I appreciate the soft, mellow and subtle enchantment of the Christmas season this piece is able to convey. It's extremely warm and has a silky smooth beauty to it.

Personally, I don't consider myself a Namie fan. I hate all the shit everyone else worships. But the songs I love by her, I truly do adore. This song excels at creating an environment, where as everything else she tends to release fails to transport me anywhere special.

Her milky vocals in White Light are also a bit reminiscent of "Come", which was the first track I ever heard by her. It was dreamy, velvety and remains unique amongst the rest of her otherwise mundane discography of empty copycat tracks.

And my backhanded koda kumi compliments get me flagged. PSH NEXT.

LOOOL

Stardust In My Eyes doesn't create an atmosphere for you? Prayin' 4 u bb.

Stardust In My Eyes is like really really fucking loud lol.

I'm glad Namie didn't follow your standard of uniqueness.

You all sharks and out for Zeke's blood.

This isn't shark week yo.

Poor Zeke. But I think he's right. It's not like most of Namie's songs actually create any atmosphere. It's just hot dance/pop music. You don't listen to namie for 'emotion' I think. You listen to her because she sounds hot and miserable. However, stardurst in my eyes is like one of the most atmospheric songs she's done. Oh and Alive. Namie really showed she could feel on Feel.

Don't forget Beautiful... This leftover from FEEL could slay any ballad she made so far.

Everyone forgotten about this sad sad winter ballad...
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=3&theater

I consider myself a Namie's fan, but I have to agree that I don't listen to her music because I "feel" it, I simply like it, and that's the difference I see between Ayu's and Namie's music, the feelings.
Speaking about ballads, I think Namie has done pretty good ones, and I WILL is one of them :yes

The ballad version of Contrail really brought out a whole new level of emotion that I didn't hear in the original song. Especially since (it sounds like) she resung the vocals. Those lyrics really felt like they meant something.

However. that aside. I consider Namie Amuro one of my favorite female Jpop artists. I would even go as far as to put her in my top 5. But I don't listen to her for the emotion and passion that I hear in utada or Ayu. She doesn't compose, arrange, play any instruments, sing all her own backup vocals, write lyrics. She really doesn't help out with the music.

Lololololol, Namie's ballads has no emotion? Oh god, it was a ballad that got me interested in her music in the first place! You can't assume all people became her fans because of her dance songs. I was drawn to her by her ballad called Baby Don't Cry. And that song made me cry because of the atmosphere and the emotion it has. I can't believe some of you "fans" say that people like her only because of her sexy dance songs. That's just bullshit and makes me wanna puke. You need to stop comparing singers to Ayu and hate on them because they don't have as much as emotion in their songs as Ayu does. All singers are different, and that's how it's supposed to be. That's all I want to say. >_>

Yeah, it's kinda impossible to take her seriously as a literal musician/artist when all she does is pick songs and put her vocals on them and look dead in PVs. I am a fan but I do agree with Zeke it's mostly copycat stuff and there's nothing really original about her. That's why I've never really understood how people can totally stan for her because she has like no charisma and no unique qualities??? I mean I like her and all but it just puzzles me when she's like someone's #1 diva because I just don't get why other than the fact that she has by far the best visual production quality among the jpop divas now.

Singers can still put passion in their songs even if they don't help write it etc. I mean, a singer's voice is (one of the) important things to make a song really hit home. You can have great lyrics but if the voice sucks, it's not going to come across.

Not everyone has the talent to compose and arrange. Being able to acknowledge that, leaving it to the professionals and just sticking to singing is also a strength. She's a singer. Composing, writing lyrics etc are just extras. It's not fair to call her out on not doing those things imo.

At times she's not a very good singer but I really like the songs she does sing overall. She may not have any involvement in her music and that comes across as being more of a karaoke singer but she does a good job. I still like her but I never considered her a real artist tbh. Just a (karaoke) singer mostly. But that's not a bad thing, it never really was.

