Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - [Utada Hikaru] Utada's Burning it Up Like a Gay Parade in Her 31st Thread!

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Utada's Burning it Up Like a Gay Parade in Her 31st Thread!

http://i39.tinypic.com/2j1ltlt.png

"This Is The One" In US&JP Stores Now!
Canadian release set for 6.23.2009!

Latest News:

Quote:

Originally Posted by UBlog

Billboard 200: "This Is The One" @ #137

Billboard/Nielsen SoundScan has released the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending June 6th, and Utada’s “This Is The One” ranks in at #137, selling 3,873 units this past week. This brings the total physical/digital reported sales to 16,308 units.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UBlog

Billboard 200: "This is The One" @ #69

Billboard/Nielsen SoundScan has released the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending May 30th, and Utada’s “This Is The One” ranks in at #69, selling 6,915 units this past week. This brings the total physical/digital reported sales to 12,435 units.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UBlog

Utada to perform Evangelion 2.0 Theme Song

Japan’s MyCom Journal has confirmed that Utada will once again helm the theme song to the upcoming Evangelion film “Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance,” set for release in Japan on June 27th, 2009. The as yet untitled track will be a follow up to Utada’s 2007 Japanese hit “Beautiful World,” which was the theme song to “Evangelion 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone.” No release date or other details for the single/song have been announced.

I bought my copy of This is the one yesterday from Best Buy. :D It felt so great to finally buy an Utada album from my local Best Buy. ^o^

title :o ehhe

her 31st thread wow wow

yay new thread! the picture of hikki in the first post is very pretty.

So...what exactly is the connection between Hikki and Gay Parades?

Quote:

Originally Posted by noidea (Post 1966280)

So...what exactly is the connection between Hikki and Gay Parades?

Lyrics from "On and On." They go like:
Honeys if your gay, burn it up like a gay parade
Honeys if your straight, pump it up, take it all away.

:tipsy

Quote:

Originally Posted by amorphose (Post 1966297)

Lyrics from "On and On." They go like:
Honeys if your gay, burn it up like a gay parade
Honeys if your straight, pump it up, take it all away.

:tipsy

Funny, I listened to the song and didn't even notice that...but the lyrics of TITO all were pretty bad, so I didn't pay much attention after the first listen

^ But that's what makes TITO fun!

"Sanctuary" is being used in the new "Kingdom Hearts" Nintendo DS game. Trailer was shown at E3 with the song playing. Very nostalgic.

So Sanctuary/Passion is being reused for 365/2 Days... (I still don't understand that title-- is it supposed to mean half of a year?) Does that mean that the PSP game, Birth By Sleep, is getting a new song? I remember reading somewhere that one of them would get a new song and Utada had already been comissioned for whichever it was. (I don't remember where I read this and I could be entirely off base.)

I think it's kind of silly to do a new song for the PSP game, but I guess I could understand why since it's got a totally new storyline. Nothing from "in-between" games.

Ah well, new music is new music. I just hope she stays on board for KH3 if they have her do a new song for Birth By Sleep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoriKaru (Post 1966475)

"Sanctuary" is being used in the new "Kingdom Hearts" Nintendo DS game. Trailer was shown at E3 with the song playing. Very nostalgic.

Really? :irked I thought it would be something new, but oh well. Not bad.

hehe i knew someone would make a thread title like this :laugh

She seems to be doing well still. That's good.

I think the alternate covers are way better than the official one! xD I particularly liked the last one :P I'm having a break from TitO for a while, I overplayed it a bit much, but I still sometimes sing Me Muero at work xD

So she's really going to release a new song then? That's soo cool~

I adore This Is The One lyrics. Those are very sweet. :D I get lots of inspiration from those and I guess that's the reason I love this album so much.

I love the pics truehappiness posted here. :D Looks nice. <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by truehappiness (Post 1966298)

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2366/titoooo.png

lololol I had to open up iTunes and change the album art when I saw this.

i just hate her english lyrics
Exodus lyrics were better IMO

and i quote
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090410l2.html

Quote:

"This is the One" is practically X-rated at times. On "Dirty Desire," Utada sings, "During my 9 to 5, I'm thinking six and nine"; and on "Automatic Part II" (a nod to her hit debut single, "Automatic"), she sings, "Contraceptive, when I'm on it, it's automatic." Is this what it takes to find Stateside success? Whoring yourself both musically and lyrically?

I admit her lyrics aren't nearly as good as her japanese songs... but hey, Utada said herself that her lyrics are meant to be comical for TITO. So if she had fun making these silly but fun lyrics for her fans and herself .. I'm happy!

^ Did she say that before people heard the album or after her fans complained about her bad lyrics?

Before the album came out ... The interview was on youtube but I don't know if it's still there anymore, Youtube loves to delete everything!

delete delete

i also hate it when they delete ayu things :weep

TITO hasn't grown into me *sigh*

Humongous interview with Hikki:

Spoiler:

Quote:

