Ayu's Nippop Profile

[Uemarasan]

Hey guys,

Nice to meet you all! I'm new around here I just recently discovered the Nippop webiste (yeah, it's been around for years. I'm lame that way.) and I was just wondering what your opinions were on a couple of excerpts from the site:


"Focusing on Hamasaki's music, which spans several subgenres within the J-Pop spectrum, but which is arguably unspectacular when separated from its creator, would be missing the point of what Hamasaki is all about."

"Despite starting out as just one in a long line of manufactured pop stars, Hamasaki has pulled off the trick of wresting back control her of her career - another reason that her army of fans adores her and her label indulges her."

"Utada’s music, although basically pop, has more of an R&B feel than most J-pop – she’s definitely funkier than Ayumi Hamasaki (which isn’t hard, admittedly!)."


What I think: well, when I started to like Ayu, it was mainly because of her music (around the time Duty came out). I wasn't even aware of her insane popularity at that time, so I don't think her music is unspectacular if it got me addicted to her

Also, I don't think she was ever a manufactured pop star, for the reason that when she began her music career she was already writing the lyrics to her songs. That, for me, means that there is much more to her than commercial success.

As for Hikki, well, I'm sorry to say this but the last time she was funky was when Traveling came out. Ever since then, I haven't liked her as much as when Wait and See came out. Sorry to all Hikki fans here! And it's hard to be as funky as Ayu these days, especially on the My Name's WOMEN video. Bondage is cool.

Just wanted to know what the rest of you guys think

[Delirium-Zer0]

I liked ayu for her music as well when i discovered her in summer 2000. learned about a year later how crazy popular she was. I think her music really is good enough that you can like it without liking any of ayu's style, costumes, CMs, or endorsed products.

She WAS, however, very much manufactured. She knows that. On the front of the poker face promo single, there's a short bio with lie after lie about her... saying she could dance, for instance. Her official site's profile lies as well; it says she liked rock music cuz of her brother but then her taste turned to Babyface and En Vogue. Not true at all. She's always liked rock music more but they couldn't say a pop singers influences included acts like Deep Purple and Joan Osbourne. Plus, we've since learned she never had a brother or any close male relatives for that matter. Anyway, yes, she's still manufactured to some degree today, since only recently has she had enough power to do her own thing with her music. She said years ago that she wanted to try new styles but was worried she might lose fans in the process. At that time (around "Duty"'s release and the year or so following), she was only starting to really give input as far as how her concerts went, how she wanted her songs to sound, then in the winter after Duty came out she was able to write the melodies for her songs for the first time.

As far as the hikki & ayu comparison, ayu & hikki don't do the same style of music, and they're not the same style performer. At the time the Nippop profile was written, hikki did hip-hop/r&b for the most part while ayu's forte was dance-pop. Two completely different things. It's a matter of taste, 100%. I personally preferred dance pop because, having lived in the states, i felt oversaturated with hip-hop, r&b, soul, and rap music. I got tired of it. Dance pop was never big here except dance pop of the bubblegum variety (which ayu is not, she's much darker), and for a short time, techno dance (which ayu is but only in the form of remixes). Ayu's past R&B ventures, like kanariya's original mix and Two of us, were quite weak next to hikki tracks like Addicted To You and Never Let Go (just as examples), but overall i do think ayu was alot more daring at the time with songs like "Far away" and "monochrome". No one in 1999 sounded like ayu did. There are a few sound copycats these days but ayu's first few singles in 1998 were more like how jpop sounded in the late 90's... very unassuming, quiet, sort of cautious, simple arrangements, that sort of thing. Later on, she did music no one had really heard before, and she made the jpop remix album ALOT more popular of a concept. She broke alot of ground in alot of ways. But she & hikki are not to be compared.

[Mad_Cactuar]

I like Ayu through Forgiveness and STEP you, so I'm relatively new.
Delirium-Zer0: What?! I actually believed all the stuff written about her! I didnt know her bio was a lie.. I think now that she's starting her own brand of music, she's a lot better. Her input is valuable. I love her new styles.
Utada is amazing! But you're right, nobody sounded like Ayu in the past, everyone sounded like Hikki, including Koda. Never compare Hikki and Ayu, it would mean asking for trouble... I dont like her R&B stuff. I love her Pop stuff, especially the ones from Deep River. Sakura Drops is god, together with Hikari, Colors and Traveling.

WELCOME, by the way! ^^

[Qt Mashi]

well i liked her since August when i just d/led some of her random songs like voyage, july 1st and free & easy, but before that i didnt relli like Ayu

[jasjasss]

same i used to hate ayu
in like 2000 until i start listening to her the songs from her DUTY album
and then listening to evolution =)
since then i just like asian music

[lotusoka]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

What I think: well, when I started to like Ayu, it was mainly because of her music (around the time Duty came out). I wasn't even aware of her insane popularity at that time, so I don't think her music is unspectacular if it got me addicted to her

I completely agree. I had no idea she was a big icon... I was just really into electronic and happened to be introduced to her trance CD... all of a sudden I became a fan of someone I had never heard of... but is HUGE in nearly everything in Japan.