Hu? Namie is just a lovely person and a greta performer. And who said she has no involvement? She said she would never sing a song she can't picture a PV/live peroformance with. Morover, she wrote lyrics like I WILL which is one of her best ballads, yet she said she feel like no one wants to read her lyrics (probably because she is such a shy person), but she is not like "okay, write these lyrics for me". She is involved in her writing most of the time, she just doesnt take credit because she probably just giving directions and hints.

edir: karaoke singer? Have you ever tried to singa n original song. She is in the industry for decades now. she is probably standng in the studio and is like "okay, we have to sing that part here...make this longer..".and so on and so forth. She never came across as someone that is not involved in her music.

She made the strongest transition in Jpop ever and it was all her own decicion - she created her own image and that is something most other divas lack: the courage to take risk. I beg your pardon, but move aside - Namie is coming.

In 2003, all the magazines in my country Vietnam wrote about Ayu as the Goddess of Jpop. They mentioned Name Amuro's name as the loser who lost her own throne to Ayu, yes, they wrote it frankly that way.
Right away, I searched for information about Namie to see who's that unlucky singer. And since that moment I've become her biggest fan. Namie's so western and so unique when you place her beside Ayu and her over typical-chessy-lovely-Japnese kawaii-storyline videos.
2003 was the year of greatest music, Linkin Park released 'Meteora', Evanescence released 'Fallen', Madonna released 'American Life' and Namie released 'Style'.
At that time, Namie & her Japanese music was so so different comparing to other Japanese singers that I felt like I'd finally found the greatest Asian female artist, so cool in music and stylish in image without being Asian-typed chessy. And I hated to follow common taste, so when ppl around me talking about Ayumi, I just silently trusted in Namie because I had a strong feeling that the artist who sang Put'em Up,Shine More,So Crazy & Alarm could never be a loser in the next ten years, because people would grow up and get cooler with their music tastes, they would be less tacky over time.
And thankfully, ever since then Namie's get cooler and more successful with her own unique & signature look: Boots & Skirts.
So I've been following Namie b/c she's so stylish yet still always stick with her own image, looking at her u can see how you changed over time but still be yourself. She's the kind of artist that I always proudly introduce to people around me.

I agree! Just because she doesn't do all these things doesn't mean that she has no passion for music.

I need to listen to Ballada again - one of my favourite Namie albums even if I do own all her studio albums!

I think that image and actually singing are two different things. I'm just going by the definition of a karaoke singer, one who sings somebody else's songs. I agree with what you said in most places and I'll meet you halfway. She's a karaoke singer who knows what she wants.

With her amazing dance and vocal talent, I don't care if she writes her lyrics.
Ayumi can not dance but can write amazing lyrics and her voice is amazing.

Each singer has their own way of being amazing.

I wouldn't consider her to be a karaoke singer. She's releasing original songs, not really covering others.

She's just a singer with little input to songwriting and music. I'm fine with that. Not everyone has the talent to do multiple things, you know? She has a good ear for hits.

I think the definition of a karaoke singer here is very specific. If she is singing a song that she didn't write, then it's technically karaoke. In essence she's 'covering' nao'ymt's song simply because she doesn't have writing credits, whether the song never existed before it has been out for years. It's the exact same with Rihanna. Diamonds is Sia's song as much as fight together is nao'ymt's song. The artists just provide vocals (even if they're vocal opinion) aka karaoke.

I think that this definition of karaoke singer should be avoided because then a lot of artists could immediately be labeled them and then the idea of a karaoke singer will be stigmatized.

I agree with your second paragraph in that aspect.

There is a reverse situation with David Guetta :
he provides music but not vocals, yet he's labelled as the main artist, eventhough someone else is singing everytime (David Guetta doesn't sing in his songs).

every artist has their own horse: kuu does stuff sexy, namie goes dancey and Ayu is a drama queen.

