[tokyoxjapanxfan]

It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol