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Luck Ra and BM’s “La Morocha” adds a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 30). The song bests Luck Ra’s previous one-week champ, “Ya No Vuelvas,” featuring La K’onga and Ke Personajes, in February. LIT Killah, Tiago Pzk, Maria Becerra, Duki, Emilia, Rusherking, Big One and Fmk’s […]
I Don’t Like Mondays. will soon release their fifth full album, RUNWAY.
It’s their first album in over two years, following their ambitious Black Humor project, on which the band laid its soul bare in the midst of the pandemic. RUNWAY is a tremendously varied album, with 10 songs that go back to the band’s roots and aim to encapsulate the quintessence of I Don’t Like Mondays. Funk, rock, hip-hop — the album covers a wide range of musical styles, changing from song to song. It’s packed with the full appeal of I Don’t Like Mondays., a band that focuses not only on music, but the whole package, including fashion and artwork.
Billboard Japan had an opportunity to interview the band, which is poised for even greater success, having performed a growing number of overseas shows in recent years.
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To start off with, why is the new album named RUNWAY?
YU: Last year, although we didn’t release an album, we went on our Black Thunderbird TOUR, and we were able to really give it our all. After that, we wanted to take a good look back on ourselves and really think about the true essence of I Don’t Like Mondays., and about what we wanted to express through our music.
We don’t have one specific genre — each of us likes different kinds of music. The I Don’t Like Mondays. approach has been to play the kind of music we want to at the time. To put it metaphorically, it’s like we’ve garbed ourselves in music. The same fashion model might wear different kinds of clothes at different times. I think that’s the way all four of us think about I Don’t Like Mondays. That’s why we named the new album RUNWAY, after the runway in a fashion show.
KENJI: The bands that we like, like the Rolling Stones, are bands that excite us in every way. Their music, of course, but also their fashion and artwork.
CHOJI: Personally, I really like the fashion of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, or, for a Japanese example, Char. There’s no way you’d ever see Page or Char on stage in a tracksuit (laughs). Of course, that kind of casual look goes well with certain genres and types of sound, but I like the traditional rock guitarist look, and that’s something I’m not willing to budge on. I feel that same kind of dedication to fashion from all the members of the band, and I think that’s directly reflected in our visual image.
SHUKI: Along those lines, we took our band photos for the new album pretty early. I feel like that also provided us the opportunity to nail down our fashion image for the album (laughs). There was even a time during the sound production when we were working backwards from the photos, thinking “what kind of sound would fit best if performed by the four people in these photos?” Before we’d written all the songs on the album, we experimented with different sound textures, using a trial-and-error approach. I think that this was tucked away in the corner of our minds, and had a big influence on the making of the album.
YU: For example, the song “Dynamite” was the first song we completed, excluding “PAINT,” a tie-up song that we’d released previously. After we completed our previous album, Black Humor, we were reflecting on what I Don’t Like Mondays. was all about, like I mentioned earlier. We realized that when we first started out as a band our sound had been highly influenced by 80’s pop.
Now that you mention it, “Dynamite” has a synth phrase in the middle that’s reminiscent of a-ha’s “Take On Me.”
YU: Right (laughs). We decided to just go all out and do what we liked. The result of that was “Dynamite,” and from there the direction of the album gradually solidified.
SHUKI: We also decide on the lighting for our shows by discussing it within the band, and this time we decided that a blue-centered lighting concept would fit us best. I think the reason we realized this is that we’d already taken the band photos. As for the drums, in the past we’d always used programmed drums, but on this album we also mixed in some processed acoustic drums. With RUNWAY, we thought more than ever about what it means to be a band and that band feeling.
KENJI: And, on the flip side, I also overlaid my own bass playing with several layers of synth bass. I spent more time than ever before on the tone of the bass, and before I knew it I’d just spent a prodigious amount of time on programming.
Could you give us an example?