I usually never like stuff people in general love so what ot me into Namie was Tempest. which is still my favorite song from her. I love BBC, Beautiful, Contrail, Damage, Brighter day. most of which didn't get too much phrase from fandom on here.
I like when artists create stuff themselves 99% of the time, but it's fine to just be performer, you know? there's a ton of singers like her who aren't involved a lot with the composing and writing process of their material, but they do what they do well, they add their own feeling in the finished product. I really don't think it's such a big deal.

There are thousands of singers, and there are many who write and compose their own songs, but sometimes they can't make music and they get sick and tired and they go on hiatus (Utada, lol).

Does anybody else love Drive? :heart I totally forgot about it and rediscovered it while converting Namie stuff for my phone the other day. I used to looove her chill, more ballad-y songs back in the day. Drive, Four Seasons, Come, I even love Don't Lie To Me lol.

^I love Drive! It's so wonderful and relaxing. :)

As for the karaoke debate, it needs to disappear from this thread asap. It's annoying and just plain stupid. It makes me think that Ayu fans are just jealous their fav isn't as popular as Namie is these days and that's why you're all here calling Namie a karaoke singer when she most certainly isn't. >_>

"Karaoke singer"? Give me a break. I agree with Dr. Dolce get that nonsense outta here.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20...2-tospoweb-ent

In other news it's rumoured that namie is planning on having a US tour in the summer. If she doesn't go to NYC it'll be time to save up.

Omg can she come to Europe? It's on the way to US purizu!

:love

I really hope she does a tour in Japan this summer instead of US. Ayu's and Kuu's tours end in June and Namie touring outside Japan in July, when I'm studying In Japan, would be my worst nightmare ever.

I'm now loving I'm Not Yours!! It was enjoyable enough when I first heard it but has grown on me a lot after a few more listens!

This bitch better perform near where I live cause I would LOVE to see her live omfg

You know how it works. Los Angeles, and New York are the stops for the tour, and nothing else.

I just spent a small fortune to get to japan for her and now she may be coming to the u.s.? I dont know if I should be mad or elated..

I have a feeling the tour here would not be that big, and the tickets would be expensive. It would not be anything like the DVDs.

http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2047163/full/

She's officially out of VISION FACTORY???smiley: eek

I spent a small fortune to go to Japan to see her (among other things) and found out gaijin can't buy a ticket for her concert :/

You could use an international credit card when tickets went on general sale, tho. Sorry you missed out :(

It started at 2am my time, was sold out it 6 minutes (according to other AHS user), found out in the morning...

What has Namie's tour schedule been like these past few years?

I'm going to Japan for a year in September, and so many artists have tours ending this Summer. Western artists tend to tour every 2/3 years, hope Namie. Kuu and Ayu don't do this :(

Namie usually starts the tour in august

NAMIE AMURO LEAVES HER MANAGEMENT COMPANY
http://aramajapan.com/news/namie-amu...company/15527/

^Wow. :0 Well, I don't know how this change will affect her future releases. Avex is known to be a total bitch on some areas. :/

New official site: http://dimension-point.jp/amuro/

This is surprising considering a lot of people pointed toward her management company outside of avex when pinpointing her reason for success.

Thanks kaggy :)

Zeke, there were rumours a while ago that she felt trapped by her management, right? I don't know where these rumours came from, but still, I'm not surprised.

Random, but I think I've become that accustomed to Namie's Engrish that in Big Boys Cry, in the line "Ashimoto ki wo tsukete TIPSY", singing this as "Deep shit" has been completely normal for me up until I just noticed I do it...

So does that mean she'll be milked into obscurity like so many of the other avex managed acts?

^ If she puts her foot down like pre-MY STORY ayu then I'm sure she'll have some control over her act. If shes doesn't give a f### like post-MY STORY ayu and just promotes everything they tell her to, like saying the Dragonball movie was great, then yeah she'll be milked into obscurity.

