Juka - He was amazing in Moi dix Mois and HIZAKI grace project, but I thought him having a solo career was a brave move. His song Aravesque is beautiful, but sounded really HIZAKI-like and so I thought he be really generic in his music and a copy of HIZAKI but after listening to his Luxurious mini-album I found that he did a difference within his style of music, plus he's cute when he screams.

Kana - I first loved Hebi-Ichigo and Chimame, but none of her other music really grew on me. I used to find that her songs would sound similar to eachother. The more I listened to her music the more it grew on me, and now I really can't wait for her new 'moon' album.

Polysics - When it first started listening to them I wasn't really a fan of things kinda electronica sounding. After listening to their album Polyiscs or Die a few times they majorly grew on me, especially the song Electric surfin' go go.

Klaha - He was superb in MALICE MIZER, and in my opinion, their best vocalist era and I was all form him having a solo career 'Cause I'd love to see more of him in the music scene. His first release, Nostal Lab, was gorgeous. It was a beautiful album filled with Piano driven ballads, but I found that they all mostly sounded the same. After, when he released his marchen single, I loved the new sound. I'm looking forward to another release by him, and his official website states that he would be re-emerging in 2007 with new music, but nothing has been said yet.

Anyone in Hello! Project.

when I first got into it, It was just MoMusu and it was DO IT! Now and Chokkan 2, and now I listen to everything. XD

sifow
Mika Nakashima
Foxxi Misq.
Ami Suzuki

I find it interesting who I listen to now and didn't before.

LISA - Her songs used to come up on Avex Radio a few years ago when I listened to it. I HATED those songs. (From her first album...I still don't like her first album as much as her others). Then when I was running a certain site I downloaded two of her more recent PVs and loved the songs. I then downloaded her albums and now she's one of my favorite artists!

Every Little Thing/day after tomorrow - Same story as LISA almost to a T. Only now I love all of dat's stuff but only really like ELT's early stuff.

Yeah, everyone else I pretty much like to some point right away.

Arashi and other Johnny's - I remember reading the bandname Arashi several times around the net in the early 21st century. (lol) I didn't know anything about them. Then I found "PIKA*NCHI DOUBLE" for download somewhere. I was really surprised, because I expected a rock-pop band or something, maybe even girls. Though I liked the intro of the song, I didn't gave it much listen and I think I even deleted it. (Stupid. Now I really like the song.)
Some time after this, I started watching J-Drama. Then one wonderful day I downloaded "Hana yori Dango"... The opening theme "WISH" grew on me heavily. I also began to like MatsuJun. Then one day I was looking for some Arashi stuff on youtube and watched a "PIKA*NCHI" performance. This got me looking for more.
Then I watched "My Boss, My Hero". I knew about Nagase, of course (which ayu fan doesn't? ^_-), but then I read it also stars two other Johnny's - Tegoshi Yuya (NEWS) and Tanaka Koki (KAT-TUN)...

That's basically how I got into Arashi (and other Johnny's). ^^ Sorry, for the long story... ^^;

Koda Kumi. She had a couple of nice songs but overall her albums, even the ones that made her a big star, just weren't that interesting to me. But I love Black Cherry and the two singles she's released since then, so I'm definitely happy with her current musical direction.

mika nakashima - for those who'd remember kuri, she'd spam me with all these random songs...after a while i just stopped listening (hehe...don't kill me). then i heard yuki no hana. can't say much after that XD

ai otsuka - i've heard that she sang really horribly...then mc (i think) sent me a yt link of planetarium...i liked it...then after a while...i dug up more ai otsuka stuff...here i am now XD

namie amuro - i've heard of her, too...i've always passed her 'official' thread by and by...then funky town was released, and i wanted to see how good of an artist she was. and now i'm a fan =3


can't think of anyone else...

mika nakashima - i always thought she was really bland and boring, blah blah blah, more ballads, blah blah blah. but then somewhere along the line she really pulled me in. yuki no hana and oborozukiyo~inori are really the first singles i got into, then i kind of didn't pay attention to her for a while until last year when i got really into her again with cry no more and all hands together.

anna tsuchiya - i remember when everyone was talking about her single slap that naughty body and i thought she sounded so stupid, lol. she just didn't grab me really until she released lucy and since then i've really learned to appreciate the majority of her music. she's one of my favorite artist now.

I have quite a few:

Nakashima Mika- I had heard so much about her from everyone and I found her gorgeous, which I guess subconsciously makes an artist more appealing to me, so I downloaded her BEST album and to say the very least, I thought it was utter crap. The only song I liked was Yuki no Hana, and I found WILL to be decent. I just could not stand her voice, and after watching a few lives determined that she was even worse not on the CD (which I thought was quite a feat considering how much I hated her voice). However, I'm not sure what sparked it, but about a week ago, I saw her CD LOVE at a used CD shop for only 500 Yen so I said "What the heck" and picked it up. I can now say that I like her a heck of a lot more. I downloaded TRUE later and have fallen completely in love with WILL. I'm certainly a fan of her now, including her voice.

