Japan
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Snow Man’s “Tapestry” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 22, selling nearly a million copies in its first week.
The nine-member boy band’s latest single, featured as the theme of a new movie starring member Ren Meguro, launched with 921,011 CDs to blast in at No. 1 for sales. The track also ruled radio airplay and came in at No. 3 for video with 2,167,138 weekly views, soaring 90-1 on the Japan Hot 100 this week.
The group’s previous single, “Orange Kiss,” sold 850,692 copies and reached 1,853,558 views in its first week, meaning the group has further expanded its fanbase in the meantime.
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This week’s Japan charts saw STU48’s “Iki wo suru kokoro” hit No. 2 for sales with 298,796 first-week copies and Kep1er’s “I do! Do you?” follow at No. 3 for the metric with 80,783 copies sold. These two numbers also performed well in the other metrics of the chart’s methodology, resulting in debuts at Nos. 2 and 3 on the Japan Hot 100, respectively.
As such, Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle,” which had coasted along in the top 3 for 22 weeks — including a record 13 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 — fell out of the top 3 on its 23rd week on the Japan Hot 100, slipping to No. 4. Still, the track is still going strong in streaming with more than 9 million weekly streams — 9,221,292 last week and 9,010,308 this week — and is likely to return to the top 3 again.
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 Mar. 13 to 19, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
The VOCALOID Collection, also known as VocaColle, is a biannual event featuring Vocaloid submissions, held every spring and autumn. Entrants compete to claim top rankings in five different categories: “TOP100,” “Rookies,” “REMIX,” “Enso Shitemita,” and “MMD&3DCG.” The number one songs in the TOP100 and the Rookies categories are included in the “Project SEKAI Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku” smartphone game. There is also a Chokaigi 2023 Theme Song contest, a VocaColle & UtaColle & OdoColle collaborative project, and many other ways to enjoy Vocaloid culture.
We interviewed Yuri Kuriyama, a Vocaloid producer and a member of Van de Shop, in the days leading up to this year’s VocaColle. He talked about the Vocaloid songs and producers that influenced him, the future of the Vocaloid scene, and more.
We asked you to pick out which of the countless Vocaloid songs have made a big impression on you and influenced your own work. One song you mentioned was “Melt” (2007). This was the song that led to the formation of supercell, a group of creators led by Vocaloid producer ryo.
Yuri Kuriyama: A lot of the first Vocaloid songs had really fast vocals or had vocal melodies that hit notes human singers couldn’t reach. In other words, there were aspects of them that leveraged the unique capabilities of the software. “Melt” was different. It was a somewhat laid back song. It’s a wonderful song that would be great even if sung by a human singer, and I think it really shows what makes ryo such a talented producer. Hatsune Miku’s pitch in the song is also wonderful. In the early days of the scene, there were a lot of songs where the pitch was a little bit off, and that always felt awkward to me. There’s none of that in “Melt.” It feels very natural. Among supercell’s songs, I particularly like “Juuzoku Ningen” and “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari.” ryo was one of the first artists to break out from the Vocaloid scene to the major music scene.
“last Night good Night” (2008) is a song from livetune, kz’s solo unit. “Matryoshka” (2010) is one of Hachi’s most famous songs. Hachi later began releasing songs as Kenshi Yonezu, becoming one of Japan’s top artists.
Kuriyama: With “last Night good Night,” kz applied Auto-Tune to Hatsune Miku. When I met him in person and asked him why he used Auto-Tune, he told me “because the pitch was bothering me,” which made a lot of sense. This song is what made me like Hatsune Miku’s voice, and what got me really into the Vocaloid scene. It influenced me a lot, to the point that I think it would be fair to say that if this song hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t have listened to Vocaloid music.
Hachi’s “Matoryoshka” is, for me, the platonic ideal of the kind of Vocaloid song I like. It uses the “MaruSa chord progression” (a chord progression frequently used in J-pop songs like Shiina Ringo’s “Marunouchi Sadistic”), but it’s doing something really new with it.
I think the drum line of “THE WORLD END UMBRELLA” is really interesting.
You’d need four arms to actually play it live (laughs). The arrangement is one that’s only possible because it was made on a computer. I like how the emotions of the song come across so directly. “Wonderland to Histujinouta” is another example of how much of an impact Hachi has had on the Vocaloid scene.
There’s also “Nihonbashi Koukashita R Keikaku” (2012) by Shizen no Teki-P (Jin) and “Kimi no Taion” by Kuwagata-P.
