Kumi Koda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kumi Koda 倖田來未 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | 神田來未子 | |
| Born | November 13, 1982 (age 24) Kyoto, Japan |
|
| Genre(s) | J-Urban, J-Pop | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Singing | |
| Years active | 2000–present | |
| Label(s) | Rhythm Zone SM Entertainment (Korea) |
|
| Website | Official Site | |
Kumi Koda (倖田來未 Kōda Kumi?) (born Kumiko Koda (神田來未子 Kōda Kumiko?) on November 13, 1982) is a Japanese pop singer who debuted in Japan in 2000 with her first single, TAKE BACK. She did not achieve success until her seventh single, real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba, which was a hit because of its connection to the videogame, Final Fantasy X-2. Her popularity skyrocketed in 2005 after the release of Butterfly and being named one of the best selling artists of 2005 from the success of BEST ~first things~.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood
Born in Kyoto, Kumi was the first girl born in the Koda family in a number of generations. Strong support from her grandfather, who taught her how to play the shakuhachi, and her mother, who taught her how to play the koto, helped her become a success. Young Kumi started practicing classical Japanese dance at the age of three, something that would inspire her in performing and singing in particular.
She used to watch her mother sing at family meetings and parties held after Koda's dance performances. According to Koda, her mother had the ability to captivate the audience, a skill she wished to learn. Nevertheless, she did not want to be just an icon or celebrity, but rise to fame because of talent. In her primary school yearbook, she wrote "I want to be a singer when I grow up."
Her first audition was in her third grade year of primary school. While attending Kyoto Seika High School for young women, she auditioned alongside Maki Goto for the 3rd generation of the Japanese group of entertainers known as Morning Musume and an Avex competition known as "avex dream 2000". [1] She ultimately ended up signing a contract with Avex, and it is uncertain whether she forfeited the Morning Musume competition or if she really did lose to Maki Goto.
[edit] Discovery and affection Era
She finally made her debut on December 6, 2000 with the single TAKE BACK, but it sold poorly and failed to chart. The single was also released in the United States in March 2001 and debuted #20 at the Billboard Hot Dance Music Sales, which can be considered a general flop. Instead of focusing on a possibly lucrative American career, Koda placed emphasis on reaching the top of the local charts.
Koda continued with a second single, Trust Your Love, also released in the United States, and the last of hers to be released there. It held the 19th position on Billboard's Hot 100 singles sales chart and went to number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. Two more singles were released; COLOR OF SOUL and So Into You.
After releasing her first four singles, Koda collaborated with Korean pop singer BoA to sing a song to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The result was the single the meaning of peace, produced by Tetsuya Komuro. Their song also appeared on the charity album SONGNATION.
Koda then released her first studio album, affection, on March 27, 2002. It flopped. Koda stated that she did not contribute anything to this album other than her voice since she "didn't care which songs she would sing as long as she was able to sing".
[edit] grow into one Era
Koda remained active despite commercial failure. In the summer of 2002, she released her fifth single, love across the ocean. While she was satisfied with the single, it failed to bring her success. It debuted at #19 on the Oricon weekly charts and quickly disappeared.
Unfortunately for Koda, her 6th single, m·a·z·e fared worse on the charts than love across the ocean; it peaked at #25 and garnered ten thousand less sales.
Koda enjoyed the first success in her career with real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba. Both songs were the main vocal themes of Final Fantasy X-2, where Koda also lent her voice to the character of Lenne in the Japanese version of the game. The single debuted third on the Oricon weekly chart, becoming Koda's then most successful single and outselling all her previous singles and albums combined.
With the success of real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba, Koda realized she had to adjust her attitude as an artist and the way she presented herself to achieve the success she wanted. As a result, she began to care more about her looks, especially her weight.
The release of her second studio album, grow into one, was announced shortly after real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba. This time, Koda grew more determined to assert her musical style and personal feelings into the album. The album became a modest-sized success as a top ten album and sold 191,033 copies.
[edit] feel my mind Era
Koda continued with a string of top twenty hits with COME WITH ME, Gentle Words, and Crazy 4 U. COME WITH ME was the best performing single off her third album, feel my mind, and sold 42,000 copies.
