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

[CoriKaru]

*Sigh*

This isn't most influential Fashionista or Fashion Model.

It's Artist. What a Designer creates and what a Stylist puts on a product has no bearing on THE MUSIC or THE TALENT.

This is about THE MUSIC.
This is about THE TALENT.

This is why Utada was bestowed this great and grand title of honor. No one can take this away from her. Her record(s) speak for itself/themselves and so does "Japan Times."

I'm bursting at the seems with elation and happiness.

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by CoriKaru

*Sigh*

This isn't most influential Fashionista or Fashion Model.

It's Artist. What a Designer creates and what a Stylist puts on a product has no bearing on THE MUSIC or THE TALENT.

This is about THE MUSIC.
This is about THE TALENT.

This is why Utada was bestowed this great and grand title of honor. No one can take this away from her. Her record(s) speak for itself/themselves and so does "Japan Times."

I'm bursting at the seems with elation and happiness.

But ayu and Namie also have their own records, music and talent to speak for themselves even if it doesn't correlate with some people's and the article writer's opinions.

After all ayu and namie always came to sell, produce and give their music, CDs and lives and not mainly to sell magazines (which hikki did herself as well, even if it's not in the amount that the others did).
ayu wrote all of her lyrics to this day and some of her biggest hits are songs that are both written and composed by herself (like M, evolution, and most of I am...'s singles for example), this is also all about the music and being artistic. Namie also has huge influence musically the heck she has the best selling single by a female artist and CAN YOU CELEBRATE? was that impactful that the japanese people aren't willing to stop using it as their wedding song (along with ayu's Voyage from what I heard even though it wasn't as popular), and Namie also could rise again on the recent year and make it with her pop/hip-pop.

hikki is definitely not the most influential alone, not even muscially. She is one of the tops for the least.
Just because the others didn't write & compose (both together) all of their songs and brought R&B to be mainstream in Japan doesn't say that they didn't influence in their music as well, even ai otsuka writes and composes all of her songs but you couldn't say she ever had a huge influence musically like the others. Just because they have less relatable images and they also set fashion trends it doesn't mean that their musical influence lacked in anything. hikki is not more a human or a musical artist than the others.

But gee it praises Mongol800 so much and Mongol were never as popular as the 3 females lol.

A 0 stars article, definitely.

[Andrenekoi]

If sales really means anything in the end of the day, Mai Kuraki is one of the biggest jpop acts of all time

[Enfluerage]

This article was really quite funny and not particularly accurate.

If you look at the trend in music in the world today, there is a general shift towards New York style R&B and Hip Hop. Good examples would be Beyonce, Shaffer Chimere Smith, Rihanna. Two important names in music production today are: Timbaland (Timothy Zachery Mosley) and Stargate (Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen). If you looked all the songs produced by these two, you'd be shocked to see how many famous songs are done by them. For example, hits by them include: So sick, Irreplacable, Tattoo, Take a Bow, Closer, Miss Independent, Pony, Try Again, 4 Minutes, Cry me a river, Promiscuous, Apologize (and countless other hits).

For example, Hikaru Utada songs with Timbaland or Stargate's influences in the credits:

Come Back to Me, Me Muero, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Apple and Cinnamon, This One, Poppin, Exodus 04, Wonder Bout, Let me Give you my Love.

Hikaru Utada grew up with this kind of musical influences, and there is no doubt she was heavily influeced by New York music producers. Note that Stargate are not new to New York (having immigrated from Norway). Timbaland has been around for a long time.

In my opinion, Hikaru Utada is one of the world's most talented music artists. She is a child prodigy who is also a brilliant music writer, composer and arranger. I especially like her trademark of layering of songs and expression in her songs.

However, the article is very inaccurate in the way that it suggests that Hikaru Utada should get all the credit for bringing this New York style of music to Japan. It's even worse when the journalist doesn't seem to understand what this style is either - and just thinks it's "Mariah Carey style". The point is that everywhere in the West and Asia is listening to this kind of music (eg: Taiwan has Zhou Jie Lun, Korea has Rain). The New York style of R&B and Hip Hop took over the world (imo simply because it's great!). If not Hikaru Utada, then Kuraki Mai, Kuu (or any other talented singer backed by a company wanting to make a profit) who would have *introduced* this.

Thus, I think the key point that the article is missing is as follows. Hikaru Utada can be considered one of Japan's most influencial artists for being the top representative (definitely in sales, and probably also in terms of respect) of the New York style of music.

