Namie Amuro American Debut!!!!!!
 

http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/amuro_namie/bio.jhtml
Namie Amuro actually released an american album of Concentration 20 and had a debut in 1997 i never knew this must've been before she got pregnant and married to TK. It shocked me to death!!!! and she is on the regular MTV site. And Ayumi Hamasaki is not so i guess Namie Amuro is still known as the queen of jpop to mtv. She is more talented LOL. It has been rumored at Virgin Records that Namie's producers Rodney Jerkins and Dallas Austin are actually trying to get her to crossover her english is pretty good. They produced her entire Break the rules album and Concentration 20 it is going to be awesome i am praying this is true. she is basically hip hop anyway and her music rocks. Utada may be paving the way. I hope within 5 years Namie and BoA will be here we gotta wait and see i hope :yes

If Namie Released a English album she would sell alot! I support her all the way

O_O it's only a matter of time until our music get's the recognition it so rightly deserves... but then we're gonna get really annoying kids wh act like they're jpop fans because they've heard the new english stuff -_- it happend with anime and "alternative" rock etc...

lol thats soo true! But I really think some Jpop artist need to relased in american! Cause alot of people Jugde ther music,Dances,and style way to much

Not true lol :P

Yeah I don't think Namie is more talented than Ayu at all and if anything less talented in the music department...

I don't think Namie's slower stuff would be too successful here...maybe the kinda stuff she did with suite chic back in the day.

Namie Is more talented Than Ayumi is some ways!

I agree. I like her Suite Chic and her old Eurbeat stuff. I think if she went back to that and released in the US that she would have good feedback.

I'd rather see Ayu in the US first though. And I totally agree about the dumb kids that'll be acting like they were fans of Jpop forever because they heard the new stuff. morons..

I really don't think Namie is more talented than Ayu. :no

Hrm...interesting. It'd be cool...but then I don't know how I'd feel if suddenly everyone was listening to *my* music, haha!

put it this way..Namie is talented in dancing and Ayu really can't dance but she did improved but it doesn't mean Ayu is still better a dancer then Namie
and on the other hand Ayu is talented and well known for her writing lyrics and Namie..i duno if she ever did as i'm not tad a big fan of her

if Namie really do debut here it will be kinda funny...in the US..we got Hikki vs Namie
then in Japan we got Hikki vs Ayu :rolleyes why not make ayu debut in US first :P
but ayu english is...x.X

Yep they have different talents...can't really be compared. Of course if you wanna say "dance" or singing hip-hop songs, then namie is really more talented than ayu, but in other ways, ayu writes much more complex lyrics and variates more in the style of her songs, so ayu would be more talented in that part. Has anyone ever listened to this english album of her btw?

If she's gonna cross over her english needs to improve a lot and does she even speak english?

Sounds great!
I would looking forward to an Englisch album of her!!

If Namie Came to the U.S she would have moe Sales than Hikki! Mostly is she realsed Suite Chic in english!

I don't think that there's anything to be excited about just because she had an album here. Puffy AmiYumi has two and are barely known, Kuraki Mai also has two American albums I believe and they both did pretty poorly, Dreams Come True was meant to be a crossover band though I'm not sure anything actually ever came out here, Coco Lee had an album and I think she has another one in the works. Moral of story, most Asian artists flop when they release something here.

if she ever crossover.... for sure her album will be better than exodus.

i think namie's style album in english would have down VERY well

Namie Amuro can speak english very well. As well as BoA is fluent in it. Shakira wasn't fluent in english when she crossed from spanish to pop music in america she learned. Namie Amuro has more experience than Ayumi in America. She has worked with various american producers she released a unknown english version of Concentration 20 which i don't seem to find anywhere i have never heard about it till Utada came to america and they added namie amuro on the mtv site. I guess she is suppose to be the first to take Hikki on in America if she is successful. I would really like to see Ayumi Hamasaki too but i doubt that is ever gonna happen. Her english is BLAH!!!!! her music is to japanesy but good i don't think there is no way she could crossover she would'nt be big but only big in fashion and image of japanese women. I heard from a friend Namie didn;t release her english stuff just yet she was gonna wait but then she got pregnant and married u guys know the story so her career just stopped then when she came back Ayumi had taken over so that is why Namie isn't here now she is trying to take back her crown she could do it too. She needs to get better producers for ballads why doesn't she try Bounceback and DAI?

