[Utada Hikaru] ☆ Utada Hikaru: The 46th Thread ☆

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

^^LOL you shall! I listened to Automatic too...what a classic!

[JackieRos]

so this is how you guys completed the last thread by comparing ayu to hikki


I thought there was something new *sniff*

[bluegie]

Yeah and I couldn't even make any comments... . Recycling topics like her favourite songs/albums etc. are fun, but comparing artists aren't .

[microphone]

Hikari remains my favorite song by Hikaru. She doesn't have a great voice but the lyrics and melody are beautiful.

[RayJason]

Excuse me if I'm asking a retarded question but,
When will she start releasing stuff again? I read that she's on hiatus now for longer than a year. I really want her to be 'active' again!

My first Utada song was "Simple and Clean"

[Deep snow]

Almost two years since her last music update, 78 days since her last tweet. I'm not even sure she's alive anymore. If she isn't, then please rise from the underworld, Hikaru, people could really use some good music around here.

[emi♡]

she never told us. I think someone said she might have been working on something, but idk.

[Not Fade Away]

Working on something, unfortunately, could mean she did something for fun and we won't see it for like.......years...or it could mean we'll see it soon, but who knows? I'm glad I decided to explore other Asian music though, otherwise I would be totally dead without the goddess in my life.

Wahh miss her.

[CoriKaru]

Had Utada not went away, the only Korean thing I'd know would be lil' Kim Jong Il.

[CoriKaru]

"Why aren’t Japanese singers successful in the American market?

Language plays a big part. It doesn’t sound believable if they sing in English that they have learned phonetically. Sometimes the artist management companies in Japan, which have all the power, only want to use songs they can control the rights of, and those songs may not work in America. Sometimes the artist tries to imitate instead of being original. It also takes a tremendous commitment of time, money and energy to penetrate a market like America, and you would have to compete with the best of the best.

I have seen some great artists in Japan with potential. For example, I have produced six songs for Crystal Kay, and she is one of the best singers in the world. Also, her English is flawless, she is a great dancer and beautiful. I think she would have a great chance! On the other hand, I was disappointed when Hikaru Utada’s album was released in America. Her English was perfect but the album didn’t have the same soul or feeling in it as her Japanese CDs. I guarantee that probably some American record executive changed the direction of the music to make it more appropriate for the American market. It ended up sounding contrived.

Another reason, I’m sorry to say, is that there are probably discrimination factors involved. I think the American market mostly wants American, British and an occasional Australian or Swedish artist. I hope it will change in the near future."

JapanToday: Joey Carbone Keeps The Hits Coming

[Andrenekoi]

^I don't really think having the feeling of her japanese work would help her sell more copies, as this "feeling" and "soul" is too japanese in the first place. I also don't think any of her 2 albums is THAT generic... It has the tracks planned to be lead singles, and those are pretty generic (like Easy Breezy and Come Back to me), but also has some stuff pretty unfriendly to mainstream radios on both releases...

It was a interesting reading anyway...

[bluegie]

I agree. I dun really know if the "soul" can merge with the EPop world. I dun think there are many English songs that use lots of metaphors/poetic terms/etc.

[isthisLOL?]

I always thought Exodus was by far her best album and possibly her least generic. /unpopular opinion

[emi♡]

I love that album, but the unpolished sound kinda grates on me lol and I KNOW it would grate on everyone else.

I think my favorite album Ultra Blue would have been more popular over here...maybe if it had promotion in the right places...idk. Maybe only among the people who could get over the language barrier.


I don't really think that the fact that we want people from the UK, Aus, or Sweden has anything to do with it. Those are just places that make western music that fits into the market lol

And discrimination...I think in certain areas....but in all the areas that matter, no. They just need to bring better music. I'm sorry, but imo Exodus and TITO weren't good enough

I think BoA's brand of generic dance music was better, but then her accent is horrible, she wasn't crazy hot to look at, and promotion was also nonexistent.

how could they have really expected any of those things to do well and be popular this past decade.

[Andrenekoi]

^Considering the lack of Asian-american superstars, even those who can only speak english as native speakers, I would say discrimination plays a huge part... I mean, I doubt there aren't any asian american children trying to break it big into the market and failing for decades now... and even those who does will end acting in fight themed movies or as freakish exteriotyped villains. We also can't forget it's already harder to see massive black and latin massive stars on the western entertaiment market than to see white people.

Exodus and TITO are among my favorite Hikki releases, and I would never underrate how unique her english lyrics can be, what also makes some people having problems with them, as she takes some pretty unusual aproaches to lots of subjects... If anything, I would say she never got generic enough to grab a position on the market, and every new pop artist needs to play it far safer than Hikki did to fit, and slowly putting more and more personality into their work... In the end of the day, her reigning as the biggest japanese pop musician since 98 doesn't make her much more than a nobody in the USA scene...

[emi♡]

oh I can see where you're coming from with that. There's definitely discrimination in the industry. But then again, I guess we'll never know how many asian kids try to go that path and fail lol It's definitely going to be easier for them to enter the music market though vs. movies. If they have the voice or the dance experience.

Anyways, I think hollywood is a little out of touch with people these days.


Personally, I don't feel like her western releases were generic enough, nor creative enough. I mean, if you get really creative crazy, people want to see lol You might not get radio plays...but it's not all about that. Especially now...

Or if you have some new style. Even if it's not totally original. Like Lana Del Rey. ew.

I also think...you know, it only takes ONE REALLY good song that people want to hear. And I don't see those anywhere around in those two albums. idk maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but if I want someone around me to really like and respect hikki as a musician...I'm probably not going to give them her english albums. Unless it's someone who likes unique R&B stuff.

I do love and appreciate them...but...I would have liked to see more...at least from TITO. I think Exodus is pretty creative in its sound.

[Andrenekoi]

^Well, after The Last Airbender movie, I really hope hollywood is out of touch with the rest They took all the asian good guys and turned them into white blond people @_@

I do believe Hikki's releases could do better on the USA being more generic or more exteriotiped and with a better timing... Some stuff she tried during both albums got big some time after on the hands of more well known musicians...

[Yumsushi]

Her English work is strange; musically its very unique but lyrically, often its seems like she's just trying too hard. I too agree that her English work seems to be missing the "soul" her Japanese work has. And I don't know if anyone else will agree, but I think Devil inside was pretty darn generic, and maybe that's why it was popular on the dance charts. Maybe if poppin' was a single it would've been popular in the clubs too?

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by emi♡

I think BoA's brand of generic dance music was better, but then her accent is horrible, she wasn't crazy hot to look at, and promotion was also nonexistent.

And this is?


Lol.

[emi♡]

I never said it was?

That cover is dead to me. I replaced it with a fan version so I'd never have to look at it.


And I actually felt bad about BoA for that. She had those super hot pics and the netizens just tore them to pieces cause they're morons.