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Asian Invasion

20 Jan 2009 by Legendria

Prepare for invasion!! Alert all troops!! Asia is hitting the world…in a big way!!

No, no, no, it’s not war, well, not the nuclear-guns-missiles war anyway. It’s the war of music!!

Yessiree, if you’ve been living under a rock, or deafening yourself with your headphones, then you don’t know that the Asian artists are readying themselves to invade the West. Artists like Utada Hikaru, BoA, and Koda Kumi are branching themselves out of their home-turf and Asia, and sticking their big music toe into the Western door. Since I’m more of a Japanese/Korean music fan, the artists that I’m talking about are mainly from there so forgive me if I have no clue about other Asian artists.

I just only notice this trend when I was watching MTV’s JKMusic program, which showcases the latest of Japan and Korea’s music videos. BoA came on the screen suddenly and it pulled my attention ‘coz I saw the video earlier at a restaurant but couldn’t make out the music. Imagine my surprise when she sang the song in pure English!! BoA, or rather Boa Kwon, is a Korean singer who sings, and have sung, in Korean (duh, of course), Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and now, English (is there no end to her multi-lingual talent?). I just only found out that her first English single, ‘Eat You Up’, was released on October 21, 2008!! My God, am I late with the news, either that, or MTV Asia is late with the coverage.

BoA -- Eat You Up (Asian version)

BoA -- Eat You Up (US version)

In my personal opinion, BoA should just stick to the Asian version of the music video. 1) ‘Coz her dance moves are GREAT there, and 2) She just doesn’t look natural in the US version, kinda like she’s trying too hard.

Anyway, reading about BoA’s debut US album made me think about other Asian artists that tried, some failed, to generate some Western traffic their way. Koda Kumi actually sang a duet with Fergie, ex-member of the Black Eyed Peas, a while back. The song was titled ‘That Ain’t Cool’, released on June 11, 2008. The tune was good, the duet was fine, but the lyrics? Not exactly what I would call inspirational writing. Also, Koda Kumi really needs to work on her English pronunciation. At one line, she sounded as though she was speaking Japanese, I couldn’t make out a single English word. The only other pure English song I know she sang is ‘A Whole New World’ with Peabo Bryson in her Best -- Second Session album, and that too wasn’t very English-friendly.

But of course, the one I love the most is my favourite, Utada Hikaru, a.k.a Hikki (don’t ask me why the fans call her this). She was actually born in the US, and was known as Cubic U way before she returned to Japan. Unfortunately, her debut album, Precious (1998), wasn’t successfully released in the US, but after translating it to Japanese, the sale of the album just blew up in her home country. She then decided to return to her roots and came out with Japanese albums First Love (1991), Distance, (2001) Deep River (2002), Ultra Blue (2006) and recently, Heart Station (2008). In 2004, Utada Hikaru re-attempted to enter the American market with another English album, Exodus. She teamed up with legendary Timbaland on some of the songs, but apparently, the West is not ready for her composing and songwriting power (or are they actually afraid of her power? ). I find it a pity that she still hasn’t grown popular in America, even though she was the one who wrote and sung the ever-popular opening themes for Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.

Utada Hikaru -- Simple & Clean (Kingdom Hearts)

Utada Hikaru -- Sanctuary (Kingdom Hearts 2)

There are a few more Asian artists that I can mention, such as Che’nelle (who’s actually born in my country, Malaysia) and Anggun (from Indonesia). We don’t have that many well-known Asian actors and Asian singers in the other side of the world, but I won’t be surprised if we turn out to be next big trend and capture the world’s undivided attention.

Category: Music Tags: BoA, Koda Kumi, Music, Utada Hikaru Leave a Comment

Reunion: Speed (J-Pop Group)

18 Dec 2008 by legendria

I could only stare dumbfounded at the screen as I read the news. I simply couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that (1) it has actually happened, and (2) that I didn’t know about it. How could I not know that one of my favourite J-Pop groups, Speed, has returned to the music industry?

Ok, let me just give a brief intro to those who don’t know who I’m talking about.

Speed is an all-girl Japanese singing group, which consists of 2 lead singers, Imai Eriko and Shimabukuro Hiroko, and 2 back-up singers/dancers, Uehara Takako and Arakaki Hitoe. The girls debuted back in 1996 after attending Okinawa Actors School, singing J-pop, J-hip hop, R&B and dance music, and is one of the biggest selling female group in Japan. After putting out 3 albums (plus 3 compilation albums) with 11 singles, Speed disbanded in 2000.

However, in 2001, the girls grouped for a short reunion, holding a one night outdoor concert for an earthquake charity where they sang a new song, One More Dream. They held another concert in 2003, this time for the charity ‘Save the Children’ to raise money for poor children around Asia. Throughout their two reunions, the group came out with 3 singles, 1 album and 2 live concert albums.

And now, they have reunited again!!! And I didn’t know!!! Oh, what a lousy fan I am. I only noticed that they came out with a maxi single, Ashita no Sora (Ashita No Sora CD and Ashita No Sora CD+DVD versions), when I was browsing Amazon.com for their Save the Children concert DVD, which I still can’t find in Malaysia. The maxi single has 3 songs, Ashita no Sora (translated Sky of Tomorrow), Something New and White Love?STEADY?Body&Soul 2008, and also includes the instrumental version of each song. The DVD has the music video of Ashita no Sora as well as an Off Shot video. While I’m all delighted and excited, what I’m truly feeling is sadness…..sadness because nobody seems to be selling the maxi single in Malaysia, and it came out way back in November 2008!!!

I can’t believe it’s been more than a decade since I first heard of them. I mean, they don’t look like they’ve even aged much.

: Speed – Starting Over album

: Speed – Ashita no Sora maxi single

They have matured in other ways though. After disbanding, Arakaki Hitoe (the oldest of the 4, born April 7 1981) has gone to New York’s art school and is an accomplished artist with her graffiti-style paintings, having published an art book called Vibe Art, holding private art exhibitions and having her work featured on American hip hop album covers. Uehara Takako (second oldest, born January 14 1983), however, still stayed in the music industry, releasing 2 albums (First Wing in 2000 and Pupa in 2003), but extended her skills into acting in TV dramas and movies.

Imai Eriko (born September 22, 1983) also stayed in the music industry, at first as Eriko with Crunch, then as solo artist Imai Eriko and finally as elly. Like Takako, Eriko was also busy dabbling in acting but not busy enough to get married in 2004, giving birth to her son, Raimu. Sadly, Eriko divorced from her husband, 175R vocalist Shogo, in 2007. The youngest of the group, Shimabukuro Hiroko (born April 7 1984) remained one of the most popular member after Speed’s disband, having released 2 albums as a solo artist and 1 English jazz album as Coco d’Or with altogether 14 singles under her belt. She is, perhaps, the only one to totally focus on a music career.

I’m still upset that I can’t find Speed’s new maxi single. My last resort had been to download from the Internet (which I have) and to watch their video on YouTube (which I have) but it’s still not enough!!! Sigh, looks like I have to resort to ordering from Amazon.com again. If you like J-pop music, you really should give Speed a try (not the drug, the Japanese group). In my honest opinion, they are one of the top female groups in Japan, even better than MAX, and I’m HAPPY that they’re back, hopefully to stay for a long time.