[Koda Kumi] The 186th Thread - 60th brand new single on the way

[thinkingoutloud89]

^I know all that XD I listen to J-Pop everyday. It's not like I said "its with every album", i just said it happens and that I'm glad that it is slowly decreasing. I know you don't mean to, but it feels like you make me sound stupid. I did not want to start sonething, sorry, I just pointed that out

[KuuXAyu-fan]

Originally Posted by ahtka-chan

As of now, Lemonade counts with six singles: "Formation", "Sorry", "Hold Up", "Freedom", "Daddy Lessons" and "All Night". They are all nice tracks (well, I personally don't like Sorry, Hold Up or All Night).

Formation was the only pre-release, yes, but that's because the release system in America is different from Japan. In Japan, you generally have four singles, and then the album, in the US is the opposite.

So, if Kumi has a definite goal for where she wants to go with her music, she is perfectly able to release four singles and an album filled with songs that match the sound/style she presented in the singles, something that, in my view, she has been failing to do. Her discography is very diverse, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's harder to show evolution and maturity once your releases are like that, and that's something that made me lose much of the interest I had for her. But, anyway, I still hope one day she'll release a very well crafted album, with thought and a message, like "Lemonade", "A Seat at The Table", "Fantôme", "19 to 20" and others.

I think the closest she got to release a cohesive album was ETERNITY, but that's my opinion.

IMO JAPONESQUE and countless other Kuu albums are better than Fantome or any other album Hikki has released. In my view, Hikki has been rehashing the same songs post-Deep River and Fantome is her most generic and uninteresting album yet.

However we all have different opinions and are allowed to share them.

[Zeke.]

Fantome is definitely not a "re-hash," and I mean that in a negative sense. ULTRA BLUE and songs off of HEART STATION were better. I wouldn't eat a turd off the crap Ku has released since UNIVERSE.

[Gubsi]

^then why are you still here? we're close hitting 2017 lmao

oh and thanks guys for your respond to what's your top15...
nice to see some gems like Hana, Cherry Girl, Okay or Stay here!

Fantôme is very 80s french pop inspired and she's doing a great job with it!
i can see when people don't like it as much, cause for most minds and ears it's a bit out of their bubble, but i think it's one of the best japanese albums we had this year followed by Miliyah Kato's LIBERTY.

and i'm with thinkingoutloud89 cause it's a much better experience when you listen to an album without knowing half of it...

i think Kuu is really doing great for an artist at her age and time she already has been in the japanese music industry!

can't wait what she's doing with her next record…
my dream would be an alternative rnb/hip hop album with elements of pop and dance...
like some songs Bey/Rih/Drake did this year or something like from KOHH's "梔子" album...

[KarenPang]

2016年,応援してくださった皆さん
本当に有難うございました‼そしてお世話になりました��
2017年も会えることを心から楽しみにしてます��
I wish you good luck for the next year✨
#倖田來未　#KK2016　#KODAKUMI

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...27858158845954
https://www.facebook.com/KodaKumiOff...4755264902604/

And Zeke , if you're not a Kuu fan anymore , why are you still posting here & bashing her music ?

Last thing I want to see is Kuu's thread/s getting flamed again by the mods on here as to what happened in the past

I could say even further if not more nastier stuff but I'm not going to

Anyway with today being the last day of 2016 , all I can say is that being a Kuu fan for 10 years , it's no doubt that she worked hard to where she has gotten but 2016 is her most quietest to date in terms of new material

It felt strange as all the while everyone was so used to her releasing new music so frequently until at times I can't keep up unlike this year

I do hope she will wow everyone for all its worth when 2017 rolls by (in less than 3 hours' time for me)

[Isicio]

Happy new year to all of you in Asia!! I have to wait till the night here.
I hope Kuu do a very well album in 2017, this year with only 2 new songs released maybe is good for her and the new songs wil be great.

[a❤martian]

Kuu's music is the most enjoyable to me, as far as J-Pop goes. Her more recent stuff, for the most part, has been really great for me. She's constantly evolving while still staying true to herself. She's such a diverse artist, to me. She's the only one in J-Pop who I'm not completely over at this point.

[Zeke.]

I still love a lot of Ku's music. I just gushed over Driving a page back or so, and raved about how amazing her songs are to dance to prior to that. I just wish she would start throwing out a quality release every now and then again.