During the recording session of feel my mind, she started listening to international musicians, which led to R&B and Hip-Hop influences in her music. While Avex was mastering the album, Koda was asked to sing the theme song of anime series "Cutie Honey". She recorded it in the final recording session and had it included as a bonus track on the album.
[edit] secret Era
Cutie Honey, previously a bonus track off feel my mind, was made available as the title track on her eleventh single, LOVE&HONEY, released May 2004.
Her success continued with her first ballad single, titled Kiseki, a hit in Japan. Koda said she noticed an important fact as she was recording her 4th album, listening to her fans. She thought her fans liked songs with complicated meanings or to be technically "cool", but some fans told her that straightforward, frank songs were songs they loved most. She decided "to just have fun" recording her fourth studio album secret, released in February 2005. The album charted third on Oricon Top 200 Charts, higher than her previous albums, and was her first top five Oricon release. The album was certified two times platinum by RIAJ for selling 521,000 copies in total. [2] Compared to past releases, secret was a breakout success.
[edit] BEST~first things~ Era
After secret, Koda released her sixteenth single, Butterfly. This is her highest charting single at this point in her career, debuting second on the weekly Oricon charts. The single had a great reception from the Japanese public; the single ended up ranking fifth in the monthly charts, and Koda won the Grand Prix prize for the single at the 47th Nihon Record Taishou and Japan Gold Disc Awards, and Butterfly was named song of the year for 2005. [3]
She released two more singles, flower and Promise / Star; both peaked fourth in the weekly Oricon charts and continued her string of top ten hits before releasing her first Best Of collection of her singles, which served as a monument of her achievement and evolution in five years as an artist. Titled "BEST ~first things~", it was released on September 21, 2005 and ranked second to Mr. Children's I♥U album, even though Koda's album took the top position in the daily charts after four days of charting. By end of 2006, the album sold 1,850,635 copies and ranked 17th on the yearly chart, dropping from sixth place in 2005. [4] [5]
[edit] BEST~second session~ Era
In December 2005, Koda began a project called the “~12 Singles~ Collection” in which she released twelve singles for twelve consecutive weeks. Nine of the singles were limited to 50,000 copies while three of the singles remained normal editions (for future references, a “maxi single”). If all twelve singles were purchased, the cases could be put together to form a bigger image of Koda from the OBI strips and the back covers.
The first single of the project, a maxi single titled "you", ranked first on the Oricon weekly charts selling 72,000 copies and gave Koda her first single to hit the top spot in the weekly charts. Birthday Eve was released the week after and charted sixth on the weekly charts right after you. This marked the first time a female singer ever landing two singles in the top ten in the same week after Ai Otsuka accomplished it with her Sakuranbo and Amaenbo singles in March 2004.
The fourth and fifth singles of the twelve singles, Shake It Up and Lies, respectively released December 28, 2005, and January 4, 2006, grabbed the sixth and seventh position while you was still charting at ninth. This feat made Koda the first female artist to have three singles in the top ten of the Oricon Weekly Singles chart. [6]
The ~12 Singles~ Collection ended with the release of Someday/Boys♥Girls and later with the "00" single of the collection, Get It On, released exclusively online via cellphone.
Because Koda’s project was a massive success, her management wrapped all of the twelve singles into one best album: BEST~second session~. The album contained all the title tracks of the ~12 Singles~ Collection, with the exception of Boys♥Girls and all the music videos of the project. The album came in three versions: a CD-only version, a CD+DVD version, and a limited CD+2DVD version. The extra DVD in the CD+2DVD version contains footage of from her first live tour in Japan, specifically footage from her performance at Osaka.