On the other hand, I would say Hamasaki Ayumi was Japan's most influencial artist, for not letting this style of music completely take over. New York didn't dominate Japan because its highest selling artist of the last decade didn't sing that style.

And if you look outside of just music, Hamasaki Ayumi also heavily influenced fashion, commercialisation of products, the writing of lyrics and the spectacle of concerts. And most importantly, told Japan that one doesn't need to be a supremely talented person and born from a rich family to be successful ... you could even be poor, not particularly talented and half-deaf and still make it in the world.

[Kingdom]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

And that gives a legitimate to hikki's obsessed fans to act the same right?
Because if it's hikki and it's not ayu "it's fine".

Originally Posted by identity

The person who wrote this is an idiot and isn't funny at all. Whatever, I don't really care about the ayu comments much but the Namie and Kumi ones just pissed me off.

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

A 0 stars article, definitely.

Originally Posted by Enfluerage

This article was.... not particularly accurate.

A+ to all of this.

[Yumsushi]

Isn't it influential, not influencial?

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

He even praised her by her failed USA career and used it as a argument to why she is better than the others... and Worst than that, Japan Times bashed TITO some months earlier as a sell-out

Thank you for bringing this up, because I do recall reading the TITO review and agreeing with it. Heck TITO bombed in Japan.
By putting Mongol800 on the same level as Utada, it really makes the article lose all its credibility, lol.

[CoriKaru]

MOST Influential Artist, not ONLY Influential Artist.

What Utada did for the Japanese Music Industry is on a whole other level of its own and far beyond what anyone else did.

[SunshineSlayer]

^ Just because it was founded a long time ago has absolutely nothing to do with whether it is credible or unbiased or not.

Originally Posted by CoriKaru

MOST Influential Artist, not ONLY Influential Artist.

What Utada did for the Japanese Music Industry is on a whole other level of its own and far beyond what anyone else did.

I think that's debatable and it all depends just on where peoples loyalties lie the most. But I don't think anyone here really disagrees with Hikki being an influential artist or even with an article calling her the most influential of the decade. The problem lies in the way the article is written basically bashing and/or down playing the role of other leading females like Ayu, Namie, and even Kuu. And then the article totally loses credibility and shows that this is completely a personal diatribe from the writer when he elevates Mongol800 so highly. This title is not an "honor" as you call it because in order for it to be an honor it must first come from an honorable publication and the Japan Times generally is not. Now, if this were coming out of something like Asahi Shimbun or something, then it would carry more weight - but at the same time its highly unlikely that Asahi Shimbun would have ever let such a biased piece of "journalism" see the light of day.

If we reaaally want to argue about who first brought the R&B style to Japan, I think a case can actually be made for Mariah Carey. At the time that I lived there in the mid-90s her albums were everywhere - it was basically the Mariah Carey + Namie Amuro show over there then. She was quite influential and is the only non-Japanese artist to have overall sales in the top 50 of the Oricon charts. I agree though that Hikaru was the first Japanese person though to make it popular, but the seed had already been planted by Mariah and to a lesser extent Amuro who did have some R&B influenced things going on at the time, especially in her album tracks.

@Crystal Ageha about Hikki's lyrics: I agree that her English lyrics for the most part are awful. Often times too the English translations of her Japanese songs aren't that good either. Japanese however do love her lyrics. It has something to do with her use of Kanji and word plays being very skillful but it is something that does not come across in translations. (very much like the lyrics for Mr. Children's songs; in Japan their lyrics are loved but the translations of them often come out crap.)

Originally Posted by Paparazzi

^ no, there most likely would have still been A BEST. isn't it in almost all recording contracts to release a best at the end of or during the duration of each contract? Ayumi's contracts, like most Avex contracts, end every 3 albums.

Bests weren't as popular or as frequent as they are now. At the time of A Best they were somewhat of a rarity.

[Mr. Goto]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If we reaaally want to argue about who first brought the R&B style to Japan, I think a case can actually be made for Mariah Carey. At the time that I lived there in the mid-90s her albums were everywhere - it was basically the Mariah Carey + Namie Amuro show over there then. She was quite influential and is the only non-Japanese artist to have overall sales in the top 50 of the Oricon charts. I agree though that Hikaru was the first Japanese person though to make it popular, but the seed had already been planted by Mariah and to a lesser extent Amuro who did have some R&B influenced things going on at the time, especially in her album tracks.

