9 definitions by THE WORKOUT
School is just like a prison. The bell tells you when to go to eat, when to see your friends, and when to go to class.
by THE WORKOUT October 14, 2006
Heartsdales is a Japanese hip-hop group composed of two sisters, Yumi and Emi, known by their stage names Rum and Jewels, respectively.
Emi was born on December 4, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. Her family moved to the Yonkers area of New York about the time that Yumi was born (December 17, 1981). They lived there for 13 years.
Some time later, Emi and Yumi appeared on the TV entertainment-audition program ASAYAN. Their performance on ASAYAN landed them a contract. They adopted the name "Heartsdales" as a reference to the city Hartsdale, New York where they grew up.
They released their first album, Radioactive, in 2002 under AVEX Record's sublabel Cutting Edge. Since then, they have released six more albums and fourteen singles under AVEX's Espionage Records sublabel. The Heartsdales' management office is Artimage, who also manages other Japanese hip-hop artists such as m-flo and Double.
On June 22, 2006, Heartsdales announced on their official website that they were going to break-up and they were going to move on to new projects as solo artists.
Emi was born on December 4, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. Her family moved to the Yonkers area of New York about the time that Yumi was born (December 17, 1981). They lived there for 13 years.
Some time later, Emi and Yumi appeared on the TV entertainment-audition program ASAYAN. Their performance on ASAYAN landed them a contract. They adopted the name "Heartsdales" as a reference to the city Hartsdale, New York where they grew up.
They released their first album, Radioactive, in 2002 under AVEX Record's sublabel Cutting Edge. Since then, they have released six more albums and fourteen singles under AVEX's Espionage Records sublabel. The Heartsdales' management office is Artimage, who also manages other Japanese hip-hop artists such as m-flo and Double.
On June 22, 2006, Heartsdales announced on their official website that they were going to break-up and they were going to move on to new projects as solo artists.
by THE WORKOUT November 4, 2006
This is the Cantonese word for an ethnic Chinese born in Vietnam.
NOTE: This is NOT to be confused with Vietnamese. Yeet nam wah kews do NOT have Vietnamese BLOOD: they speak Vietnamese (most of them with Southern Chinese accents, since most of them are Southern Chinese) and may even eat and cook Viet food, but they are just Chinese born in Vietnam.
NOTE: This is NOT to be confused with Vietnamese. Yeet nam wah kews do NOT have Vietnamese BLOOD: they speak Vietnamese (most of them with Southern Chinese accents, since most of them are Southern Chinese) and may even eat and cook Viet food, but they are just Chinese born in Vietnam.
by THE WORKOUT October 14, 2006
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and the southern People's Republic of China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam.
Vietnamese are not to be confused with yeet nam wah kews.
It would be interesting to note that only one-third (or 33%) of Viets actually marry Viets. Most Vietnamese marry Southern Chinese (Cantonese) or Whites. This is due to the fact that Viets had to go through alot and the country has enough Chinese and Whites in it.
Vietnamese are not to be confused with yeet nam wah kews.
It would be interesting to note that only one-third (or 33%) of Viets actually marry Viets. Most Vietnamese marry Southern Chinese (Cantonese) or Whites. This is due to the fact that Viets had to go through alot and the country has enough Chinese and Whites in it.
by THE WORKOUT October 14, 2006
Boa Kwon (Kwon Boa, born November 5, 1986 in Kyunggi-Do, South Korea) is an iconic Korean singer who is better known by her artistic name BoA* (Beat of Angel). She has released albums in both South Korea and Japan. Her Korean record label, SM Entertainment, has positioned her to become a cross-cultural idol for all of Asia.
She has released nine full-length albums, three mini-albums, two compilation albums, two remix albums, and over thirty singles in Japan and South Korea. Her albums have also been released as "overseas versions" throughout Asia and her total record sales are quickly approaching the ten million mark. BoA broke records in both Korea and Japan with her top songs, No. 1, Valenti, and Listen to My Heart. She has also made strides in music and acting with chart-breaking albums released in both Japanese and Korean.
BoA's first language is Korean, but she also speaks fluent Japanese and conversational English, and is also learning Mandarin Chinese. BoA has re-recorded her more popular songs in Mandarin and has composed and written lyrics for several of her songs.
Today, BoA is considered one of the most popular pop artists in both Korea and Japan, and is one of the leading stars of the Korean Wave otherwise known as "Hallyu". She has been credited as helping establish and improve relations between Japan and Korea, where tensions have traditionally existed. She is recognized as the "Queen of Asia" by fans across the globe.
BoA has re-signed an extended contract with SM Entertainment until 2012 for which she will receive 100,000 shares of SM Entertainment.
She has released nine full-length albums, three mini-albums, two compilation albums, two remix albums, and over thirty singles in Japan and South Korea. Her albums have also been released as "overseas versions" throughout Asia and her total record sales are quickly approaching the ten million mark. BoA broke records in both Korea and Japan with her top songs, No. 1, Valenti, and Listen to My Heart. She has also made strides in music and acting with chart-breaking albums released in both Japanese and Korean.
BoA's first language is Korean, but she also speaks fluent Japanese and conversational English, and is also learning Mandarin Chinese. BoA has re-recorded her more popular songs in Mandarin and has composed and written lyrics for several of her songs.
Today, BoA is considered one of the most popular pop artists in both Korea and Japan, and is one of the leading stars of the Korean Wave otherwise known as "Hallyu". She has been credited as helping establish and improve relations between Japan and Korea, where tensions have traditionally existed. She is recognized as the "Queen of Asia" by fans across the globe.
BoA has re-signed an extended contract with SM Entertainment until 2012 for which she will receive 100,000 shares of SM Entertainment.
by THE WORKOUT October 14, 2006
Namie Amuro (born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese pop singer. Often known as the "Queen of J-pop" who preceeded Ayumi Hamasaki, she was noted in her early years for her Westernized dance music and popularized fashion whose followers came to be nicknamed Amura (Amurer in English).
Debuting in 1992 as part of the quintet, Super Monkey's, she later debuted solo in 1995 to phenomenal success with producer Tetsuya Komuro. Severing her ties with Komuro in 2001, Amuro has since attempted to establish herself as a R&B artist. Her latest album, Queen of Hip-Pop (2005) debuted at #2 and has been certified double platinum since its release. She has nine #1 singles, five of which have sold over 1,000,000 copies.
Namie Amuro was born in Naha City, Okinawa, Japan. She is the daughter of Emiko Taira who is Japanese-Italian. Amuro is the last of three children Emiko had with her biological father before their divorce. Amuro's parents divorced when she was a toddler. Her father's identity is unknown.
