Quote:
Originally Posted by voltron
But ultimately, success is not the same as respect (and that's not just for Namie). She's popular and does very well (and makes some damn catchy music), but I personally have never spoken to any Japanese who speak about her with respect or reverence for her skill/artistry/etc.
|
I've heard from several people over there that respect her very much. Not necessarily as an "artist", but as a singer, performer etc. Japanese people in general from my experience have a very positive opinion about her. Or to put it this way, when ever talking to people about music over there and my favorite artists, I've never met someone who disliked her.
And about the artistry comment - agreed, that Ayu obviously writes her own lyrics and sometimes music, but that is not the only component of artistry (I do think it's a big one though and I love Ayu for it). But the fact of the matter is, is that we don't actually know how Namie is involved with the artistry side or not, people just assume that she isn't because she doesn't talk about it, but no one actually knows that. It's completely in her personality to not talk about how involved she may or may not be. What we do know is that over the last couple of years she is releasing stuff under her own production company, which is something even Ayu doesn't do. It is my personal opinion that Namie is probably much more involved with her own product than people know.