KENJI: Well, on “Sin City,” I overlapped my electric bass with five or six layers of synth bass. I experimented with fine-tuned adjustments, exploring what kinds of effects could be achieved by layering the bass, what kinds of frequencies I should emphasize, whether I should apply distortion or go for a clear sound, how I should balance the layered bass tracks to produce the most interesting effects, and the like. It took longer than it had ever taken before (laughs). But I think that thanks to that effort, I was able to create some good grooves. I’m confident about how things turned out.
CHOJI: As far as the guitar, I want to be able to reproduce the guitar work from our albums during live shows as much as possible, so on this album, as well, I tried to record guitar parts that could be performed with a single guitar, without overlapping parts. However, for “Beautiful Chaos,” the guitar is really the centerpiece, so I recorded both an excellent acoustic guitar sound and also delicate picking on an electric guitar. This is similar to “WE ARE YOUNG,” one of our earliest songs. I might just go so far as to say that with “Beautiful Chaos,” we’ve created a guitar song that surpasses even “WE ARE YOUNG.”
The new album also features “Strawberry Night,” a collaboration with ESME MORI, and “conversation,” with artist CREAM from the Korean hip-hop group DPR.
YU: We collaborated with ESME MORI a few years ago, on a song called “ENTERTAINER.” He’s the same age as SHUKI and I, and I remember the process of recording the song being a lot of fun.
ESME’s put out a lot of mainstream music, but he also has an edgy, alternative side, and I’ve always been impressed by how he balances those. When we finished the demo for “Strawberry Night,” I asked to have ESME work with us because I knew that he’d come up with something that would exceed even our own imaginations. He dirtied the sound up, in a good way, and gave it a bit of an edge.
I’ve heard you’d also had your eyes on DPR for a while?
YU: Yes. Whenever they came to Tokyo to perform, we’d always go see them. They don’t even need to be categorized as K-pop anymore, they’re a new global standard. Their creative output is always sublime — not just their sound, but their music videos, everything. I often talked with the other band members about how I’d love if we could perform with DPR sometime. This was our first collaboration, and we did it remotely. We made our demo with the idea of working on it together with DPR, so we provided them with our demo, and they created a new arrangement for it. It came out as a wonderful track.
YU, how did your approach to writing lyrics change on the new album? How has your worldview changed?
YU: For better or for worse, I decided not to overthink things. I feel like in our last album I did all I could with the approach of expressing the darkness within in a raw, honest way. This time, it was all about the sound, so I wrote the lyrics based on how they felt going along with the music.
That’s because I felt like there’s a limit to how much you can weave words using an intellectual approach. It felt like on the last album, I’d taken too much of a cerebral approach and didn’t place enough importance on feeling. But it’s important for there to be a sense of allure in things that might look haphazard from outside. Music is what enables us to express things that can’t be put into words. That’s the kind of approach I wanted to use in the new album.
It feels like you arrived at that aesthetic approach precisely because of how much deep thought you put into your last album.
YU: Exactly. In the past, I’d always written lyrics that followed the music, picking words with a focus on how they sounded. Then, with the pandemic, it was like I needed to place greater weight on the messages of our songs — on the meanings of their words. I felt like I was driven to take that kind of approach. I got a lot of new input and took a trial-and-error approach when writing the lyrics. With this album, the lyrics have gone back to being inspired by the sound of the music.
On the other hand, “conversation,” the song I wrote with CREAM, made a really profound impression. To think that the day would come that I’d write this level of hip-hop lyrics. It was like I was using a totally different part of my brain than when I wrote lyrics for other songs… It’s easier to pack in more words with hip-hop, and I found it really fun how I could put my thoughts into words so much faster, without scrutinizing them so closely. It also re-impressed on me how the pleasure that comes from rap differs from that of other songs, focused on the sounds of the words and the flow. I got to experience both the new joys and new difficulties of writing hip-hop lyrics.
Changing gears a little, I Don’t Like Mondays. has recently been putting on more overseas shows. What have the audience reactions been like?