Hikaru Utada: The Complete JQ Interview
By Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02)
Originally Published May 2009
www.jetaany.org/magazine
It was perfect timing. Back in January,
Hikaru Utada, the New York-born
recording phenomenon who before she
was out of her teens notched three of
Japan’s top ten bestselling albums
(including number one), was back in
town working on a new album for the
U.S., and JQ spent a full hour with Hikki
to talk of many things, including her new
disc This is the One, which hit stores in
May.
I know you want to talk about the
new album and the single.
The song…
I heard it about two and half weeks
ago, as I think I was already on the
e-mail list from when your last
English album came out.
Oh, right, right, right.
So we go way back. Ten years ago I
found out about First Love when I
studying Japanese as an
undergraduate…
Oh, wow.
It’s amazing to be here now talking about it.
I’m humbled [laughs].
I really like the song, too…
Thank you.
And a lot of my other friends who live in other countries said, “Wow, this sounds so
American, it sounds like it should be a big hit.” Why have you chosen now to come
back to do another English-language album?
Probably because I had a contract left [laughs]. I was contracted to do one more, and the record
company, Island Def Jam, would say “when, when?,” and I would do two Japanese albums and
they would [say] “when are you doing an American one?” and I was like, “Uh, I’ll get on it soon,”
and I then I finally began working on it about a year ago, and it’s about almost done.
Do you have a title yet?
It’s ninety-nine percent decided, but we haven’t put out a press release yet officially. It’ll be
announced very soon, but not yet.
You recently had a birthday…
Yes, I did.
Did you do anything special?
Actually, the past couple of months have been a peak of busyness in terms of getting this
American album done, and the video and all this…and I was working editing…I’m the chief editor
for my Japanese official book as an artist in Japan…and editing that, and there was all this stuff
that just got together and I was…quite caught up with everything that…I don’t really care how I
spend my birthday. I’m usually working every year on my birthday, anyway. But this year for the
first time, I ended up spending it on the plane. I was flying from New York to Tokyo, and when I
get on a plane I just pass out for 10 hours. So most of my birthday I was sleeping on a plane, and
once I got home I just had dinner and just went to sleep [laughs].
You have to save the celebrations for after the album comes out.
[Laughs] Doesn’t really matter when you do it, as long as you celebrate your birthday.
Agreed. So, I was really curious about another thing. Your name in the U.S., you’ve
recorded under the name Utada.
Yes.
I was always wondering, was that a no-brainer for you to decide, or did you think
about other names you might have chosen?
Well, I didn’t even think about making a new artist name that’s not my real name. I didn’t do that
for Japan, either, and I can’t imagine thinking of a name like “The Ambiguous [unintelligible].”
You know, I’m not a band, I’m just a person, I’m not going to think up a name like “Hank” or
anything like that.
So there was never any confusion about how to pronounce your name, or maybe
some of your fans here might have thought, “Oh, why doesn’t she call herself Hikki
here,” maybe it sounds cuter…?
Well, the options to pick from where my full name, like Hikaru Utada, or Hikaru, or Utada…Hikki
would have been so cute if not for the meaning of “kiss mark” here…that works in Japan as a
nickname because no one knew what it meant, but I would never have thought of doing that
“artist’s name,” and then since Hikaru is so hard to pronounce, I just thought, why don’t we leave
it as Utada, it’s so much easier…more practical, why not?
So you’re not worried about being thought of as a one-name artist like Prince or
Madonna or any of those people?
But then, that’s their real names, right? Hey, Sting, Madonna, Bjork…
You’re in good company.
Yeah! I wouldn’t mind those associations at all.
For the new English album, the first since Exodus almost five years ago, I was
around when that came out and I watched all the hoopla that was surrounding it
when it was released and listened to it when it first came out. I’m curious, what
would you have done differently in hindsight with that album compared to the way
you’re going to promote and market the new one?
Well, it’s not really a matter of me, it’s the promotional staff, like the record company and what
kind of PR we get…actually, there’s a lot to learn from that. I mean, Island Def Jam was really…it
on the edge of change and chaos. Nobody knew what they were doing and nobody really knew
what was going on and I was just like, “what the hell is this? No support, come on, man, what’s
happening here?”
And you signed that deal…
With [then-Island Def Jam chief] Lyor Cohen…
Yes, years prior to that. I was living in Japan at the time when that happened [in
2002], and I thought, “Oh, it’s probably going to come out very soon,” and I think it
was something like a two- or three-year wait…
And part of the reason was because of all that happening and..I guess I wasn’t mentally conscious
and aware as an artist myself of how to promote myself that I’d never done that kind of stuff
before. It’s not really the artist’s thing to worry about—it shouldn’t be, really. But now I’m more
hands-on with it. I’m more involved in the promotional aspect of it, too. Because I learned from
last time what kind of PR group you choose and have to work with you [on] what you don’t need,
what you need, and how much to be in touch with the record company on this and who to be in
touch with for what, and all those kinds of quirks with it. There’s a lot to work with it, and now
I’m working with THE DOOR this time, we got a different company for that, and…everything’s
quite efficient I think, much more efficient than last time, and I feel support, I feel some kind of
face—I felt so insecure during the recording and promotion of Exodus, because it didn’t seem like
anyone knew what I wanted to do, and I didn’t know how to get it across to these people. We were
not on the same page at all, and now it seems we are.
I read a quote from you earlier where
it said that for Exodus you were
“trying too hard.” Can you explain
what you mean by that?
Yeah, it was sort of like a…very experimental
king of thing, I guess. Trying too hard, I
mean. Because when you’re experimental,
and…my attitude towards it was like,
“Everyone else is in a mess, I’m I just going
to go ahead and do something weird, you
know what I mean? [Laughs] I’m just going
to go ahead and make something real weird
and intense but interesting. I think the
music is very very neat, but it’s going to be
weird, but…I’m not gonna care. And, that’s
why…in a sense I was trying hard, to show,
to make interesting music. And I was doing
all the arranging, and so they were saying,
technical things I have to really worry about
in the music-making, and I was all over the
place, really. But I’m just, I was so happy
and proud of myself for having done that,
that one album. And when I heard Elton
John in an interview saying, “There’s a girl
called Utada, a Japanese girl who makes
interesting pop music, blah, blah, blah,” I
thought, wow, that makes everything worth
it, man, thank you [laughs]. But it was that
kind of album where you have to be really
into music or—it’s not easy to appreciate if you have no—if you have a certain, depending on your
musical background or how deep into music you are. It’s wasn’t the kind of thing where you can
listen to the radio and say, “That’s great!” and sing along to it, you know? And…I think I was
trying to be more mature than I really was, I mean, what was I, like, nineteen or 20, and some of
the stuff I was trying to be an adult, I was trying to say, I can do this. I’m grown-up, but I was a
kid, kind of. And then, this time I feel like I’ve matured more, I’m more of a woman. If I sing
something sexy, it’s more natural, it’s not forced, nothing feels strained, and everything seems to
feel right. Like, it doesn’t make the listener feel any strain, either. I just feel really comfortable
making it and promoting the album, too.
Would you say that this new album has the elements of a previous sound? “Come
Back to Me,” for instance, I think some fans might listen to it and say, oh wow, it
sounds like the first two albums, or an R&B style…
Yeah…
Is it consciously like that, or have you changed certain things that people will hear
on the other new tracks?
Well, there’s a lot of variety in the album, and the thing you can say for the entire album that the
songs have variety musically, and the common theme is, I guess my lyrics, they can be very funny
at times or they can be very bookish at times, very poetic or very blunt at times, but…they’re
that…the main theme, the ongoing theme throughout the album. And the reason there’s a bit of
that R&B feeling back in my music for this new album is not because I thought, R&B, yes, let’s go
that way, but, since I wanted to make something mainstream, at this point in American music,
mainstream is just R&B.
The zeitgeist…
That’s the only reason, I think. When I think R&B, I really think of the classic R&B singers back in
the day kind of thing. The Sylistics, and, you know…
It’s not a bad time to be with Def Jam, either.
Right. Well, the thing is, I’m only with Island, and it’s really funny, like…Island and Def Jam have
come together to be IDJ— Island Def Jam, right? But since the impact of the [name] Def Jam is so
strong, most people, I think, especially in Japan, think I’m with Def Jam, so they think it’s a hiphop
label, an R&B label, but…I’m with Island, which is U2, Bon Jovi, Sum 41…so that’s a funny