^lol, the Dragon Ball movie killed me ! XD

Freakin heck I hope she really holds on to the reigns and not let the machine (avex) trample whats shes worked for. she was the first artist I heard from japan and 13 years later and with so many artists gone or might as well be it would be terrible to see her go from not as popular and kind of underground to her current position on top. .its kinda disheartening

lmao :D

LS2014 dvd ballad preview clips
>> https://www.youtube.com/user/AmuroNamiech/videos
(too short, but better than nothing)

TV-CM

Yes!! I cant wait to see my queen singin, dancing, sweating and suffering for dehydration

I think this tour has the best wardrobe since Past Future 2010 tour.

I don't think changing company or having her own will change how people see her and therefore affect her success. I mean, fans will be fans no matter which company she releases music with.

im confused..I thought she was with Dimension Point for some time? And I thought she left avex for her own company...so now she's back? LOL im lost

Dimension Point is a record label under Avex Holdings Group similar to Rhythm Zone or Sonic Groove. These record labels are created for different purposes e.g "Rhythm Zone (リズムゾーン Rizumu Zōn?) (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Records Group which releases all kinds of urban contemporary Japanese music"

However Dimension Point was solely created for Namie as for now. After she left Visionfactory (Rising Productions) on the 14 Jan 2015, Dimension Point (Avex) became her publisher and her management company. She never left Avex, she was given her own record label...

I know this is not the best site to put this video (and y'all know why...) but i love this so much lol

http://randomjpop.blogspot.co.uk/201...for-ayumi.html

American debut!? Whoa...I did not expect that to happen! And a potential return to the Kouhaku?

This could be big news to Namie fans! We'll just have to wait and see...

I honestly don't think she can make it. We'll see

I hope she can make it. It would be awesome and people will see that Japan isn't just about cute crap. :D

lol She'd never make it lbr. Not even American-born Asians who speak perfect English can make it over here.

lmao when I read that she allegedly bought a house in LA, I got a mental image of her and Ayu catching up over cocktails in some swanky bar in Bev Hills--two j-pop divas hanging out in plain view without anyone bothering them, lol.

But, I'll eat my hat if her stateside ventures end up being even remotely successful.

buttttttt[2] if it means a tour a la In The Flesh, bring it on. I wonder what a small-venue Namie tour would look like.

Yeah, and the article only mentions Utada and Boa. There was also Se7en with "Girls", JYJ with "The Beginning", Girls Generation with "Nobody", "The Boys" and wasn't "Like Money" also an American song? Let's also not forget Koda Kumi released her first two singles in America when she debuted as well. Many artists have gotten nowhere. Even Far East Movement which is an American group of Asians only really had one hit "Like a G6".

At least she ain't dreaming of conquering USA (or at least ain't saying so). It could be a good experience for her, working with Western producers and such, it'd be really interesting!

She doesnt care if she's gonna make it or no, she knows all the asian artist that tried there flopped but she gives 0 fuck and wanna try it for the experience cause she can

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...oie_hbic-1.gif

@S4MU3L : off-topic, but could you please consider changing your signature ?
It's not that I don't like it, but it's an obviously HEAVY gif image, and whenever I scroll a thread with one of your post, my browser LAGS HEAVILY. I don't know if I'm the only one in that case, but still...

It's the kiss of death for my browser, too. But I use Chrome and have the AdBlock extension installed (which is amazing for all sorts of things, not just cases like these) and just ad-blocked the image so it will never load for me again. ;) Something to consider in case he doesn't see your message, lol

I think if she hopes to have some success in US she should do all the TV shows and TV performances in order to promote herself and that people become aware of her and her music ! Considering how she refuses to promote herself (in person) on Japanese TV I really don't imagine her makes such efforts ! She should have make it 10/15 years ago now she is near 40 years old it's a bit late ... even if she make Electro like in Japan the young audience won't see her appeal ! She is not like Celine Dion which surpassed the language barrier thanks to her vocal skills !

