[emi♡]

Originally Posted by andre2907

Really, I don't get why everyone is so touchy feely about Koda Kumi. You guys seem much more biased than whoever wrote the article. Let's think for a minute: what made Koda Kumi go from an unknown Avex artist to one of the biggest artists in Japan? Was it her talent? No, she has a very good voice and that was probably the reason she was signed but it didn't help her at all. Was her dancing skills? No, it wasn't either. Her songwriting ability? Nope.

The ero-kakoii style? Yes. The humongous promotional campaign for her BEST ~First Things~? Yes. The "controversial" album cover? Yes. Her "controversial" statements? Yes (let me remind you she was the highest-rated performance in Kouhaku 2006 after saying her outfit was so tight she couldn't even wear underwear undernath it). Her 12 week releases? Yes.

So the person who wrote the article is completely right in saying what made her tremendously popular was PROMOTION, not actual talent (and yes, she is a very good vocalist and has a nice voice but this was meaningless until Avex started pushing her hardcore based on her risky image).

We're not touchy feely about koda. In fact, I think a lot of times, her biggest fans tend to understand her and her status better than anyone else, believe it or not.

We all know how she came about, but who cares? You could say the same thing about Ayu and hikki. I don't understand why people always give them more credit.

People like Ayu were market whoring way before anyone even knew about koda. And who knows what hikki was doing. TOSHIBA EMI is sneaky.

Are you seriously? Yes, I think the average person care about the fact Ayu made attaching fake tail to your jeans extremely popular in 2001. But the fact EXILE, Thelma Aoyama, AI, Mai Kuraki, MISIA and other 384778473 extremely popular artists are part of a trend that was kick started by Utada is completely insignificant. Yes, she didn't create R&B but we can't ignore the fact NO ONE in the Japanese music scene had that style before her (and Mariah Carey popularity in Japan showed there was appetite for this type of music but no local artist dared to try it anyway until Hikaru).

Like we had discussed the last few pages, I had strong doubts as to if hikki really influenced all these artists lol Honestly, most of the people, like Thelma Aoyama, Mai Kuraki, MISIA, etc, seem more influenced by the western industry and people like Mariah, than people like Hikki.

I have doubts that there was no one before her as well....since I've come across a lot of hip hop and R&B artists that were around before her...I think it was more, she got lucky and had the right timing with coming in.

Not only that, but I think people have failed to realise the stature of the family hikki came from. You know, for sure, that it helped her immensely.

Other people's posts in this thread, have helped me to see that my doubts were not unfounded.

Thing is, I don't think the author is biased. I think we're seeing a bias because we're biased (lol, confusing) but there isn't much in the article at all. I'm not even an Utada Hikaru fan but everything he says in the article is very true. And I don't get why so many people think Ayu is "tied" with Utada Hikaru. I don't think so AT ALL. Yes, Ayu had a huge impact when it came to fashion back in 2000/2001/2002. But can someone pinpoint, in Japanese fashion today (2009), something that was directly influenced by Ayu? Not really (OK, MAYBE the nails. But that's pretty much it). Besides, Utada Hikaru sales are extremely consistent, she still has huge hits, she has ALWAYS outsold Ayu (even when Ayu was at her peak) and she has much more credibility with the Japanese public. And btw I prefer Ayu over Hikki so I don't think I'm biased at all.

Regardless of how the author feels, the way in which he represented other artists shows that he is biased. If he had not said bad things about other people, his position would have been a thousand times stronger, and we'd all have had a totally different conversation the first 5 pages or so.


Besides, I had thought we had already cleared this stuff up and were not bashing anyone but CoriKaru anymore