Koda Kumi(倖田來未) W Face Double Album Thoughts(J-pop)

Tracklist

1. BRIDGET SONG
2. Bring It On
3. 喜びのかけら; Fragment of Pleasure
4. Stand By You
5. 好きでして; I Like It
6. 君想い; My Thought
7. On My Way
8. What's Up
9. Promise you
10. My Fun

Tracklist

1. W FACE
2. Ultraviolet
3. insane
4. Damn real
5. Heartless
6. Bassline
7. Shhh!
8. Bangerang
9. Wicked Girls
10. Cupcake feat. AKLO

   

   In the early 2000s, I was a huge fan of Koda Kumi. I used to always be on the look out for her new releases and announcements of her new singles were like a celebration to me. Times change of course, along with the ever so growing Japanese music industry. Physical CDs are not selling as much as they used to in Japan and many of the artists that came out before or in the early 2000s are in danger of CD sales decline. Its happened to almost everyone including idol groups. Ayumi Hamasaki has suffered the most as far as CD sales go. She just isn't making the sales that she used to. Namie Amuro is still making decent sales but they go up and down constantly. Utada returned and sold more than all the female artists in Japan that came out last year just because she's a walking legend. Koda Kumi has gotten wind of the struggle of getting people to go out and buy your music. She won Japan over with her overly sexual image that no other female Japanese artist was brave enough to do at the time. She's considered a fashion icon in her own right but image doesn't keep your sales up in Japan where Idols still rule. She decided to drastically change her style to suit a more American taste in music only for a Japanese audience. I stopped listening to her around this point because her music became generic for me. Too much auto tune, too much of her trying so hard to stay relevant. I DID NOT stop listening to her because her music was too westernized. I love American music and Kpop, Jpop, and Cpop wouldn't exist if it wasn't for American music's influence. When W Face was announced, I didn't want to listen to the digital singles that were released before the album. I didn't want to be disappointed. The cover for the album drew me in though, so I listened to the single Ultraviolet.

   W Face is a double album that is split into two albums with two different concepts for each album. W Face ~inside~ has a more plain version of Koda Kumi without the image that she portrays in public. I like to think this album is her showing a vulnerable side that was always there just hidden under her persona. The album contains a laid back style of pop rock and ballads. Ballads are the main them but tracks such as What's Up and Bring it on keep the album consistent. A revisit to that pop rock style was a good decision for fans that want some breathing room in-between the ballads. Her ballads are nothing short of diva ballads. They remind me of her previous works, moon crying and 好きで、好きで、好きで Which I love. About four of five songs are ballads and could be a hit or miss depending your taste in music. Producers could have spaced them out in the album so they didn't come one after another. If you listen to them one after the other, each song sounds similar. My Fun might be the strangest track. Its about four minutes of producers mixing in children making sounds and a med tempo beat play by a drum. Then there's piano and other beats produced by a keyboard. I don't know what this is. I don't hate it though. An edge is kept in this album because of the tracks, Whats Up and Bring it on. Bridget song counts as an easy listen too. 

   W Face~Outside~ brings that bad bitch that her fans love. This album is for all the listeners who want to get up out of your seat and dance. The album comes with another ten tracks that sound like they were produced by foreign producers and given to Kumi to break the mold of her last album. Its a very dance oriented album that starts things off with W Face. Confidently, Kumi saids " YES BITCH! SLAY!" and I know then that she's come back to the old Koda Kumi that turned heads when she appeared on the scene. I also wondered what Japanese people know about this terms, "Slay" etc. I guess they know its an english word and thats all they care about. I'm sure Kumi knows what it means. This track relies on the beat to be attractive and it works as Koda Kumi vocalizes as an opening to the beat. Ultraviolet takes elements from three genres of music. Rap, Pop, and Hip Hop. I first thought that the rap part were performed by another girl but that might be Koda Kumi rapping too. She's not a good rapper but its passable. I once again wonder about the lyrics of her songs. She sing, " Got to work it baby! Got to twerk it baby na na na!". What do Japanese people know about twerking!? Insane continues Kumi's new found desire to wan tot rap. She sounds cool here, not going to lie but not groundbreaking. Does she connect to what she's singing about(especially the english parts) or is this a ploy to look cool for her fans. Kind of like how Namie Amuro did a whole album in English to do something new or a lot of other artists that choose to sing songs in English. Japanese producers probably produced W Face~inside~ while American producers produced W Face~outside~. It seems that way even if outside sold more than inside on the charts. Japanese can't get enough of Koda Kumi as that bad bitch. 

   Koda Kumi can be a good vocalist. Sometimes I feel like she plays up being a singer instead of actually singing the way that suits her. A few more vocal lessons might be in order for her. W Face showcased that she has been working on her vocals since her last album. Heartless was a song where I was scared for her a little bit. Its new territory for her voice and it didn't sound bad but the track could have been "slayed" vocally. She did hit some decent notes toward the end of the song however, her voice started to crack after she did them. Got to work on keeping your vocal energy up. I applaud her effort in taking on the track at least. Shhhh! made Kumi feel like she had to hit another loud note right at the intro .Playing it up till the very end. I want her to sing the way that she wants to sing. Maybe she wants to sing this way.....I don't know. Trying to sing with a soulful connotation that you forced to  be in your voice doesn't work. Even the vocal run she did just didn't sound natural. Please stick to singing songs that are comfortable for your vocals. I say all this with love as a fan. I'm not bashing her. She shines on other tracks vocally. `

  I do think that W Face revived my interest in Koda Kumi's music. Another thing I like was how certain songs from inside gave reference to the outside part of the album. It was like she was saying that she's still strong in her times of weakness.