Kuriyama: Jin’s Kagerou Project was just amazing. (The Kagerou Project is a mixed-media project with novels, comics, and anime all based on Jin’s music.) Plus, none of the songs sound alike. The chord progressions are different, the sounds are different, and they’re all great songs. “Nihonbashi Koukashita R Keikaku” was a wonderful fusion of a song and an anime music video. The music videos for the Vocaloid songs that came out before that were generally single static illustrations or very handmade-feeling animations, and I mean that in a good way. When I saw the “Nihonbashi Koukashita R Keikaku” music video, I thought “Wow, that’s professional!” (laughs)
“Kimi no Taion” featured both piano and guitar. I think it also used the MaruSa chord progression, but it put the piano part out in front, and that showed me a new approach. I think that it affected my own arrangements.
You also listed Sasanomaly and sasakure.UK as artists from the Vocaloid producer scene that you liked.
Kuriyama: Sasanomaly used to be a Vocaloid producer going by the name Neko Boro. His songs are great, but so is his sound production and mixing. Mixing involves several stages, and when you do it you’re thinking about different ways the music will be heard — from earphones, headphones, speakers, etc. Sasanomaly sounds good no matter how you’re listening. I like a lot of his songs, but last summer I had “game of life feat. Boku no Lyric no Boyomi” on repeat. He was also in a band called Dios, and I’ve been impressed by the breadth of his musical activities.
I also love sasakure.UK! Everybody in our band (Van de Shop) really likes UK Rampage (the band headed by sasakure.UK). He’s both a Vocaloid producer and a band member, and his technique in both is great. I’ve always wanted do the kinds of things Sasakure.UK is doing, and I had so many questions for him when I actually met him. (laughs)
You also said that syudou, Yoh Kamiyama, nulut, and Harumaki Gohan resonate with you.
Kuriyama: They’re active Vocaloid producers, active as soloists using the same name, creating new units with different names, and the like. They’ve all got their own different approaches, but what they all share in common is that they write and sing their own songs.
I’m sure they have varied reasons for that, but for me there were definitely sounds I could learn while working with Vocaloid and sounds I could learn from changing my approach and environment, which made me realize that I can enjoy music at an even deeper level.
I think the broader your music horizons are, the better. I want to create Vocaloid songs that reflect what I’ve learned, not just following some template.
For units made up of a Vocaloid producer and a female singer, like YOASOBI or DUSTCELL, if you simply look at their structure, it’s the same as a music producer and the Vocaloid software, but it feels like they’re creating new sounds that you can’t hear in typical Vocaloid songs. If people gain an appreciation for Vocaloid by learning of it through them, that would be wonderful.
Who knows, one day Yonezu might be like, “I’m back!” and release another Vocaloid song. The Vocaloid scene is a really free, fun scene right now.
The number of Vocaloid producers who are making music for idols and bands is on the rise, and we’re seeing a lot of genre crossovers.
Kuriyama: Right. When I’m writing music for my band, I’m often thinking “I want to make a Vocaloid song,” and vice versa. It’s fun bouncing back and forth between the expressive styles of people and the expressive styles of software. It’s like switching back and forth between eating potato chips and chocolate. (laughs)
Let’s talk a bit about your own music. First, there’s “Limelight” (2017). You posted this under the artist name “Hachiya Nanashi,” and it was your first song to reach one million plays. It’s an electroswing song, a genre you’re particularly fond of.
Kuriyama: Electroswing was originally made by taking swing jazz samples or new songs based in swing jazz and then reworking them with an electro feel. Recently, there’s been a lot of pop with a swing feel that’s created entirely on the computer, but I’m more interested in the former approach. I like actually performing the music, using an old mic to record it, and then intentionally degrading the sound quality. I made “Limelight” that way, on my own. Of course, I got help from some musician colleagues, but I wanted to take on the challenges of songwriting and arrangement on my own, working off only my own ideas. There are elements of glitch hop and dubstep, and I think it came out as an interesting song.
When you uploaded “Neurosis” (2019), you commented that it was your “first love song.” “Jitterbug” (2019) was a fun song, a new evolution in electroswing.
Kuriyama: I wrote “Neurosis” when I was suffering from a broken heart. As far as genres go, it’s 200 BPM rock. I didn’t really think too deeply about it, I just did what I felt like when I made the song. I used a Les Paul guitar, and it had a bit of a strange tone.
