[article] An explosion of top-level J-pop collaborations

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An explosion of top-level J-pop collaborations

Hiroshi Nishida / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

In the world of J-pop, joint performances seem to be all the rage. Grabbing attention are everything from musicians of different genres enjoying a "battle of styles" to the "international exchange" of domestic and foreign musicians collaborating--not to mention the variety of the content produced. It's also become completely normal for artists of different record companies to collaborate, even though this was considered difficult in the past.

So what is the background to this current boom in cooperation?

"To be able to do the joint performance with Glay was fantastic." If Kyosuke Himuro can say this, Glay's vocalist Teru responds in kind: "I was so happy to be called 'brother' by Himuro-san."

On Aug. 5-6 at Ajinomoto Stadium, the singing giant of Japan's rock world and the popular band put on a combined show. After the artists finished their respective performances, they stood onstage together at the end and gave a rendition of their joint single "Answer," driving the crowd of 50,000 into a crazed frenzy of excitement.

Two years previously Glay's guitarist Takuro and Himuro had spoken together on the radio and this provided the starting point of contact between the band and Himuro. When Glay's activities were tied up in contractual problems, it was Himuro who gave words of advice in their moment of difficulty. From that connection a joint CD and joint performances proceeded without a hitch.

Last year in July, Glay also teamed up with R&B group Exile to release a single, "Scream," which went on to be a huge hit, selling more than 500,000 copies.

As if sparked off by the explosive success of these unusual meetings of artists from different genres, Crystal Kay and Chemistry, Gaku MC and Kazutoshi Sakurai, Katte ni Shiyagare and Ego-Wrappin' were just some of the various joint offerings that subsequently emerged one after another.

When it comes to artists from different record companies performing together, in the past the issue of which company would release the recording and other problems often caused a bottleneck in progress. However, in the case of Rip Slyme, who are on Warner, and Victor's Quruli, the approach of releasing two singles on the same day was adopted. "Ravi" from Warner and "Juice" from Victor came out on July 5. The jacket design of the two singles was coordinated and the connection between them emphasized in their marketing.

As for joint performances beyond national borders, Tomoyasu Hotei and American Brian Setzer released a recording in August as did Pe'z and England's Nate James last month.

Meanwhile, on Akiko Yano's March release Hajimete no Yano Akiko, her joint performances with a host of big-name singers such as Noriyuki Makihara and Yosui Inoue marked a whole new development.

Hotei is also planning a December release with an array of joint performances.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features...21TDY16002.htm