Amuro got her start when she was discovered by Masayuki Makino, the president of Okinawa Actor's School, after coming along with a friend who was currently enrolled in the school. It was him who later at the age of 14 placed her in a group called Super Monkeys along with Minako Ameku, Nanako Takushi, Hisako Arakaki and Anna Makino. They left the school and made their major label debut with the double a-side single, "Koi no Cute Beat / Mr. USA" on September 15, 1992 on Toshiba-EMI.
Amuro started her career within the group, Super Monkey's, who throughout their time together suffered several setbacks. Although their debut single peaked within the top 30, subsequent singles failed to match its success. The group also went through several member changes. After their initial debut, Anna Makino, left the group. She would be replaced by Rino Nakasone who left the group without recording any material. In 1993, they changed their name from Super Monkey's to Super Monkey's 4 and released the single "Dancing Junk" and "Aishite Masukatto." The group later became regulars on music television program, Pop Jam, as part of the dancing and singing troupe PJG. Between the group, Amuro acted in television dramas and even starred in a children's program called Ponkikies dressed in a rabbit suit. The group changed its name again in 1994 to Namie Amuro with Super Monkey's and released the single, "Paradise Train." It did not chart. Hisako Arakaki left the group soon after the release of the single.
After the departure of Arakaki, Reina Miyauchi and Ritsuko Matsuda replaced her in the group. Back as a quintet the group released the single, "Try Me ~Watashi wo Shinjite~" in January of 1995. A cover of the Eurobeat song "Try Me" by Italian singer Lolita, the single peaked at #8 in April and was the beginning of her rise to super stardom. Following the success of "Try Me" the group with the newly realized popularity of their lead singer, released the single "Taiyou no Season" in April solely as Namie Amuro. The following month, the remaining members of the Super Monkey's debuted as the group, MAX, on the avex trax label. After a final single and their first album together released in October of that year, the group stopped recording music together. Amuro followed MAX and signed to avex trax releasing the single, "Body Feels Exit" under the wing of super producer Tetsuya Komuro. Komuro actually approached Amuro in 1993 after seeing a commercial the group had starred in. It was through producer Max Matsuura who had produced all of the Super Monkey's final singles that Amuro switched labels and came to be produced by Komuro.
Throughout 1995 and 1996, Amuro accumulated three consecutive #1 million selling singles including "Chase the Chance," "Don't wanna cry," and "You're My Sunshine". Following four successful singles, she released the groundbreaking Sweet 19 Blues (1996) album to massive success selling over 3,000,000 -- an unprecedented amount at the time. By then Amuro's success had transcended her music into Japanese fashion culture. Her signature tanned skinned, dyed hair, miniskirts and boots created a generation of imitators dubbed Amura by the media. Amura translated into English is Amurer. Amuro is often accredited for the creation of Ganguro which is said to be an offspring of the Amura boom.
At the end of 1996, she was nominated and won the Grand Prix Award, the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards equivalent to the Grammy's Best Song Award for her hit "Don't wanna cry". She is the youngest artist to have won the award.
Amuro began 1997 with her career defining single, "Can You Celebrate?" Released in February, the single sold over 800,000 copies its first week. In 2005, Oricon, Japan's equivalent to America's Billboard charts recognized the single as the largest selling single from a female artist between 1996 and 2005. After the release of another single "How to be a girl" and a second album, "Concentration 20" Amuro toured Japan's four domes during the summer of that year.
In the fall, Amuro shocked Japan when she announced at a press conference that she was three months pregnant and had gotten married to Sam, real name Masaharu Maruyama. Sam was already a familiar name to the public as part of the popular group, TRF. At the end of the year she would win the Grand Prix Award again and make her final appearance before a one year maternity leave on Kouhaku Uta Gassen.
On May 19, 1998, she gave birth to her only child, Haruto. On December 23 of the same year, she released her comeback single I HAVE NEVER SEEN which debuted at #1.
In 1999, she started working with American producer Dallas Austin. Her work with the producer brought a harder R&B style to her music. However, 1999 was a painful year for Namie; during the promotion of the single RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE, her mother (who was remarried) was brutally murdered by her mother's mentally unstable brother-in-law. In July of 2000, she released the single NEVER END which she performed in front of several world leaders including then president Bill Clinton at the G8 Summit. In 2001, Namie and her producer, Tetsuya Komuro, ended their working relationship after the release of her 4th original studio album, break the rules. She released "Say the word" on August 8 the same year, which she for the first time, wrote the lyrics for. At the end of that year, as part of avex's SongNation project, which was Tetsuya Komuro's nonprofit charity project to raise money for the victims of 9/11, she collaborated with the rapper Verbal of m-flo for the song "lovin' it", which was released on Song Nation and also as the last of the three collaboration singles (the others being "A song is born" (Ayumi Hamasaki and KEIKO of globe) and "Meaning of Peace" (Kumi Koda and BoA)).
Amuro's third studio album GENIUS 2000 was released on January 26, 2000. It departed from the eurobeat style music that made her a star.
In 2002, Namie fully immersed herself into the Japanese R&B scene releasing music in the musical project, SUITE CHIC. Under the SUITE CHIC project she collaborated with several of Japan's popular hip hop and R&B artists. They released two singles, an original album and one remix album before ending the project in 2003.
Namie returned to solo activities on her own in 2003 with the single shine more. The subsequent singles Put 'Em Up and SO CRAZY were produced by American R&B producers Dallas Austin and Full Force respectively. At the end of the year, she released her first original album in three years, STYLE.
From November 29, 2003 to May 15, 2004 she performed throughout Asia on the Namie Amuro SO CRAZY tour featuring BEST singles 2003-2004, where she wrapped it up with 3 concerts in Seoul, South Korea and Taipei, Taiwan. She was the first major Japanese artist to hold a concert in South Korea after the normalization of cultural relations. Shortly following the tour, she released the ballad "ALL FOR YOU." The song peaked at #6, but sold double the amount of her last single. In late August, she went on a private fan club tour focusing on the songs from her latest album which were not performed on her current public tour. She also unveiled two new songs on the tour, "GIRL TALK" and "the SPEED STAR", which would be released the next month as a double a-side single. When it was released the song charted at #1 on the Oricon daily chart for three days. It was the first time any of her singles had placed #1 in 5 years. The song ultimately placed #2 for the week and repeated the sales success of her previous single.
At the end of the year, Namie shocked fans by choosing to not appear on Kôhaku Uta Gassen. Her decision to decline the offer also surprised critics, who actually felt she had at least earned her right to perform at the event that year. She had previously attended the coveted event nine years in a row. Following the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, Namie participated as the only Japanese representative at MTV Asia Aid. She secretly donated approximately 90,000 USD to UNICEF for children who were affected by the disaster. In January, Namie surprised fans again when a new song popped up in a Suzuki Chevrolet commercial. The new song entitled "Queen of Hip-Pop" was assumed to be her next single until in April, she released the song "WANT ME, WANT ME." The song was a well-received hit at home debuting at #2 and charting with her highest debut sales peak in 3 years.