misconception that I find myself fixing quite often. Because sometimes [in magazines]…to make it
short they just say “Def Jam,” but I’m like, no, no, no, no, that would actually be wrong [laughs].
We’ll put that in bold type.
[Leans into the recorder] She’s with Island! [Laughs]
There’s this one song I read about on the new album called “Me Muero.” That’s
Spanish for “I die,” right?
Yeah, “I’m dying.”
How did this song come about, and why are you so fond of it?
Why is it my favorite one, yeah…If you listen to it, you’ll see it has a bit of a Latin feeling to it, and
then, there’s one hook part where there’s a melody, like [hums melody] that I came up with from
the very beginning, and I had the image for some kind of Mexican or Spanish word or phrase
down, but since I don’t speak Mexican or Spanish, I didn’t know how to go about looking for that
phrase. I just got on the Internet and started looking at these Mexican and Spanish dictionaries to
pick out random words which I hoped would exist, the kind of phonetics that I’m looking for, the
phrase that has those, and then I said, okay, the coda is like this, I’m looking through all those
words that would actually fit that melody line and actually make sense to be the hook of the song.
And then I finally came to “me muero,” and [sings the words], okay, that’s perfect for that melody
line, okay. Now what does it mean? Okay, “I’m dying.” Well, I can write a song about, dying, okay!
And that’s how it came to be. And then I [sent e-mails to] my Spanish-speaking friends to make
sure that it made sense grammatically, as it appears in the song: “Does it make sense if I say ‘me
muero’ to mean this and that and so and so?,” and then I got the e-mails that came back, [which]
said, “Yes, that’s grammatically correct, but, um, you’re not thinking about dying, are you?”
[Laughs] And then I said, “No, no, it’s only for a song!” And then they said, “You’re not writing a
will?,” and I said, “No, I’m not writing a will…in Spanish, it’s OK.” It’s a very playful song, and my
vocal performance on it was so free, and I have a bit of a…that’s around when I began listening to
a lot to James Brown during that time, so there’s a bit of a James Brown-sort of thing at the end,
just singing, belting out at the end, and I just like the words that I was saying; it’s my favorite.
I’ll have to keep that in mind—I attended James Brown’s last concert in New York…
Ohhh!
I waited years to see him, and I was always saying to myself, all right, I have to see
James Brown the next time he comes to town, and it was at B.B. King…
Yeah…
Which is a pretty small place, general admission. I was standing there, literally right
on the stage, waiting for him to come out. And I was just looking up at him the
entire time. And the energy, and the command that he had on the audience was
phenomenal. Someone actually fainted in the crowd and they had to stop the show
until that guy got back to life because he was just so excited.
Wow, that must have been amazing. Oh, I’m so jealous.
Well [laughs]… All right, what
else do we have here…so I read
this quote yesterday on
RollingStone.com, and it was
of a fan who posted something,
and it was in response to a
piece that RollingStone.com
put up, talking about a song
you did for [the video game]
Kingdom Hearts II.
Oh!
And he was basically praising
it, and said, wow, it’s too bad
more Americans or other non-
Japanese don’t know more
about Utada, so big up to him.
But the comment I read
underneath it was great, and this is a direct quote. It said, “Utada is very talented.
The fact that only nerds, like me and you, have seen her might be the saddest thing
in this modern world, non-politically speaking.”
[Laughs] That’s very well put!
How are you going to get yourself out there more this time? I hear that you’re
thinking of going on some more mainstream talk shows like Conan O’Brien, or
some other…
Umm, I think the promotion—the intent of the promotional plan so far…is to keep it flexible and
keep the music driven. And I think it’s the music—from the beginning of making this album, I
wanted to make something that will connect with a wider audience for this time, and for me to be
saying, “Hello! This is me, I’m introducing myself. Get to know me, listen to my music,” that’s the
attitude, and I wanted to make something more mainstream, so—I think the music itself should
do most of the job, basically.”
Is it going to be tough to do extra promotion here, since you’re probably also going
to promote it in Japan? Because it comes out a couple of weeks earlier in Japan…
Ah, no, but, um, the priority is the U.S., honestly, because I made it for the U.S. And Japanese
promotion, I—in Japan, see, I don’t do much promotion for myself, anyway. I’m infamous for not
doing promotion. I rarely do TV, I hardly do any magazines, I just do, like, one big interview and
then I have a writer write like 20 different articles for different magazines. I have a systematic way
of doing things, because that system began when I was still—when I became famous in Japan and
began working I was still in high school, and I was in 10th grade, and…to be going to school and be
doing homework on the weekends and then studying for SATs and doing college apps and all this
stuff, there was no way I could do a full promotion, like other music artists who are full-time
musicians, basically. I couldn’t do it, so we had to come up with me for a way to not do all that,
and so I don’t have to—there isn’t much for me to do in Japan, promotion-wise.
But of course back here in the U.S., it’s kind of a different story, since you really
have to let people know you’re out there, so if you could…
I guess we’re going for more of that mainstream promotion this time, and that’s the priority.
So if someone came up to you and said, would you like to do Saturday Night Live,
or...
Ooh…
A late-night show, is that something you’d be interested in?
Well, I don’t know…I’ll think about it [laughs]. I would say…I think so, I think I’d be very excited.
Because I’d love to see Rolling Stone review the next album, and talk about it in
some kind of capacity.
That’s where we’re trying to get to this time, and I’m doing all I can do to get there.
Well, we’ll do our best.
Thank you [laughs].
Okay, so going back a little bit, the fact that Exodus was released in English also in
Japan, was that a conscious decision? Was there ever any pressure either on your
label over there, or from other people to say, “Well, if you do Japanese versions of
these songs, they’ll be so much more accessible, many more people will get to that?”
Uh-huh. Well, from the beginning, yeah…before doing that contract, I’d done a few songs where I
had to translate, like for Kingdom Hearts, I had to make an English version of the song “Hikari,”
which became “Simple and Clean,” and then also for Kingdom Hearts II, I had to make the
Japanese version which was the song “Passion” and then the English version that was
“Sanctuary,” and that was so hard, it’s just—and it felt strained—and as a result, I’m happy that I
worked hard to do those, because those English versions are really good and “Simple and Clean,” I
think, is a really good song, and people…most of the people that know me here, they know me for
that—but it’s not ideal for me as a writer, to…because, actually, I changed the melodies for
“Simple and Clean” and “Hikari,” because when you change the language you’re singing in, the
same melodies don’t work—and as a writer, it’s just very frustrating to have, like…I wrote these
melodies for Japanese words, and to have to write in English for that, it’s just not right. And then,
so, for this, uh, this contract with Island Def Jam, in the beginning I separated it to this Englishlanguage
album, and I don’t do Japanese translations. I just, my integrity as an artist just would
not take that, could not take that.
Is there one that you prefer writing in? Because you’re fluent in both; you grew up
here. Do you feel that’s sometimes restrictive to have to come up with a rhyme
scheme for songs in English, or do you like the freedom of doing something
different from the Japanese ones?
I don’t have a favorite, I mean I like both because they’re both equally challenging, and they’re
both beautiful languages…I think my level of how good I am in English and Japanese are both the
same, so there is a difficulty in terms of technical stuff, I just have to…the different natures I get to
play with are very fun…when I write Japanese songs for a long time I begin thinking, oh, I want
to write an English song, because you know, an English song can be more playful, you can say
some more, what do you call it, controversial things without having it be a huge deal—you can be
more playful with everything, and at the end of the day it’s music, your lyrics. You don’t have to
nitpick everything like, “Oh, did she say cigarette? ‘Flavor of tobacco?’ She’s only 15!” That’s what
[happened] in Japan when I came up with this song…
I’ll try not to ask about that [laughs].
Yeah, it was lyrics that said, “your last kiss had this flavor of tobacco,” and then it became a huge
deal there and I was like, come on, I’m not writing—I’m not Anne Frank, this is not a diary, I’m a
songwriter, these are lyrics, this is a poem. You know, it’s not that literal, man, it’s not that easy,
it’s not a diary-writing kind of process…
That’s what made that song jump out to me when I first heard it, because I thought,
I’ve never heard a song that starts like this.
Yeah! [Laughs] So, it’s fun in Japan to push that envelope a little bit, constantly, and to play with
the beauty of the language, the subtleties and everything. But with English, it’s easier to be more
blunt, or…like really metaphoric, but that doesn’t make much sense maybe, like in a Beatles sort
of way, and that’s the difference, I’d say, but I enjoy working in both languages.
Has anyone ever said to you, “‘First Love’ would