True about Mariah. Also prior to Utada there was already quite a few popular songs and artists using R&B and rap influences. The Bubble Gum Brothers, ZOO, m.c-A-T (lol), a ton of TK produced people excluding namie, Morning Musume, MISIA, etc.

With the way some people act you would think R&B was nonexistent in Japan before Utada lol.

[Crystal_Ageha]

^ I do agree that this article gives Hikaru quite a lot of credit, but I also believe that she should be known as the one who mostly brought Western R&B to Japan. There were others, including a few American artists who had some influence, but she was the main one. I don't think Amuro should even be brought into that conversation, either, because she wasn't R&B/hip-hop until years after Hikki came out.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

...about Hikki's lyrics: I agree that her English lyrics for the most part are awful. Often times too the English translations of her Japanese songs aren't that good either. Japanese however do love her lyrics. It has something to do with her use of Kanji and word plays being very skillful but it is something that does not come across in translations. (very much like the lyrics for Mr. Children's songs; in Japan their lyrics are loved but the translations of them often come out crap.)...

I've actually heard this before, but honestly, I've never seen a non-translated, kanji version of her lyrics, so I really can't say anything on that. You know, maybe I should see if I can notice what they're talking about, hah...

Originally Posted by mcluva420

...Shes one of the best female J-pop singer-songwriters imo. I assume that you just wanna prove that Ayu is the most influential J-pop artist + putting down Hikki's points?

Okay, so that's your opinion. But the point of my post wasn't to put Hikaru down, it was to state my opinions on why she isn't as influential to me as others, and to make an assessment of ways she could possibly be influential to people, compared to others who I feel deserve this title more (which, yes, that includes Ayumi, but she's not the only one). There's a difference. And I'm sorry that I personally don't like most of her lyrics or compositions, but that's just my taste, which is obviously different than yours.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

I don't think Amuro should even be brought into that conversation, either, because she wasn't R&B/hip-hop until years after Hikki came out.

Actually as I mentioned, several of Namie's 90s tracks had R&B influences; especially in her album tracks. It definitely wasn't all out like she would later do, but it is something along with Mariah, M.C.AT. and other R&B and hip hop influenced acts that were popular in Japan in the 90s that helped kind of add fuel to make it popular later. Hikki I see as the spark that made it ignite.

And yes, I agree about the marketing and image discussion - even Hikki to a certain extent relies on marketing in order to sell.

[Crystal_Ageha]

Nobody's saying that, for example, Ayumi or Amuro only influences in fashion, we're saying that those two influence in fashion AND music, and maybe a few other things, depending on how you look at it. At the very most, Hikki only influences with a select few things related to music, though nothing like Ayumi, or others, in my opinion.

Like, okay... Since my dream, ever since I was a little girl, has always been to be a musician, I'll give my input on why specifically I don't think Hikaru Utada is as influential as others.
1. Did Hikaru work her way up from the bottom, or even just get a lucky break as a nobody like Ayu did? No, not at all. Even if she was talentless and hardly anybody liked her, she still would have made it into the business, because her parents are a huge part of the music industry. So she's not influential in working to make your dreams come true, or to not give up and good things will come, or whatever.
2. Is she known for fashion, at all? No, of course not. As a matter of fact, you can't get much more plain, usually, than what Utada is. So even though I don't really care about fashion, it's not like I could look up to her "unique" style, anyhow, as a famous celebrity. Every other big female right now, on the other hand, is know for style (Ayu, Kuu and Namie).
3. Do people recognise her "awesome" lyrics? I, personally, have never come across a single person who has thought of her lyrics as anything special. And really, I couldn't care less about her lyrics, because a lot of them are either....weird (for lack of better words, lol) or flat out stupid (like her English lyrics).
4. I honestly don't know how much of her discography she's composed, but I know it can't be a lot. But even if she did compose every single song, her compositions are nothing special.
5. Her actual music is of no influence to me, even though my voice would be very suited to do music like she does. But I take no inspiration from it because her music is not only something that isn't big in many places, but the style is very generic to me.
6. Her voice.... Now, there are some things about her voice that I love, and that DO influence me, such as her range (which is beautiful) and her actual voice, which is very similar to how mine sounds. HOWEVER, her voice is always very shaky and she doesn't have much control. That, and the fact that I don't always like how she sounds live, it kinda negates the positives.