YU: At Anime Friends 2022, in São Paulo, Brazil, the crowd went wild for “PAINT,” which makes sense given that it was an anime convention. But even at Spain’s BUBBLEPOP festival or the YANTAI YOMA FESTIVAL in China’s Shandong province — both music festivals — the audience was even more excited than when we played “PAINT” in Brazil. It felt great seeing that the course we’d taken over the years had been the right one, and it gave me a lot of confidence. In the future, we’ll continue to do what we feel is best, confidently sharing our music and our whole aesthetic with the rest of the world.
—This interview by Takanori Kuroda first appeared on Billboard Japan
Sakurazaka46 shared the new music video accompanying the group’s new song “Shoninyokkyu” (“esteem needs”), featuring second-gen member Hikaru Morita in center position of the choreography. The popular J-pop girl group’s seventh single is set to drop Oct. 18. The girls express the struggles of people living today, wondering who they have become as a result […]
Ado’s “Show” rises 3-1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 27, charting the week ending Sept. 24.
Ado collaborated with Universal Studios Japan for its Halloween event “Halloween Horror Nights” for this track, featured as the theme for the event’s dance show “Zombie de Dance” continuing through Nov. 5.
“Show” dropped digitally on Sept. 6 and debuted on the Japan Hot 100 at No. 8 on the week of Sept. 13. It hits No. 1 this week from No. 3 the week before, giving the enigmatic songstress her first No. 1 since “New Genesis” as Uta from ONE PIECE FILM RED.
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The song is powered by streams, which increased 1.3 times from the previous week to 12,058,768 weekly streams, rising 3-1 for the metric. Downloads increased by 0.8 percent from last week to 13,430 units (No. 3). “Show” comes in at No. 2 for video views and No. 8 for radio airplay.
YOASOBI’s “Idol” holds at No. 2. The former No. 1 song (21 weeks) is currently at No. 2 for streaming (10,346,854 streams), No. 8 for downloads (6,242 units), No. 3 for video, No. 68 for radio, and continues to rule karaoke.
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King Gnu‘s “SPECIALZ” rises a notch to No. 3 this week. The Jujutsu Kaisen Shibuya Incident story arc opener debuted on the chart four weeks ago on Sept. 6. The accompanying music video for the track dropped last week (Sept. 21) and the song debuts on video at No. 5, while coming in at No. 32 for physical sales, No. 5 for downloads (8,958 units), No. 3 for streaming (9,598,943 streams), and No. 15 for radio. Although slowing down overall, the “Ichizu” band’s latest single collects points in a balanced way to hit its current peak on the Japan Hot 100.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 18 to 24, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
The upcoming new season of the popular TV anime SPYxFAMILY will feature a new track by Ado called “Kurakura” as its opening theme song. “Kurakura” will drop digitally worldwide on Thursday, Oct. 5, ahead of the show’s season 2 premiere in Japan on Oct. 7. The song was written by meiyo, with arrangement and performances […]
When you bear one of the most well-known surnames in Italian music, the expectations of others (record companies, the public, the press) can be an unbearable burden. Yet one of the immediately noticeable qualities of 25-year-old Matteo Bocelli is an innate serenity, a perfect emanation of those polite manners that contributed to making his father Andrea Bocelli an icon of music and style famous in Italy and around the world.
For the Bocellis, music is a family matter. It was his father who launched Matteo’s career five years ago with the duet “Fall on Me,” a single from the album Sì, which debuted atop the Billboard 200. Not bad for his first public appearance.
Now Matteo Bocelli is ready to fly with his own wings. And he wants to do it in his own distinctive way: In the 12 tracks (14 in the deluxe version) of his debut album Matteo (out now via Capitol Records/Universal Music), his father’s operatic vocal style gives way to a clear pop approach that encompasses Ed Sheeran-style ballads (his great idol) as well as uptempo songs.
How did he come to find his own sound? How is he building his career? Billboard Italy met Matteo in Milan shortly before the album’s release.
