JMUSIC Artists That Have Grown On You
 

Koda Kumi definitely. I wasn't really into her, at all that much. I didn't like her voice too much. But after Black Cherry, she's okay. :laugh I can listen to that album easier. :laugh

Namie Amuro. I didn't like a lot of her earlier works but she's grown on me. Her PVs still bore me, though. :(

Koda Kumi!!

My first song was "hands" and words cannot describe how much I hated that song (and still hate it). But "Black Cherry" changed my perception of her, gone was the strong urban influence and that made her music much more enjoyable for me. However, I am still hesitating to hear her past stuff, cause I fear it will be too urban for me.

Koda Kumi and Utada Hikaru. I never really liked either when I was into Jpop, but now I like 'em both :)

Hitomi Shimatani, Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, UVERworld, and melody.

As of late, none. The ones who had to grow, grew already...some even wore out instead LOL

i'm glad you like sifow now. :]] i'm looking forward to her new song "Natsu Hanabi"! but anyways..

Utada Hikaru
i didn't like Utada Hikaru at first.. i thought her stuff was boring. [at the time i only appreciated fast, dancey songs.]
but then she released "EXODUS" and i loved it. and i guess i matured, so i gave her another chance.
her next single was "Be My Last" and i loved that song, and everything after that!

Namie Amuro
i never really liked r&b and hiphop and at the time i started listening to jpop i hated it. so naturally i thought "WANT ME, WANT ME" was ****ty and pathetic.
then i heard her earlier stuff, like "Can You Celebrate?", and i lovedd it.
a while later i heard "Violet Sauce" and i thought it was great, and i had started to like r&b at that time, but i didn't download QOHP though..
but i will do if i like "PLAY"

BENNIE K
i hate rap. end of.
but these two have something special!
i downloaded "Japana-rhythm" one day for some reason.. but i'm glad i did as it was one of the best albums i had heard in a long time!

Ai Otsuka for me...the first song I heard from her was Pretty Voice and I hated the first 15 seconds of it...then I saw her perform it on A+nation and I absolutely fell in love with her.

Namie Amuro...who I am a HUGE fan of now...I hated her Break The Rules tour the first time I watched it...it was the first of Namie I ever heard of then I started to pregress through it and really enjoyed her concert and the songs...so I downloaded some of her albums and singles...I HATED her older music with a passion!!!...GRR...but QOHP was Highly Recommended on so many torrent sites I decided to download it and BAM!!! Sparks flew...BTRT didn't do it...I only liked 4 of her songs then QOHP really hit the nail on the head...is that how the expression goes...? anyways that was that.

BoA...well I never liked her for a lot of reasons mainly because she was always making music...I mean my goodness how many albums can you do in Korean and then Japanese...when I fell in love with her was when Jewel Song came out...the japanese version...I watched the pv and heard the song for the first time and I couldn't help but cry when she shed her tears...it made me feel like I could understand what she was saying but I really couldn't.

Mink...wow...okay where do I begin...I heard One Suitcase from her...didn't know it was her at the time...but her first album came out and I listened to a song off of it...I didn't like it that much...to me her voice was very hoarse but I heard One Wish and it was really good.

Shiina Ringo...her voice was really hard to get used to because it's so unique but the first I heard of her was the live of Stem...I can't remember exactly what the performance was but I have the dvd...anyways it was really amazing...and then I got into more of her music such as Le Salle De Bain...I think that's how it's spelled...anyways I can't stop she's like an addiction.

Ito Yuna...I HATED HER WITH A BURNING PASSION OF 1000 SUNS...only because that's all I heard about when Nana came out...so I started on a single that wasn't from that anime...Mahaloha which is going to be released...and what can I say I fell in love once again.

Mika Nakashima...tsktsktsk...what can I say...there's not much to say I mean Sunao No Mama and Mienai Hoshi caught my eyes and my ears...probably the first artist to do see after Ayumi Hamasaki...but I can't get enough of her now...and She's BEAUTIFUL!!!

and last but not least

HITOMI SHIMATANI...
HATED HER...HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT HER AND ALL THE FUSS ABOUT HER...and then I heard Pasio...hmm...hmmm....GOOOOOOOD!!!:) I mean my goodness I like fast songs...and her voice just seemed like it went so well with it so I guess you could say I'm infatuated with that song of hers.

i'm gonna add two more that i forgot to mention..

Nana Kitade and Leah Dizon.

with nana, i couldn't really take her voice. but i listened to more songs and now practically all of them are my favorites. and with leah, i didn't wanna get into her music cuz i didn't really like the pictures and image she has, but i did listen to her music, and i really like it. my favorite songs of hers are "Aishiteru~Love Story~" and "Koi Shiyou".