[[AHS]MortalSex]

first of welcome to AHS! and enjoy your stay ^^

First time I heard of Ayu it was already back at the Poker Face days when my cousins inspired me a little the time when I really started to get freaky in her was about I Am... days and by that time I didn´t know too about the huge popularity of her fans. I was kinda shocked and got more excited and interested so I started my journey being a fan of her and collecting her stuff ^^ and here I am now with 100+gb of ayu stuff

[greggerz189]

I think that Ayu is probably one of the most original artists out there, from start to finish. While she may have had those fake bio things about her, it's first and foremost about the music, and when it came to her songs, she was always original -- IS always original. She incorporates herself in everything she does from lyrics to composition, photoshoots to concert layouts, music videos to choreography -- ayu has always been very involved. I think lots of people try to copy Hamasaki (::COUGH:: OTSUKA AI!!!!!) in one way or another (as far a style and appearance) and while I think that's really stupid, no one could ever be "the next Hamasaki Ayumi". Like Yumi Arai, Hamasaki will be revered as one of a kind, the only of her kind. She will go down in history as one of the most prominent Japanese-pop artists. She broke away from the grasp of her label, made herself original in a very carbon-copy music industry, and continues to sell and shine despite the unsaid "career is finished once you shy 30" rule. She is truly the one-and-only Japanese Pop Queen.

[ohsixthirty]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

She WAS, however, very much manufactured. She knows that. On the front of the poker face promo single, there's a short bio with lie after lie about her... saying she could dance, for instance. Her official site's profile lies as well; it says she liked rock music cuz of her brother but then her taste turned to Babyface and En Vogue. Not true at all. She's always liked rock music more but they couldn't say a pop singers influences included acts like Deep Purple and Joan Osbourne. Plus, we've since learned she never had a brother or any close male relatives for that matter. Anyway, yes, she's still manufactured to some degree today, since only recently has she had enough power to do her own thing with her music.

What?! You mean they made all that up? I figured it was exagerrated or glossed over, but I never knew it was outright untrue.

[Uemarasan]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

She WAS, however, very much manufactured. She knows that. On the front of the poker face promo single, there's a short bio with lie after lie about her... saying she could dance, for instance. Her official site's profile lies as well; it says she liked rock music cuz of her brother but then her taste turned to Babyface and En Vogue. Not true at all. She's always liked rock music more but they couldn't say a pop singers influences included acts like Deep Purple and Joan Osbourne. Plus, we've since learned she never had a brother or any close male relatives for that matter. Anyway, yes, she's still manufactured to some degree today, since only recently has she had enough power to do her own thing with her music.

Well, I won't argue the meaning of manufactured, because I personally think that any artist with significant creative input in the music-making process cannot be manufactured. Mika Nakashima, for instance, as far as I know has never written the lyrics or composed the music to her songs (correct me if I'm wrong, Mika fans!), and yet her music depends so much on how she sings it. Take away Mika Nakashima's voice, and her songs are nothing even if Mariah Carey or Teresa Teng herself were singing them. The same goes with Ayu. Take away the lyrics to her songs, even those in A Song For XX, and even if Fiona Apple were writing the lyrics herself they wouldn't mean anything.

In my opinion, I don't think Ayu's music has ever been manufactured. Maybe her image was manufactured before she took control (I think this is during the Duty era), but never her music, because in my opinion her music, through her lyrics, has reached that personal, artistic depth.

And I would never compare Ayu and Hikki. I'm just saying that it's unfortunate I've lost interest in Hikki these days. I really, really loved her back then. Oh well, at least I have Mika and Kumi (gasp).

[*Petit*]

Looking back at especially ASFXX, the music sounds much more like a CD"any" j-pop artist could debut with at the time, apart from the lyrics (which I think is one of the main reasons she got so popular in the first place). The arrangements and instrumentation is to some degree very generic, and there are lots of differences compared to the CDs in which ayu had a bigger part in every process. (This doesen't make ASFXX a bad album neccessarily, not IMO at least. I'm not saying there are no good songs either, because many of the songs are some of the most beautiful/coolest of its' genre.) And I agree that taking away ayu would make her songs less interesting, although I diden't know anything about her at all when I first listened to her music, I don't think anyone could've sung her songs the way she does.

[etheruraura]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

Thanks for the replies, guys!



Well, I won't argue the meaning of manufactured, because I personally think that any artist with significant creative input in the music-making process cannot be manufactured. Mika Nakashima, for instance, as far as I know has never written the lyrics or composed the music to her songs (correct me if I'm wrong, Mika fans!), and yet her music depends so much on how she sings it. Take away Mika Nakashima's voice, and her songs are nothing even if Mariah Carey or Teresa Teng herself were singing them. The same goes with Ayu. Take away the lyrics to her songs, even those in A Song For XX, and even if Fiona Apple were writing the lyrics herself they wouldn't mean anything.

In my opinion, I don't think Ayu's music has ever been manufactured. Maybe her image was manufactured before she took control (I think this is during the Duty era), but never her music, because in my opinion her music, through her lyrics, has reached that personal, artistic depth.

And I would never compare Ayu and Hikki. I'm just saying that it's unfortunate I've lost interest in Hikki these days. I really, really loved her back then. Oh well, at least I have Mika and Kumi (gasp).

Mika has in fact wrote the lyrics to many of her songs, such as Venus in the Dark, LEGEND, SEVEN, FAKE, Kumo no Ito, I, Rocking Horse, Carrot and Whip, LOVE ADDICT, Find the Way and many more. So yes, she has

[elepop]

Hikki? Funkier? HAHAHA! You have got to be kidding me.

[Coelacanth]

Ayu's whole profile is only about how much she sells and how big she is.. And the comment left in Utada's profile was unnecessary.

[orenji_jaro]

i started listening to boys& girls in the a song for xx era and got hooked to all her style of music and be a big fan of her! ^^

[s.k.y]

hii! nice to meet you~
the first time i heard Ayu was when I was dl-ing Inuyasha, haha
she is definately in control of her career, that is a fact. Probably one of the reasons i adore her =)

[elepop]

Originally Posted by xxcyborg_kurochanxx

i started listening to boys& girls in the a song for xx era and got hooked to all her style of music and be a big fan of her! ^^

"Boys & Girls" is not from the "A Song for XX" era. It's from "LOVEppears".