In May, Namie had both professional and personal gains. Following a three year split from her former husband SAM, she took back full custody of their child, Haruto. They had previously agreed that SAM would be the child's sole guardian. At the end of the month, she performed at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards for the fourth consecutive year in a row and this year, clinched two awards. She took home the award for "Best R&B Video" as well as a special award for most impressive performance in Asia becoming the first artist to take home awards four years in a row at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards. She took home the "Inspiration Award Japan" in 2002, Best Collaboration in 2003, "Best R&B Video" for 2004, and 2005 as well as "Most Impressive Asian Artist" in 2005. Between these two events, she announced the release of her sixth original studio album, entitled Queen of Hip-Pop.
In collaboration with MGM Studios, Namie has licensed for the use of the Pink Panther character to be used in conjunction with the album. A female panther counterpart has been created in her image for the album as well. There seems to be no connection with the usage of the Pink Panther and the possible Japanese release of the American remake. Upon release, the album charted at #2. The album has since become her best selling album in 5 years, eclipsing the sales of her three previous albums. In September, Namie kicked off her 7th national public tour entitled Space of Hip-Pop.
Shortly after the start of her tour it was announced that she would contribute to the Japanese theaterical release of the American motion picture adaptation of "Sin City." After viewing the movie, Namie made an offer to the Japanese distribution company to sing its theme song. The company felt that her image fit it and accepted her offer. When director Robert Rodriguez heard Namie's contribution to the film he asked to be a part of it. He can be heard speaking "Welcome to Sin City" in a distorted voice towards the end of the song. It was released as part of a double a-side single, "White Light / Violet Sauce" on November 16, 2005. The other a-side track, "White Light" is her first attempt at a Christmas ballad. Shortly after the single, she released "FILMOGRAPHY 2001-2005" a compilation of twelve of her music videos from 2001 to 2005. In March 2006, Oricon published an article stating that Namie had sold approximately 15,423,000 singles domestically, making her the second highest selling female artist in terms of singles, the first being Ayumi Hamasaki.
In early 2006, she recorded vocals for the track, "Do What U Gotta Do" by ZEEBRA. The song also featured contributions from AI and MUMMY-D. In February, her music video for "WoWa" was nominated for "Best Female Video" at Space Shower TV music video awards, but lost to YUKI's video for Joy. In May, she released the double a-side single, "CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK / Ningyo." According to several interviews including ViVi magazine and S Cawaii, she spent the early summer in L.A. resting before her current tour. In August, she began her tour Namie Amuro Best Tour "Live Style 2006". On September 17, she performed to an audience of 12,000 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Media coverage of the concert stated that in 2007 she hoped to tour not only Japan, but Asia and America as well. Amuro previously toured in Taiwan and South Korea during the Asian leg of her So Crazy tour in 2004.
Debuting in 1992 as part of the quintet, Super Monkey's, she later debuted solo in 1995 to phenomenal success with producer Tetsuya Komuro. Severing her ties with Komuro in 2001, Amuro has since attempted to establish herself as a R&B artist. Her latest album, Queen of Hip-Pop (2005) debuted at #2 and has been certified double platinum since its release. She has nine #1 singles, five of which have sold over 1,000,000 copies.
Namie Amuro was born in Naha City, Okinawa, Japan. She is the daughter of Emiko Taira who is Japanese-Italian. Amuro is the last of three children Emiko had with her biological father before their divorce. Amuro's parents divorced when she was a toddler. Her father's identity is unknown.
Amuro got her start when she was discovered by Masayuki Makino, the president of Okinawa Actor's School, after coming along with a friend who was currently enrolled in the school. It was him who later at the age of 14 placed her in a group called Super Monkeys along with Minako Ameku, Nanako Takushi, Hisako Arakaki and Anna Makino. They left the school and made their major label debut with the double a-side single, "Koi no Cute Beat / Mr. USA" on September 15, 1992 on Toshiba-EMI.
Amuro started her career within the group, Super Monkey's, who throughout their time together suffered several setbacks. Although their debut single peaked within the top 30, subsequent singles failed to match its success. The group also went through several member changes. After their initial debut, Anna Makino, left the group. She would be replaced by Rino Nakasone who left the group without recording any material. In 1993, they changed their name from Super Monkey's to Super Monkey's 4 and released the single "Dancing Junk" and "Aishite Masukatto." The group later became regulars on music television program, Pop Jam, as part of the dancing and singing troupe PJG. Between the group, Amuro acted in television dramas and even starred in a children's program called Ponkikies dressed in a rabbit suit. The group changed its name again in 1994 to Namie Amuro with Super Monkey's and released the single, "Paradise Train." It did not chart. Hisako Arakaki left the group soon after the release of the single.
After the departure of Arakaki, Reina Miyauchi and Ritsuko Matsuda replaced her in the group. Back as a quintet the group released the single, "Try Me ~Watashi wo Shinjite~" in January of 1995. A cover of the Eurobeat song "Try Me" by Italian singer Lolita, the single peaked at #8 in April and was the beginning of her rise to super stardom. Following the success of "Try Me" the group with the newly realized popularity of their lead singer, released the single "Taiyou no Season" in April solely as Namie Amuro. The following month, the remaining members of the Super Monkey's debuted as the group, MAX, on the avex trax label. After a final single and their first album together released in October of that year, the group stopped recording music together. Amuro followed MAX and signed to avex trax releasing the single, "Body Feels Exit" under the wing of super producer Tetsuya Komuro. Komuro actually approached Amuro in 1993 after seeing a commercial the group had starred in. It was through producer Max Matsuura who had produced all of the Super Monkey's final singles that Amuro switched labels and came to be produced by Komuro.
Throughout 1995 and 1996, Amuro accumulated three consecutive #1 million selling singles including "Chase the Chance," "Don't wanna cry," and "You're My Sunshine". Following four successful singles, she released the groundbreaking Sweet 19 Blues (1996) album to massive success selling over 3,000,000 -- an unprecedented amount at the time. By then Amuro's success had transcended her music into Japanese fashion culture. Her signature tanned skinned, dyed hair, miniskirts and boots created a generation of imitators dubbed Amura by the media. Amura translated into English is Amurer. Amuro is often accredited for the creation of Ganguro which is said to be an offspring of the Amura boom.
At the end of 1996, she was nominated and won the Grand Prix Award, the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards equivalent to the Grammy's Best Song Award for her hit "Don't wanna cry". She is the youngest artist to have won the award.