The limited edition of the album, limited to 650,000 copies, sold out within days of news about the album. The album charted first on its debut week on the Oricon weekly charts with 983,000 copies sold. This accomplishment makes this album the first to surpass 900,000 copies after Ken Hirai’s UTABAKA: Single Collection in December 2005 and the highest debut sales since Utada Hikaru’s Single Collection Vol. 1 released in March 2004 with debut sales of 1,400,000 copies sold. [7]
Oricon reports that 1,768,628 copies of BEST~second session~ have been sold for the Oricon 2006 year, making it the album with the second highest sales in 2006. [8]
[edit] Black Cherry Era
Koda's first single after the ~12 Singles~ Collection was Koi no Tsubomi, released in May 2006. It charted second in its debut week with sales of 140,000 copies sold. This was the highest debut week sales for female artists in 2006 until Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed it with BLUE BIRD in June. Soon afterwards, Koda reclaimed the title with the release of 4 hot wave, which also ranked second behind KinKi Kids, nearly breaking their streak of consecutive #1 singles. Up until 4 hot wave, it makes it Koda's 19th consecutive single to debut in the top 10 since Kiseki. [9]
After the release of Koi no Tsubomi, there was news of Koda's first photobook in the making. The photobook was confirmed and titled "MAROC" and photographed by Leslie Kee in Morocco. It was later revealed that the photobook will be tied with her quadruple A-side 32nd single, 4 hot wave. Both items were released on the same date and have similar covers.
The title tracks in 4 hot wave were used in advertisements. "I'll be there" was used in the Seabreeze ad for a sun tanning lotion, "Ningyo-Hime" was used in advertisements of the Vodafone 705T mobile phone, "With your smile" was the theme for NTV's 2006 Japan Pro Baseball, and "JUICY" was used by Gemcerey, a Japanese jewelery company, to promote their product, "Binary Face". [10] Binary Face is designed by Koda and the concept is said to be based on her. The "lion" is to represent the dark, sexy and powerful woman while the "rabbit" is for the innocent, weak and cute side of a woman. [11]
The single following 4 hot wave, Yume no Uta / Futari de... (Dream Song/Two of us...), was released on October 18, 2006. Named the "2 Story Ballad", it was released in CD and CD+DVD format. The first pressing for the CD+DVD version contained one of nine special photo liners and two bonus tracks, while a special 8 page booklet was available only in the CD-only version.
The "2 Story Ballad" single originally started out as a single song about "happy love". When Koda listened to the original melody given to her, she commented that the melody had both the elements of happiness and sadness. As a result, she collaborated with her staff on producing two songs but with the same melody, and her staff agreed to it. She wrote another set of lyrics for the song to represent sadness. This is the first single Koda had control over; she wrote the lyrics, chose the outfits, and produced the concepts for the videos of both songs. She confidently remarked that "it was a first time experiment for me, but I was able to convey how happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin." [12]
After the success of Yume no Uta / Futari de..., Koda and EXILE released their duet covering a pop classic called WON'T BE LONG, originally by the Bubblegum Brothers. According to Max Matsuura, the president of Avex, this collaboration was planned at the beginning of the year and was meant to be a fun collaboration. [13] The single charted second in its debut week and sold 130,710 copies.
She followed it up with Cherry Girl / Unmei, released on December 6, 2006. It contained two major tie-ins; "Cherry Girl" is set to be the theme song of a drama starring herself, and "Unmei" will be the theme song of a movie named "Oh-oku". [14] Toshiba also signed the usage of Cherry Girl in their television commercials to promote their new mobile phone, the SoftBank 811T. [15] This single charted third in its debut week, with 61,817 copies sold.
Two weeks after the release of Cherry Girl / Unmei, Koda's 5th studio album titled Black Cherry was released. The album has three versions: the CD-only version, the CD+DVD version, and the limited CD+2DVD version.
The album includes her singles from 2006: Koi no Tsubomi, 4 hot wave, Yume no Uta / Futari de..., and Cherry Girl / Unmei, with the exception of Yume no Uta / Futari de... in which "Futari de..." will be excluded from the album. The number of tracks is totaled to fifteen, which is raised to eighteen in first pressings of the album. Announced on her official site, the last track on the album, "Milk Tea", will be Koda's first composition. Typical of album releases, the first DVD disc will contain most of Koda's music videos produced in 2006, including a video she made collaborating a duet with Taiwanese singer "Show Luo" of the English version of "Twinkle". This video of Twinkle will be on both Koda's and Show Luo's albums. According to Koda's official site, the second DVD disc, available only in the limited CD+2DVD editions, contains "Cherry Girl", a drama starring herself. It also includes famous drama actors such as MEGUMI, Yuko Ito, Masaharu Takeda, Mari Hoshino and Mari Hamada.
