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

[Minttulatte]

Why should I waste my time in critisizing Kuu's music when everyone else does it well enough? :'D Besides, I've pretty much made it clear that only her rock songs are either hits or misses for me so I'm not going to repeat myself about that over & over again.

Also, Kuu's urban/R&B/dance style matches my personal music taste perfectly so I'm not going to pretend that it pisses me off when it just happens that most of her music is amazing enough for me. Sorry.

PS. Her new album will slay me as usual. I'm excited as hell about it~ 8D

[sora-kara]

Entirely off-topic:

Does anyone remember the tv performance where her ear piece was bugging her, so she ripped it out in the middle of the song?

[a❤martian]

I find the Kuu thread to be a little bit calmer when it comes to handling criticism. I feel like, for the most part people here are respectful, even if they don't like something. I only see the "super fans" getting upset when the criticism gets less tasteful. Even if it is a public forum, bashing isn't cool.

At the end of the day, it's all subjective. I think we all know that Kuu, Ayu, Utada, Amuro isn't better than the other. They are all mass produced pop singers. Just personal taste in types of music.

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by 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!

Um, then just buy a ticket online, when the general ticket sale starts?
It's going to be announced with links at her official website.
I always got my tickets through the FC, so I can't give you further info.

[ALfromHELLSING]

Originally Posted by 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.

It's not about that. At least to me. Some people here are just extremely rude when they express their opinions ALL the time. Why would you compare her music to the actual pile of s**t if you can say: I didn't like a single song after the album xxxx blah blah or even say they are all bad blah blah. Does someone really has to compare her music to actual s**t EVERY TIME to prove their point? I lover her as an artist, she puts lots of work in everything she does and we all know that. Why wold you make such poor comparison. I wish "some" people here were more respectful to the tastes of other fans who still love her music like myself, not to mention show respect to the artist herself. It is OKAY to express your opinion, it IS a forum but HOW you express it - that's the point. I've listened to some song from Utada's new album and I didn't like any and for some reason to prove my point here I'm not comparing her music to feces.

[thinkingoutloud89]

^I feel the same and I get even more upset when you try to address the matter. To say something is good or something is bad, you need to back it up, like "the sound quality is bad", "the lyrics are bland" and so on. Other than that, it is just a feeling a person has and that only comes down to "not my cup of tea" but actually does not make the song bad in any way.

[Zeke.]

I don't disagree that I have a very forceful and blunt way of putting things. As I explained previously, I experience emotions strongly, so when expressing the reactions that transpire as a result of how things affect me, to more accurately describe the depth of them I use exhaserbated analogies to communicate just as vividly. Obviously it works because some people get so bent out of shape from it, probably because it's hard to wrap your head around such a visceral level of disdain. Drawing parallels in that way is just my way of communicating the extent of those emotions as accurately as I know how.

I know for many it is rather over the top, and it's often said to be rather insensitive, but I'm not trying to offend anyone. My friends and I laugh about the things we dislike togethe (hell even the things we dislike about each other), and I find describing it in such an exaggerated manner is my way if bringing humor something that otherwise brings me no joy. In other words, I try to find ways in which the source of dislike becomes a source of happiness in that I am able to laugh at just how absurd that thing is in my mind, by describing it in a way that is just as ridiculous.

[Corvina]

@Zeke
You've already said that, but to be honest, can't you just try to be more sensitive to other people around you who aren't your friends? I'm a pretty emotional person myself and I did got offensive in the past here in the forum to other artists myself, but I tried to learn to restrain my emotions and just post after I calmed down again. And I'd say it worked (not all the time, but I hope it shows, lol).
And to be rather blunt with you, over at the Ayu sections of the forum, you are posting differently (at least nowadays most of the time) and you're doing longer posts stating your opinion in a elaborate and civilized manner.
Why can't you do that in the Kuu thread?

[oaristos]

It's too bad so many people appear to agree that her most recent releases aren't as good as the old ones. I agree that the way they're organized are a complete mess (I really think that compilations like Summer of Love, Winter of Love, etc. are a huge BS), but WALK OF MY LIFE is, without a doubt, one of the best, most interesting and mature albums she has ever released and I'm very proud of being a fan of hers when I listen to it.