Amuro began 1997 with her career defining single, "Can You Celebrate?" Released in February, the single sold over 800,000 copies its first week. In 2005, Oricon, Japan's equivalent to America's Billboard charts recognized the single as the largest selling single from a female artist between 1996 and 2005. After the release of another single "How to be a girl" and a second album, "Concentration 20" Amuro toured Japan's four domes during the summer of that year.
In the fall, Amuro shocked Japan when she announced at a press conference that she was three months pregnant and had gotten married to Sam, real name Masaharu Maruyama. Sam was already a familiar name to the public as part of the popular group, TRF. At the end of the year she would win the Grand Prix Award again and make her final appearance before a one year maternity leave on Kouhaku Uta Gassen.
On May 19, 1998, she gave birth to her only child, Haruto. On December 23 of the same year, she released her comeback single I HAVE NEVER SEEN which debuted at #1.
In 1999, she started working with American producer Dallas Austin. Her work with the producer brought a harder R&B style to her music. However, 1999 was a painful year for Namie; during the promotion of the single RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE, her mother (who was remarried) was brutally murdered by her mother's mentally unstable brother-in-law. In July of 2000, she released the single NEVER END which she performed in front of several world leaders including then president Bill Clinton at the G8 Summit. In 2001, Namie and her producer, Tetsuya Komuro, ended their working relationship after the release of her 4th original studio album, break the rules. She released "Say the word" on August 8 the same year, which she for the first time, wrote the lyrics for. At the end of that year, as part of avex's SongNation project, which was Tetsuya Komuro's nonprofit charity project to raise money for the victims of 9/11, she collaborated with the rapper Verbal of m-flo for the song "lovin' it", which was released on Song Nation and also as the last of the three collaboration singles (the others being "A song is born" (Ayumi Hamasaki and KEIKO of globe) and "Meaning of Peace" (Kumi Koda and BoA)).
Amuro's third studio album GENIUS 2000 was released on January 26, 2000. It departed from the eurobeat style music that made her a star.
In 2002, Namie fully immersed herself into the Japanese R&B scene releasing music in the musical project, SUITE CHIC. Under the SUITE CHIC project she collaborated with several of Japan's popular hip hop and R&B artists. They released two singles, an original album and one remix album before ending the project in 2003.
Namie returned to solo activities on her own in 2003 with the single shine more. The subsequent singles Put 'Em Up and SO CRAZY were produced by American R&B producers Dallas Austin and Full Force respectively. At the end of the year, she released her first original album in three years, STYLE.
From November 29, 2003 to May 15, 2004 she performed throughout Asia on the Namie Amuro SO CRAZY tour featuring BEST singles 2003-2004, where she wrapped it up with 3 concerts in Seoul, South Korea and Taipei, Taiwan. She was the first major Japanese artist to hold a concert in South Korea after the normalization of cultural relations. Shortly following the tour, she released the ballad "ALL FOR YOU." The song peaked at #6, but sold double the amount of her last single. In late August, she went on a private fan club tour focusing on the songs from her latest album which were not performed on her current public tour. She also unveiled two new songs on the tour, "GIRL TALK" and "the SPEED STAR", which would be released the next month as a double a-side single. When it was released the song charted at #1 on the Oricon daily chart for three days. It was the first time any of her singles had placed #1 in 5 years. The song ultimately placed #2 for the week and repeated the sales success of her previous single.
At the end of the year, Namie shocked fans by choosing to not appear on Kôhaku Uta Gassen. Her decision to decline the offer also surprised critics, who actually felt she had at least earned her right to perform at the event that year. She had previously attended the coveted event nine years in a row. Following the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, Namie participated as the only Japanese representative at MTV Asia Aid. She secretly donated approximately 90,000 USD to UNICEF for children who were affected by the disaster. In January, Namie surprised fans again when a new song popped up in a Suzuki Chevrolet commercial. The new song entitled "Queen of Hip-Pop" was assumed to be her next single until in April, she released the song "WANT ME, WANT ME." The song was a well-received hit at home debuting at #2 and charting with her highest debut sales peak in 3 years.
In May, Namie had both professional and personal gains. Following a three year split from her former husband SAM, she took back full custody of their child, Haruto. They had previously agreed that SAM would be the child's sole guardian. At the end of the month, she performed at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards for the fourth consecutive year in a row and this year, clinched two awards. She took home the award for "Best R&B Video" as well as a special award for most impressive performance in Asia becoming the first artist to take home awards four years in a row at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards. She took home the "Inspiration Award Japan" in 2002, Best Collaboration in 2003, "Best R&B Video" for 2004, and 2005 as well as "Most Impressive Asian Artist" in 2005. Between these two events, she announced the release of her sixth original studio album, entitled Queen of Hip-Pop.
In collaboration with MGM Studios, Namie has licensed for the use of the Pink Panther character to be used in conjunction with the album. A female panther counterpart has been created in her image for the album as well. There seems to be no connection with the usage of the Pink Panther and the possible Japanese release of the American remake. Upon release, the album charted at #2. The album has since become her best selling album in 5 years, eclipsing the sales of her three previous albums. In September, Namie kicked off her 7th national public tour entitled Space of Hip-Pop.
Shortly after the start of her tour it was announced that she would contribute to the Japanese theaterical release of the American motion picture adaptation of "Sin City." After viewing the movie, Namie made an offer to the Japanese distribution company to sing its theme song. The company felt that her image fit it and accepted her offer. When director Robert Rodriguez heard Namie's contribution to the film he asked to be a part of it. He can be heard speaking "Welcome to Sin City" in a distorted voice towards the end of the song. It was released as part of a double a-side single, "White Light / Violet Sauce" on November 16, 2005. The other a-side track, "White Light" is her first attempt at a Christmas ballad. Shortly after the single, she released "FILMOGRAPHY 2001-2005" a compilation of twelve of her music videos from 2001 to 2005. In March 2006, Oricon published an article stating that Namie had sold approximately 15,423,000 singles domestically, making her the second highest selling female artist in terms of singles, the first being Ayumi Hamasaki.
In early 2006, she recorded vocals for the track, "Do What U Gotta Do" by ZEEBRA. The song also featured contributions from AI and MUMMY-D. In February, her music video for "WoWa" was nominated for "Best Female Video" at Space Shower TV music video awards, but lost to YUKI's video for Joy. In May, she released the double a-side single, "CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK / Ningyo." According to several interviews including ViVi magazine and S Cawaii, she spent the early summer in L.A. resting before her current tour. In August, she began her tour Namie Amuro Best Tour "Live Style 2006". On September 17, she performed to an audience of 12,000 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Media coverage of the concert stated that in 2007 she hoped to tour not only Japan, but Asia and America as well. Amuro previously toured in Taiwan and South Korea during the Asian leg of her So Crazy tour in 2004.
by THE WORKOUT October 11, 2006
Ayumi Hamasaki (Hamasaki Ayumi, born October 2, 1978) is a japanese pop singer and Japanese idol originally from Fukuoka, Japan. She is commonly called by her nickname 'Ayu'. To this date, she has released seven full-length studio albums, one mini-album, two compilation albums, and 40 singles.