With “Jitterbug,” I decided to back to electroswing again, based on what I’d done with “Limelight.” The rhythm was really difficult, and when the song was included in the game “Project DIVA MEGA39’s,” there were people complaining on Twitter that “Jitterbug” was too hard. I’m not very good at rhythm games, so I was thinking “I know how you feel!” (laughs)
In March 2022, you uploaded “Pheles,” which had elements of both jazz and rock. The mysterious lyrics and feeling also really stand out.
Kuriyama: I wrote the song for “GABULI,” a masked battle manga project, and I think I really conveyed the feeling of GABULI’s world. I put distorted guitars front and center, and gave the song a swing feel. It’s got a “rock-swing” groove, so I think I was able to achieve something new with it. I don’t want to repeat myself if at all possible. I want to try new approaches, and if there’s something I was unable to do in the past, I want to overcome that hurdle.
You have a lot of songs with a live instrumental feel to them, which must take a lot of time and cost a bit of money.
Kuriyama: I might be a bit of an outlier in the Vocaloid world. My friends will tell me, “Instead of going into the studio for hours and paying all that money to record live parts, wouldn’t it be better to just go online and look for samples?” Or they’ll say, “You’re really focusing and working on that part, but do you really think listeners will even notice?” I end up thinking, “Yeah, maybe,” and I sometimes feel a bit dumb for focusing so much on some details (laughs), but I’m confident that there are people out there who will understand what I’m doing.
What future do you see for the Vocaloid scene?
Kuriyama: I feel like Vocaloid fads and “meta” templates change in two year cycles. Of course, there are some wonderful chords and styles that never change. Over the last few years, I’ve been feeling like there’s been a lot of programmed melodies and EDM-like songs, and not much live instrumentation. But lately there’s been a rise in the number of songs that are trying new things, and I’m discovering songs that fit my current tastes. I like the feeling right now that everyone’s doing what they do because they truly want to. They’re all bringing their passion and putting out what they really like. I feel like we’re going to be seeing a lot more new things coming out soon.
In closing, could you share your own expectations for VocaColle?
Kuriyama: I’ve always felt that Nico Nico Douga is the true home of Vocaloid. I’m happy that this event that sprang from Niconico Chokaigi is still being held. However, it’s also come to feel like a gateway to success for people who want to make a living through music, and getting all uptight and focusing on views and likes takes away from the fun magic of the event. It takes the thrill away. People can enjoy it however they want to, of course, but I’d like it to be more of a carnival, more of an uninhibited party.
I like carnivals myself, and when people who like Vocaloid come together because they think something’s fun or interesting, it really makes the atmosphere electric.
—This interview by Tomoyuki Mori first appeared on Billboard Japan
NiziU’s “Paradise” shoots to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, tracking the week from Mar. 6 to 12 and released Mar. 15.
The latest track from the nine-member girl group hit No. 1 after debuting at No. 23 on last week’s chart, powered by downloads (No. 1 for the metric). The CD version went on sale this tracking week and the song came in at No. 2 for sales with 168,938 copies sold, while also faring well in the other metrics of the chart’s methodology: No. 3 for downloads, No. 13 for streaming, and No. 4 for video views and radio.
Naniwa Danshi’s “Special Kiss” debuts at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 this week, ruling sales with 512,690 copies but unable to support that advantage in the other metrics — for example, No. 13 for video and No. 24 for radio.
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Looking at first-week sales figures of both groups’ previous singles, NiziU’s “Blue Moon” sold 207,252 copies, meaning the new single is down by about 18.5 percent. Naniwa Danshi’s “Happy Surprise” sold 517,381 copies, so the new release is also down but only slightly by about 0.9 percent. However, “Blue Moon” came in at No. 46 for downloads, No. 92 in streaming, No. 42 in video, and No. 61 in radio, so the J-pop girl group managed to significantly improve in various other metrics besides sales for their new single to take the top position on the latest song chart.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
For the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Mar. 6 to 12, see here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
J-pop boy band ONE N’ ONLY dropped a new single called ”We’ll rise again” on March 8, the third in the group’s five-month streak of new releases currently underway celebrating the group’s fifth anniversary, following “YOU???” and “Get That (PT-BR ver.).” “We’ll rise again” is also the six-member group’s first single in about four years to be released in physical form since “Category/My Love” from 2019.
Members EIKU, TETTA, REI, HAYATO, KENSHIN, and NAOYA chatted with Billboard Japan about their March offering and broke down each of the tracks included on the CD single.