be a huge hit for Mariah Carey,” or anyone who’s
popular right now. Have you ever had to turn
down someone who said, “well, if you sang a
duet with this person and it’s one of your songs,
that will increase your exposure?” or “if you
maybe tailored a certain song for someone else,
they could be really big?” We’ve seen lots of
examples of that happen many times in pop
history.
Actually, I’ve just begun considering those options
recently, because working with [producer] Stargate,
they’re like, “You’re a really good songwriter…do you
want to write for some other artists?” And now that
we’re really in touch and we know each other, we’ve
actually spoken a bit about that and I’ve been thinking
about, well to have someone cover my old song, and
maybe I can write the English words to it for an
American artist, or change it a bit, I mean, that’s…a very
timely question, I’ve just been thinking about that.
I’ve been thinking about it for years, so I’m glad I
came up with that one.
Oh, okay! [Laughs]
For instance, for Distance you worked with [Grammy-winning American R&B
producers] Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis…
Yeah.
Did they ever say, “hey, we work with a lot of artists, you might have some songs left
over,” or maybe “we really like this one that we’d like to…”?
Well, that—it didn’t go that far, because I guess…working on one single—like, go in there and do
it, and we’re all happy—“bye, love you, and stay in touch” kind of, like, do iChat kind of thing, but
they—they didn’t show any business aspect, which was very interesting—they didn’t [go] into any
business-like kind of conversations…
Since you were worried about other things.
And I think…they were so big on musicians as artists, that…they…I don’t know, it just wouldn’t—I
think it would seem out of character for them to come out and say, “How do you feel about writing
for other artists?,” things like that. It was just not—it felt off.
Who would you like to see, if you had a wish list of other artists, I guess an
American or English-speaking artist, to cover your song or do a song that you wrote,
are there any people in particular with whom you’ve always thought, it would be
such an honor to see that person perform?
[At this point, Hikki’s father/producer/manager Teruzane Utada and mother Junko Utada
enter the room and take seats on the other side of the table]
The thing is, the people—the artists that I really really admire, most of them tend to be writers
themselves, like singers and songwriters, so it’s hard for me to imagine any of them covering my
songs—just like I don’t cover people’s songs.
Speaking of which, that dovetails next into what I wanted to ask you—the song on
First Love, “Amai Wana”…
Yeah.
Can you tell me the story about that, like why you chose that title, because I have a
theory about that, but I’m curious to hear about it…that, and the tag of [the Rolling
Stones’] “Paint It, Black” at the end, what the story was with that?
Well, that just kind of—well the ending, I don’t remember how that really came up, it was just a
fun thing to sing, I think, where we set up the ending…I think it just popped up from somewhere
in the session, maybe it was because of my father, I don’t…we just thought…someone just came up
with it, and we were all, “Yeah, let’s do it, let’s do it!” But the title “Amai Wana” was…I thought it
was funny, like a play on words. It sounds like “am I wanna,” like in English, it doesn’t make
sense in English live, but when I sing it [sings those words], it sounds like someone speaking
English wrong—um, that was basically the only reason, I think. What was your grand theory? I’m
interested.
You might know that that was the Japanese title of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to
Want Me.”
Ohhh…
That’s what it’s called in Japan.
I didn’t know that!
No way!
[Laughs]
Wow, that…that’s a shocker.
I don’t know any of the Japanese titles for these American songs, because I picked them up in
America or I listened to them in English, or…U.S., UK version CDs, and—I never buy the
Japanese version CDs, so I…don’t have any idea of these Japanese titles. Oh, but that’s—maybe it
was a “meant to be” kind of coincidence.
It’s amazing. Because I know, for me, I discovered it in a karaoke box, right? If you
were looking at the songs from the…
Ohh, right, right, right.
So then, the song was already completed and then you just decided to add the…
Yeah, at the end.
Were there any headaches trying to get permission for that?
I think we had a fairly easy time with that.
Mr. Utada: I didn’t. [all laugh]
Ah, so maybe he had a hard time with that. I didn’t.
I just mean Mick Jagger maybe didn’t mind, after he saw how successful…
[Laughs]
Mr. Utada: After they received the, uh, big royalty…
Right.
Mr. Utada: Sting, too.
Yeah.
Oh, which one did…?
Well, after that, I sampled “Shape of My Heart.” [sings riff, which sounds like the intro to her
song “Never Let Go”]
Mr. Utada: Just the guitar.
That was on my first album as well and, I think in the beginning there was some clearance
issue…and then so at the last minute we couldn’t put it in the credits, because of that—like it
wouldn’t make it for printing, to the factory kind of thing, so then there was a weird little scandal
like, “oh, she didn’t give credit for it, and she just put it out,” but that was false and then we had to
explain, like, “well, we got clearance, we got the permission, it’s all official, it’s okay, it just didn’t
make it into the credits of the booklet because it was so late…”
Wow, I didn’t know about that.
Yeah. I’m sure they’re both very happy with
the result [all laugh].
I want to ask you about the new
producers you’re using for the album,
Tricky and Stargate. How were they
chosen? Did you change your style, or
did you kind of change their ways of
doing things in any way…
Oh, I see…
Were you allowed to have input, were
they allowed to have more input
compared to your previous experiences,
and how do you feel about the final
results?
When I began talking with Island Def Jam
about making a new record, of course one of
the big things was, what producer do you
want, like, “we’ll get anyone for you,” and
“who do you want to work with?” kind of
thing, and I didn’t want a producer that was a
“producer’s producer,” you know, with his
own set of writers, and his own color comes
out so strongly and that kind of thing…I
wanted it to be “me,” but not as “me” as Exodus, because I did all the tracks, like most of the track
making on that, and I was so sick of that track making process…by the end of Exodus I was just
going, “ahh, can someone else do this for me but not be a loser, like…not be Timbaland, but do
this for me, like I want to work with a track maker,” that’s what I told IDJ…so I had them promote
a list of track makers, like producers that could make a track and all that, that I could work with,
to collaborate on the tracks as well, and then let me do all the melody writing and the lyrics
writing and the singing, and then just to collaborate sort of, with the structure and things like
that. So it’s me writing music the way I usually do—music, melodies and lyrics, but working on
the track, collaborating with Stargate and with Tricky. So, I think that was a bit irregular for them.
I had to go in and…the first time we met, we sat down with both teams, I had to explain, “I’m
gonna write all the songs, so I’d like to take out some demo tracks you guys have and take them
home with me, and then play around with it, change the tracks, change the chords in some parts
maybe as I song write, I need the complete control over the melody and the lyrics-writing, that
kind of thing.
Do you have any plans to tour here or do any additional live or concert
appearances?
Yeah, actually there are some appearances that are not set yet, not even soon, but we’re thinking
about—some are ongoing, underway. And a tour, we’re not planning yet, but I do think I should
[laughs].
Let me know, we’ll be there in the front row.
[Laughs] As long as there’s a demand, uh yeah, I think we will.
Well, when we send this out I’m sure there there’ll be a lot of people who would like
to know more.
More feedback, more demand!
The “one in a million” line on “Come Back to Me,” is that sort of a dedication to
Aaliyah, and what’s your favorite Aaliyah song?
My favorite Aaliyah song? You know, I do love, like the big first hits like…okay…“Age Ain’t Nothin’
But a Number” is one of my all-time favorites, but what I listen to now, what’s in my favorite
playlist that I listen to a lot now still is that cover song she did, “At Your Best (You Are Love)”
[originally a hit for the Isley Brothers in 1976–ed.] [sings a few lines]. That was done so
beautifully, and it’s a mature song I guess, the original…I’m so ashamed for not being able to say
who the original singer is for that song, but I know that it was done by a much more mature…was
it a black male singer? I’m not sure, but probably much older than her, or maybe female, I’m not
sure. But she made it sound like there was some kind of magic when she sang it that age…it’s from
a viewpoint of someone who knows relationships well, you know, who’s in a mature relationship,
but Aaliyah…sort of matched that in a funny way, I guess because she was mature, I mean,
mentally and emotionally. That’s my favorite.
So is there any of that in the line?
Yeah, a little bit, yeah [laughs].
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Ice cream flavor…I have, I think… As I’ve grown, I have come to like, how do you say it in English?
[To her father] “Choco minto.”
Mr. Utada: The mint, chocolate mint…
Mint chocolate!
Mr. Utada: …Chocolate chip.
Mint chocolate has become my favorite.
That’s a good one. It’s good by itself because it doesn’t mix with others, but it tastes
nice for what it is.
I’m not very big on really sweet, like, chunky chocolate kind of stuff.
