[News] Utada Hikaru named the most influencial artist of the decade by Japan Times

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

I can read Japanese, and there are barely any nuances lost in translation when it comes to her lyrics (as Sunshine Slayer suggests). She composes at face value most of the time.

I don't know, since I've never really studied Hikki's Japanese lyrics. That is just what I have heard many times - that her lyrics come across much better in the native language than they do in English. (and that was usually coming from native Japanese speakers themselves)

@andre2907 - Usually I agree with your posts. This is one of the few exceptions. What exactly has Mongol800 influenced? They had successful albums at the very start of the decade, but where have they been since then? Yes, they have consistently released material, but you rarely hear about them, even in Japan. Their last albums opening week sales were only 18,000 and 26,000 total for its first month. Also, they mostly play at clubs with the occasional arena date it seems. In fact I've never once met a mongol800 fan I don't think. And the only successful band that sounds like Mongol800 since the debut of Mongol800 is......Mongol800. So I don't really see them as being influential and certainly not on the same level as the other artists in the article. I am not saying they are bad or something, not at all, but that their inclusion in this article was completely random and showed the writers preferences for acts that are seen as less commercial. In Japan Times, less commercial = true artist. Commercial (like 95% of j-pop) = untalented sellout *****s.

Originally Posted by andre2907

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).

Yes, it was ready and waiting to happen. And some people could argue that it already did happen with M.C.A.T and East End Yuri as well - they definitely had success. In fact people here seem to have forgotten that East End Yuri had some really big hits in the mid 90s and they were totally hip hop - Da yo ne and Maicca were humongous. Hell, even Ayumi released an R&B hip hop album before Utada - albeit an unsuccessful one. Utada imo opinion just happened to hit at the time that it was most ripe and ready.

[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

[Rurutia]

i don't really care much for utada's music well..i take that back....half of it. But she has been very influential. What I really don't like about her is her voice....it sounds so unsteady whenever she holds a note...it gets on my nerves.....BoA is kinda the same way.

[AyUta]

^ I don't think it was always like that, right? In the past, from her career start - 2007, she held her notes very well, without that annoying edgy-ness. Nowadays though, I know what you mean.

[andre2907]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

@andre2907 - Usually I agree with your posts. This is one of the few exceptions. What exactly has Mongol800 influenced? They had successful albums at the very start of the decade, but where have they been since then? Yes, they have consistently released material, but you rarely hear about them, even in Japan. Their last albums opening week sales were only 18,000 and 26,000 total for its first month. Also, they mostly play at clubs with the occasional arena date it seems. In fact I've never once met a mongol800 fan I don't think. And the only successful band that sounds like Mongol800 since the debut of Mongol800 is......Mongol800. So I don't really see them as being influential and certainly not on the same level as the other artists in the article. I am not saying they are bad or something, not at all, but that their inclusion in this article was completely random and showed the writers preferences for acts that are seen as less commercial. In Japan Times, less commercial = true artist. Commercial (like 95% of j-pop) = untalented sellout *****s.

Personally, I think it would be weird if he named mongol800 as the most influential artists of the decade. But to sell 2 million copies with an album that had absolutely NO PROMOTION, NO PV, etc. is certainly something quite impressive and, in my opinion, that's a good reason to consider them one of the most prominent acts of the decade. That's why, imo, mentioning them was not THAT crazy. Besides, they were mentioned in the rock portion of the article and what the author is trying to say is that the rockstars that shined during this decade have been around for years and years (B'z and Southern All Stars) and the only case of a remarkable and unexpected success was mongol800 (and their sales, 40k copies, are still quite good for independent artists with absolutely ZERO promotion btw). But I don't know, that was just my interpretation...

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Yes, it was ready and waiting to happen. And some people could argue that it already did happen with M.C.A.T and East End Yuri as well - they definitely had success. In fact people here seem to have forgotten that East End Yuri had some really big hits in the mid 90s and they were totally hip hop - Da yo ne and Maicca were humongous. Hell, even Ayumi released an R&B hip hop album before Utada - albeit an unsuccessful one. Utada imo opinion just happened to hit at the time that it was most ripe and ready.

Yes, there were hip-hop artists in Japan before. But what ignited the whole trend was Utada Hikaru. I mean, just compare the number of successful R&B-influenced artists pre-Utada and post-Utada. Now, R&B and hip hop influences are EVERYWHERE in Jpop (and Ai, Thelma Aoyama, Mai Kuraki, etc. are all DIRECTLY influenced by Utada. It's crazy how some people in this thread are trying to deny this). We can count in one hand the number of artists who had success with this type of song before Utada burst into the scene.