“We’ll rise again” is featured as the theme of the your movie Battle King! -We’ll rise again-, set for release in Japanese theaters March 10.
HAYATO: This song has been around for a while, but when we were casted as a group in our first starring movie, we changed the lyrics to link it to the film’s content.
Since you knew it would be the theme of the group’s first starring movie, it must have felt different than usual when you were recording it.
EIKU: Yes. We recorded the first verse before we started filming. Then we recorded the second verse after we wrapped, so it helped us put more feeling into it because we could see how faithful the song was to the film and it was like the meaning of the lyrics became clearer.
HAYATO: The scenes came to mind, didn’t it?
EIKU: Yeah. We later re-recorded the first verse and made it even better. The character I play, Genjiro, used to be a delinquent, but he gets into hip-hop dance and finds his dream. There’s this scene where he expresses his determination to the art school principal and it’s a really touching moment. I sang my part with that scene in mind, so my voice sounds more emotional.
TETTA: The movie depicts a future where the characters aim for global success, and singing with that feeling is the same as where we’re at right now as ONE N’ ONLY, so it was easy for me to get into the feeling.
REI: The lyrics are really linked to the story, so I think you can enjoy it twice!
Will fans be able to check out your movie outside of Japan?
TETTA: Unfortunately, there’s no plan for international theatrical release.
HAYATO: But on-demand video streaming services are everywhere now so it’d be nice if people could catch it.
TETTA: We could do our own voice-overs.
NAOYA: Come on, there will be subtitles! [Everyone laughs]
HAYATO: But if it’s dubbed, I’d love to see who does our voices.
NAOYA: The movie version of the drama series I was in called his – Koi suru tsumori nante nakatta – (“I didn’t intend to fall in love”) is being distributed in Brazil with subtitles. I know someone from Brazil who got to know ONE N’ ONLY because of that.
KENSHIN: We could do a Portuguese version of the first rap battle scene.
EIKU: Then we’d have to ask everyone who performed with us to learn Portuguese.
KENSHIN: Sounds like a lot of work, but fun!
“We’ll rise again” will be released on CD along with its digital formats. How do you feel about that?
NAOYA: The last time was “Category/My Love” in 2019, so it’s been a long time.
HAYATO: Putting songs out in physical format is always a great feeling.
Two other songs are included in the CD single. Tell us about “GIFT.”
HAYATO: It’s a gentle love song, following “My Love.” I think our SWAGs also enjoy these kinds of straightforward J-POP numbers. It has a more mature worldview than “My Love,” and the chorus contains a message about the importance of the ordinary things in life. We performed it at our Christmas concert last year, so I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone.
REI: The lyrics are straightforward, and the song changes keys so it’s not boring. We sing the lyrics clearly so the message probably comes through.
HAYATO: The choreography is cute too.
REI: It’d be great if people could remember the hand-waving at the end and the hugging gestures since they’re easy to imitate.
NAOYA: The other song, “QUEEN,” is pretty daring for us. It’s the sexiest song we’ve ever done.
HAYATO: It depends on how you look at it, but it’s steamy! [Laughs]
NAOYA: No doubt about it. I want people to see our performance after memorizing the lyrics.
HAYATO: We did a performance using a microphone stand as one of the highlights of our tour, and when you hear it with the song’s content in mind, it’s definitely different!
REI: The lyrics are hard to understand on first listen, aren’t they?
TETTA: We encourage everyone to read the lyrics while listening to it.
REI: People will be like, “Ooh la la!” [Laughs]
TETTA: It’s a song that we can sing because we’re who we are today.
REI: You don’t find many songs like this in Japan. Content like this would be glossed over in other J-pop songs, but here it’s up front, which I think is a message from our songwriters that they expect us to express these kinds of things and compete with our musicality.
KENSHIN: The song is finely broken up for each of our parts, and we try new expressions down to our fingertips, so I’d like people to look out for that, too.
I look forward to seeing these songs live again.
EIKU: They’re tracks that will definitely add more power to our live performances, so I hope everyone enjoys these three songs this month.
—This interview by Kana Yoshida first appeared on Billboard Japan
YOASOBI shared the new music video accompanying its new release “Adventure,” a song written for Universal Studios Japan theme park.
“Adventure” was released Feb. 15 as the theme for USJ’s limited-offer spring campaign that encourages students to “make unforgettable spring memories” — the season of graduation and new beginnings in Japan where the school year begins in April.