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by KuuXAyu-fan

IMO JAPONESQUE and countless other Kuu albums are better than Fantome or any other album Hikki has released. In my view, Hikki has been rehashing the same songs post-Deep River and Fantome is her most generic and uninteresting album yet.

However we all have different opinions and are allowed to share them.

As a fan of both Kuu and Hikki, I have to disagree with this entirely. Fantome doesn't even sound like a Hikki album sis. Kuu is doing her thing and it's working for her very well and she's changing her sound bit by bit but still retaining what makes her her. Hikki never really had the issue of her albums sounding the same, but we're even lucky that she remembers to record.

[kaled kalil]

Is this the time of the year to say that everything that Kumi does is garbage again? I thought we already did that back in april. And august. And october....

Hikki is doing her thing, and Kumi is doing hers, so why people still compare things that doesn't match at all? You can like both, one doesn't replace the other and they are getting the coins either way.

And btw, I still like WALK OF MY LIFE, it's a good and cohesive album for what it is.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by KuuXAyu-fan

IMO JAPONESQUE and countless other Kuu albums are better than Fantome or any other album Hikki has released. In my view, Hikki has been rehashing the same songs post-Deep River and Fantome is her most generic and uninteresting album yet.

You're clearly not a fan, and that's OK, but I'd rather not see you oversimplify Fantome. Fantome is Utada's most cohesive and personal record in her entire career, and would not have happened without her mother's suicide. The entire album revolves heavily around death, loss, reflection, untouchable dreams, and other thoughts that fill life with such nuance. Utada's lyrics are usually nonsensical and seem simple, but she's as popular as she is because her songs seem so down-to-earth and plain while focusing on subjects that people rarely have the skill to communicate well.

Originally Posted by Zeke.

Fantome is definitely not a "re-hash," and I mean that in a negative sense. ULTRA BLUE and songs off of HEART STATION were better. I wouldn't eat a turd off the crap Ku has released since UNIVERSE.

I agree that ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION were better albums. Maybe because Utada had her head on her shoulders and didn't have an identity shaken too harshly by divorce, hiatus, marriage, pregnancy, and suicide. She's not a "normal" woman like she used to seem, you know -- the girl Nintendo hand-picked to compete against Japan's Tetris champions for fun. She's had a lot of time on her hands, a husband, a baby, and a lot of loss.

Koda's certainly done some good things since UNIVERSE. But yes, her peak was Black Cherry / Kingdom / TRICK / UNIVERSE. Since then, her albums have been loaded with a lot more forgettable material. However, I have to argue that it's made the standout tracks stand out much more. Watching the arena dance with Kuu during BE MY BABY on WOML Tour was a special moment for me as a fan -- it proved that Koda really does deserve everything she's earned as an artist.

Originally Posted by Gubsi

^then why are you still here? we're close hitting 2017 lmao

Fantôme is very 80s french pop inspired and she's doing a great job with it!
i can see when people don't like it as much, cause for most minds and ears it's a bit out of their bubble, but i think it's one of the best japanese albums we had this year followed by Miliyah Kato's LIBERTY.

I think Miliyah nailed J-Pop for 2016, hands down. LIBERTY isn't just a damn good album from start to finish, it's a damn good album NONE of us fans expected to be so good. We were a little meh after LOVELAND and TRUE LOVERS, and somehow Miliyah returned with an album that epitomizes the best of Japanese Pop as we know it today.

Originally Posted by KarenPang

And Zeke , if you're not a Kuu fan anymore , why are you still posting here & bashing her music ?

Last thing I want to see is Kuu's thread/s getting flamed again by the mods on here as to what happened in the past

I could say even further if not more nastier stuff but I'm not going to

Anyway with today being the last day of 2016 , all I can say is that being a Kuu fan for 10 years , it's no doubt that she worked hard to where she has gotten but 2016 is her most quietest to date in terms of new material

It felt strange as all the while everyone was so used to her releasing new music so frequently until at times I can't keep up unlike this year

I do hope she will wow everyone for all its worth when 2017 rolls by (in less than 3 hours' time for me)

Bashing =/= not being a fan. I'm so tired of people jumping to the conclusion that you can't be a fan and bash or hate on an artist's releases. I've loved Lady Gaga, but I think Joanne needs to be set on fire and burned. I think who Gaga thinks she is right now needs to be set on fire and burned. I think she's a talented performer who's trying too hard to get people to take her seriously after taking the criticism that she relies on "gimmicks" to heart. I'm still a fan.

