INTERVIEW WITH UTADA

My fave Japanese pop star, Utada (she goes by Utada here, but Utada Hikaru in Japan) recently interviewed with PopMatters about her most recent English language album, This is the One, and her current tour of the US. She seems more at ease now with recording in English, telling PopMatters, "This time I’m a little bit more at ease. ... Last time was my first American album and there was this weird hype, like, 'She’s the Japanese Madonna, or Japanese Britney Spears,' and none of these comparisons really were on point at all." Her massive success around the world (over 52 million records sold) has eluded success in the United States so far, but Utada doesn't seem to mind that much. Utada was born in New York to a pair of successful Japanese musicians, but they moved back to Japan and she was mostly raised there. She says of her initial success in Japan, "I don’t think I would be anywhere near where I am if started in the states. I can’t imagine what I would be like, or where my music would have gone. ... There aren’t as many genre boundaries in Japan ... so I have complete freedom in what music I make, without worrying about if this is going to be on urban radio stations, or Top 40 radio stations." Utada is touring the states right now and if you get a chance to check out her music, you should. It is really unusual and one of a kind. Here's the video to her latest single, Come Back to Me. It's great. DON'T BE A BITCH, JUST WATCH IT![source]