There's a great difference between pronouncing and understanding. Namie's older songs had pretty decent English, but now they're usually horrible. And BoA's English has always been pretty horrendous in songs...I mean, they say she's fluent in English, but I really doubt it. I don't see how either of the two could sing what they sing if they knew just how wrong it is and what little sense they're makes.

Namie surely win ayu in the dancing part =P

BoA is fluent :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

yeah! and i'm superman :innocent

So sad, so true.

Because they aren't trying to sell the songs in an English-speaking country.

I mean, there are the girls that speak English in Hello! Project - Mika Todd and Ayaka. Almost none of the English in Hello! Project songs make sense, but they sing it anyhow. And they are both fluent in the language.

[IMO]Namie when compared to Hamasaki, has a better voice, more range, no matter what she sings, she sounds good. Her voice is versatile. Not to mention how good her lives are on most songs.

I'll refrain from mentioning her dancing, everyone already knows she's a pro.

While writing lyrics is definetly a plus, there's nothing wrong with singing someone else's song. I mean, people who write songs are usually profesionals, and most of the time they write good songs. Example: Diane Warren doesn't sing, but her lyrics are always great. If Namie isn't comfortable with or can't write lyrics, her voice more than makes up for it.

That article is probably erroneous. Her biggest international singles were her eurobeat songs from pre-avex, correct me if I'm wrong. Anyways, if Concentration 20 was released in the US, it was probably still in Japanese.

...just my $.02

[and no, i'm not a Namie Amuro fanboy, Ayumi Hamasaki used to be higher on my list than Namie, but then she turned into a vibrato monster and I feel out of love, i love all her pre-H songs]

i dun think this sentence means that she release a english album of concentration 20 in U.S ..^_^;

it means that her 'concentration 20' album was released into U.S, Australia, taiwan etc and ppl outside Japan started noticed her.....it's sometime like overseas version of the album shipped outside Japan and all over the world....not a english one :no

"this must've been before she got pregnant and married to TK."

Just to clarify...KEIKO from globe married TK, not Namie. Although she was being produced by him up until that time.

And I've heard about this kind of stuff...I've seen Mai's US albums a couple of times, and I know that Yaiko had one released in Europe. It's kinda interesting to see them do this kind of marketing.

And Namie vs. Hikki...oh I can see it now =P

Well, I was really disappointed with what Hikki decided to give us for her debut... Maybe if Namie came over she'd be better...

Namie would give a better English album! Most Jpop artist should know english! Its a they MUST/HAVE TO take in High School

Unfortunately, they don't always learn proper, grammatically correct English in school because many of the teachers aren't fluent enough to be really teaching it.

That's like saying that because us Canadians have to study French from Grades one - eleven that we should all be fluent in the language. And I'll tell you right now, I can say maybe five things in French.
One of them is 'Je suis pain.'
I don't know if you can read that, but it means 'I am bread.'
So you know... I'm not holding too much faith in Japanese people who have to take English in school. (Not that there isn't the bunch that could be fluent. This is just my example.)

I had french and I hated it!

Exactly. I bet a lot of Japanese people hate taking English as well.

Actually Namie is suppose to be fluent. I heard her speak one time and that was at a press confrence for break the rules. i tried to find the downloads for it and i can't. She was up there with Dallas Austin and Rodney Jerkins.

hmm... namie still has enough japanese accent to be misunderstood, in my opinion. her looks and musical style might catch on, but she'd have to have flawless english... or atleast not a serious accent.

Namie has People from Nyc produced some songs on her album should be able to speak french!

