[nmskalmn]

This is from an article about some American soul musicians:

Excerpt:

Dexter notes that Japanese fans tend to support artists throughout their careers instead of judging whether a particular album meets a certain standard. "Both my second and third CDs [Dexterity and Conscious] were probably more successful over there than they have been in the States," she adds. "[My work] isn't scrutinized in the same way, like, oh, [this CD] isn't as good [as the last one]. It's like, they either like me or they don't. And when they embrace it, they embrace it wholeheartedly."

It's debatable how well American underground soul artists truly perform in Japan and Europe. Those regions have the same appetite for pop as anywhere else; in Japan, J-Pop stars such as Utada Hikaru rule the music charts. But they also tend to support cutting-edge African-American dance and soul music in a way that only happens for, say, indie-rock artists here in the United States. Simmons' 2005 album with Jiva, Sun & Moon, came out overseas, but has yet to get a domestic release.

Julie Dexter and Khari Simmons: Big in Japan
Soul artists embraced outside the States