[article] J-Pop Is the Quiet Storm in American Culture

[nmskalmn]

Excerpts:

There’s no longer a doubt in anyone’s mind that there is Japanese influence in American pop culture like never before. With the mainstream and commercial success of anime and video gaming, Japanese pop culture is gaining greater acceptance in American society.

But after video gaming, anime and manga, what’s the next wave? Is there a quiet storm brewing? If you ask any otaku — a hardcore anime fan — they would tell you that Japanese pop music, or “J-pop,” is what’s catching on fast.

The newest shift among American teenagers is happening with J-pop idols like Hyde and Glay. At anime conventions, American fans go so far as cosplaying (masquerading) as their favorite J-pop performers. The cultural and language barrier doesn’t stop American fans from connecting with the music of J-pop.

As J-pop performers began seeking worldwide success, they looked to the United States. Artists like Utada Hikaru signed with Def Jam Records. In 2004, she released an album for an English-speaking audience, but the crossover album was not commercially successful. Unfortunately, no J-pop artists have experienced commercial success in the United States.

Up until now, J-pop performers have relied on the anime market to enter the U.S. market, often performing live concerts at anime conventions. However, there is a growing trend to limit and even distance ties to anime.

Read it: J-Pop Is the Quiet Storm in American Culture

The article mentions Ayu and also contains an interview with the pillows.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Wow, awesome. xD But why did they mention Utada's failure (it was an excellent album).. Puffy Amiyumi would also qualify as "successful" JPOP.

[AyuGAME]

haha..i hope their barrier about different culture will be broken as soon as possible..its the time for try something new

[marty518]

Obviously the language barrier is a huge problem for some people. I don't care at all! I can listen to music in any language, and if I like the melody, that's all I need. If I don't understand the words, I can look them up online since most popular music from around the world is translated online.

I just don't understand how people can limit their horizons so much.. there is so much good music out there in different languages!

[micster]

Verrry nice

Heres a silly thing for me to say but japanese music is become popular with more and more people, today for instance i managed to borrow the cd [POLYSICS OR DIE!!!!] by Polysics a j-rock band in my library

[JesA]

cool...but i wish the article counted towards my area...people here wont even accept african-american artists. the language barrier is the main problem in a lot of places..and my friends that come over sometimes even say that they dont wanna listen to something that they cant understand. hopefully it will change here with the rest of the US...

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by MC Tatsujin

Wow, awesome. xD But why did they mention Utada's failure (it was an excellent album).. Puffy Amiyumi would also qualify as "successful" JPOP.

Because for a major label debut like that it was a failure. And with the exception of a couple of tracks there was nothing really commercially viable on that album for the record company to promote. (And the few tracks that were marketable just weren't THAT great to begin with)

Originally Posted by marty518

Obviously the language barrier is a huge problem for some people. I don't care at all! I can listen to music in any language, and if I like the melody, that's all I need. If I don't understand the words, I can look them up online since most popular music from around the world is translated online.

I just don't understand how people can limit their horizons so much.. there is so much good music out there in different languages!

Amen. I get so frustrated when I'm driving my friends around, playing some foreign music, and as cool as the song may be, all they'll say is: "Ew, what the hell are they saying?" And change the music.

Hence, the "my car, my music" law.

[Calico]

^Amen!

You know it's bad when people threaten others that *you* will be in charge of the music somewhere if something does go their way. Uh...heh.

I think J-pop has a LONG way to go, though. But thankfully, it's taking people over one brain at a time. :whistles

[JesA]

^ yea i agree. im not really looking foward to J-pop becoming wildly popular anytime soon...

[Kikaru]

Originally Posted by evolusean

Amen. I get so frustrated when I'm driving my friends around, playing some foreign music, and as cool as the song may be, all they'll say is: "Ew, what the hell are they saying?" And change the music.

Hence, the "my car, my music" law.

I would say amen but I still don't know how to drive yet...

But very true. For me, it's my house, my music. Or I listen to foreign songs, deal with it.

[Mad_Cactuar]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Because for a major label debut like that it was a failure. And with the exception of a couple of tracks there was nothing really commercially viable on that album for the record company to promote. (And the few tracks that were marketable just weren't THAT great to begin with)

See, that's where I disagree. I found the album to be really commercial and marketable. The singles chosen were all great, except that promotion was extremely limited due to Mariah Carey's Emancipation being out around that time. But I don't want to turn this into an Exodus discussion thread...

[Xianghua]

Thank you for the article, it was very interesting.

lol, I love how you guys are like, "suck it up i'll listen to whatever I want" I wish I could be more like that.

anyway, I'm glad jpop is taking it's time. I kinda don't want it to come to the US all that fast yet. I kinda like my (can't think of the word; unique?) taste in music.

[Nevada]

^ That's kinda being stingy O___O`

[Xianghua]

^ how so? All i'm saying is that I'm happy I have different musical taste than the majority of people.Diversity is what makes people interesting! ^^! I'm not saying I'm against others listening to it. Maybe I made it sound that way.

[cybermoomba]

Its going to take a really LONG time for it to catch on in the US

As marty said, the language barrier is a huge problem for most people

[emi♡]

^^the language barrier is HUGE...

however for teenagers, speaking Japanese is REALLY cool, and for "otaku" i think they try to teach themselves...it's funny. My friend Eric is trying to learn...he would write his name in Japanese (eriku)...I think that anime just opened the door...KH pushed it...I think that there's a considerable percentage of young people today who are becoming more accepting, and I think that J-pop may become really popular in the future...but, of course, it'll always be among the same "types" of people.

[SunshineSlayer]

Yeah, the language barrier is a big problem but I don't think that it is going to be nearly as big of one in the future as it has been in the past. Just about every kid born in America(or abroad even) nowadays gets exposed to Japanese culture in some way either through video games, anime, manga, and now even horror movies. I think once our generation and the ones that follow become the adults of the world, you will see J-Pop start getting more accepted overseas.

[alt.total-loser]

Ha, yeah, language barrier is a problem. Just yesterday I was playing an Ayu song when my sister walked through and was like, "Why do you listen to that if you can't understand it?".
X___x It gets really annoying after a while. But still, I'm not sure if I want Jpop to be huge yet. I sorta like naming off my favorite artists and having no one know who they are. xD

[Coelacanth]

Otakus have bad taste in J-pop though. =X