Morning Musume- I downloaded their PV "Do It! Now" off a rotation site and really loved it, so I went out and bought their second best album. Unfortunately, I found a great deal of the tracks to be irritating and just plain moronic. Since then, I began listening to their older stuff and fell in love with it. After buying their first best album and falling in love with it, I have been able to tolerate, and love, their newer music as well.

Amuro Namie (sort of)- I'm not sure what the first Namie song I heard was, but I know it was from Queen of Hip Pop. I loved that song, so I downloaded that album and STYLE, both of which I really liked. I decided that because of my newfound interest in her, I would buy 181920, her first best CD. I absolutely hated it. With few exceptions (Body Feels EXIT and Chase the Chance only) I found all her old music to be bland and poor. After repeatedly listening to that album though, it truly did grow on me, and I now love almost every single song she's released, fom every one of her periods. I now love her just as much as Ayu. They're tied for best artist in my opinion.

(continued in next post)

(post continued due to length)

Otsuka Ai- The first song of Ai's that I heard was Cherish, and I fell in love with it. But after downloading more of her music, I realized that that was the only song I could tolerate. I found anything that wasn't a ballad to be extremely irritating because of her high-pitched voice and overly excited nature. Somehow that all changed over the period of a year or so and I'm now going to her concert this Thursday :laugh

Crystal Kay- My friend recommended her to me a little more than a year ago and after looking up some of her Vs, I thought she had some of the blandest R&B this side of Kuraki Mai. But after hearing her new album ALL YOURS something changed and I fell in love with it. That isn't to say like her old stuff, but I can at least say I do like her because of how much I love the album. I'll definitely give her other albums another try though because of it.

Leah Dizon- I can't tell you how many times I called this girl a worthless, talentless wh**e before actually realizing she has some really good songs. I gave the Softly single a try and found the title track to be probably the worst debut I'd ever heard. I thought it was a mediocre ballad with nothing special about it but the fact that a girl who wore almost no clothes sang it (and that's a bad thing, except for Kuu). Anyways, Koi Shiyou was released and after hearing it EVERYWHERE in Tokyo, I can now say that I'm in love with the song, and the single's other tracks are great as well. The girl certainly has potential to do some good things in the future.

^ that reminds me, i'm not going to japan after all =(

Crystal Kay - I wasn't really into Poppy music, but then I started listening to some singles of hers that were pop/r&b tinged and I really liked them. Her newest album is the best for me so far so. Now I actually listen to pop like music on my ipod instead of passing it up.

BoA, sifow, Angela Aki, HALCALI, Yuna Ito, Utada Hikaru and more))

:laugh Same here. I can't name any who grew on me recently. They already grew on my a while ago. Maybe I'll give Mika Nakashima another try and see if she grows on me. :shrug

tell me your halcali story! :D

mihimaru GT
their songs is really catchy and relaxing for me

sukima switch
i love relaxing songs...

YUI
i love her songs, but her live performance is really bad

Well, I knew about their existens for a long time but I just didn't want to listen to them. I was feeling like it's not mine. And then someday new PV of HLCALI - LOOK was realesed and I decided to download it... I just fell in love with that song!!! *_* Eventually I downloaded the whole discography xDDD

I never really liked the Johnnys guys much, especially all the Johnnys Junior groups but then I heard KAT-TUN's GOLD and loved it. So I looked around a bit and now I love KAT-TUN, Tackey & Tsubasa, Ya-ya-yah and J.J. Express

sifow - she has appealed to me for AGES but I just didn't like her music .... but then I heard "Carat" =D I became ADDICTED to her and she's now my FAV artist!!!

Johnny's Entertainment (JE) - i just thought these guys were just a bunch of pretty faces. but once you actually get to know how the Jimusho works, i have full respect for them. they are the definition of ideal idols. i saw a documentary on Ninomiya Kazunari (Arashi) and i'm amazed at his work schedule. he has absolutely no free time. NONE. balancing out drama, music, and TV personality work is no laughing matter.

i think i was weirded out by the name "KinKi Kids" at first. LOL. but i gave them another try after finding out they were in JE. i'm glad i did because the "Domoto Brothers" are my favorites!

Suga Shikao - i heard "Yozora no Mukou" because a friend recommended it. but i didn't get into him until "19-sai", "Manatsu no Yoru no Yume", and the news that he was writing KAT-TUN's debut single that i took interest in him again. i have to say, he is a talented musician / lyricist. i absolutely love his work! it's unique in the j-realm.