So what did you like before?
Before that I used to like regular chocolate ice cream, and what do they call those, the cookie
and…
Oh, cookie dough.
No, the cookies and…
Cookies & cream?
Yeah, like Häagen-Dazs’ kind of thing.
About Kuma Chang…
[Laughs]
...What’s the fascination, and is there anything else that you always like to have with
you all the time?
All I need is Kuma. It’s funny, I guess…he and I would make a very good team of therapists. When
I actually talk with him, and through this dialogue I often discover things about myself that I
[have] tucked away in my subconscious, and I can become more honest about, and discover what
I feel deep down—it comes out, by talking with this big teddy bear, that—I do his talking, too, but
there’s a funny therapeutic aspect to it.
A security blanket, like Linus in Peanuts.
Yeah, great for conversation [laughs].
What’s your favorite thing about New York?
About New York? Oh, New York is just New York. I love…I guess this is from when I was really
small, we grew up in New York. I walked a lot, so the fact that you can just walk anywhere. It’s a
great city to walk in, like when I’m in L.A., I don’t even have a driving license, I’m like, “Bummer,
I can’t go anywhere without a car, I can’t drive, what am I supposed to do?,” but New York, of
course you can cab it if it’s a long-distance drive, but…I just love to walk forever and ever and
ever, and they have a huge park right next to the biggest shopping areas, so it’s a great mixture
and you get the best of both worlds with [the] city and the park, and just the fact that I can walk
around everywhere and have a great time wherever I walk.
A friend of mine once said it was the center of the universe. Not the center of
America, not the center of the world, the center of the universe.
I’ve only recently begun to appreciate how unique and cool this city is. Because I was born here,
there’s been a lot I took for granted, I guess. And the past few times I came back to New York from
Tokyo I was like, wow, this city is so cool, man—I can’t imagine living anywhere else anymore.
Are you going to be
involved in the soundtrack
for Kingdom Hearts III?
I don’t think so, I don’t know.
Probably not.
Mr. Utada: We said no to
Disney.
Ohh…
You turned down Disney?
Mr. Utada: Yeah. Because they
don’t pay.
Because they don’t pay,
yeah. My parents work for
Disney World, so I’m sure
they’d be in agreement with
you on that.
They can have a drink over that [all laugh].
The next time you guys are in Orlando. So at 15, you recorded what ended up being
the biggest-selling album in Japan, the most successful one, whatever the hype is for
that. At that age, to have so much success and you handle it so well—you’re really
easy to talk to, you don’t have an ego trip like a lot of artists who might be in the
same position.
[Laughs]
And I mean that, it’s really genuine. I feel like it’s a nice, comfortable conversation.
Thank you.
The people who read this will probably feel like they know you so much more by
getting to read an English-language interview with someone who…
Yeah.
Mr. Utada: Yeah!
They might—yeah, they might only know through just CDs, or just listening over the
Internet, or through Japanese friends, and that’s what we’re here for, because we
represent people who have worked overseas in Japan, and have come back to New
York. And before we were just a newsletter for our organization, but now we’re
branching out to be more of a magazine, and it’s interviews like this and talks we
can have with people who can really promote that message and get more Americans
who maybe aren’t planning on living in Japan or aren’t planning on studying the
language to just pick it up and read these kinds of things, so thank you again for
that.
Oh. It’s great that you—I feel rewarded to have that, to see that you appreciate that, I feel very
happy.
Thanks. What I’d like to know, though, is, because of all that success, do you ever
feel that, having achieved it at such a young age previously, do you feel that you’re
always trying to top yourself, or have people saying, “you should do this or you
should do that,” it might be impossible to top because it feels like there’s things you
should do or be required to do for the good of your fan base or as a Japanese artist
in the 21st century?
Should do? Like what do you mean, to keep on making stuff?
What would an example be…it’s like, if you become so successful at one thing, some
people might say, oh, well you should put out a CD that’s in this style and see if you
can become just as successful at that, or you should do movies, or do something
completely different.
I ignore all of them [laughs]. It doesn’t interest me at all.
It’s probably the healthiest thing, right? Because you can succeed on your own
terms.
I’m not closing my ears to all that. I do like to keep open, and I don’t want to become like in this
small little world of la la land, this unreal world where like a lot of artists are kind of led into, in a
sense, it’s not their fault that they’re in there, I feel like it’s the environment’s fault, the staff
makes them—they just put them on a throne, and…they just lose touch with reality, you know,
you see it happening and it’s kind of sad. And…I don’t think I could become like that, because
that’s the way I am, my character, personality, but I am open to whatever offers I get, like I do get
a lot of offers, which surprises me as, like, movies, or like, scripts, or, “do you want to do this
about this business or do you want to start a clothing brand,” or like, “how about this movie, it’s
like…,” are you serious? Nooo, I’m just not interested, and I don’t even know why they offer it to
me [laughs], but, to them it’s just a business op, and I don’t do just business.
Right. But at the same time, [annual Japanese New Year’s Eve program] Kohaku
Uta Gassen is pretty much dedicated to music, and you’ve never done it.
Yeah.
Is there any one reason why you wouldn’t want to, or is it something you might do in
the future at some point?
It’s…I do choose my jobs very carefully and consciously. And Kohaku, it just doesn’t… [Long
pause] I don’t feel like I belong there.
Why?
I don’t know, I just feel so alien from that culture. It’s a different culture all of its own. It’s like a
heritage—a Japanese heritage, and I have had no part of it in my own life, and I just don’t relate to
it. [Pause] Bottom line, I just don’t want to be in it, I would hate to see myself in it; I just don’t
think I could take it.
The big dresses and all that, it’s not for you.
The chaos and the partying all night…
Where does this kind of reserve come from within you? How did you know you’d be
able to deal with these things for all this time you’ve been a recording artist?
I guess, growing up, my mother was a very famous singer. I saw her picking jobs, or [having] to
take jobs she didn’t want to do, just because of the record company making her do it, or…it just
looked sad. It didn’t seem like the ideal environment for an artist, and I could see how frustrated
she was and the bad effect it had on her. And then, my father was managing her in her later years
as a singer, and he—as my manager—to begin with for my career as well, my father took extra care
to make sure that I would have the control over what I want to do and what I don’t want to do,
what I think I want to do and what I don’t need to do. And…we’ve had a very good relationship
with the record companies and as management on the artist’s side, really. So I think that
protection [and] freedom that came from—in the beginning, when I was too young to be aware of
that kind of thing, and that’s when artists get caught up with all that, like they sign something that
they don’t know what they’re signing, and they have to do all this stuff they didn’t know they had
to do, and then they have all these problems with the record company later on because of their
first contract and…they keep on changing management companies because they don’t get along
well, and all this, but…it was sort of the same feeling and ideas about what the artist wants to do,
and fortunately I’ve never had that problem, because my father has been the manager from the
beginning.
What goals do you have in music, in life, anything else, in the future, and how do
you want to be remembered?
Goals and…I really don’t have goals [laughs]. I never have goals or plans for the future.
It’s not a huge thing, basically, for this album to become the greatest thing that’s
ever happened to the U.S.?
Well, that would be great if it happened, but it’s not something…I’ll do what I can on my part to
try to make this happen for this project but…I think it’s silly to plan ahead—if you don’t know
what’s going to happen tomorrow, then that might change everything, so what’s the point of
planning? I just don’t have any life planning in me, because everything happened so
unexpectedly, and things never happen the way you expect them to, and to me it’s better that way;
I love that about life. But I do, eventually, want to take a long break and have kids and play with
them for a while, that kind of thing, some time, but I don’t have any specific idea of when or
where I want to live, or career-wise,
what I want to do in the future…I have
no idea.
And being remembered, is it the
same?
Remembered…I’d like being
remembered more as an artist than a
celebrity, and an intelligent artist with
integrity. Honesty; an honest artist.
Any other messages for our
readers and members of the JET
Programme and JETAA New
York?
Umm, New York is the best city after
everything, isn’t it? [All laugh] I guess I
might bump into these people walking
around New York.
Or at the concert.
Yeah, or at a concert [laughs].
Special thanks to Caroline Bubnis at THE DOOR for media assistance. Photos by Yasunari
Kikuma. For more on Utada and This is the One, visit her homepage at www.utada.com.