She officially debuted in 1998 with her single poker face. She is the first Japanese artist to have her first original seven studio albums top the charts.
Although Ayumi lived with her mother, she was primarily raised by her grandmother. She has vague recollections of her father as he left the family at around the time she was two, and she has not seen him since. She grew up in a very liberal household where she was expected to do what was right for her without her mother intervening in her affairs, since her mother was always out working to support the family.
In her youth, Hamasaki started her modeling career as a model for a local bank. During high school, she was considered a delinquent because of her dyed hair and short shirts which were considered extremely unconventional in Japan at that time. Eventually she dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo to pursue a fulltime modeling career.
Hamasaki used the pseudonym 'Kurumi Hamazaki', acting in low budget dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Sumomomomomo; however, she did not find success. She was too short to become a professional model. As a result, she spent her days wandering the streets of Tokyo, shopping, and dancing at clubs in the Shibuya, Tokyo|Shibuya district. She was "discovered" by her producer Max Matsuura, an Avex trax producer when she was singing karaoke. When he asked her if she wanted to pursue a singing career, she said she agreed, "only because I had nothing to do." Hamasaki was contracted to take vocal training in Tokyo but she stopped attending as she found it too rigid. For a more relaxed atmosphere Matsuura sent Hamasaki to New York, an event she would later say was exactly what she needed. Impressed by the writing style in her letters to him, Matsuura suggested that she try her hand at writing her own lyrics for her songs.
Hamasaki has never had any formal instruction in lyric writing, but is able to draw on her emotions to write her lyrics. Her producer, Max Matsuura has stated repeatedly that she has a gift which only develops with practice and that it is highly unusual for such a young artist to be so articulate and mature in her writings. Also, Hamasaki's song writing abilities have been repeatedly compared to those of Utada Hikaru, although their styles are in fact markedly different.
On December 01 1995, Hamasaki's first album nothing from nothing was released but there was virtually no promotion for the album. After failing to chart in the Oricon top 200, her talent agency and record label, Columbia Japan, dropped her. After being dropped, Hamasaki returned to frequenting karaoke bars and would later meet her future producer, Max Matsuura, there. After hearing her singing, Matsuura immediatly moved to sign her to avex trax.
In 1998, Hamasaki released her debut single Poker Face, which sold 43,000 copies. She subsequently released four additional singles, with Depend on you eventually breaking top 10 with its tie-up as the theme song for the video game, Thousand Arms. She then released her first album a song for xx on January 1, 1999. Her album quickly became certified platinum.
LOVE~Destiny~, her seventh single, was her first #1 single. The title track was specially commissioned for her to be a sub-theme for a drama series SemiDouble, and its b-side featured a duet with Tsunku, the vocalist of the hit band Sharan Q and producer of Morning Musume, called LOVE~since1999~. Starting with the release of boys & girls, her singles changed format from 8cm to 12 cm discs (which could hold more data), following the trend of the music industry. As a result her singles began to feature more tracks, namely, remix tracks. boys & girls would become her first single to be certified platinum. In August, A was released. In an unprecedented move by avex trax, A featured 4 a-sides and 10 remixes. The single sold over 1,600,000 copies and remains her best-selling single. In November, she released her second album, loveppears, less than a year after her first. The album sold over two million copies. However, a controversy arose due to the front cover of the album which feautured her topless with only her hair covering her breasts. The single appears was released on the same day limited to 300,000 prints. Following the release of loveppears, two recut singles from the album were released in the same manner as appears, kanariya in December and Fly high in March of the following year
In 2000, she became a spokeswoman for KOSE Visee, a cosmetics company in Japan. When she appeared in commercials to promoted Kose's lipsticks, a record 500,000 lipsticks were sold in only two days. Her single vogue, which was used as a background music, also benefitted from this commercial, selling over 700,000 copies. She also became a spokesperson for TU-KA and promoted their cell phones. She was constantly featured on front covers of fashion magazines, which featured articles about her successful life and style. From April to June of 2000, she released one single per month, vogue, far away, and seasons, which would later be coined as The Trilogy because of the similar themes in lyrics and connected music videos. September saw the release of her third full-length album duty. duty, like her previous studio albums, topped the charts and went on to sell 2,900,000 copies, making it her highest selling original studio album. On the same day, the limited pressing single, surreal, was released, and it also topped the charts, and with Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A also topping the DVD charts that week, it made her the first artist to top three charts on the same week.
To round off the year 2000, the single m was released, and became her fourth platinum single, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The song m saw Hamasaki take more creative control of her music. Prior to m, she had always written lyrics for her songs (with the special exception of LOVE~since1999~), but with m, Hamasaki also began to compose her own songs under the pseudonym "CREA". That year, a controversy was started when her compilation album a best's release date was changed to put her in direct competition with Utada Hikaru's second album DISTANCE. Though DISTANCE topped the charts first week, a best topped the following week, and although both albums sold over 4,000,000 copies, this change staggered the sales of both albums.
Later in 2001, her second eurobeat remix album became the second remix album in Japanese history to top the charts, following MISIA's LITTLE TOKYO. When her 4th album's release was delayed, stock prices for avex trax began to decrease, showing the amount of influence she wielded. It was estimated around that time that she was responsible for 40% of the avex trax's profit. In December, her duet with KEIKO of Globe was released as a single for avex's nonprofit project, SongNation, which raised money for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On the first day of 2002, her fourth album I am... was released, and like its predecessors loveppears and duty, it achieved double-platinum status, with sales of 2.3 million copies.
The release of Free & Easy in April saw a complete shift in the trend of Hamasaki's singles, away from multiple remix tracks. The single only featured two remixes alongside the title track. The single also threatened to break her string of consecutive number ones, as Kuraki Mai's Feel fine! single (released on the same date), briefly topped the daily charts. However, Free & Easy eventually claimed the top spot only the weekly chart. Her fifth platinum single H was released in July of that year. Like A, this single featured multiple a-sides; however, unlike A, this single did not contain any remixes. Her followup single Voyage had an extended music video to promote it - a short film titled Tsuki ni Shizumu (or Sinking into the Moon), which featured Hamasaki acting for the first time since her idol days.