Your artistic “baptism” was five years ago with the single “Fall on Me” in duet with your father. What did that moment represent for you, and what have the last five years of your life been like?
“Fall on Me” was unquestionably an important start. It was the spark that started everything, and these years were full of emotions and beautiful experiences. The song opened many doors, for example the possibility of signing a contract with Capitol Records in Los Angeles. The team supported me right from the start, allowing me to work on the project in the best way until reaching this first album. “Fall on Me” was a unique experience. Now it’s time to continue on my own two feet and start a new path with a project that I feel is totally mine.
Despite what one might expect from your surname, your project has a clear pop dimension. Over the years, how have you honed the sound you wanted to achieve?
I have always been close to opera and classical music, but the music I sang at home was pop. But that doesn’t mean you know exactly what you want. You need to work on things, to try, to experiment. These years were very useful in finding the sound I’m comfortable with. In recent years we wrote about a hundred songs, then we selected 14 for the [deluxe] album.
Talking about pop music, who are your idols from the past and the present?
I always say Ed Sheeran. He is not only an incredible artist, but also a beautiful person — at least that’s what I perceived the times I met him. Yes, I could say he’s an idol of mine. Plus, I’m a romantic, and he’s the king of ballads! But at the same time, he’s been able to achieve a huge success with more uptempo songs too. That has always been a dream of mine: to have slow and sentimental songs but also be able to make people jump at concerts. However, I have always listened more to the music of the past, especially Lionel Ritchie, Elton John, Queen, as well as the great Italian artists.
The album starts with “For You,” an uptempo track. Why do you think it is the best opener for the project?
In that case, I asked the record company for advice. Capitol Records focused a lot on that song. When I made a demo of it, I immediately understood that it was a song in which I felt really good from a vocal point of view. Also I perceived it as a “top” song for concerts.
“Chasing Stars,” written by Ed Sheeran with his brother Matthew, talks about their relationship with their father. It seems like a song tailor-made for you.
I met Ed when he released “Perfect Symphony,” the duet he did with my father. He then sent me a couple of ideas. “Chasing Stars” was the one that struck me the most. I was struck by the melody, because Ed has an unmistakable touch, and the message, perfect for my story. Even when a song is written by someone else, you have to see yourself in what you sing. When you sing certain words, you have to feel them. Yes, that seemed like a song written especially for me. We have in common the fact that we have a family that loves music and has encouraged their children to learn about it.
The songs are mostly sung in English but some are in Italian. Why did you want to use both languages?
Having signed the contract with Capitol Records in the United States, I also have to make music in English. But the deep reason why I signed with them is that I grew up singing in both Italian and English. So it has always been my desire to sing in English, and I knew that label would give me many opportunities to collaborate with great international songwriters. At the same time, it is important not to forget your origins. I consider Italian lyrics the deepest and most beautiful in the entire history of music. English-speaking songwriters consider us almost saccharine, excessive. But I think that’s the beauty of our language. We are romantic, there is nothing we can do about it!
Your project has a strong international projection. What idea of “Italianness” do you want to convey abroad?
To put it simply, I’m very proud to be Italian. I hope that beyond our national borders, people can appreciate the songs I sing in our language. Italy is so loved around the world; there is no need for Matteo Bocelli to push that.
In 2019 you performed at the Sanremo Festival in a duet with your father. Now your album is out: Is it the right moment to go there again, as a contestant this time?
It’s a question they’ve been asking me ever since… [Laughs] I understand that in Italy, the Sanremo Festival has a fundamental importance, it is the best thing an artist can aspire to. And I don’t deny that it would be a great emotion for me too to go on that stage — not alongside my father as a guest, but on the frontline as a contestant. But in my opinion you must go there when you are truly convinced, with a song that really identifies you.
Last year you collaborated with Sebastián Yatra. Do you also wish to step into the Latin market too?