Source: Ublog

More viewer friendly version here:
http://jetaany.org/magazine_files/utada.pdf

Utada will not do the song for KHIII. Sad day

Spoiler:

Quote:

Right. But at the same time, [annual Japanese New Year’s Eve program] Kohaku
Uta Gassen is pretty much dedicated to music, and you’ve never done it.
Yeah.
Is there any one reason why you wouldn’t want to, or is it something you might do in
the future at some point?
It’s…I do choose my jobs very carefully and consciously. And Kohaku, it just doesn’t… [Long
pause] I don’t feel like I belong there.
Why?
I don’t know, I just feel so alien from that culture. It’s a different culture all of its own. It’s like a
heritage—a Japanese heritage, and I have had no part of it in my own life, and I just don’t relate to
it. [Pause] Bottom line, I just don’t want to be in it, I would hate to see myself in it; I just don’t
think I could take it.
The big dresses and all that, it’s not for you.
The chaos and the partying all night…

..."big dresses an all that"? I wonder who that is referring to....Utada doesnt like the partying???? Well...what ever happened to "On and on and on........"

Quote:

…by the end of Exodus I was just
going, “ahh, can someone else do this for me but not be a loser, like…not be Timbaland, but do
this for me, like I want to work with a track maker,”

She called Timbaland a loser........................................yeah GO HIKKI!:shimmy:shimmy:shimmy:shimmy

Quote:

Originally Posted by xheartstation (Post 1967702)

Utada will not do the song for KHIII. Sad day

Spoiler:

Ew. Her father needs to go sit down.

If she's not doing KHIII, then she's not doing that other KH game either. So we just have the movie song to look forward to.

I would think that the money she made off the singles themselves was good enough. Not to mention the free publicity from writing the song for KHIII would give her. Some current fans are here because of Simple and Clean/Hikari and Sanctuary/Passion. Still I would have thought Disney would pay. I didn't realize they didn't do that.
I wonder who'll do it now?

^I dunno...cant really imagine KH without a Hikki song....JYONGRI came into mind though...

Kingdom Hearts III hasn't even been confirmed yet, so it doesn't matter. Disney pays she wrote, composed and arranged the songs so they payed her good for her time and work. The only problem I could think of is she didn't get paid as much as her father wanted her to get.

wow, i read that whole interview, lol. makes me love utada even more :P

Wow, that was a really good interview. BUT, I'm super bummed about the whole Kingdom Hearts comment.

I wasn't expecting a new song for the new DS game or PSP game, just like Chain of Memories didn't have a new song. I did, however, expect her to definitely do the song for Kingdom Hearts III, which we all now is going to happen-- even though it hasn't been officially announced yet. The game developers have stated in the past that it was always planned to be a trilogy.

Anyway, meh... Hoepfully her dad will change his mind, or she'll have Kuma tell him to eat it. XD After all, Kingdom Hearts is how I got into her-- and JPop period! 7 YEARS ago! Without Kingdom Hearts I wouldn't know of Hikki or Ayu and I can't even imagine how I would be like without them. I grew up with them. I'm only a junior (11th grade) in high school-- so you do the math. I was in 4th grade when this whole JPop thing started.

I don't even play video games, except rarely. But the Kingdom Hearts series has definitely become sentimental to me-- and if someone else does the song for the third game it will feel so wrong for me. If Hikki doesn't do it, they shouldn't even have a song-- or just reuse Simple and Clean.

Sorry, [end rant.]

Why would she work for free? x,x

^ I don't think they meant, they don't pay at all, just not a lot...

I don't play Kingdom hearts but her songs for the games are really good!
Also the first songs I heard from Hikki!

i first heard simple&clean from a KH commercial on TV, and immediately loved the song~
I also read from other interviews of other stars that Disney dont pay much. (my despise 4 disney :P)

Quote:

Originally Posted by truehappiness (Post 1966298)

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/3607/titooo.gif http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2366/titoooo.png

Just to refresh.

LMAO These are man funny..

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackieRos (Post 1967458)

and i quote
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090410l2.html

"This is the One" is practically X-rated at times. On "Dirty Desire," Utada sings, "During my 9 to 5, I'm thinking six and nine"; and on "Automatic Part II" (a nod to her hit debut single, "Automatic"), she sings, "Contraceptive, when I'm on it, it's automatic." Is this what it takes to find Stateside success? Whoring yourself both musically and lyrically?

Oi...

So she's not allowed to be the least bit sexual. Hikki isn't a sexual being. :rolleyes

*sigh*

Quote:

Originally Posted by teddbear55 (Post 1967852)

^ I don't think they meant, they don't pay at all, just not a lot...

I don't play Kingdom hearts but her songs for the games are really good!
Also the first songs I heard from Hikki!

I know, but if she keep acepting projects that pays her below of the amount the she usually sets, everyone who ask her for a song will ask for it to be cheaper...

And it's not that KH made her all famous in the west and stuff... she got known only by gamers...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty4123 (Post 1967722)

wow, i read that whole interview, lol. makes me love utada even more :P

Same here. That interview just kind of pulled me in x_x. Jeez, that sucks though that she wont be making the next song for KHIII. Argh Mr. Utada! :laugh

Come on Hikki...consider doing a tour...there's a lot of demand :mischief

Non gamers watch TV commercials and they have gamer friends.

I know MANY non gamers who got into Utada via her Kingdom Hearts songs.

That's just like Disney. They messed up their partnership with Pixar as well. Pixar is better for it though. Walt would be ashamed to see what has happened to his brand. I am.

Damn Disney. :D Kingdom Hearts III won't be the same without a Hikki song imo. I remember how much Kingdom Hearts I was promoted in Finland and Simple & Clean was playing on the background. Oh such nostalgic times. <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrai-chan (Post 1967865)

Oi...

So she's not allowed to be the least bit sexual. Hikki isn't a sexual being. :rolleyes

*sigh*

that's what i'm saying i can't believe they said she's whoring herself :thud
i like hikki just not TITO

KH 365/2 Days Trailler with Santuary:

waa! I'm so happy that Hikki will be again in KH! *_*

EDIT2: Thank you, Sundae n_n.

That was a long and not to mention boring trailer. Anyway good promotion for Utada.

what? the used sanctuary again?

They used Simple and Clean/Hikari for Memories of Chains so not surprised they copped out again.