[Corvina]

Btw. I really want to know, why some of you guys think the quality of her material is worse than earlier?
I mean, if I think about her peak everybody seems to love that much... thinking about her 12 singles project e.g.- just half of the songs are actually good for me. For example Ima sugu hoshii is quite repetetive, the live arrangement made it so much better. Isn't that maybe much of nostalgia for most parts? Or people just liked the way it was marketed that much?
Kuu certainly did changes in her music over the years. She stopped doing (overly) cute songs and performances, she stopped having sappy love ballads as she herself said it with Bon Voyage (she only did love ballads towards her fans in the last two years). Well, there was Kimi Omoi, if you want to count it as sappy love ballad, but it wasn't intended as a proper release.
So saying she didn't evolve just isn't true. If you like it or not is something totally different
But as a random notice, I was quite surprised, how many recent songs there were at those Top 15 songs list some people posted here.
Just shows, that her current work isn't as badly received as it seems to be sometimes.

And btw No.2.
Maybe someone wondered, that I said I like every song on WOML even though I said in the past I didn't like HOTEL. As a standalone track I still think HOTEL is quite weak (lyrics and her husky voice in the verses mainly), but it is catchy and has a positive atmosphere, that I can listen to it in the album. It doesn't bother me that much there.

[ahtka-chan]

^For me, her material until KINGDOM/TRICK was very unique and inovative (in terms of japanese market). She had different songs from what we used to listen back then in the radio, and a diverse yet hamonious range of songs.

Now, the impression I have is that she buys demos in a bulk from whatever western producer, writes some random lyrics and record just to perform live. She's always been a concert oriented singer, but it seems that she cares much more about the stage now than the music itself.

I really like SHOW ME YOUR HOLLA, for example, but go to Christina Aguilera's discography and you'll find like three songs like that. She managed to sort of release music that resembled her past colors in JAPONESQUE, but even there we had generic stuff like LAY DOWN.

If I want to listen to the types of songs she releases now, I can turn on my radio and hear any Calvin Harris, Rihanna or Ariana Grande track (with a proper English pronounciation).

That's the issue for me, personally.


I respect that you guys like WOML, but from UNIVERSE to WOML, I still find the later her weakest release. And I really like Ima Sugu Hoshii, and I don't find it repetitive, just think it would've been benefited if she had include a proper rapper in the track. (Lies is repetitive, but it's still nice).

[ALfromHELLSING]

I use bad language to express myself quite often, jokes my friends & I make among each other many will find mean and I don't get upset / offended reading comments like that, I'm not 12 that's sooo not the point here. Anyways. I guess I'll just have to learn better to skip someone's comments - be like I dodged the bullet, bullet, Baby boy, we're gonna pull it. lol

As for her new material, when I first listened to WALK OF MY LIFE I was like wtf it's her worst album ever! I want my good old J-Pop back! lol Almost a year later after replaying it again it's now one of my top 5 fav albums from Kumi. I didn't like new material from SUMMER of LOVE either the first time I've heard it, however, it was On And On that made me fall in love with her new music direction / style and made me wanna give another try to WOML & SOL. I effin' love this song & lyrics. Now I definitely see her new material as strong as her old if not stronger and the evolution of her music. I personally don't miss kawaii songs, I can live without new With your smile songs but I still want my cheesy ballads.

[Luck16]

I still appreciate her latest releases but it didn't have as much impact on me as her older ones. I didn't listen BON VOYAGE (it's probably her worst album for me) or WOML that much, they were pretty meh imo

Her voice tends to get nasal really easily and it seems in some of her newer songs she loses control of her voice and it really distracts me. I love DITR for example but everytime she screams RAAAAAAAAAAIN I get chills down my spine lol when she "talks-raps" she can get really nasal too (and she's being doing it a lot also in her latest songs).

I love her voice, specially her lower tones, falsettos and vibratos (unlike Ayu's which can bother me at specific times too). Songs like Kiseki, WALK OF MY LIFE and hands are masterpieces because she doesn't go off with her voice there. To me that's where she truly shines.

[oaristos]

Originally Posted by Corvina

Btw. I really want to know, why some of you guys think the quality of her material is worse than earlier?
I mean, if I think about her peak everybody seems to love that much... thinking about her 12 singles project e.g.- just half of the songs are actually good for me. For example Ima sugu hoshii is quite repetetive, the live arrangement made it so much better. Isn't that maybe much of nostalgia for most parts?

My thoughts exactly. I remember being a huge fan of hers back in the day (more than I am today), but I realized I don't listen to these old songs as much and, when I do, they don't sound as good to me. There are still a lot of gems in her past releases, of course.