Oricon reports that Black Cherry is the first female studio album to stay at number one for three weeks in four years, selling 802,000 copies. The last female studio album to have done that is Ayumi Hamasaki's 2002 album, RAINBOW. [16] It is recently reported that Black Cherry is again at number one for its fourth week, making it the first female studio album after Ayumi Hamasaki's 2000 album, Duty to remain this long at number one. [17] Currently, Black Cherry is the best selling album of 2007.
[edit] BEST~Bounce & Lovers~ Era
Koda will be beginning the year 2007 with three releases: BUT / Aishou, BEST~Bounce&Lovers~, and a DVD release of her second tour in Japan. BUT / Aishou is Koda's 35th single, and was released on March 14, 2007. BUT will be used as the theme song to the Japanese edition of Step Up and is described as a "destructive, four-on-the-floor dance song" and Aishou, a love song. BEST ~Bounce & Lovers~was released the same day as BUT / Aishou and will feature fourteen of Koda's "greatest love songs" and its DVD will contain her music videos reedited to show only dance footage.
[edit] Awards and Accomplishments
[edit] Music Awards
She won her first award at the 47th Nihon Record Taishou for 'Butterfly' on January 01, 2006, [18] and was awarded "Triple Crown" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards on March 10, 2006, for pocketing three awards: "Pop Artist of the Year", "Pop Album of the Year", and "Music Video of the Year". [3] She continued to win more awards for this song; on May 31, 2006, the MTV VMA-J's awarded Koda with "Best Female Video" and "Best Video of the Year" for Butterfly, and "buzzASIA from Japan" for Trust you, a track off her 4th album, secret. [19]
In the second half of 2006, the song Yume no Uta from her 33rd single, Yume no Uta / Futari de..., garnered Koda more awards. She was the Grand Prix winner of Best Hit Kayousai on November 17, 2006,[20] and again a Grand Prix winner at the 39th Nihon Yusen Record Taishou. [21] However, at the "48th Nihon Record Taishou", Koda only won "Best Vocal Performance of 2006", losing the Grand Prix title to Kiyoshi Hikawa. [22]
On March 13, 2007, she received the grand prize from the Japan Gold Disc Awards, making it the second year she has received an award from them. Japan Gold Disc awards the grand prize according to highest CD sales, and Koda was awarded it having sold 3.5 million units of her albums and 2.4 million units of her singles. [23]
[edit] Fashion Awards
Within 2006, Kumi Koda began winning awards for being a new trendsetter in Japan, marked by being awarded the "DIME Award Trend Grand Prize 2006" on November 28, 2006, which has recognized past trendsetters like Ayumi Hamasaki with the same award in the years passed. [24] Other "fashionable awards" given to her include the "Best Jeanist Award" on September 04, 2006, [25] and the title of "Nail Queen" for her nail art on November 21, 2006, by Japan Nail Expo. [26] [27] Finally, VOGUE NIPPON named her one of their "Women of 2006". [28]
[edit] Oricon Accomplishments
On Japan's Oricon charts, Kumi Koda has made several notable accomplishments and broken records set by others. From her ~12 Singles~ Collection and BEST~second session~, she became the first female artist to have three singles in the Top 10 of the Oricon weekly singles chart, [6] and the female artist with the highest album debut week sales since Utada Hikaru's Single Collection Vol. 1 with 983,000 copies of BEST~second session~ sold. [7]
On February 13th, 2006 Oricon reported that Kumi's first LIVE DVD, "secret ~FIRST CLASS LIMITED LIVE~" set a new Oricon record on the music DVD charts by remaining at the top of the Oricon DVD charts for 7 weeks in total. [29]
Then, with the release of her 5th album, Black Cherry, Koda was the first female artist to release a studio album that remained at the top of the Oricon weekly album charts for four weeks after Ayumi Hamasaki with her album, Duty, released in 2000. [17]
At the end of 2006, Oricon named her the top seller of 2006 with 12,702,200,000 Yen profit, approximately 106,808,520 USD. [30]
[edit] Online Accomplishments
Kumi Koda, while having success on Oricon charts with physical CD sales, maintains success on online music sales as well. It is reported that twenty-two of her music videos chart the top 100 most downloaded videos, with four of her videos dominating the top five, and having Koi no Tsubomi top the Overall Downloads Chart, which thirteen of her other songs chart. [31] [32]
Yahoo! Japan reported Kumi Koda to be the top most searched person in 2006. [33]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Performances in the United States
- May 23, 2002 - May 26, 2002: New York - Tokyo Music Festival; New York, NY.
