Suilen Posted July 8, 2024 Posted July 8, 2024 (edited) Kumiko Koda didn't barge into the j-pop scene like a hurricane - her rise was slow. Her debut single, TAKE BACK, only reached the 59th position on Oricon, and while her later singles charted signicantly better, it was her tie-up with Final Fantasy X-2, a double single real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba, that became her first true hit. She saw another surge with popularity with her cover of Cutie Honey, which was the opening song for the same-titled anime series from the 70s. Her album secret and its singles enjoyed plenty of success, but what truly solidied her place in the industry and made her an essential j-pop artist in the 00s was her first compilation album BEST ~first things~ and its sequel, BEST ~second session~. The latter was preceded by an iconic 12-singles run, the covers for which were inspired by different countries. Both compilations sold around 2 million copies, and many consider ~second session~ a studio album in its own right. Afterwards, Kumiko became recognized for her ballads (for the general audience) and queer themes in her music/videos (for the gays). Her style is often described as erokawaii (sexy-cute), which is evident in how she can go from singing about body fluids to twinkle twinkle little stars, although sometimes she did manage to find the balance between the two. Overall, her career in the 2000s is nothing to scoff at, and with this rate, we celebrate her vast collection of singles from that period. You get a huge variery of sounds: Middle Eastern influences, R&B, pvssy popping beats and heartbreaking ballads, not to forget the legendary collabs with Fergie and her sister. Rules: 1. Rate each song from the list on the scale from 1 to 10. Using decimals is allowed. 2. You may give one song you adore a score of 11 and one song you despise a score of 0. 3. Send your scores to me using the PM-friendly list below. 4. Please note that 1000の言葉 is not on streaming and in the playlist, so use other means to listen to the song. Or use your memory since every single gay person probably played Final Fantasy X-2. 5. Feel free to leave (funny) comments next to your scores. 6. The deadline for the rate is August 4. Spotify Playlist: PM-Friendly List: Reveal hidden contents TAKE BACK Trust Your Love COLOR OF SOUL the meaning of peace So Into You love across the ocean m・a・z・e real Emotion 1000の言葉 (NOT ON SPOTIFY) COME WITH ME Gentle Words Crazy 4 U キューティーハニー Chase 奇跡 hands Hot Stuff Selfish Shake It 24 Butterfly flower Promise Star you Birthday Eve D.D.D. Shake It Up Lies feel Candy No Regret 今すぐ欲しい KAMEN WIND Someday Boys♥Girls 恋のつぼみ 人魚姫 I'll be there JUICY With your smile 夢のうた ふたりで… Cherry Girl 運命 BUT 愛証 FREAKY 愛のうた LAST ANGEL anytime Moon Crying That Ain't Cool TABOO stay with me It's all Love! Lick me ECSTASY Alive Physical thing Edited August 18, 2024 by Suilen 3 2
Suilen Posted July 8, 2024 Author Posted July 8, 2024 Her tatas are probably too explicit for the advertisers but do I care? Ban naked men avis first 1
Graves Posted July 8, 2024 Posted July 8, 2024 Part one alone being sixty songs??? These girls and their mammoth discographies... Will do of course. 1
Suilen Posted July 9, 2024 Author Posted July 9, 2024 It's hard out here for a sexy and confident woman in this age of relatability
Frappucino Posted July 9, 2024 Posted July 9, 2024 Oh, I've been meaning to explore her discography more after getting abandoned by Namie on streaming so this should be the perfect way to do that, count me in 1
Bends Posted July 9, 2024 Posted July 9, 2024 My father worked as a diplomat in Japan and I caught her peak of popularity. But I don't remember why her career took a nosedive. What happened?
Suilen Posted July 9, 2024 Author Posted July 9, 2024 On 7/9/2024 at 4:19 AM, Bends said: My father worked as a diplomat in Japan and I caught her peak of popularity. But I don't remember why her career took a nosedive. What happened? Expand Part of it is a natural decline (mind you, she managed to get a no. 1 album 16 years into her career), part of it is the fact that Japan started to gradually move on from 'diva' artists (note that there are practically zero new artists like her these days), and, well, her appeal eventually became reduced to gays and hardcore stans. I'd say that her brand of sexuality may be seen as 'threatening' unlike AKB's 'sexy innocence' or whatever, which also contributed to that. Some may say that the decline of quality is also at play here, and I've seen plenty of Western j-pop fans claiming that they unstanned her due to bad music, but I'm not sure if her Japanese fans share the sentiment. The general audience still loves her old ballads, but they aren't checking for the new ones, though I don't think that the quality declined on that front. 4
Galaxy Posted July 10, 2024 Posted July 10, 2024 The way this would've won the rate with a 10+ average if it had been released as a single 4 1
Fevesy Posted July 10, 2024 Posted July 10, 2024 Let me do this but I'm stressed out already knowing what song to give 11. Oh to be a teenager watching low quality uploads of SHAKE IT and JUICY on Youtube again 1
Curaga Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 Gay icon Never seen this video before. The guy with the dragon tattoo on his back isn't really my type, but there's something about the way he shows himself off... Might have to make some gifs 2
Suilen Posted July 11, 2024 Author Posted July 11, 2024 Salivating at the thought of rating these for part 2 4
D.D.D. Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 I'd do this in a heartbeat. I'd try not to give every song a 10 though, not my fault her career is so damn flawless 2
Fevesy Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 Her ballads are just godly I'm actually almost done already. I just need to sit on what song I wanna give my 11 cause it's HARD. I don't hate anything so I'm debating not using my 0 and just being fair 1
Suilen Posted July 11, 2024 Author Posted July 11, 2024 Deserved to be a single but 13 is a bad number I guess 1
Negiiiii Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 Girl wait because I'm her BIGGEST Stan here. JUICY is her ULTIMATE song. under ? amai wana? BUT ? Candy ? show girl ? These songs EAT 1
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