Quote:
Originally Posted by voltron
I'm sure it's not even a thought on his mind. 
Don't get it twisted -- Namie has had an admirable comeback story, and is no doubt one of the most successful female artists these days, but her current fame is very different from what her fame used to look like. She was the trend-setter in her hey-days and had a huge cultural impact (ganguro/yamanba/gal-culture), now she is exceptional at following trends and riding their popularity. Along the way, she's also lost most (if not all) of her edge, and her "personality" (both musically, and in terms of her persona -- i.e. getting her tattoos removed, never speaking about her personal life, etc.).
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.
(And not to derail, but shade as you may try, being an idol was never Ayu's image or the way she was promoted). |
I can agree with the last thing, a lot of the Japanese people I meet at my job revere her for her beauty, not about skill or artistry, but I don't expect them to because musically she never really had an edge or uniqueness to it. Even during her PLAY era, she wasn't the first hip hop artist in Japan. The hip hop scene is pretty small in Japan, so she can be credited with expanding its community, but she didn't really do anything different from other hip hop artists, she just did it better and its always been like that in the past with her pop and the current present with her edm pop. Even "better" isn't really "better", she just makes very catchy songs, and I think part of that has to do with repeating short English phrases in her songs that may or may not have anything to do with the song, like Chase the Chance, Never End, Girl Talk, or better yet pretty much 90 percent of her songs.
As far as her personality, she doesn't really have much to say about her personal life cuz there doesn't seem to be much to share. Aside from her tours and magazine photoshoots, she devotes the rest of her time being a mother to Haruto. I felt like her sizable donation during the Tohoku earthquake goes to show that she lives a pretty modest life. I kinda like it better that we don't get exposed much of her personal life, I get tired of seeing stars post instagram or facebook updates for everything, literally grocery shopping or going to the bathroom. Plus the whole "less is more" approach is working well for artists like her and Hikki in the long run. It would be nice if she did more TV appearances like in the past but perhaps how she was treated on air with the divorce has something to do with that.