Amuro can't speak English for the life of her - listen to FISH. Bwahahaha.

omg FISH!!!!! i still have yet to hear it i am afraid to check it out but then again i heard it is really hard to include english in japanese songs the only person i know that could pull it off was Kuraki Mai,Utada,Melody and sometimes BoA. :(

yao ming is very fluent in english too! :D

Since people brought up the thought of who would do better in the states if at all between Ayumi and Namie I felt like contributing.

As any American knows, youth culture as a whole is very very shallow, the media regurgitates the general bilge into baby pop culture's mouth and it squawks for more. Substance doesn't really matter altogether too much, it's style.

Ayumi is pop point blank, Namie has had a very obvious transition from pop to R&B/Hip-Hop (yes another form of popular music but there's a difference), what is the latest craze in suburbia? Driving down a street you'll probably pass by a car (raised truck if it's a guy, sportscar if it's a girl generally) that is playing (blasting) music (let's guess) loud enough for you to plainly hear it (their car and your windows are shaking from the bass). Musically, who do you think would be listened to more often at this point in time?

Appearance is 9/10ths of the law so they say and unfortunately they're correct most of the time. Select any random ol' photo off of www.japanesestreets.com and show it to the most whitebread person you know. They generally will not have a very positive comment on what they see. Ayumi reflects this, she has a very "Japanese" sense of style, very willing to try anything that tickles her fancy to express or present herself. Yes she wears designer labels and can dress in a more generally acceptable (to American tastes) manner but I'm certain everyone here has seen some of her general magazine-shoot fashion choices (remember the thread about her ring and earring with the well-recieved message on them?). Namie dresses very American, more specifically in accordance to hip-hop, she doesn't stray very far from the usually acceptable lines (again in an American view). She wears mini-skirts, black stilleto boots, tracksuit pants, she has tattoos, she wears one of those hats which I can never remember the name of and called it a beret once, generally very tame. This is just what they wear.

Ayumi is 100% japanese, no contest. She LOOKS japanese more importantly, you can't really mistake it. Namie is a japanese-italian and has the benefit of a more ambiguous genetic makeup and by generic, western youth standards I'm certain she's quite attractive, visible forehead and all. Ayumi has what I've heard one person affectionately dubbed a "witch nose." Considering how much plastic surgery is visible in western pop idols such a 'glaring fault' wouldn't be acceptable. Namie has been described as having a childish face, bad thing? Kate Moss and Christina Ricci have been identified as having the same thing and as your mileage may vary, there are a considerable amount of people who find both to be very attractive.

As far as language goes, both lack in their english, anyone fluent in english can tell that very plainly. As a general rule, I've noticed I can understand Namie more often than Ayumi, sometimes I won't even know she said something in english until I read the lyrics. Some people claim never having heard/seen Ayumi speak a considerable amount of english in one sitting probably didn't see the Ayuready performance of, "Change the World." I've never heard Namie speak the same amount of straight english that Ayumi tried there but also another thing noticeable, Namie will have full english phrases in her songs, Ayumi will usually stick to perhaps a few words, exceptions evident of course.

Was there any real point in this? Not really I just got very very bored.

man...i don't think she'd survive in america...too many people are narrowminded and dont want to "try" and understand her through her accent. :T

She won't make it in America. Not to be pessimistic, but she won't. Utada and Coco Lee both had really good chances of doing it considering they were both born in America and lived here...but they both flopped.
Japanese music just isn't meant to cross over to American music.

European music, yes (Kylie Monogue and Spice Girls). Spanish music, yes (think J.Lo and Shakira). But not Japanese music.

Namie's songs "Looking for You" and "Girlfriend" are sung entirely in English. Well, actually "Girlfriend" has like, one or two short lines in Japanese...
I would have to say that her English on "Girlfriend" is near perfect. +It's a rad song!

Look If Namie would speak English Fluent she would make it big! Alot people I know like her songs ! The Insrumentals and her flow! When Im tell im its a Japanese Singer there shocked!

Never said she'd make it, only said she would have a better chance than Ayumi.

Kuraki Mai? Are you joking? She is one of the worst Jpop singers for singing English.

good !

whee!!! i love namie! more and more as each day passes.