To use the Youtube directly from the forum, just put that number sequence after the = in the url. So it should look like [youtube]sIHH85J7qSo [/ youtube] without spaces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amorphose (Post 1967788)

I am totally 100% in agreement with you. KH is also how I discovered her which in turn, led me to J-pop in general. UGH. It holds a special place in my heart as well. I'm sure they're going to be doing a KH3, but they're currently working on Final Fantasy stuff right now first. It will be so strange if she doesn't do the final big KH game theme song... Maybe they'll get Ayu to do it! :eviltongu

Her dad sounds like a money-grubbing douche. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundae (Post 1968398)

They used Simple and Clean/Hikari for Memories of Chains so not surprised they copped out again.

:laugh "Memories of Chains!" "Chain of Memories."

Spoiler:

Quote:

Originally Posted by AyUta (Post 1969040)

Spoiler:

So, how about that Utada? :innocent

I quit on the KH series after how disappointing the second one was >.>

But oh well that Utada isn't singing for KH3. Maybe she should make a song for a different game :3

...That must be "Uta(da)" instead of "Ayu", NintendoTHF1242...

Myself, I wasn't too happy with some point of the second game, but it wasn't bad or so either ^^

Long interview was LONG o_O I needed to print it in order to be able to read it ^^;
Utadas dad is being a little harsh there I think. Little unpolite, if I may say, even.
I think they didn't have much positive experiences with Disney -_-;;

Good interview but

"...I don't speak Mexican or Spanish..."

:roflmao

Oh Hikaru <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogue (Post 1970688)

...That must be "Uta(da)" instead of "Ayu", NintendoTHF1242...

Haha Whoops xD I didn't notice I put down Ayu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amrai-chan (Post 1970839)

Good interview but

"...I don't speak Mexican or Spanish..."

:roflmao

Oh Hikaru <3

makes me lol :laugh

Quote:

Originally Posted by amorphose (Post 1969069)

Spoiler:

So, how about that Utada? :innocent

Spoiler:

^No problem. :)

I think we should definitely be hearing this new song soon, or at least be getting an official announcement from EMI. It's June 7th, and isn't the movie due out on June 27th? That's not too far away. We should be hearing something by now!

I hope she finished it. Last time we heard she was still making it and then she got sick.

Mmmm, the Hikki thread is soo slow these days. Hope we get some news soon.

So true. Hey, whatever happen to kang daesung?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolongi (Post 1972281)

So true. Hey, whatever happen to kang daesung?

I heard he died omg!

Hirai Ken (the guy who just covered Ayu's LOVE ~Destiny~) did a cover of Hikki's First Love on Music Lovers:

It was okay I prefer the original though.

It was the best First Love cover o_O

I get what Ken's doing with his hand but what's with the facial expressions? Kinda reminds me of YUI.

^ Lol, you mean the part where YUI goes like this ? -------> (>_<)

His cover is good, but I prefer Hikki's version more.

His voice blended the guitar very well and is much more suited to the high notes in this song. I love it!

His cover was very nice :).

who is that lady in 0:44 ? the video keeps showing her when its not showing ken O.o

Utada needs to get back to business like NOW before the few people in America she made an impression on forget about her. >_< She needs to put out the second single from TiTO and resume promotion in full force or else this is going to flop as hard as EXODUS.

Honestly, where in the world is Hikki? @_@

Boring as always. Only new japanese album can cheer me up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALPHY (Post 1974031)

Honestly, where in the world is Hikki? @_@

Recovering from her sickness.

^Still? I thought she had gotten better already?

^How did you come to that conclusion?

I could have sworn I read she got better either on here or some other site.

Really sad for her, she has been nowhere to be seen the last 3+ weeks, just as her album is released and promotion is number one priority... I feel so bad for her, if her album flops she can pretty much blame lack of promotion, yet again... Not saying it is because she got ill, and off course by all means I hope she has recovered and is doing well, I would love for her album to sell well. But zero promotion means pretty much zero sales.

They said she would should be recovered in a week or two and it's been, what? 3 or 4 now? If she's still sick-- obviously it was worse than was initially thought and IDJ should post another message to let her fans know.

If she has recovered and she hasn't bothered to post a blog or reschedule any of these promotional events-- then wth?

It's hard for the record company to promote when the artist can't/won't attend events and give interviews. =\

^I'm starting to think that Utada doesnt really give a damn about IDJ and this album. I mean, in the new interview, she basically said she only did the album because she was legally bound to do it. I mean, yeah she says all this stuff about, I wanted to make a good album...I hope this is the one....yadayadayada....and then she goes on to not promote it at all? Not make an effort? Not even any indication of how she's currently doing? Its like WTH Utada...I really hoped she would take it more seriously and I supported her from the time CBTM was released till the album dropped. And when even she herself doesnt care, I wonder why I should.

^I know exactly what you mean and how you're feeling. From the minute I heard CBTM on that flash page in January or whenever that was, all I did was try and expose her to my friends and family and even random people! I've gotten a complete of complete strangers to take note of her by making small talk. It's just all become frustrating for me at this point and I feel like I've done more promotion for the album than she has or cares too. I want her to be successful because I think her music is amazing, and I feel she deserves it. But like you said, if she doesn't care, why should we?

She's even slacking on her Japanese work right now-- I mean we're less than 20 days away from when this Evangelion movie is supposed to come out and not even an official announcement yet!

The whole deal is just making me bitter. She says that she wants to be this honest, down-to-earth person and not let her head get too big from being a popstar, but honestly sitting on your ass and expecting your **** to sell because of who you are is worse than being a diva in my opinion.

I know she's not like Kuu or even Ayu when it comes to her release schedule but sickness aside, she's been very lazy recently! Do your job correctly or don't do it at all, please.

Sorry, [/end rant] I just feel like she's disrespecting her fans right now. And please, anyone try and feed me "she's sick, it's not her fault" because if she's sitting at home in bed, she could at least roll over and post a blog. I bet she's having a hoot with Kuma right now. >.<

[/end rant] (for real this time) :headache

^Yeah it sucks. She's still my favorite though :love I'll get over the English album. I wish everyone here can love her but if she doesnt make it, atleast I still get to drop my jaw at all her Japanese work.

It seems like Hikki has so much in her life and mind, all the time. I don't know what to say about her not posting a blog or anything but...I don't believe she has forgotten about us. I mean...maybe she's busy with IDJ coming up with the tour she said she would make if there was demand? Maybe she's prepping for that or something. Idk lol.

^A tour would really amazing, but if she's not promoting she can't expect to get any type of demand. I don't think her current fanbase in America is big enough for any kind of demand that IDJ would put money into for a tour.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xheartstation (Post 1974759)

She's definitely still my favorite too, and always will be. I'm just angry with her right now. :(

^ That's true. :no Aw shucks. I really do hope she steps it up though. I really don't like IDJ, even Hikki said they were hard to work with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amorphose (Post 1974750)

um okay. Well you don't have to be a fan if you don't like her...no one is forcing you.

I never really felt like Hikki really cared about the album as much, or I mean, was serious at all, as in the case of say BoA, about her English release and her future here...other people for some reason felt different.

I think that she had to do another album, and she'd been thinking about it, and she decided that she would just make her pop album and throw her mix of music in that SHE likes, and then she'd go back to Japan and continue her experimental stuff.

Hikki was never a big promoter or anything...so I don't really see what the big deal is...we used to wait ages for new stuff from her.

Maybe it's just me...I don't care if she doesn't care, or if she's a diva, or worse than a diva. The chick makes great music, that she actually writes and everything.

