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

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by Zeke.

Here we go.

I can understand the frustration behind stating your opinion but not providing the thought process that got you to that point. I'm the same way when it comes to praise; it's not enough for me to hear someone say they like something - Hell it's not enough for me to even accept that fact that I myself like something, I always run somewhat of an analysis on every aspect of a track when it makes a positive impact on me, and reference those details when marveling over it in public forum or real-life discussion.

However, I don't derive as much satisfaction over detailing everything about a track that I dislike, because it's usually for rather simple reasons (whereas my reasons for liking something I feel are often-times complex). Diving into the reasons why a track is good is much more fun because I always feel like I am trying to point out the things that I've discovered in a piece, helping to give recognition to what might otherwise go unnoticed. In that sense, I feel you can ease someone into liking a track, almost like opening the veil hanging over their eyes that prevents them from "seeing" the song clearly (I'm especially pushy in this way when it comes to tracks i used to hate, because there have been tracks I have despised in the past, or felt had little to offer, but upon "seeing" portions of the track I never saw before, I come to enjoy it, and often feel if I can reveal those portions to others, they will come to like it too.) On the flip side, no matter what I "point out" about a track someone else likes that I despise, they will never come to suddenly dislike it for the very same reasons. So I tend to compress all my hate for it into a short and decisive statement.

As for my reasons why I feel so disappointed in her music since ages, ahtka-chan pretty much said it all:


I'll go one step further and add that the type of music Kumi seemed to excel at in the past (R&B, urban, etc.) was the type of music I completely loathed in America. Despite it being all over the airwaves at the time, I could stomach the stuff Kumi released; it was different - not merely a copycat of what I was being bombarded with over my home-country's radiowaves, so in that sense it felt very fresh to me. Then she started releasing energetic-dance songs, which I have had a love for since early childhood, and of course I felt drawn to those tracks as well. On top of that, I love her cutesy songs - for me, these "happy-go-lucky" tracks, when released by Kumi, were better than any other J-pop artist's attempts at tackling similar songs. She really had it all for me.

Now, as mentioned, her tracks are just very poor renditions of what's heard on American mainstream radio, which I really have a strong disliking for. So really, her stuff is worse than the stuff I already hate.

Ah, alright, so you're unlucky she got more urban again in the past years. Which is interesting, as I can't imagine songs like DITR or WOML or even HOTEL being played in the radio here. But I'm from Germany and even though we are influenced by the american market, we also have British and German pop, electronic music and rock bands making big impact.
Besides I don't listen frequently to the radio and so I'm pretty slow with adapting new music trends here, so most of the time I don't even know that well, what's mainstream here. Which definitely is an advantage over you guys, when I hear that's your problem with some music.
But I think it's funny - some say Kuu got too western mainstream with electronic dance songs, some say she's too mainstream with urban. She's a pop artist, she is a mainstream artist. She always was a western influneced artist, she herself loves urban the most. And that's also a personal preference for her fans, what they like most from her as she's so versatile.
But thanks for answering, Zeke!

@thinkingoutloud89:
It's stylized as feel, so probably no.
And no. 4 most probably is Lado Go! as it's so popular. She likely didn't perform it last year as it's not an a-side on Moon. But not surprised people wanted to see it.

[ahtka-chan]

Originally Posted by Corvina

She's a pop artist, she is a mainstream artist. She always was a western influneced artist, she herself loves urban the most. And that's also a personal preference for her fans, what they like most from her as she's so versatile.

I don't agree with your point here. It's not because an artist is mainstream that he/she has to release music that mimics the current trend. She always has been a mainstream artist, but back in the day she had a good performance critic/chart wise and didn't need to release western sounding songs. We had Get It On, Koi No Tsubomi, Color of Soul, this is not a love song, Heat... songs from different albums that show a huge versatility, color and not something we heard on music channels and radios.

Kyary is a huge artist and her discography in no way resembles what we listen to the radio nowadays. Bjork is another good example. For me, Kumi going to the westen urban/pop route is her losing her uniqueness.