One of my biggest fanbases is the Mexican one, so it’s important to keep an eye on that market. But you have to get there starting from the assumption that you must do what you like. I will never [do] something just because that’s what the market expects. If a collaboration with another Latin artist were to happen and convince me, then why not?
Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes the leaders driving the success of the music business in countries outside the United States. Avex’s CEO, Katsumi Kuroiwa, was chosen from the music industry leaders of the world for inclusion in the list for the first time.
Billboard Japan interviewed Kuroiwa in recognition of his selection for the list and discussed the challenges involved in creating global hits and the potential of female artists.
You were selected for the 2023 Billboard International Power Players list in recognition of the success of XG’s debut and their appearance in the Mediabase Top 40 Radio Airplay charts, the first time ever for Japanese female artists. Could you start out by discussing some of the challenges you faced with XG’s debut?
Kuroiwa: We launched XGALX, a global artist project behind artists like XG, six years ago, in 2017. This was when the world’s attention was first turning to K-pop. Of course, K-pop already had its fans at the time, but this was about when it started to establish an overwhelming presence due to BTS. Avex has a long history of producing K-pop artists such as BoA, TVXQ, and BIGBANG. We formed a partnership with S.M.entertainment in 2001, and we created a label with YG Entertainment. The strong impression I got through our activities with them was that they were keeping a close eye on the Japanese and global markets. Leveraging this experience, we launched the XGALX project with the aim of creating global hits. Initially, we were aiming for a 2020 debut, but the COVID pandemic but a halt to any major moves, so the debut ended up being in 2022. We built up even more knowledge in the intervening time, so in the end it turned out for the best.
XG is based in Korea, but all of the members are Japanese. How does it differ from K-pop?
Kuroiwa: We have a great respect for K-pop, but what really sets XG apart is their originality and freshness. We built the group together with our partners around the world, taking the best elements from Korea, Japan, and the US. The potential of the members, the music production, the video, and the fashion all came together, overlapping and giving birth to XG. We didn’t want to make them a J-pop or K-pop group, but instead create an all-new genre, X-Pop.
The members of the group had a lot of different ideas about what language the lyrics should be in. Some said that since the members are Japanese, they should sing in Japanese, but ultimately they came to the conclusion that since they’d be targeting the global market, including the Korean market, English would be best. None of the members are native speakers, so we really focused on pronunciation from the very start of their artist development.
Comparing the Japanese and US hit charts, it feels like in Japan, songs are often supported because of their strong melodies, while in the US and K-pop charts, songs with distinctive rhythms enjoy a lot of support. Do you take things like that into consideration?
Kuroiwa: Yes. Part of our company’s DNA is dance music, but we want to create an “XG rhythm” that features the originality of the members.
Could you talk a bit about the future you see for XG?
Kuroiwa: We don’t have any experience or expertise with creating global hit artists. That’s why we’ve been working with marketing firms and digital streaming platforms (DSPs), sharing ideas with each other. Thanks to these efforts, we’ve achieved organic growth, and I believe that the knowledge we’ve accrued will provide extremely valuable.
In the world of sports, like baseball and soccer, Japanese players have become really prominent presences, but that’s not the product of the sporting scene suddenly changing. No, the world has changed because of the efforts of all kinds of players, like Hideo Nomo, over the course of decades.
I don’t want the XGALX project to just shut down after a year or two. I hope it keeps going for 10, 20 years, creating a world in which Japanese artists thrive in the mainstream music world. Of course, I’d love it if XG were the breakthrough artist, but by having various artists take on the challenge, we can shift from these being isolated successes to a tide that creates a new market.
When YOASOBI took the top position in the US Billboard “Global Excl. U.S.” chart in June 2023, it created quite the buzz. Artists like Ado, Fujii Kaze, and imase are starting to build up support around the world.
Kuroiwa: It’s extremely encouraging. Every artist gains ground in a different way, so I think we need to take a close look at the data to see just how they’re growing in each individual country, including Japan. Right now, roughly 30% of XG’s listeners are in Japan, 20% in the US, and 50% in other countries. I think this is an ideal distribution, and if Japanese artists from all kinds of genres become widely listened to — if people say “Fujii Kaze’s great and YOASOBI’s great, but XG’s also great” — then I think the future of the Japanese music market will be a bright one.