If she succeeds it would be amazing for her and for the asians in general but the challenge is really hard this time ! Asians don't succeed in western countries the only one I know who gained some recognition in Europe is "Anggun" especially in my country (France) but it's the only exemple I have ... good luck for her if it's true ;)

me too!! haha

Honestly I don't like the idea of her debuting outside Asia, I don't think the world is ready for the queen. JK. But I like the fact that japanese artist are only focused in Japan, that creates a different atmosphere and feeling, at least for me.

i love your signature, but I have the same problem, please :)

I think her music would do really well here. She has so many songs that could be re-recorded in English that I think would be hits on the radio.

Sure, hope this works better :D

Yeah ! Thank you ! ^0^

^^Thanks S4MU3L

If the music is good and it doesn't "sell" well, it doesn't matter to me.
All that matters is that I get some Namie music!

We'll get 4 performances from LIVE STYLE 2014 on February 1st!
m-on
ALARM
http://www.m-on.jp/artist/id/533/

SSTV
TSUKI
http://www.spaceshowertv.com/search/...u=0106220&ch=0
SWEET KISSES
http://www.spaceshowertv.com/search/...u=0106221&ch=0

MTV JP
Supernatural Love
http://www.mtvjapan.com/search/?q=namie

I hope there's something special about ALARM performance, or else I dont get what's the deal to release it first

All four videos are being broadcast on February 1st, though??? :shakehead What's the big deal if ALARM is the first one that's shown?

She's never going to happen in the US. I bet she'll never do an english interview like Ayu for example lol (she hasn't even done a live performance or interview in japanese tv shows for a long time) she may do one or two performances somewhere and that's probably gonna be it.

I wonder if people actually read those news? Like she didn't say she wanna become an US star, so why would we bother instead of her? :P

Actually i don't even care if she's going to make it in the US or not. As long as she's giving me an awesome album with awesome music videos, that's all that matters!

Id rather she doesn't, why ruin her legacy. No Asian artist has ever made a successful Western tradition, unless you make ridiculously awful music like 2NE1. Your typical dumb American wouldn't be able to hear Namie's engrish and they will constantly butcher the pronouncation of her name as Nami Amuro.

^Wait isn't it pronounced like that? Lol. Do you actually say "namie" with the e sound?

lol yes I believe most of us read the news. It's just natural to wonder and discuss if she could be major or not. No big deal.

girl, really? You speak Japanese though :tired And yes, her name is pronounced na・mi・e

A teaser for I'm Not Yours, her collaboration with Jolin Tsai, has been released!
The MV will be revealed on February 3rd:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=684979278291578

Yes and in japanese the e is pronounced more like "eh" which also wouldn't compute for your typical dumb American

So you'd have a bunch of people calling her Nami Amuro or Namia Amuro

^Paris Hilton. lol

Considering that her own international fans have discussions over how to properly pronounce her name, it wouldn't only be "dumb americans" that have a problem.

People are so salt lol

I really don't want her to make an American debut either. There's no need for it. There's no room for her in this scene, and it'll be impossible for her to make room. Her music isn't interesting enough to warrant her accent.

Heeeeyyy, we've all done it! No need to be elitist ;)

Saying that I'm not sure how bothered I am about a US debut. I was really excited about Hikaru's US release (loved Exodus whereas TITO is my least favourite album by her). As long as we get the same amount of music from her I'll be happy. My one negative/selfish thought about Asian artists trying to break the US (although I'm not sure if Namie IS trying to break the US) is that they would have to spend more time promoting than they would in Japan = music releases less often.

Hey I live in the States too, its not elitist to call my fellow Americans morons lol. I can list a few reasons to back up my claim

Iggy Azalea's music is considered rap

Nicki Minaj is considered hot

People care about Kanye and Kim's marriage

Most Importantly
Grown Ups 2 had a bigger box office opening weekend than Pacific Rim

;)

You're literally listing things that are opinion (except Iggy, but I hate her). Like you have so much salt coming out of you I might as well just use you to season my food.

Namie won't make it in America simply because she is Asian, don't lie to yourselves.