[KarenPang]

I disagree that Kuu doesn't have great songs after her music peak . In fact some of the songs she released in recent years , I find myself listening to them a lot more considerably than her older works

I dislike Kingdom but I like TRICK . UNIVERSE to me was bad (the way it was packaged/marketed together with a best album didn't helped) , Deja Vu was OK but I enjoy JAPONESQUE , Bon Voyage & WOML tremendously

WOML had tons of dislike when it was 1st released but I'm the rare few that really like it when I 1st heard it & like what Marika said , this's 1 Kuu album that I never skipped a single song from start until finish

Also unlike other people , I don't agree that everything Kuu release in her discography is flawless/perfect . I wouldn't sugarcoat things if I feel she released something that's not to my liking but I'm not to the extent that I compare it with literally crap that's accompanied with 'colourful' language

Whether you're a moderate fan / super fan / stan fan , the very most you can do when you post on here is behave/post in a civil manner . You don't know how at times words really do hurt other parties intentionally or not

[a❤martian]

I do agree that her albums became less cohesive over the years. But, I would credit that to her growing and wanting to try new sounds. She has been going to hit makers to get these different sounds, but you know she puts the effort into making them her own. Re writing lyrics, producing basically everything. Her effort and enjoyment are obviously there. Her happiness and resulting confidence are all over everything she does.

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by Luck16

I still appreciate her latest releases but it didn't have as much impact on me as her older ones. I didn't listen BON VOYAGE (it's probably her worst album for me) or WOML that much, they were pretty meh imo

Her voice tends to get nasal really easily and it seems in some of her newer songs she loses control of her voice and it really distracts me. I love DITR for example but everytime she screams RAAAAAAAAAAIN I get chills down my spine lol when she "talks-raps" she can get really nasal too (and she's being doing it a lot also in her latest songs).

She's definitely exploring how she can use her voice, that's true. But for me it seems she's doing that on purpose and not that she's losing control.
In DITR she IS screaming in the chorus. But imo it fits the strentgh and anger, literaly screaming her sadness she's singing about in the face. It's at least not unpleasent to listen to.
Sometimes her experimentation works (also e.g. in Lippy), sometimes not ( e.g. in HOTEL).
But I can totally see, why it is off putting for some fans.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by Corvina

@Zeke
You've already said that, but to be honest, can't you just try to be more sensitive to other people around you who aren't your friends? I'm a pretty emotional person myself and I did got offensive in the past here in the forum to other artists myself, but I tried to learn to restrain my emotions and just post after I calmed down again. And I'd say it worked (not all the time, but I hope it shows, lol).

There is so much wrong with this post that I can't even... I just can't even. Corvina, you seem like a nice person, so I'm real confused about why you think people need to be sensitive to people who are pretty emotional and get offended easily? Aren't your emotions your problem? If you can't look at or ignore something with a healthy attitude, isn't that your responsibility?

For one, Zeke's post had nothing to do with you -- it had nothing to do with anyone specific on this thread or their opinion. It was Zeke saying, hey, I think Koda's music has turned to sh~t. And somehow, you read that and thought, Zeke is calling ME a piece of shit because he called Koda's music shit. Even if Zeke had explained in full detail why he thinks Koda's music is now shit, you would have been just as offended -- because it's not that Zeke has a reason for his opinion, it's that you believe Zeke came here to post that opinion because he knows it hurts your feelings, because he somehow knows you can't manage when someone says something bad about something you think is good.

I swear we'd have to start a super secret thread that no one would find out about just to have a balanced discussion where no one feels censored because one or two people don't take accountability for their emotional control.

I guess because it's absolutely obligatory now, I'll post my Koda comment that aligns with what you think is appropriate:

OMG KUU NEW SINGLE! I CAN'T WAIT. I'M GONNA BUY LIKE 60 COPIES. BECAUSE I KNOW IT WILL BE SOOO GOOD. KUU = BEST EVA! KUU 4 LYFE. TOO KUU 4 U. LUV KUU! <3 ;D

[Corvina]

Hm?
I don't know, what you're reading there in my post?
Maybe I took some wrong phrases.
Cause I'm not personally offended and I also never said that. I just want people here to look out how they discuss something. As I really appreciate a nice discussion about anything, liking and not liking. So yes, I'd have liked to hear from Zeke, why he thinks that.Even though I prefer it without swearing as it's just not necessary. And no, there won't be a big problem, when Zeke or anybody else posts is strong language, even if I don't like it.
Actually it doesn't really affect me long after I've read it. It's just a forum.
But yes, it took some time to get to that point for me.

(And btw. calling Kuu a queen or going over how awesome she is an so on in an exaggerated way is also something I don't fancy that much, if we're at it
)

[kaled kalil]

@sora-kara I don't remember this performance, do you have an idea of in what year it was? For some ballads she does take the ear piece off, but it's usually for shows like MUSIC FAIR and others that have the speakers in front of her.