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

Is this the time of the year to say that everything that Kumi does is garbage again? I thought we already did that back in april. And august. And october....

Hikki is doing her thing, and Kumi is doing hers, so why people still compare things that doesn't match at all? You can like both, one doesn't replace the other and they are getting the coins either way.

And btw, I still like WALK OF MY LIFE, it's a good and cohesive album for what it is.

People on both sides take it way out of context every time. Someone hates on something, someone else construes it to mean they're hating on something else as well -- rinse and repeat. For a bunch of adults, we sure behave like emotional little children.

WOML was a good album. I wish it felt fuller, but I appreciate the title track for it's significance at this point in Koda's career. It was a good song, and a very mature track that needed to happen.

[KarenPang]

Happy New Year～2017��
Have a joyful year��!!

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...69470898098176

[ahtka-chan]

There's a lot of people here on this thread that love every single thing Kumi releases, being a Max Martin produced track or an entire album full of her farting sounds, and that's okay, even if it gives the impression they don't have much of a critical sense.

There's also some people that, in different occasions, point out Kumi's (alledged or not) lack of diversity and skills as an artist, and that's okay, even if it gives the impression the person is bashing.

What I don't understand is the fact that every time someone says "oh, I think x,y and z are weak singles" the fans come here and drag the person, say they're bashing, they're haters and etc. It's not that, this is a forum, and anyone, being a fan or not, can come here and discuss all things Kumi.

I don't really appreciate much of her new releases, but I have the right to say what I think about her music, her tours, her albums, and hear other opinions.

I personally didn't like WOML, but you don't see me saying, "you liked that? your music taste sure sucks".

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

Is this the time of the year to say that everything that Kumi does is garbage again? I thought we already did that back in april. And august. And october....

Hikki is doing her thing, and Kumi is doing hers, so why people still compare things that doesn't match at all? You can like both, one doesn't replace the other and they are getting the coins either way.

And btw, I still like WALK OF MY LIFE, it's a good and cohesive album for what it is.

No one said that.

[jean-baptiste]

Kumi hasn't released anything of quality? I feel like some of her most "quality" sounding tracks came after UNIVERSE, not before. Anata dake ga, Love Technique, Shake Hip, Imagine, Dance In The Rain, just to name at least one from each album since...and she has many more in my opinion. It's all subjective in the end.

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by jean-baptiste

Kumi hasn't released anything of quality? I feel like some of her most "quality" sounding tracks came after UNIVERSE, not before. Anata dake ga, Love Technique, Shake Hip, Imagine, Dance In The Rain, just to name at least one from each album since...and she has many more in my opinion. It's all subjective in the end.

Shake Hip is underrated. It's such a bop and very catchy. I wish it caught on more.

[Corvina]

Happy New Year!!

[Corvina]

So, now that I'm fully awake, I can join the conversation about Kuu's recent music.

I also can't agree with her not putting out quality music in recent years
Some of her best songs came long after her peak.
WOML album e.g. is amazing for me. It flows so well, there's not one single song I skip listening to it and I like every song on it (with Like It, DITR and WOML as some of her best tracks all together in her career). And that's a first for me! In every other album before, there's at least one song I can't stand. For UNIVERSE e.g., even though it is another favourite of mine, there's Stay and Comes Up, both songs I never can sit through.
It also suffers from not having a proper concept thanks to that unnecessary idea of coupling it with a best... But the rest of the songs are so strong to me to make it a favourite nevertheless.

And btw. I respect every opinion and though I feel I'm just repeating myself, you can voice your opinion with some respect. You shouldn't be surprised if you get some backlash if you call her stuff shit or garbage or thay you can't understand anyone liking her stuff in recent years.
In the end it's just all subjective opinions.

[maze]

To me kumi is not only about music, she's the perfect combo between entertainment, vocals, dance and charisma. I used to love a lot of japanese artists, but she's the only that I can truly expect something my ears will enjoy. You can tell she's doing it for fun, not to be some kind of legend in Japan or something like that

I was watching dvds randomly the other day and got to this one. I love how kuu intimidates shingo and make him look kinda shy, while kuu's personality is all over the top haha

[Norrel]

Has anyone ever seen Koda Kumi in concert?

I'll be in Japan during the time she's touring next year, and I wanted to know what would be the process to go about getting a ticket to go see her?

I'm not interested in getting the BEST seat, so I don't think doing her fan club is really an option. I'm more interested in just being able to get any seat at all to go see her.

Would really appreciate some help/advice - thank you!