More mainstream pop artists took a switch to R&B during this time including the now retired singer and dancer, Namie Amuro. After much criticism for dabbling in R&B in the 90s, songs from her Style, Queen to Hip-Pop and PLAY albums started gaining interest; notably Put ‘Em Up, So Crazy, Girl Talk, HELLO and Pink Key. Along with Amuro, ero-kawaii artist Koda Kumi became a trendsetter after her Best~First Things~ got popular. She had R&B tracks that heightened like 秘密 (Secret), this is not a love song and No Way from some of her best albums, Kingdom, TRICK and UNIVERSE. The versatility in J-R&B songs showcased to many in the industry that it was impactful and interest from artists such as Ishida Yuko’s Missin’ U, SATOMI’s Baby Doll, MISIA’s ANY LOVE, YA-KYIM’s someday, Leah Dizon’s Softly, May J.’s Why Why Why and Yuna Ito’s Losin in the mid 2000’s to early 2010s. Even R&B was pouring into idol songs like Morning Musume’s Do It Now and Goto Maki’s Tear Drops. Along with these tracks, there were many other standout albums that were heavily influenced such as Hiromi’s Rainbow, Kato Miliyah’s Heaven, AI’s The Last Ai, Jasmine’s Gold, LISA’s Gratitude, BENI’s Jewel and Thelma Aoyama’s Diary.
Japanese R&B – The State of It All
