Thelma Aoyama(青山テルマ) - 10th Diary Album Thoughts(J-pop)

 

Tracklist

1. tonight
2. doctor doctor
3. 一生仲間(Lifelong Friends)
4. don't call me
5. 愛してるよ、さよなら(I Love You, Goodbye,)
6. only care about you
7. My Only Lover
8. Pancake (パンケーキ)
9. 君が君でいてくれるから(Because You Are You)
10. なんだかんだ(Somehow)

   Thelma Aoyama is a singer that hat one hit song in her career. Actually she had two hit songs but the first song wasn't actually her song. She was a featured artist. The song was called ここにいるよ(By your side.) by SoulJa. Thelma's answer song outsold the original as the song used the same chorus but more singing than rapping. After the huge success of this song, Aoyama went on to release her first album that was met with good sales. Her sophomore album sold less but still had decent enough sales to call her popular. These two albums were the only two albums that would not be considered flops in her music career. The rest of her albums have not made higher than the top sixty on the Oricon Chart sadly. She still tries to keep her pride by releasing albums that still manage to chart somehow. 10th Diary counts as her fifth album to date.

  I'm baffled at how her record label keeps letting this girl release albums knowing that they aren't going to promote them. The 100% truth of why I still check for her music is because I want her to win as a blasian(black and asian.) artist in Japan. She would have been the second best selling blasian female singer in Japan had she managed her career the correct way. Instead she's far behind Crystal Kay's trail even with the racial struggles Kay has to withstand in her career. What I will say is that she seems to be acting in complete freedom for the producing of her albums. This unleashed freedom has inspired quite a few hits from her albums as well as mini albums.(Collaborations with well known artists didn't even help her sales because of lack of promotion.) 10th Diary feels even more artsy than her last release. Also, she's slowly coming into a groove of music that can please listeners in Japan. Her ballads on the album sound beautiful since her vocals are perfect for slow songs. Tracks like doctor doctor have Aoyama stepping up to the plate on her vocal game. Hitting notes that you hardly ever hear come out of her mouth unless you listen to a few other tracks from her discography. Don't call me is yet another   track of her strength that could be seen as women's empowerment. I'm a sucker for these types of songs and the sass that comes with them. The sassiness continues in only care about you where the girl brings out her inner ratchet party girl. I noticed that she's recently been trying her hand at rapping. Good idea for making her music stand out a little more but she needs to be working on making music that will get her to the top of the charts again. No, I don't mean selling out but she needs to find that balance between singing music she wants to do and singing music that will sell well. Only Lover seems to be her trying to garner a more mainstream audience. It's just that the poppy number sticks out like a sore thumb on the album of strong willed tracks. I guess what I'm trying to say is she's going to have to make music thats her, good, AND appeals to the masses in Japan. Her label needs to promote her better too. Not easy right? Well, that's a musical artist's job. Can't say that there aren't tons of artists that just sell out.

   Thelma can sing. I mean really sing when she wants too. She's too timid with her vocals most of the time though. This album was an improvement for her trying to sing out more. I believe she would sell more CDS if she did more songs that challenged her voice. She's stuck in that cute sounding vocal performance. Sing like the grown women that you are.

   10th Diary is another album in a slew of other albums released by Thelma Aoyama that are slow steps in the right direction of the great artist that she can be. A little more needs to be done for her to get the success that she deserves.