The uplifting track is based on an episode that took home YOASOBI’s Grand Prize last year in a competition that invited submissions about “unforgettable memories from school days at the (USJ) park.” The title of the winning episode by Nagi can be roughly translated to “sparkling moments beyond the lens.”
The music video directed by Jun Tamukai is a fusion of live-action and animation, featuring imid’s illustrations of a girl dancing around the actual Universal Studios Japan theme park embellished with CG effects by KASSEN.
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” returns to No. 1 after six weeks on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, released Wednesday (March 8).
The smash hit ballad by the four-man band broke the record previously held by Gen Hoshino’s “Koi” for most weeks atop the Japan Hot 100 on the chart released Jan. 25, hitting the peak position for the 12th non-consecutive week. The track continued to coast along in the top 3 while other songs came and went above it, moving 2-2-2-3-2 and now rising again to rule the chart for the 13th time.
“Subtitle” has been consistently strong in streaming, and while this week’s count drops below the 10 million threshold, the track continues to dominate the metric for the 20th consecutive weeks with 9,471,511 streams.
Mukade & Inman’s “Kimi no mama” (“The way you are”) rises 13-7 this week, marking the first top ten hit for the young rapper duo. The mellow love song is the third release by the rapper duo consisting of the winner and contestant of Japan’s High School RAP Competition, a stepping stone for aspiring hip-hop artists. The track, which dropped in February, increased by 4.5 percent in streaming from the previous week with 6,886,852 weekly streams, moving 4-3 for the metric and looking like it could rise further up the charts.
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 Feb. 27 to Mar. 5, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Billboard Japan launched its Women in Music initiative last year to celebrate today’s female achievers who continue to break new ground in Japan’s music industry, in the same spirit as Billboard’s Women in Music event that began in 2007. Billboard has recognized many influential women over the years — the highest honor being Woman of the Year, awarded to some of the industry’s top artists including Beyoncé, Madonna and, this year’s recipient, SZA.
Billboard Japan’s Women in Music consists of a string of projects including interviews, concerts, panel discussions and more. On Friday, March 3 — which also happens to be the traditional annual day celebrating girls in Japan — the inaugural Women in Music concerts took place simultaneously at the Billboard Live venues in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama, headlined by three female artists who represent today’s music landscape in Japan. Each artist performed two shows on that day, with the second being livestreamed for fans who couldn’t attend in person.
Rapper and singer Chanmina took the stage at Billboard Live Tokyo in Roppongi, appearing onstage accompanied by four dancers to the striking refrain of her track “Lucy.” Leading an all-female team of performers including the DJ in keeping with the evening’s theme, the trilingual artist performed a hard-hitting set of songs with lyrics mixing Korean, English and Japanese. The WIM setlist included “I’m a Pop,” featuring intense rapping and deep, dynamic vocals, and “Harenchi,” a sultry number with an urban sound and whispery vocalization.
The 24-year-old artist took a moment during her set to address the packed Billboard Live crowd, briefly explaining why she does what she does. “You’re all so beautiful, more so than you probably think,” she said, “I want to keep telling you that no matter how old I get.” She also paused during her song “Angel” later on to express her deep gratitude for her fans’ support. “To tell you the truth,” she shared, “I wasn’t fine during the COVID-19 pandemic! I missed you all so much.”
The “Bijin” rapper closed her WIM set with a raw, passionate performance of “Dahlia.” She stopped mid-song to say earnestly, “Singing was the only thing I had. So I kept singing and waited. Thank you for finding me, everyone!” When she finished the number, Chanmina bowed deeply to the audience and left the stage with a smile.
UA
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Headlining Billboard Live Osaka was UA, a veteran artist hailing from this city who has balanced her alternative music career and motherhood over the years. The 50-year-old songstress painted the venue with her signature sound, with dreamily melancholic numbers like “Kiokusoushitu” (“Amnesia”) and “Senkou” (“Blaze of Light”), and “JAPONESIA” with its effective combination of scat and harmonies. In particular, the audience was treated to the breadth of UA’s musicality through her breakout hit “Jounetsu” (“Passion”) and “AUWA~TIDA,” a track with a danceable groove developing with increasing intensity. After her main set, she returned to perform “Mizuiro” (“Light Blue”) for the encore — a song the mother of four said she wrote when she was pregnant with her first child — bringing her WIM show to a close with her beautifully unique vocals.