[SunshineSlayer]

^ But I think what some people here are trying to say is that even without Utada, it still would have happened anyways. The groundwork had already been laid. Also, whose to say that if Mai Kuraki's first album had been released ahead of Utada's, that it wouldn't be Mai who gets the credit for bringing R&B to Japan? Hikki is a big deal no doubt and influential too. But I've never thought that she should get sole credit like she usually does for this type of music.

[Andrenekoi]

^I read sometimes that she is credited by this on Japan, but as I said before, if anyone ask me, she was just a cute and charismatic young girl with catchy music, perfect for being the face of r&b on Japan. And even if she is my favorite artist, First Love is just an average r&b/pop album, that no jpop fans would care if it was in English...

[Polyrhythm]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

^ But I think what some people here are trying to say is that even without Utada, it still would have happened anyways. The groundwork had already been laid. Also, whose to say that if Mai Kuraki's first album had been released ahead of Utada's, that it wouldn't be Mai who gets the credit for bringing R&B to Japan? Hikki is a big deal no doubt and influential too. But I've never thought that she should get sole credit like she usually does for this type of music.

Mai wrote all her lyrics but she didnt compose the songs. Hikki is a song writer. Mai is also a native in Japan, and Utada a foreigner. Both of those add to Utada's appeal and spark interest. Maybe the people at Kuraki's company thought it would be better to use that style seeing how Utada pioneered it with such success

[Moukyoumaru]

Well this is an interesting discussion, but I agree with a lot that has been said -- this article gives WAYYY too much credit to Utada Hikaru for everything from R&B to her singing. Yes, her singing is exceptional, but one would come to expect it from a professional singer. Yes, she did really help jumpstart R&B, but too much credit is given to her and not enough is given to the amount of MARKETING used in the production of "Utada Hikaru". For example, if you take a look at her albums, each has a tie-in with at least one other significant marketing ploy (Distance = Hero drama tie-in; Deep River = Kingdom Hearts tie-in; even her first album had viral marketing help). So while I love Utada and I'll always be a fan, I think that there are definitely other much more significant and influential artists out there

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by DEEP RIVER

Mai wrote all her lyrics but she didnt compose the songs. Hikki is a song writer. Mai is also a native in Japan, and Utada a foreigner. Both of those add to Utada's appeal and spark interest. Maybe the people at Kuraki's company thought it would be better to use that style seeing how Utada pioneered it with such success

My point was, is that it probably could have been anyone to do it. Doesn't matter if it was Mai, Utada, whoever whoever and certainly doesn't matter if the person wrote their own lyrics or music; that's just a bonus. The genre was just waiting to break wide open and Utada was really at the right place at the right time with the right connections and catchy songs.

I realize that probably makes me sound like an Utada hater, but I assure you I'm not. In fact I was an Utada fan before I was even an Ayumi fan.

[Maemi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

My point was, is that it probably could have been anyone to do it. Doesn't matter if it was Mai, Utada, whoever whoever and certainly doesn't matter if the person wrote their own lyrics or music; that's just a bonus. The genre was just waiting to break wide open and Utada was really at the right place at the right time with the right connections and catchy songs.

I realize that probably makes me sound like an Utada hater, but I assure you I'm not. In fact I was an Utada fan before I was even an Ayumi fan.

I agree with this. I would call her kinda... lucky.

[keikeiaznqueen]

^ Yeah, lucky. But hey, most artists that get their big break (Ayu, Kuu) were extremely lucky--right place, right time, no one else at the time doing something like that...

Originally Posted by andre2907

But that's the thing, the article is about being the most influential artist of the DECADE, not from ALL-TIME. You mention Tetsuya Komuro for example. And, if it was an article about the most influential artist from the 90s, the position would undoubtedly go to TK.

I don't think Tetsuya Komuro's influence was necessarily confined to the 90s though. What I meant was that because he was so influential throughout the 90s, his influence must have outlived the 90s because it would have paved the groundwork for the music in the new decade.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

And Uemarasan... I'm sorry, but u said nothing that can be taken as a fact, just as the way u like ur poetry...

And to be honest, I have yet to read anything in your posts to show me that you know how to read poetry or identify what poetry is (copying and pasting a definition from the internet? really?). It is an old tradition that deserves years of careful study, and not something that can be easily appreciated just because you were attracted to a few pretty-sounding words.

Poetry, or art in general, may not rely on "facts" , but that doesn't mean you can ascribe it to anything that you want to call "poetry". It requires rigorous intellectual discipline and has concrete, objective qualifications. There is a reason why it is studied in universities. So anything can be called "poetry" because someone says so? So I can call this very post I typed poetry because I say so? I disagree.

No one is bashing Hikki in this thread. It's just that there are people who are convinced of her greatness, and there are people who are not. And I do think that contention has produced one of the best discussions I've ever encountered here on AHS. I'd rather have this than people just mindlessly accepting the article as it stands.