She can do whatever she wants. Of course it would be nice if she cared...I kind of feel like the down to earth persona thing was amplified more by other people than actually her. She seems to take her music and her status very seriously...but you really have to like read into her responses and what she says to kind of understand her.

Being lazy recently?
These new and spoiled Utada fans... xD

She was the only one who stood a chance as an Asian artist making it big in the U.S...and she's basically letting it deteriorate. I mean, she broke the top 100 already, #69, first time for a Japanese artist in like 22 years....first Japanese to break top 20 on iTunes chart...first to reach #2 in iTunes pop....so effortlessly...I mean look at everything BoA is doing, she's already on top of her game with her 3rd single....but Utada has a chance of making it without going through all that.....she's come so far but she's giving it all up...as I'm writing this...I'm starting to feel like I'm not really giving Utada the credit she deserves. Renewed faith. If anyone can do it, she's definitely the one to watch. Hope she comes back soon with a strong second single.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi (Post 1974809)

Being lazy recently?
These new and spoiled Utada fans... xD

Umm... if you were referring to me, I've been a fan of Utada's since 2003, when her hiatus for EXODUS started so I'm definitely not new or spoiled.

I just think she has been being lazy recently. She was back on her game for ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION, now what's happening? Can't she just be steady, or what?

^Maybe she's referring to me? Ive only been an Utada fan since 2005.

Yeah, I'm not trying to start anything, I just thought she may be talking about me because her post was almost a direct repetition of what I said in my post.

I don't want people to think I'm not an Utada fan or that I'm trying to bash her or something. Like I said, I'm just upset with the way she's handling things right now and I figured people wouldn't get upset if I expressed that feeling here.

I'll just drop it now so no one gets offended or something. We'll all be happy once we get to hear the new Japanese song, regardless. :P

Oh, and btw, I wouldn't consider you a new Utada fan if you've been around since before ULTRA BLUE. Most of her North American fanbase formed between the first to KH games.

Um wow.

All I have to say is that I don't assume I know anything about what's going on. I'm not angry in the least bit.

And you all know whenever Utada posts her next blog entry it'll be explaining the situation and updating us and possibly apologizing and then the reactions will be the complete opposite as it always tends to happen. These obligatory infamous "Utada Slumps", the the majority of us are so use to by now. Takes time to create your own music. Except this time it was because she got sick. Some of these comments are just distasteful. Wasn't going to say it but they are.

(Just assumed A LOT)

That Evangelion song has to be done by now. They have to put that song in the movie and then make copies that will go out to the different theaters. That takes time and with less than 20 days left they need all that time left. They just haven't used it yet.

If they are waiting for Utada, then that means that Utada is out of commission for one reason or another. Maybe she had a set back or maybe she got her tonsils out. I don't think EMI would miss this opportunity to release this song as a single.

I feel that if even if Utada didn't feel like releasing this album, IDJ wouldn't miss the chance at promoting this album. TITO is much more easier to promote than Exodus was. It did much better than EXODUS. Even with EXODUS, they continued to release singles for it so TITO is due one soon. Maybe she's making the music video. A new single for TITO should be chosen soon because CBTM is losing/lost stream.

^Uh....Sony? @_@ I didnt know Utada was affiliated with Sony.

Right EMI :headache I was writing in another forum about Sony so I had Sony in the brain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amorphose (Post 1974904)

Sorry for being rude, but... Utada almost aways promotes this way... HS promotion was diferent from Ultra Blue, Exodus and Deep River promotions... usually she just releases the album, has 1 or 2 lives per single and forget about it... Maybe she only promoted HS that way cause she didn't have enought pvs :B

^ You have a point~

But I don't think Utada's giving up. I think we're all assuming too much >o< I think it's amazing what she's achieved in America so far, so I'm happy at the moment.

I've only been a fan of Utada since 2007, so go against the new fans all you want. It just means they were unlucky enough to discover her music later.

I think I'll listen trough This is the one again.
I didn't like it at the first listen but it deserves a second chance :D

I have to say....

omg....

I'm loving this album!

stupid me for not liking it first!

this IS the one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi (Post 1975007)

Now you remind me when there was practically no promotion from her for first three albums or so :D. When First Love was released, Toshiba made her as mysterious as possible. During Distance, she did have one live for singing DISTANCE... that was about 1.5 months after the album was released. Basically she was hidden somewhere else while "fighting against" ayu. Then she did nothing at all for DEEP RIVER because of her illness...

Yeah I mean, she has been like that since day 1... and her release schedule is weird anywayz. She could have no materials at all for a long period (First Love --> Distance, or DR --> UB), or she could release like crazy all of the sudden (according to her release standard..). DEEP RIVER should be a good example for this case.

And tbh, I have no idea why she went on lots of music shows recently. She used to NOT doing anything when releasing singles.. Lemme think.. the singles which she didn't promote on music shows (during the single release period):

Automatic, Movin' On Without You, Addicted To You, Wait & See, For You/TIME LIMIT, FINAL DISTANCE, traveling, Hikari, Keep Tryin'.

So you see, she didn't do much during First Love --> DR era. I'm not pointing out these stuff to against amorphose or others who are disppointed for hikki not doing anything lately... But I mean as a fan since 1999, I'm actually not used to her going on music shows at all... And she's always hiding anywayz, so I'm OK with that (no promotions for TITO, as I feel she doesn't extremely care anywayz)..

Okay, last night I was upset at things that really had nothing to do with Utada and I think I took some of my anger out here, and I want to apologize to everyone for that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything I said back-- I am pretty disappointed but I think some of it was taken the wrong way. Like I said, I've been an Utada fan since 2003 so I definitely know how sporadic her release schedule is, I just think it's strange, is all-- that her new Japanese song hasn't even had an official announcement and its now 17 days away from when the movie comes out.

As long as she has the song done, that's all on EMI though, I guess. ^^

And about TiTO, I know that she rarely ever does promotion for her albums and singles but like xheartstation said, it'd be a shame for her to throw this away. She's already gotten so far without doing barely anything. So if she could just act like she cared for one album, she'd be able to make it her. That's all I wanna see, as a fan.

Offtopic:

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluegie

And tbh, I have no idea why she went on lots of music shows recently. She used to NOT doing anything when releasing singles.. Lemme think.. the singles which she didn't promote on music shows (during the single release period):

Automatic, Movin' On Without You, Addicted To You, Wait & See, For You/TIME LIMIT, FINAL DISTANCE, traveling, Hikari, Keep Tryin'.

You know, it's a shame she never went on TV for some of these songs. Especially Hikari, I love her live performances of that.

^ I definitely understand what you're saying and agree with you on a lot of it. :yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koumori (Post 1975197)

I have nothing against new fans, I think it's very nice to see that my girl still has power to grab atention from new people... But some of her newer fans are not used to the way she works... If u like lot's of tv appearences, concerts, cms, new music every time... Hikki is a terrible artist to follow...^^ She is promoting TITO the same way she promotes everything... and I don't really know if it will make anything better for her sales promoting like crazy right now, cause most of the planned things were for people who alread knows her, and those most likely alread bought the album

I think that she should take her time with the Evangelion thing and them try another TITO single... this may even bring Come back to me up again...
This is not Japan, where u need to sell everything u can in one month before being forgoten forever :P... She still has 3 or 4 singles left if she is going to release the usual number most artists do

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi (Post 1975007)

True. Imagine if she and her label were major promoters? I wonder how her sales would be now if that was what they did. Heavy promotion.

I burned some of Utada's new songs on a mix CD I made and my brother was like "Oh this is a cool song." YESSSSSSSSSSs