Hmm ... guess I should look into that song because I still don't understand what all the fuss is about her.
:D

Mika Nakashima is one for me...i was on a jpop forum and everyone was talking about this girl named Mika Nakashima..so i decided to download her album, LOVE...well i didn't LOVE it...i thought her voice was terrible and her music had no originality...and then her BEST album came out...i decided to give her another chance and listen...i still wasn't impressed..but i did like a few songs *Yuki no Hana, Legend, and CRESCENT* and those three songs stayed in my head for the next month...so i decided to try TRUTH..which i absolutely loved...Heaven on Earth was my favorite...then i was hooked...now i love her! i thought YES was absolutely beautiful!

and amazingly...Do As Infinity...if yu know me well, yu'd know that i was and always will be one of DAI's biggest fans...well when i was still fresh into Asian music *when i typed Boa instead of BoA* i was searching for more Inuyasha music...after hearing Dearest *by an artist who i didn't care for* i saw two songs called Fukai Mori and Shinjitsu no Uta..at first listen, i hated them...but then i watched Inuyasha one night and heard the chorus of Shinjitsu no Uta...so i went back and downloaded both songs, then i found more and more, and eventually got the be the DAI junky I am today...

and an even bigger shocker...

AYU! as said above, after i got hooked onto BoA from Inuyasha, i dug up a song called Dearest...i thought the girl couldn't sing to save her life! so i disregarded her for a while...then while on a forum, i saw a review of her new single, STEP you...i was interested in this artist...*i didn't know they were by the same girl* so i downloaded the song STEP you, and loved it! and this one had the artist name..Ayumi Hamasaki...so i searched for music by her, and eventually got into more and more...and now i own half of her discography!

Utada Hikaru
I remember hearing Simple and Clean a loong time ago. And not liking it. Her voice sounded so weird to me and... ick.
About half a year after ULTRA BLUE came out, I finally decided to download it since everyone was like... raving. And I loved it. O__o She's become one of my more favorite artists.

Ayumi Hamasaki
First heard her in 2003. I heard her song Dearest. I thought she sung horribly, and naturally didn't like her. Later I would hear no more words. I really liked it, but didn't know she was the one who sung it so...
Then in August 2005 I happened upon fairyland. =O Which I loved and have been a fan since then.

...oh. Wow. Everyone else I liked right away.

Jrock, Nana Mizuki, Morning Musume :yes ect.

i seriously don't understand how could have hated these two so much. what was so bad with yuna and hitomi? especially hitomi shimatani? i didn't really hear any big fuss about her before, though. hardly anyone here talks about her anymore, unless you go to the "artists that you once loved but now lost interest in" thread :shrug

Koda Kumi. never pictured myself before being sooooo into her music.... and her ;P that's the only one i can think of now.

Obviously Ayu but, that's why I'm in this forum in the first place xD SO:

Shiina Ringo: I first heard Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana and gosh it was very different, I wasn't so into it, and I'm not so so fond of the album now, maybe just a tad too dark for me, then I heard Shouso Strip and that did it :3 I love her now.

Koda Kumi: I didn't get crazy over her through Final Fantasy xD In fact I'm not very crazy over her at all, but I heard Black Cherry and I gained some interest in her, then I heard disc 2 from her 1st Best CD I believe, Cutie Honey and a few other songs just got to me, loved it xD

Chihiro Onitsuka: Another great one, I first heard her and I was like, BLEH but after a while, she got to me too, her voice is precious that's all I gotta say ^^

Rurutia: She's got one of the most soothing voices ever, and her music makes the effect even greater :D I honestly love Ruru as well >w< (Hehe, I've been wanting to call her that for a while) Oh, and I didn't like some of her stuff before, it was as soon as she was recommended to me by another thay I got into her.

ayumi hamasaki & Utada

Those Johnny's talents, lol.

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)

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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.

OLIVIA....I thought she was a random Wapanese singer. But dangit. She's beyond awesomeness until I heard Stars Shining Out & Sea me.


And...hmmm....mink. I thought she was just another Mika Nakashima, but it turns out that she got talents. Just if she give more variety to her similar-sounding music.

And....LOL. AAA XD
I think it was Samurai Heart, Kimono Jet Girl, & Winter Lander that proved me that they are not the new Morning Musume.

BoA, hitomi, Kana, Moi Dix Mois...

I'm also going to add on Otsuka Ai, as when I played through her albums I found them VERY VERY boring and really bad, with only a few good songs. But then I bought "Ai am BEST" on an impulse, and I did NOT regret it!! I loved all of the songs, well except for "SMILY" and "Sakuranbo" =\

Morning Musume! I used to hate those girls and now I can't get out of my head those sticky melodies! (plus they are so cute and funny)

Kumi definitely, i hated her at first due to her songs being too R-n-B-ish *which i don't like*, but then i bought BEST ~B&L~ n starts loving hands n Rain, and then i listened to WON'T BE LONG and Cherry Girl *which are really good tracks* and she's now one of my fav artists

Akino Arai who at first I thought was just another person who did slow songs, but it turned out I really liked her music.

Olivia who at first just turned me off, but after listening for a while I fell in love with all her songs.

Nami Tamaki whose voice at first drived me crazy, but then I found out that her songs put me in a really good mood, so ever since then..