The much-hyped studio album rainbow was released in December. Though rainbow broke the one million mark in the first week, it was the first of Hamasaki's albums since a song for xx to not reach double-platinum status. The album featured more of CREA songwriting and composition like the previous album, and saw her first use of English phrases in her songs. The album had a massive promotional campaign, where the buyers of the more-expensive initial pressings could access a password-only website that featured a part of the instrumental version of the title track "rainbow" that was not on the album. Once accessed, fans could submit their own lyrics and suggestions for the song. Over 100,000 people accessed the website. The song was later featured on her ballad compilation album a ballads, which was released on March 2003. Though promoted extremely well, a ballads experienced slow but steady sales, and has recently passed the million threshold. Many of the songs on the album had already been featured on her previous compilation album, a best, and the album featured only two new songs, possibly leading to these low sales. a ballads remains Hamasaki's lowest selling album in her avex discography.
In July, m was released. Like the single H, m was a triple a-side single. However, unlike H, it also contained a b-side track, theme of a-nation '03. The follow up single, forgiveness would continue Hamasaki's string of number one singles, but would be considered a huge flop, barely selling 220,000 copies in contrast to & which had neted sales of over 570,000 copies. After the releases of the forgiveness (August) and No way to say (November) singles, she released her first mini-album, memorial address, which only featured three new songs. memorial address was unique because all of the songs, except for the title track (which was a bonus track), had a music video. memorial address was also her first album to be available in CD only or CD+DVD formats. memorial address made her the only female solo artist to have a mini-album go platinum.
The following year was a year of internal strife in her recording company, avex trax. A feud between Max Matsuura and Yoda, an executive at avex trax, caused chaos and also sparked rumors that Hamasaki and other popular artists in avex trax including hiro, Every Little Thing, hitomi, and Do As Infinity might leave the record company. As a result, the stock prices for avex trax began to plunge; however, when Hamasaki sided with Matsuura, Yoda ended up resigning, effectively ending the feud.
Her singles since moments were released in at least two formats - CD only and CD+DVD. moments was used as a background music for her last KOSE Visee commercial. inspire also included Hamasaki's first b-side track since vogue in 2000, 'game'. Her next single, carols, was released in four formats -- CD only, CD+DVD, SACD, and DVD-Audio. In December of 2004, she released her sixth album my story which was certified platinum, selling over 574,000 copies in the first week, and netting sales of over 1,140,000 copies, making it the second highest selling female album of the 2005 Oricon year. my story, like its singles, was also available in CD+DVD package as well as the CD only package.
Her 35th (and first double a-side) single, STEP you/is this LOVE?, debuted at the number one spot for the daily, weekly and monthly Japanese charts in April. It eventually sold over 345,000 copies and would be the highest selling single from a female artist until overtaken by Mika Nakashima's Glamorous Sky single. Yuna Ito's Endless Story single would sell only hundreds less than STEP you/is this LOVE? by the end of the Oricon year (end of November), and would surpass "STEP you/is this LOVE?" in sales just a week after the end of the Oricon year (making it higher selling for the 2005 calendar year, but not for Oricon year).
Her 36th single, fairyland, was released on August 3 2005 and again, claimed the number one spot on the ORICON, and sold over 315,000 copies. The single included a b-side track, alterna.
Her 37th single was heaven, the theme song for the movie SHINOBI and was released on September 14 2005. It debuted at #2 to Kanjani 8's single, and then on day two it fell to #3. Starting day three, it has been #1 on daily charts, and snatched the #1 position for the week selling 170,000 copies, only 6,000 copies more than the #2 single. This is Ayumi Hamasaki's 12th consecutive #1 single starting with Free & Easy in 2002. This also broke the record of the most singles a Japanese female artist has in the top ten (34 out of 36 singles), and the second most singles an artist has had in the number one position (24).
Hamasaki's latest single, titled bold & delicious/pride, was released on November the 30th, 2005. Though it claimed the number one position for the first day; for the rest of the week it fell first to number two, and then to number three. Surprisingly, however, it claimed the number one weekly spot (beating out the second place competitor by slightly more than 1,000 copies), making bold & delicious/pride Hamasaki's 25th single to hit number one, tied with Seiko Matsuda. This is Hamasaki's 13th consecutive number one single. Due to poor sales (barely 84,000 copies sold in the first week), this single could be her least successful since WHATEVER, released in 1999.
At the end of the year, Hamasaki performed her COUNTDOWN LIVE concert as usual, with an appearance also on the annual Kouhaku Uta Gassen. In its 56th year, it was the seventh time she had attended (all of them consecutively), and she performed fairyland. Countdown Live 2005-2006 DVD will be released 23rd of March 2006.
The album, (miss)understood, hit stores on the first of January, 2006. Upon release, the album shot straight to #1, becoming her seventh consecutive #1 original album and her 11th #1 album in total. Besides claiming the number one spot for the daily, weekly and monthly Japanese charts in January 2006, (miss)understood also hit the number one spot on the United World Charts with a debuting sales of 653,830, making it the first album to reach the first position in 2006. However, it seems as though the sales have capped off to around 10,000 copies a week, and may be Ayumi's first studio album not to reach the 1 million mark.
The initial pressings of the album included two photobooks -- one for the CD version (entitled off my day), and another for the CD+DVD version (entitled on my way). The DVD version will include all PVs that were made for her 2005 releases (excluding my name's WOMEN) -- STEP you, is this LOVE?, fairyland, alterna, heaven, bold & delicious and pride, as well as an alternative PV for bold & delicious (called the “Side story”). Two new PVs were also included -- ladies night and rainy day made their debut on the disc. “Making-of” clips for STEP you, is this LOVE?, fairyland, alterna, heaven and pride feature also.
Ayumi's 39th single "startin' / Born to Be..." was released on the 8th of March 2006. "startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Onimusha|Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, while "rainy day" (featured on her (miss)understood album) is the ending theme.
"Born To Be..." is the official theme song for the Japanese television coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The third track on the single is an acoustic version of the TRF (band)|TRF song "teens", which Hamasaki also recorded for a compilation album, due to be released later this year.
Recently, Ayu released her newest single, "BLUE BIRD". That was on the 21st of June. It features the song "BLUE BIRD", a very summery song, many fans say it's very much the same as "fairyland". Then, there's "Beautiful Fighters", the music of this song is almost like an intro movie of a new Japanese anime series. Many fans wanted to hear the new remix of "Ladies Night", called "Ladies Night ~another night~, which was first featured in a Panasonic Lumix Commercial. The vocals are the same as in the original version, only the music is really different. This time Ayu chose to use a nice and cool rock theme. And last but not least, there's the remix of "BLUE BIRD", "BLUE BIRD "Harderground mix", a great and summery harddance/hardstyle remix of the lovely "BLUE BIRD" song.
The 40th single comes in three variations, there are two CD+DVD versions with different covers and these two differ in the containment of the "Making of"'s. And there's always of course the CD version. In Japanese stores, if you buy the CD version with one of the two (or both) CD+DVD versions, you'll get a free poster. You can find more info about this on Ayu's official site. (Yesasia has a better, but limited offer, check it out!)