- January 30, 2004: Ushicon 3 Anime Convention: Austin, Texas.
- March 25, 2005: KamikazeCon Anime Convention: Houston, Texas. (Review)
[edit] References
- ^ Koda in Morning Musume's 3rd Generation Audition
- ^ RIAJ, ゴールド等認定作品認定 2005年7月
- ^ a b Sanspo.com, 倖田來未、実力を証明！ゴールドディスク大賞グランプリ受賞
- ^ CMA, 2006年度アルバム年間売上ランキング
- ^ アルバム 年間ランキング-ORICON STYLE ランキング
- ^ a b Oricon News, 紅白・年末番組出演組が好調！倖田來未は女性史上初の快挙！
- ^ a b Oricon News, 倖田來未、ベスト盤第2弾が初動98万枚の大ヒット！初登場首位に！
- ^ Oricon Style, 年間ヒットチャート特集『2006年 年間アルバムチャート大発表！』-ORICON STYLE ＷＭミュージック
- ^ Oricon News, 倖田來未、ドラマ『ブス恋』主題歌で自己記録更新！
- ^ www.musicnet.co.jp, ４曲入りシングル「4 hot wave」リリース！ コメント＆プレゼントが到着！
- ^ gemcerey-kyoto.jp, ジェムケリー バイナリーフェイス（Binary Face ） 大丸 心斎橋店に登場！
- ^ Sanspo.com, 倖田來未、１メロディーで２作！バラードに幸せと悲しみ込める
- ^ 松浦勝人, WON'T BE LONG
- ^ Sanspo.com, 江戸にタイムスリップ！倖田來未「大奥」にセクシーな歌声を注入
- ^ Sanspo.com, 倖田來未、カメラ目線でケータイをアピール－ソフトバンク新ＣＭ
- ^ Oricon News, 今週の注目チャートトピック一覧！！
- ^ a b Oricon News, 倖田來未、4週連続首位で6年ぶりの快挙！
- ^ www.sankei.co.jp, レコード大賞に倖田來未
- ^ PGS LIVE!, MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2006
- ^ Kyodo News, 倖田、水森さんに栄冠 ベストヒット歌謡祭２００６
- ^ Sanspo.com, 倖田、涙の日本有線大賞グランプリ受賞！氷川の４連覇を阻止
- ^ nikkansports.com, 倖田17冠目、最優秀歌唱賞
- ^ Sanspo.com, 倖田來未、２年連続の受賞 ゴールドディスク大賞
- ^ nikkansports.com, 倖田来未が「話題の人物賞」を受賞
- ^ best-jeans.com, Best-Jeans.com | Best Jeanist
- ^ Sanspo.com, 美しい手は誰？倖田來未、和田アキ子らがネイルクイーンに！
- ^ Chief Michiyo Ishida, Manicure art steals the show at Japan nail expo
- ^ VOGUE NIPPON, VOGUE NIPPON / Women of the Year 2006
- ^ Oricon Style, その他 話題作のチャート発表！
- ^ Oricon Style, 年間ヒットチャート特集『2006年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング大発表！』-ORICON STYLE ＷＭミュージック
- ^ 着うた・着信メロディのダウンロードなら「レコード会社直営♪」, ムービーダウンロードランキング
- ^ 着うた・着信メロディのダウンロードなら「レコード会社直営♪」, 総合ダウンロードランキング
- ^ Yahoo! Japan, 2006検索ワードランキング - Yahoo! JAPAN
[edit] External links
- Official sites
- Official webpage - (Japanese)
- Fan sites