So, in short, the only influential things about Hikki that I can think of - not necessarily for me, but what could be influential in general - are her range and the fact that she brought Western R&B to Japan. But other than that.... And even though these ARE big things, it's just that, other people have done more. Even Kumi Koda can be more influential in a few other ways, such as breaking certain taboo-like rules in Japan, or rising up to becoming nearly a diva whenever everybody pretty much hated her, or whatever. And as we all said before, people like Ayumi and Namie Amuro certainly have more things that can be considering influential than Hikaru.........


Wow, that's a long post. Sorry, guys. >_>

[Tom Punks]

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

4. I honestly don't know how much of her discography she's composed, but I know it can't be a lot. But even if she did compose every single song, her compositions are nothing special.

I'm pretty sure she composes/co-composes all of her music... I think that's something she's "known" for doing, like how Ayu is "known" for writing all of her lyrics.

(Though I'm not saying I disagree with anything in your post, because I also think that really the only influential thing she did was help introduce R&B to Japan.)

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

I honestly don't know how much of her discography she's composed, but I know it can't be a lot. But even if she did compose every single song, her compositions are nothing special.

She composed everything alone but the samples she used on Never Let Go", Amai Wana: Paint It, Black and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence - FYI and 2 songs from Distance (Time Limit and Drama) that were co-composed with Takuro (from Glay).

About them being special or not, this is just opinion

-
The r&b thing... well... at least Cystal Kay, Mai Kuraki, Ken Hirai, BoA, Namie and Koda released tons of r&b influenced tracks and they are among the biggest names of this decade... There are more, I'm pretty sure some boybands touch r&b too, but I can't say anything about them cuz I don't really know their music

[mcluva420]

i never thought of hikki as influential or anything. just super popular and much respected for her music.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

If we reaaally want to argue about who first brought the R&B style to Japan, I think a case can actually be made for Mariah Carey. At the time that I lived there in the mid-90s her albums were everywhere - it was basically the Mariah Carey + Namie Amuro show over there then. She was quite influential and is the only non-Japanese artist to have overall sales in the top 50 of the Oricon charts. I agree though that Hikaru was the first Japanese person though to make it popular, but the seed had already been planted by Mariah and to a lesser extent Amuro who did have some R&B influenced things going on at the time, especially in her album tracks.

yess go mariah!!! I would also say that the R&B(/Hip-Hop) was generally influenced from USA / Europe, and it was popular because of the foreign influences. I dont think I would give much credit to hikki for doing that o_O

Originally Posted by Crystal_Ageha

3. Do people recognise her "awesome" lyrics? I, personally, have never come across a single person who has thought of her lyrics as anything special. And really, I couldn't care less about her lyrics, because a lot of them are either....weird (for lack of better words, lol) or flat out stupid (like her English lyrics).

disagree. i think her lyrics are amazing. some my put aside her american lyrics, but i think her american lyrics are actually great (minus easy breezy & others) her lyrics are extremely unique and even poetic, so much inspiration from all the loads of reading that shes done. weird = unique imo. lack of better words? i think not. Shes one of the best female J-pop singer-songwriters imo. I assume that you just wanna prove that Ayu is the most influential J-pop artist + putting down Hikki's points?

[AyUta]

I think that maybe this article should have just been posted in the official utada thread to avoid bashing and arguments.

[Crystal_Ageha]

Well, it's not like people who aren't big fans don't visit the official threads, so some people still would have voiced their views, even if they seem negative. But even if not, a lot of people stating "negative" views that have started "arguments" are actually fans, too. Like me, I like Hikki, I just don't think she deserves this title, especially when it's coming from an obviously biased journalist. :\ If he had made a better article I'd be less annoyed, but..yeah.

[AyUta]

Well, I'm not saying that bashing, etc, wouldn't have been completely avoided, but a lot would have, possibly. There would have been a decrease at least =/

[Andrenekoi]

what if we make our own analisys of the decade?

[amorphose]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

what if we make our own analisys of the decade?

Go ahead? It's one newspaper's opinion.

I still fail to see why everyone is so bent out of shape. I'm super happy for Hikki, I think she deserves this title. Just because the author chose to portray some other artists in a not so flattering light doesn't mean Hikki deserves it any less. It's nothing to do with her.

Hell, Utada influenced our own Ayu's management once, remember? Had there been no Hikki there'd be no A BEST. xD