She officially debuted in 1998 with her single poker face. She is the first Japanese artist to have her first original seven studio albums top the charts.
Although Ayumi lived with her mother, she was primarily raised by her grandmother. She has vague recollections of her father as he left the family at around the time she was two, and she has not seen him since. She grew up in a very liberal household where she was expected to do what was right for her without her mother intervening in her affairs, since her mother was always out working to support the family.
In her youth, Hamasaki started her modeling career as a model for a local bank. During high school, she was considered a delinquent because of her dyed hair and short shirts which were considered extremely unconventional in Japan at that time. Eventually she dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo to pursue a fulltime modeling career.
Hamasaki used the pseudonym 'Kurumi Hamazaki', acting in low budget dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Sumomomomomo; however, she did not find success. She was too short to become a professional model. As a result, she spent her days wandering the streets of Tokyo, shopping, and dancing at clubs in the Shibuya, Tokyo|Shibuya district. She was "discovered" by her producer Max Matsuura, an Avex trax producer when she was singing karaoke. When he asked her if she wanted to pursue a singing career, she said she agreed, "only because I had nothing to do." Hamasaki was contracted to take vocal training in Tokyo but she stopped attending as she found it too rigid. For a more relaxed atmosphere Matsuura sent Hamasaki to New York, an event she would later say was exactly what she needed. Impressed by the writing style in her letters to him, Matsuura suggested that she try her hand at writing her own lyrics for her songs.
Hamasaki has never had any formal instruction in lyric writing, but is able to draw on her emotions to write her lyrics. Her producer, Max Matsuura has stated repeatedly that she has a gift which only develops with practice and that it is highly unusual for such a young artist to be so articulate and mature in her writings. Also, Hamasaki's song writing abilities have been repeatedly compared to those of Utada Hikaru, although their styles are in fact markedly different.
On December 01 1995, Hamasaki's first album nothing from nothing was released but there was virtually no promotion for the album. After failing to chart in the Oricon top 200, her talent agency and record label, Columbia Japan, dropped her. After being dropped, Hamasaki returned to frequenting karaoke bars and would later meet her future producer, Max Matsuura, there. After hearing her singing, Matsuura immediatly moved to sign her to avex trax.
In 1998, Hamasaki released her debut single Poker Face, which sold 43,000 copies. She subsequently released four additional singles, with Depend on you eventually breaking top 10 with its tie-up as the theme song for the video game, Thousand Arms. She then released her first album a song for xx on January 1, 1999. Her album quickly became certified platinum.
LOVE~Destiny~, her seventh single, was her first #1 single. The title track was specially commissioned for her to be a sub-theme for a drama series SemiDouble, and its b-side featured a duet with Tsunku, the vocalist of the hit band Sharan Q and producer of Morning Musume, called LOVE~since1999~. Starting with the release of boys & girls, her singles changed format from 8cm to 12 cm discs (which could hold more data), following the trend of the music industry. As a result her singles began to feature more tracks, namely, remix tracks. boys & girls would become her first single to be certified platinum. In August, A was released. In an unprecedented move by avex trax, A featured 4 a-sides and 10 remixes. The single sold over 1,600,000 copies and remains her best-selling single. In November, she released her second album, loveppears, less than a year after her first. The album sold over two million copies. However, a controversy arose due to the front cover of the album which feautured her topless with only her hair covering her breasts. The single appears was released on the same day limited to 300,000 prints. Following the release of loveppears, two recut singles from the album were released in the same manner as appears, kanariya in December and Fly high in March of the following year
In 2000, she became a spokeswoman for KOSE Visee, a cosmetics company in Japan. When she appeared in commercials to promoted Kose's lipsticks, a record 500,000 lipsticks were sold in only two days. Her single vogue, which was used as a background music, also benefitted from this commercial, selling over 700,000 copies. She also became a spokesperson for TU-KA and promoted their cell phones. She was constantly featured on front covers of fashion magazines, which featured articles about her successful life and style. From April to June of 2000, she released one single per month, vogue, far away, and seasons, which would later be coined as The Trilogy because of the similar themes in lyrics and connected music videos. September saw the release of her third full-length album duty. duty, like her previous studio albums, topped the charts and went on to sell 2,900,000 copies, making it her highest selling original studio album. On the same day, the limited pressing single, surreal, was released, and it also topped the charts, and with Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A also topping the DVD charts that week, it made her the first artist to top three charts on the same week.
To round off the year 2000, the single m was released, and became her fourth platinum single, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The song m saw Hamasaki take more creative control of her music. Prior to m, she had always written lyrics for her songs (with the special exception of LOVE~since1999~), but with m, Hamasaki also began to compose her own songs under the pseudonym "CREA". That year, a controversy was started when her compilation album a best's release date was changed to put her in direct competition with Utada Hikaru's second album DISTANCE. Though DISTANCE topped the charts first week, a best topped the following week, and although both albums sold over 4,000,000 copies, this change staggered the sales of both albums.
Later in 2001, her second eurobeat remix album became the second remix album in Japanese history to top the charts, following MISIA's LITTLE TOKYO. When her 4th album's release was delayed, stock prices for avex trax began to decrease, showing the amount of influence she wielded. It was estimated around that time that she was responsible for 40% of the avex trax's profit. In December, her duet with KEIKO of Globe was released as a single for avex's nonprofit project, SongNation, which raised money for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On the first day of 2002, her fourth album I am... was released, and like its predecessors loveppears and duty, it achieved double-platinum status, with sales of 2.3 million copies.
The release of Free & Easy in April saw a complete shift in the trend of Hamasaki's singles, away from multiple remix tracks. The single only featured two remixes alongside the title track. The single also threatened to break her string of consecutive number ones, as Kuraki Mai's Feel fine! single (released on the same date), briefly topped the daily charts. However, Free & Easy eventually claimed the top spot only the weekly chart. Her fifth platinum single H was released in July of that year. Like A, this single featured multiple a-sides; however, unlike A, this single did not contain any remixes. Her followup single Voyage had an extended music video to promote it - a short film titled Tsuki ni Shizumu (or Sinking into the Moon), which featured Hamasaki acting for the first time since her idol days.
The much-hyped studio album rainbow was released in December. Though rainbow broke the one million mark in the first week, it was the first of Hamasaki's albums since a song for xx to not reach double-platinum status. The album featured more of CREA songwriting and composition like the previous album, and saw her first use of English phrases in her songs. The album had a massive promotional campaign, where the buyers of the more-expensive initial pressings could access a password-only website that featured a part of the instrumental version of the title track "rainbow" that was not on the album. Once accessed, fans could submit their own lyrics and suggestions for the song. Over 100,000 people accessed the website. The song was later featured on her ballad compilation album a ballads, which was released on March 2003. Though promoted extremely well, a ballads experienced slow but steady sales, and has recently passed the million threshold. Many of the songs on the album had already been featured on her previous compilation album, a best, and the album featured only two new songs, possibly leading to these low sales. a ballads remains Hamasaki's lowest selling album in her avex discography.