In August 2023, NewJeans took the number 1 position in the US Billboard200 album chart for the first time. Overseas, female artists like BLACKPINK, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo have been very successful, but looking at the Japanese charts, most of the artists have been men for a while now, and there are still few high-charting female artists. What do you think about that?
Kuroiwa: Male artists, especially male groups, enjoy a lot of support from female fans, which makes it easy for them to generate revenue. However, we’ve made a lot of female artists, like Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki, into hit artists. Around the 2000s, what happened is that although these artists had some male fans, there was a societal phenomenon of female fans who aspired to be like these artists. For both men and women, it’s common for an artist to enjoy a lot of support from the other gender when they debut, but once they reach a certain level, female artists also have a lot of female fans. They have the power to create a kind of culture of their own. I’m not sure if, in our current age, it’s right to speak in terms of gender, but I think female artists have the power to transcend gender and generation barriers.
In closing, the rise in streaming sales is driving ongoing, positive music market growth in Japan and worldwide. However, the rate of growth of that streaming is slowing, and new market development is starting to take place. What plans does Avex have for the future?
Kuroiwa: I think that issues like that affect the countries who were at the forefront of the adoption of music streaming, but in Asia, including Japan, in the Middle East, and in Africa, the streaming market still has a lot of room for growth. I think that Japan has come out of the gates late with respect creating global hits, including hits in those regions. We’re not a major foreign-funded record company, so we don’t have the kinds of internal resources those companies have. That’s why we established Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. in 2013 and Avex USA Inc. in 2018, and we’re adding new Avex sites around the world. In August of this year (2023) we established a new company, Avex Saudi Arabia Entertainment LLC. I think the strategy of connecting all of these sites in Japan, the US, China, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia organically will be an effective way for us to generate global awareness of the IP we create.
So you’re setting up new sites around the world?
Kuroiwa: Singapore, where Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. is located, is our Southeast Asian hub, and Avex USA plays an extremely important role in our creative and marketing efforts. I feel there is tremendous market potential in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. As far as creating global hits, Japanese anime is an important form of IP, and it’s extremely popular in Saudi Arabia. That’s why in 2022, we produced the “Anime Village” event area.
In the fields of music, video, and anime, we’re going to sell original Japanese IP, which we create, around the world, and feed the results back into our future efforts. I hope we can become a company that keeps doing that for decades to come.
—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan
J-pop musician Nishina is the next featured guest on Billboard Japan’s Women In Music interview series highlighting female players in the country’s entertainment industry. The series is one of many projects being conducted as part of the initiative launched last year, honoring female artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.
Nishina began her music career while still in high school and her smooth singing voice has steadily gained popularity through social media and performances in night clubs. The 25-year-old artist is also popular for her lyrics depicting relatable and genuine emotions. Billboard Japan chatted with the rising singer ahead of her Women In Music Vol.1 performance set for Nov. 3 at the historic Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and asked her about maintaining a healthy mindset and her mission to spread a message of self-love.
You’ll be performing at the upcoming Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 event. How did you feel when you were asked to participate?
I’m so honored to be a part of this project. I’m not thinking of doing anything special and hope I can properly convey who I am to the audience.
The three artists/acts set to perform that day have different styles, so we’re really looking forward to seeing your respective live performances. Were there any women you looked up to growing up?
I didn’t have any particular image of an ideal woman when I was little, and honestly speaking, I remember being embarrassed about becoming more feminine during my adolescent years. I wasn’t put off by it, but I guess I was embarrassed by the changes in my body. It felt strange. But I did admire musicians, regardless of their gender. I liked singing but felt shy standing in front of audiences, so musicians who gave commanding performances onstage looked really cool to me at the time.
It’s amazing that you’re now doing what you used to admire.