In between songs, the artist currently based in Canada looked back on her upbringing and shared anecdotes about the women she grew up around, making the 300-capacity venue feel even more intimate than usual. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could start each day thinking, ‘I want to start off by embracing and loving myself,’” she said, and added, “I’m happy to have been born a woman, and intend to continue moving forward without losing my passion and curiosity, and without being afraid of experiencing lots of things.”
eill
Junichi Itabashi/Billboard Japan
Singer-songwriter eill headlined the stage over at Billboard Live Yokohama. One of today’s hottest young music producers who gives voice to the honest feelings of the youth of her generation, eill delivered some of her popular numbers with her silky, soulful vocals, fronting a band of accomplished musicians (Katsushiro Sato on guitar, Shunsuke Ochi on bass, nabeLTD on keyboards, Yosuke Minowa handling computer manipulation, and Yukino Matsuura on drums). Appearing on stage dressed in all white, the 24-year-old artist kicked off her set with “Koko de iki wo shite” (“Breathe Here”), and went on to perform “FAKE LOVE/” and “((FULLMOON))” back-to-back, showcasing her signature mellow groove accented with delightful charm. The special WIM set also featured strings (Leina Ushiyama on violin, Yasuko Murata on viola and Kaori Imai on cello), adding a lush layer to her performance of “Finale,” which she explained she wrote “around this time last year while thinking about summer,” and on to “Hana no youni” (“Like a Flower”).
In between songs, eill emphasized the importance of being true to yourself, telling the audience to “love yourself and embrace yourself even when you’re not your best self.” Reassuring fans that “whenever you’re having a hard time, I’ll always give you a little push from behind. I’ll be your light at any time,” she launched into a groovy performance of “Spotlight.”
True to her words, she uplifted the crowd and created a sense of unity in the venue through numbers including “20,” which she accompanied herself on the piano, and the last song “Odorasenaide” (“Don’t Make Me Dance”). During the encore, she announced the release of a new song called “WE ARE.” “We’re all alone, but we’re all not alone. We can use our loneliness as our shields. We’re not alone, everyone,” she said, and after treating the WIM audience to the premiere live performance of the brand-new track, eill left the stage with a big smile on her face.
Japan-based rapper and singer Chanmina is the next featured guest in Billboard Japan’s Women In Music interview series. Billboard Japan launched its WIM initiative last year, highlighting various trailblazing women in the music industry in a string of projects including this series. The initiative follows the established example of Billboard’s Women in Music event that has honored artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work since 2007.
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Chanmina, who performed at Billboard Japan’s Women In Music vol. 0 event at Billboard Live Tokyo on March 3, is a trilingual artist who first came into the spotlight through a rap competition for high school students. Seven years since being lauded as a “high school girl rapper,” she has long cast off that label and continues to grow as a global artist transcending the boundaries of J-pop music. Here, she talks about the subtleties of being fluent in three languages, standing on the shoulders of her predecessors and more.
You started learning piano, ballet, dancing, and singing at an early age. Were there any women you looked up to growing up?
My mother, who was a professional ballet dancer, was my ideal when I was little. I admired the way she would do her hair up and wear stage makeup when she left for work, and the jewelry she bought with her own earnings. My father was also work-minded, but my mother didn’t rely on him [for income]. She found what she was good at, drew out her own strengths, and connected them to her work with conviction. I think I was impressed by that attitude even as a child. When I was a little older, I discovered Avril Lavigne and became a fan; I still love her and listen to her music a lot when I need to gather up some courage. I’m inspired by the way she shines doing what she wants to do, and it’s the same feeling I had for my mother.
So you’ve been able to maintain your own style and beliefs based on respect for women like your mother and Avril Lavigne.
I’ve always been the type of person who can’t listen to what my mind is trying to tell me. I’d push myself too hard when I needed a break, and end up damaging my health. But through music, when I’m writing poetry in a notebook, I try to face the prickly parts of my mind by asking myself things like, “What am I feeling right now?” and “What do I want and what don’t I need?” Writing poetry might be close to therapy for me.
I’ve been writing poetry since I was seven or eight years old. I couldn’t concentrate on my classes at school and began writing down what I was feeling. It become a habit, and when I made my debut and many people heard my songs, some said they could relate. When that happened, although I’d never given it much thought before, I realized that there were people who empathized with me, even though all I was doing was expressing how I felt. That made me want to write about what I really feel even more, rather than accommodate what people wanted me to write. So from there I made a conscious effort to think about the act of writing poetry, which I’d been doing without much thought until then, and realized once again that for me this was a daily routine, a form of therapy, and something like life itself.
