JUJU(ジュジュ) - I Album Thoughts(J-Jazz)

 Tracklist

1. Love Is Like
2. いいわけ (Excuse)
3. Kawaisou da ne (with HITSUJI)
4. Tokyo (東京)
5. あの夜のふたり(The Two of Us That Night)
6. RISKY
7. Let It Flow
8. Because of You
9. Roll the Dice
10. Urahara (ウラハラ)
11. believe believe
12. あなたがくれたもの(What You Gave Me)
13. I

 


   JUJU is a solo singer that basically made it famous in Japan by being featured in a lot of other artist's songs. She's done over ten collaborations as of 2001. Her biggest collaboration was the song she did with rap group Spontania. She then used that fame to push her career even further by releasing a duet with multicultural singer JAY'ED, that was also a huge hit in Japan. JAY'ED also gained fame from the song but he couldn't maintain it. Not like JUJU did anyway. She has now become one of Japan's best selling female solo artists. Her newest album is called "I" and it's her seventh album to date.

    I didn't enjoy this album as much as I enjoyed her last album, WHAT YOU WANT. Honestly, even that album had a lot of tracks that could be skipped in my opinion. I pretty much is a snooze fest for most of it's playing's duration. JUJU is taking her music slower than her last album insert but her creativity is still there. It was hard not to imagine JUJU singing in dimly lit Karaoke bar in front of a small audience as a listened to the first six tracks. For one thing, when I mention her creativity, I'm not just talking about her musical production but her song writing abilities also. The women knows how to do a subject like love huge poetic justice most of the time. You can see why she has such a huge female fan base. I's tracks are composed of ballads that have lyrics any Japanese housewife and high school girl could listen too for emotional healing. These ballads are produced very well too. Each one focuses of giving JUJU's voice the emotional stage that it needs to ring true to the listener. She sounds very beautiful here. So where does that leave my negative thoughts on this album? I would say that they still exist because I don't like storytelling slow jam version of JUJU in such huge quantity. Jazz must be JUJU's playground because she excels in the genre. I'm a big fan of JUJU when she lets the saxophones, drums, horns, and guitars play a funky tune for listeners to swing too. WHAT YOU WANT had more opportunities to let her true self out but "I" tries hard to appeal to the masses in Japan by touching on a more ballad and pop style. Both of which I ended up skipping when listening to this album. Roll the Dice was the only track that reminded me of her last release. Believe Believe and Because of You were released as singles to promote the album before it hit stores. Believe Believe was an instant favorite for me and I love how she took the male vocal out of the album version(even though I loved the song with the male vocals). From track eight to the final track are the best tracks to me. I listened to these tracks all the way through without skipping them. They're fun tracks that are ones you will remember later on.

   JUJU's low notes are so good. She sang in a lower register more on this album. Normally, she sings in a higher octave since she's a female and Japan loves it that way. Her low notes are totally from her love of Jazz though. I also love that she uses male background vocalists to sing with her. This really makes the harmonies stand out more because of the difference in vocals.  The performance below sounds like JUJU was sick….. You can hear her straining to get the notes out…… The struggle was real.

   Half of this album will have to take a hike off my iPod. The latter half of the album can stay. JUJU is still slaying in her own way and she has my respect for that.