I’m so grateful. I’m pretty pleased with who I am right now.
That’s such a good space to be in. There are people who have trouble getting over their hang-ups and accepting who they are.
I know. I mean, I say I’m pleased with myself but of course I have a lot of hang-ups. In Japan, all kinds of ideals in terms of how one “should” look still run rampant, regardless of gender. Like, “the skinnier the better.” I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to want to change to like yourself more, but I’d like people to first accept themselves as who they are now. I’m fortunately in a position where I can deliver a message to people and I want everyone to know they should love themselves properly.
I see, so in a way, the message you want to get out to people is also coming back to you. Do you think there’s a trick to maintaining that state of being pleased with who you are?
For example, the idea that “skinny is more beautiful” is a way of thinking that stems from the culture you grew up in or was imposed on you by others. Different things may be considered beautiful in different countries, and what seems like common sense at first doesn’t mean it’s absolutely correct everywhere. So I think it’s important to change your environment to question that common sense.
Try not to think that the world around you is all there is, you mean. How did you come up with that way of thinking?
I’ve always been a bit of a contrary person, so maybe I have a habit of looking at things from a different angle. For example, even when I’m in a situation where people don’t like me, when someone rejects me, I think, “Why should I be told that by you?” and feel like affirming myself instead. I can’t give you any specific examples, but when one of my complexes is triggered by something, I have a tendency to want to accept myself because of that.
Accepting yourself because others don’t. If you can think like that, the noise around you could sound different. Do you think being a woman has any influence on your music career?
I’d like to say no but I think it does affect me in some ways. I call myself Nishina because I didn’t want to limit my gender. I wanted people to value who I am without letting my gender influence them.
I imagine you probably think differently since you started calling yourself Nishina. How did you develop that awareness to recognize and value your own individuality?
I’m not sure how it happened… I think it means that my mind has matured. There are some things I’ve come to understand as I’ve grown older. Some people have a clear idea of who they are from an early age, while others, like me, gradually deepen their understanding as they gain more experience. These days, I have this strong sense of my inner self being formed.
So you’re still changing in a positive way. At what moments do you update the way you think?
I guess it’s when I feel really down. The first year of my professional music career coincided with the pandemic, so there were periods when I couldn’t perform live or release songs and all I could do was keep producing music. No matter how much I worked, I couldn’t get any feedback and it was so hard. I felt stuck and thought, “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t keep going.” But I shared my feelings with my manager during those times and took some time off from production to slack off and just go have some fun. After doing that and letting myself hit rock bottom, I wanted to sing again. By hanging in there somehow without quitting, I managed to get through the tunnel and began to enjoy singing again. Looking back now, it was a good experience.
I see. I imagine it takes a lot of courage to let yourself fall like that.
Yes, I think I was at my limit at that time. Also, I read a book back in junior high where the question of “What’s the point of my existence?” was answered by something along the lines of “That’s a problem everyone encounters at least once, but it’s no use thinking about.” I was taken aback by that reply because I was asking myself the same thing and was surprised to learn that everyone has similar thoughts. You might not notice something when you’re in the midst of it, but you begin to see it when you set yourself apart from it. Once I realized the importance of changing my perspective and looking at things from a wider angle, my thought process changed a little. There’s more than one way to look at things, and it’s OK to look for an easier way to navigate by looking from above or below or whatever.
Since you admired musicians from a young age, did you ever hesitate taking steps toward your dream of becoming one, or feel ambivalent about your direction? What would you say to people who don’t like themselves or don’t have the courage to take that first step?
I did feel anxious, but had no hesitation. I spent a long time thinking, “I want to be like that,” so I couldn’t let go of the opportunity that came my way.
The thing I’d say to people would be about changing your perspective, like I mentioned just now. Most of the time it won’t kill you whether you choose right or left, and that step you think you can’t take might not be such a big deal. If you take that small step, it may lead to a surprisingly big change. If you don’t like yourself, try to find one thing about yourself that you can like, whether it’s something on the inside or out. Once you find that, think of ways to cherish it and make it shine.
