empowering female that also supports people of so many kinds without having the whole overly filthy mouth B--- thing going and still remains fun, sweet, stylish & strong all at the same time in terms of image & personality.

She's the very definition of fun. I adore that she has no pretensions about herself and her music. She's easily the one I can relate to the most. I relate to Ayu or Hikki's lyrics, but Kuu affects me on a different yet most basis level. I find it quite difficult to explain... even if you don't take her music into account, I would still have this weird connection to her. A connection that I honestly don't think I would have with Ayu or Hikki without their music.

Honestly, I'm surprised to see people say that they don't take her seriously as an artist. I've always thought that she's a really well rounded artist, who can do everything. Sure, not everything she puts out is artsy fartsy and deep like Ayu, but she does have her serious moments. I've always thought that Billboard Live really showcased that, and songs like Ashita e. Plus, she writes her own lyrics, produces her own albums, which I have so much respect for. I think she gets written off because her music isn't super depressing, but she's never stuck me as that kind of human, anyway. She's really bubbly. All the time. And that's why her music tends to be fun. If she doesn't have anything to be unhappy about, where would the inspiration for that kind of music come from? She's even stated herself that she doesn't think that a touching song is one with complicated and hidden messages, but just simply speaking what is in her heart.

I respect her as a true artist. Heck i respect her in pretty much every way possible.

I can pretty much understand why some people don't take Kuu that seriously as well. She herself has stated a couple of times that she wanted to become a singer because of her mother. There would be a meeting, with everyone talking and laughing, but then her mother would start to sing and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen, and Kuu was in awe as her mother could touch people feelings with her voice. That's where her inspiration comes from, being a singer for reaching the heart of those who listen to her. Then, she tends to do more "commercial" songs, karaoke-ish lyrics and why not pulling out all sorts of fashion styles. On the other hand, ayu started writing to "save her own life", like she once said, so music for her is, at its roots, something personnal and, due to her past, kind of sorrowful.

I'm not claiming that Kuu doesn't write things about her own feelings and for herself, nor that ayu doesn't care about her fans when it comes to making music, but it's just the focus that is different. Wanting to make people feel her songs, Kuu will always play safely more regularly.

You can also notice so when Kuu performs on a-nation' and other music festivals around Japan. There she's stepping into a crowd that's consists not only of her fans, but also people who maybe haven't heard of her in quite a good time and eventually haters, so you'll notice she pulls a lot more of energy in her dancing and stage presence, not to mention the way she sings her ballads always seems to be more truthful. She wants to touch everyone there, so she forces herself even more toward the audience, asking them to sing and clap and everything else. That's why I tend to LOVE her a-nation perfomances :P

So, this sums up pretty much why I love Kuu. She DOES reach my heart and in some way makes me feel like I'm not alone. She care a lot about her fan base, and as long as she keeps on this road, she'll remain as my number one for sure.

What keeps me coming back to Kuu is knowing that her albums have never ceased to entertain me.

Same :yes

Also, I forgot to add, Kuu may not be the most original artist out there, but neither is Ayu, or Namie, Utada, etc.. There is a thread in the Ayu-section that points out all the things that she's done that other artists did first. And Kuu did create ero-kawaii ;)

happi <3 She's so underrated as an artist.


To me, the worst thing is when it's her sexuality that keeps people from taking her seriously. It's such a commentary on how negative society can be in general, and how it's conditioned people.

I keep coming back to her because that's what I do, I follow only artists I care about. She's a type, unique in her own way, just like my other preferences. I simply find with her something I don't find anywhere else, the "Kuu factor" you can say, lol. It's not really only about the music, it's about the whole packet. It's because of her. And that's the same for Ayu, or Namie, or Kana.
Basically, let's say it, others may do what she does, but there's only one Koda Kumi in this world, lol. Obviously you come back to her!

Wha keeps me coming back to her?
Her personality, who she is.
I pay her music dust and only care for 5% of her discography but I like who she is and what she stands for.

You guys, Kuu's son just turned a year on the 17th! Happy Birthday, Son of the Greatest Singer in the World. Thank you for making your mommy's boobs so sexy!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...44890748_n.jpg

^
It's already one year... can't believe it! With the lack of scoops and the current state of Kuu body, this whole pregnancy felt like a rumor to me.
Happy b-day you little, cute, unkown one!