In July, m was released. Like the single H, m was a triple a-side single. However, unlike H, it also contained a b-side track, theme of a-nation '03. The follow up single, forgiveness would continue Hamasaki's string of number one singles, but would be considered a huge flop, barely selling 220,000 copies in contrast to & which had neted sales of over 570,000 copies. After the releases of the forgiveness (August) and No way to say (November) singles, she released her first mini-album, memorial address, which only featured three new songs. memorial address was unique because all of the songs, except for the title track (which was a bonus track), had a music video. memorial address was also her first album to be available in CD only or CD+DVD formats. memorial address made her the only female solo artist to have a mini-album go platinum.
The following year was a year of internal strife in her recording company, avex trax. A feud between Max Matsuura and Yoda, an executive at avex trax, caused chaos and also sparked rumors that Hamasaki and other popular artists in avex trax including hiro, Every Little Thing, hitomi, and Do As Infinity might leave the record company. As a result, the stock prices for avex trax began to plunge; however, when Hamasaki sided with Matsuura, Yoda ended up resigning, effectively ending the feud.
Her singles since moments were released in at least two formats - CD only and CD+DVD. moments was used as a background music for her last KOSE Visee commercial. inspire also included Hamasaki's first b-side track since vogue in 2000, 'game'. Her next single, carols, was released in four formats -- CD only, CD+DVD, SACD, and DVD-Audio. In December of 2004, she released her sixth album my story which was certified platinum, selling over 574,000 copies in the first week, and netting sales of over 1,140,000 copies, making it the second highest selling female album of the 2005 Oricon year. my story, like its singles, was also available in CD+DVD package as well as the CD only package.
Her 35th (and first double a-side) single, STEP you/is this LOVE?, debuted at the number one spot for the daily, weekly and monthly Japanese charts in April. It eventually sold over 345,000 copies and would be the highest selling single from a female artist until overtaken by Mika Nakashima's Glamorous Sky single. Yuna Ito's Endless Story single would sell only hundreds less than STEP you/is this LOVE? by the end of the Oricon year (end of November), and would surpass "STEP you/is this LOVE?" in sales just a week after the end of the Oricon year (making it higher selling for the 2005 calendar year, but not for Oricon year).
Her 36th single, fairyland, was released on August 3 2005 and again, claimed the number one spot on the ORICON, and sold over 315,000 copies. The single included a b-side track, alterna.
Her 37th single was heaven, the theme song for the movie SHINOBI and was released on September 14 2005. It debuted at #2 to Kanjani 8's single, and then on day two it fell to #3. Starting day three, it has been #1 on daily charts, and snatched the #1 position for the week selling 170,000 copies, only 6,000 copies more than the #2 single. This is Ayumi Hamasaki's 12th consecutive #1 single starting with Free & Easy in 2002. This also broke the record of the most singles a Japanese female artist has in the top ten (34 out of 36 singles), and the second most singles an artist has had in the number one position (24).
Hamasaki's latest single, titled bold & delicious/pride, was released on November the 30th, 2005. Though it claimed the number one position for the first day; for the rest of the week it fell first to number two, and then to number three. Surprisingly, however, it claimed the number one weekly spot (beating out the second place competitor by slightly more than 1,000 copies), making bold & delicious/pride Hamasaki's 25th single to hit number one, tied with Seiko Matsuda. This is Hamasaki's 13th consecutive number one single. Due to poor sales (barely 84,000 copies sold in the first week), this single could be her least successful since WHATEVER, released in 1999.
At the end of the year, Hamasaki performed her COUNTDOWN LIVE concert as usual, with an appearance also on the annual Kouhaku Uta Gassen. In its 56th year, it was the seventh time she had attended (all of them consecutively), and she performed fairyland. Countdown Live 2005-2006 DVD will be released 23rd of March 2006.
The album, (miss)understood, hit stores on the first of January, 2006. Upon release, the album shot straight to #1, becoming her seventh consecutive #1 original album and her 11th #1 album in total. Besides claiming the number one spot for the daily, weekly and monthly Japanese charts in January 2006, (miss)understood also hit the number one spot on the United World Charts with a debuting sales of 653,830, making it the first album to reach the first position in 2006. However, it seems as though the sales have capped off to around 10,000 copies a week, and may be Ayumi's first studio album not to reach the 1 million mark.
The initial pressings of the album included two photobooks -- one for the CD version (entitled off my day), and another for the CD+DVD version (entitled on my way). The DVD version will include all PVs that were made for her 2005 releases (excluding my name's WOMEN) -- STEP you, is this LOVE?, fairyland, alterna, heaven, bold & delicious and pride, as well as an alternative PV for bold & delicious (called the “Side story”). Two new PVs were also included -- ladies night and rainy day made their debut on the disc. “Making-of” clips for STEP you, is this LOVE?, fairyland, alterna, heaven and pride feature also.
Ayumi's 39th single "startin' / Born to Be..." was released on the 8th of March 2006. "startin'" is used as the opening theme of video game Onimusha|Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, while "rainy day" (featured on her (miss)understood album) is the ending theme.
"Born To Be..." is the official theme song for the Japanese television coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The third track on the single is an acoustic version of the TRF (band)|TRF song "teens", which Hamasaki also recorded for a compilation album, due to be released later this year.
Recently, Ayu released her newest single, "BLUE BIRD". That was on the 21st of June. It features the song "BLUE BIRD", a very summery song, many fans say it's very much the same as "fairyland". Then, there's "Beautiful Fighters", the music of this song is almost like an intro movie of a new Japanese anime series. Many fans wanted to hear the new remix of "Ladies Night", called "Ladies Night ~another night~, which was first featured in a Panasonic Lumix Commercial. The vocals are the same as in the original version, only the music is really different. This time Ayu chose to use a nice and cool rock theme. And last but not least, there's the remix of "BLUE BIRD", "BLUE BIRD "Harderground mix", a great and summery harddance/hardstyle remix of the lovely "BLUE BIRD" song.
The 40th single comes in three variations, there are two CD+DVD versions with different covers and these two differ in the containment of the "Making of"'s. And there's always of course the CD version. In Japanese stores, if you buy the CD version with one of the two (or both) CD+DVD versions, you'll get a free poster. You can find more info about this on Ayu's official site. (Yesasia has a better, but limited offer, check it out!)
by THE WORKOUT October 14, 2006