Last question. This project began in response to the fact that men make up the majority of the Billboard Japan charts every year. Could you share your thoughts on this?
Until I was asked to do this interview, I wasn’t aware of this fact at all. I’ve gone through phases of listening only to works with male vocalists. Or maybe it has something to do with the power of women supporting male artists. I don’t think it’s necessarily something to be pessimistic about, though. It’d be a shame if there’s an air of female fans being made to feel out of place among a sea of male fans, but events like Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 are happening and there are many opportunities for people to listen to songs on social media now. I hope there will be more opportunities for everyone to freely encounter the music they like, regardless of gender.
–This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
Luck Ra secures his second No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart as “La Morocha,” featuring BM, ascends 3-1 to lead the Sept. 23-dated ranking. The song ejects Myke Towers’ “Lala” from the summit, with a 2-1 dip, after six weeks in charge.
Luck Ra previously landed in the penthouse for one week through “Ya No Vuelvas,” featuring La K’Onga and Ke Personajes (chart dated Feb. 18). BM, meanwhile, dominated for three weeks with “M.A. (Mejores Amigos),” with Callejero Fino, La Joaqui and Lola Indigo, in April.
BM also pushes 5-3 with “Ni Una Ni Dos” for his second top 10 song on the current chart.
This week’s Hot Shot Debut goes to Emilia’s “GTA.Mp3,” at No. 11. With the new recruit, the Argentinian achieves her 24th entry, the fifth-most among all women. Here’s the recap of the female acts with the most entries on Billboard Argentina Hot 100:
43, Maria Becerra33, Karol G30, Nicki Nicole30, Tini24, Emilia
Rappers YSY A and Bhavi add three new career entries each, all belonging to their latest joint album, Tu Duo Favorito. “Flechazo En El Centro” with Milo J, leads the debuts at No. 41. Meanwhile, Chilean rapper DrefQuila scores his first entry through the three-way collab “Tuuuyo” at No. 79, while “Sonido del Año” with Duki, bows at No. 81.
Elsewhere, Mesita captures his fourth entry with “Una Foto” at No. 71.
Further, Ke Personajes score the Greatest Gainer honors as “Entre Beso y Beso” climbs 14 places, from No. 92 to No 78.
Lastly, Diego Torres returns to the chart with “Mejor Que Ayer” at No. 93.
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BE:FIRST’s “Mainstream” debuts at No. 1 on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 20, tracking the week ending Sept. 17.
The fourth single by the seven-member boy band sold 169,197 CDs in its first week, which is 12,890 more than their previous single “Smile Again” that launched with 156,307 copies. “Mainstream” hits No. 2 for physical sales, while being campaign-propelled to No. 1 for downloads (54,835 units), radio, and video views. The track also hits No. 5 for streaming with 7,550,928 weekly streams, also powered by a campaign offering stickers and other goodies to winners. The popular BMSG group is set to perform live for the first time on Music Station’s three-hour special next week (Sept. 29), and will be premiering the song’s performance on the long-running music program.
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YOASOBI’s “Idol” rises 4-2 on this week’s chart after being crowned the first No. 1 song on Billboard Japan’s inaugural Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart unveiled Sept. 14, which ranks popular Japanese songs outside of Japan. The record-breaking mega-hit that sat atop the Japan Hot 100 for 21 weeks returns to No. 1 for streaming with 10,676,391 streams, while coming in at No. 6 for downloads (6,411 units), No. 45 for radio, and No. 4 for video views.
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Ado’s “Show” jumps 8-3 after dropping digitally Sept. 6. While downloads slipped 2-3 with 11,222 units, streaming rose significantly from No. 15 to No. 3 with 8,691,618 streams. The latest track by the “New Genesis” singer is collecting points in a balanced way, coming in at No. 2 for video and No. 6 for radio.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 11 to 17, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.