@Sunshine Slayer, sometimes I feel that people (Japanese and non) are going through exceptional trouble to read something "deep" in what Hikki is writing because she deliberately uses words and phrases that sound fanciful and seem to possess a "higher" meaning but really could just be devoid of any sense whatsover or in reality have shallow insights. The entirety of "Colors" is like this. She is saying nothing in that song. Unless it's about the soul-crushing DESPAIR of being colorblind.

Hikki is at her best when she writes simply and stops fantasizing that she has any poetic ability.

@Peanut, I think Hikki would make an excellent children's writer, and an excellent writer of children's songs.

[amorphose]

Wow... some people seem extremely butthurt over this.

Like I said before, this is one publication's opinion!!! Some of you guys are acting like the J-Pop industry is suddenly an American Idol type setting and now that Utada has attained this title we'll never hear from another artist again or something.

If you agree with the article, be happy for her. If you don't then don't waste your time dissecting her lyrics trying to prove that Ayu or anyone else deserved the title more. (Especially not in a thread where Utada fans are going to come to congratulate her. If it's that important make a new thread to discuss it or something. xD)

This is nuts.

[happiholic★]

I dunno, Japan Times calling Utada the most influential artist of the decade seems on par with her record company making that claim. In my opinion, they tend to favor some singers over others. If like, I dunno, TIME Japan or something said it, I would think "yeah, she deserves her props, she's been a strong force in J-Pop!". But Japan Times? Eh, no thanks.

[Aisha_Angel]

Wow...Not that I'm trying to hate on Hikki or anything, but I just don't find her to be all that influential of an artist. Especially after 2006...After that year all three of the big J-pop divas (Ayu, Mika & Hikki) got kinda meh in musical releases. I guess you could say that Hikki has inspired some J-R&B artists such as JASMINE & Hiromi but, the latter and many of her peers in that genre haven't been very successful in terms of sales.

If it were up to me, I'd have shocked everyone and suggested m-flo for taking rap from the underground and making it mainstream and for paving the way for musical COLLABORATIONS in Japan. Of course like Hikki, they've been AWFULLY quiet since 2007 so...

[Crystal_Ageha]

^ Oh my God, yes, I don't like them, but... m-flo actually would have been a better choice, lol! :O I just probably never would have thought of them...

And Uemara (I forget if you said I could call you by your name, lol >.>), I agree with you and the few others about the poetry thing. My favourite lyrics by Hikki are COLORS, because they actually do have something more to them, in my opinion, than any other lyrics by her that I know of. But still, they are not "poetry." They're more of.... I guess, it's just kinda like, they're cool words to jam to, and it fits the song well, lol? I don't know how to explain it... But no, they are, like many of her lyrics, words that are meant to look deep and fancy at first glance, but in reality, there's not much to them past the first impression.

[CoriKaru]

You would think some of the members in this thread were up for contention for "Most Influential Artist of The Year" and that they themselves lost out.

Such unbridled ferocity in their mission to tear every aspect of Utada down (for reasons I have already stated). She must be doing something right and I commend "Japan Times" for acknowledging all that she has done and continues to do right.

We all thank her for her astounding contributions to the foundation of Japanese Music, the music we all adore so very much. She's given rise to nearly all our top artists, having allowed some to stay relevant for as long as they have and inspiring change in their music.

Utada is one of the classiest and most relevant Japanese Artist of our time and unwaiveringly consistent and persistent. The Japanese know the treasure that they have and time after time they reward her for it endlessly. For enrichening their lives as she does ours and we reward her for it as well going by international tallies and her sold out American Tour Locations.

What a great way to end her 10 Year Anniversary. The cherry on top. Poetic Justice befitting of such a Poetic Genius and MasterMind. Can't ask for neither a better present nor a more gracious and deserving recipient than this. She deserves it and I look forward to the many presents that she still has left for us.

Utada already stood out above the rest, more than just her subdued gorgeous looks, and with such documented recognition as this, she always will till the end of time.

I thank You, We Thank You Utada Hikaru.

[GRACE]

LOL are we trying to call any Jpop artist's lyrics Poetry? That's stupid. The only artist I'd even classify as poetic is Onitsuka Chihiro (and in only a FEW of her songs). Both Ayu and Hikki, whether we like it or not, GENERALLY sing about superficial things that don't really get any depth to them, ESPECIALLY now a days. Seriously, Uemarasan is kinda being an ass about it, but he's got a point. Whoever called Hikki's (or Ayu's for that matter) lyrics poetic is an idiot who knows nothing about poetics

[Crystal_Ageha]

^^ Lol. Sounds like you were giving the ceremonial speech as President of the Hikki-stans.....