You use three different languages, Japanese, English, and Korean. If writing lyrics is therapeutic for you, do you find that your thoughts also change depending on the language you use?
I’m sort of lacking in each of those languages, and feel that I become just barely whole when I use all three. Each language has its own nuances, and I wish I could speak using all three. That finally gets me up to full power. When I talk in my sleep or think in my head, I always mix up the three languages. The Japanese I learned from my father is a masculine way of speaking, the Korean I learned from my mother is feminine, and the English I learned from television and dramas is a frank way of speaking. The way I’m thinking is probably slightly different in each, but they all exist within me.
That’s really interesting, and it shows how subtle and important words are to you. Freestyle rapping is a field where you battle it out with your vocabulary, and you were often referred to as a high school girl rapper because you first attracted attention for your skill as a teen. How did you feel about that at the time?
I strongly resented being called a high school girl rapper and being compared to my opponents, other female rappers, in areas other than rapping. We were insulted by being compared to each other for our looks, like who’s cuter or sexier, and our accomplishments were considered irrelevant. But I made it a rule not to argue with those voices on social media, and to respond with my music. That’s how songs like “Bijin” (“Beautiful Woman”), “Princess,” and “Doctor” were created. If I hadn’t been able to sublimate my resentment and hang-ups into music like that, I think I would have given up on more things in my life.
You must have been in the minority just for being a woman in the Japanese hip-hop community. Did you ever feel inconvenienced in that respect?
Fortunately, other than what I just mentioned, there weren’t any situations where I felt negatively about being a woman. I was never ignored in the scene, and I think I got a lot of attention because I was a minority in the hip-hop community, so I think I was lucky in some ways. And if I get married or get pregnant and have children in the future, the content of my lyrics and what I can express may expand.
The thing is, though, the reason I’m able to feel this way is because women have fought (to achieve it) in the past. So I’m grateful for that, and we also have to keep fighting, while also being careful not to rest on our laurels and discriminate against men.
When did you realize that you’re now standing where women of the past fought and paved the way?
I think going to different countries and meeting different people were a big part of it. Living in Japan, there’s still a sense that women are supposed to do the housework, and there are people who say stuff like, “You make money by showing some skin and pandering to people,” so there’s no way I can say discrimination against women doesn’t exist here, but there are countries in the world where the situation is much worse. I’m sort of surrounded by open-minded people who don’t have biased views about gender, and I’ve been able to come this far without thinking much about matters of gender imbalance. That’s the result of women facing those problems in the past in Japan, and men and women gradually coming to terms with each other. I just want everyone to be equal, so I want to continue tackling problems while also recognizing the improvements that have been made. As an artist, I want to keep my feet on the ground and make music about what I’m feeling as a 24-year-old woman living today.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan
King & Prince’s “Life goes on” comes in at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated March 1, marking the highest sales week of this year with over a million CDs sold in its first week.
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“Life goes on” sold 1,051,909 copies this week to rule physical sales and also comes in at No. 4 for video views and No. 12 for radio airplay. The million threshold for first-week CD sales hadn’t been surpassed since AKB48’s “Shitsuren, Arigato” (1,414,077 copies) and Nogizaka46’s “Shiawase no Hogoshoku” (1,049,667 copies) from March 2020, so the five-man boy band has achieved a major feat this week.
“Life goes on” was released as a double A-sided single with “We are young,” written by two of J-pop’s leading hitmakers with music by Koji Tamaki and lyrics by Junji Ishiwatari, which also garnered attention and came in at No. 11 for video. The Johnny’s group’s previously released songs are also performing well in the sales and video metrics, indicating that the ardent support of the group’s core fanbase is influencing the so-called gray-layer listeners and resulting in King & Prince’s dominance on this week’s charts.
Two other songs debuted on the Japan Hot 100 this week powered by sales. =LOVE’s “Kono Sora ga Trigger” came in at No. 2 for the metric with 216,215 copies, and Tsubaki Factory’s “Machigai janai, Naitari shinai” at No. 3 with 99,816 copies. But the latter hit No. 16 for downloads and No. 44 for radio, which added additional points to give the track a slim lead over “Kono Sora ga Trigger” — “Machigai janai, Naitari shinai”” debuts at No. 3 on the Japan Hot 100, while “Trigger” bows at No. 4.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, YouTube and GYAO! video views and karaoke data.
Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Feb. 20 to Feb. 26, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Japanese boy band ONE N’ ONLY are in the midst of a five-month streak of continuous new releases in celebration of the fifth anniversary of their debut. Billboard Japan spoke to the group prior to the Feb. 24 release of “Get That (PT-BR ver.)” about how they felt gearing up for their first ever Latin America tour, beginning in March.
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The first song you released during this five month string of releases was “YOU???” What kind of impact did it have?
HAYATO: Since “YOU???” was going to be the first song in this five month run of new songs, we picked a really distinctive song. The fast tempo gives a sense of ONE N’ ONLY’s momentum, which sets it a bit apart from our previous releases, so we were a little worried about how it would be received, but as soon as we released it our SWAGs (ONE N’ ONLY fans) were clamoring to see it performed live, which was great.
And now, without even taking a moment to catch your breath, you’re releasing another single. This second release, “Get That (PT-BR ver.),” will be your second song with Portuguese lyrics, following “L.O.C.A.”
EIKU: My first impression when I heard it was that it had a Latin flavor, so it felt like a ONE N’ ONLY song, and that it was quiet but you could really feel the rhythm. The Portuguese fits really well. It’s also easier to sing than “L.O.C.A.”
REI: “L.O.C.A” was hard!
EIKU: Yeah. It was fast and there were a lot of lyrics, so singing it was hard. Compared to that, this song is a lot easier to sing.
I think you’re the first group in Japan to release two songs with Portuguese versions.
TETTA: That’s why we’re “one and only!”
HAYATO: When we performed in Brazil, the audience was singing along, which was awesome. We’re going to be touring Latin America, and I think they’ll be happy that we have more songs in local languages. I certainly hope they will.
TETTA: I was also happy that we’d be able to perform this song on our Latin America tour. This time, I understood the lyrics right from the demo stage. It took some time for me to be able to make out the lyrics to L.O.C.A, so I guess I’ve advanced a little.
How did you feel when the decision was made to tour Latin America?
KENSHIN: I was really happy. Last time we performed there it was for an event, but this time it’s a whole tour. So far, we’re planning to perform at three venues in Brazil and one in Chile.
HAYATO: They’re big venues, so I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like!
Wow!
HAYATO: I hope all our Latin American followers on TikTok come see us (laughs).
KENSHIN: I want everybody to come!
REI, how did you feel when the decision was made to tour in Latin America?
REI: It felt great. It felt like something that I’d just dreamed of before COVID hit was now becoming a reality. Brazil’s on the other side of the world, so it’s not that easy to just get up and go there. I’m honored to be able to go again, and I hope we keep going there in the future.
You can go once without any particular reason, but you need a solid reason to be able to go again, right?
NAOYA: Right. Last time, we went to São Paulo, but this time we’re going to Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. Brazil’s a huge country, so just getting around is going to be hard. That’s why I’m really looking forward to seeing our Brazilian SWAGs who couldn’t get to our show last time. I’m going to be celebrating my birthday while we’re in Chile, too.
Everyone: Whoa!
What’s the music video for the new song like?
HAYATO: We tried to make it feel like a Brazilian party. It’s unlike our previous music videos, so I think it’ll really make a different impression.
KENSHIN: It’s sexy.
HAYATO: We’re releasing five months of new singles, so I want to be able to create different moods and feels.
What are you looking forward to doing in Brazil?
NAOYA: Last time, we only went to São Paulo, and it was like half work, half vacation. This time, we’re going to be on the road a lot. I wonder what we’ll have time to do?
TETTA: The jet lag will probably be intense, too. We’ll have to be careful not to get sick or injured!
NAOYA: We’ll be touring, so we need to prepare so that through each entire show, the audience is thinking “ONE N’ ONLY is the best.”
So you think the way you put on the show will be different than in Japan?
HAYATO: Totally different. We’ll be creating our set list based on what we learned from our last show.
TETTA: There’s a lot less distance between us and the audience in Brazil.
HAYATO: The audience reacts really well, so I want to try harder at MCing. We’ll probably have an interpreter, but I think it’s better when we communicate in our own words, so I’ll study a lot before we go. We’ll do our best to get a foothold through the tour so that we can go again someday.
KENSHIN: I also want to express my love in Portuguese.
Everyone: Yeah!
You’ve got a solo show scheduled for right after you get back to Japan, right?
KENSHIN: I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll be coming back from Latin America stronger than ever.
NAOYA: It’s not something you can experience every day.
HAYATO: It’s going to be a wonderful and really interesting experience, so we’ll make sure to have fun while on tour!
—This interview by Kana Yoshida first appeared on Billboard Japan