Music Corner Week 16: CREAM

CREAM, which stands for CREative tEAM, is a two-member J-pop unit formed in 2010 but debuted in 2012 with their first single “WHATEVER feat. WISE and Tarantula”. CREAM’s two-member team consists of rapper,producer, and trackmaster Staxx T and vocalist-songwriter Minami Minami. CREAM’s music is described as a “new J-pop” as they fuse pop, EDM, and hip-hop together. Not only does their music bring a new flavor to the table, but they also switch perfectly from Japanese to English and vice versa.

While CREAM may look like a hip-hop unit, don’t let that fool you—they are bringing J-pop some fresh flavor with Minami Minami’s smooth powerful vocals mixed with Staxx T’s flowing rap. CREAM’s newest tune “Banana” showcases their catchy, fun style of music. “Banana” gets stuck in your head with Minami Minami’s first verses; her mixture of English and Japanese flow perfectly with her ever-smooth vocals and catchy lyrics. “Girl Like Me” and “first love” show off a different side of the duo as Minami Minami’s vocals are so prominent and gorgeous that these tracks stick with you. Staxx T’s rap holds such great fluidity, too.

Currently CREAM has four studio albums: DREAMIN’, #nofilter, Change, and Sounds Good,; a Best Of album, CREAM THE BEST; two singles, “Wonderland” and “Beautiful”; and many digital exclusive songs. You can currently purchase CREAM’s albums on CDJapan and iTunes along with Apple Music.

Check out CREAM’s website and official Facebook and also follow them on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to check out their latest music video “BANANA” as well.

Music Corner Week 15: Billie Idle

Billie Idle is a five-member female idol group whose music is not of a traditional pop genre but instead a punk rock style full of energy and fun. The group is a continuation of former idol group BiS, whose acronym stands for “Brand new idol Society”. Billie Idle’s founding members are First Summer Uika and Hirano Mozomi, both of whom began their careers in BiS. Auditions were held to fill out the rest of the group and Momose Momo and Yasui Yuuhi won their respective auditions. Billie Idle went on to make their full debut in March of 2015. In 2016 Yasui Yuuhi had to step down from the group due to health reasons but fortunately Momose Momo’s sister Akira stepped in to take Yasui’s place. Finally, on May 12 of 2018, Pour Lui, who founded and started BiS, made a surprise appearance with Billie Idle during their encore at a concert. It was later revealed that she would be joining the group full-time and on June 6 of 2018 she was officially made a full-time member of Billie Idle.

Being an offspring of BiS, Billie Idle keeps a lot of that same DNA, leaning more toward rock and avoiding pop music typically associated with idol groups. They have a really good punk sound that radiates energy and you can hear this on full display in “P.S.R.I.P” (posted below). Each of the girls has a great voice and really, their music is just plain fun to listen to. 

In the years since Billie Idle got started they have dropped six full albums and one mini-album. Their first album Idle Gossip was released in April of 2015 and their first single “Anarchy in the Music Scene” was dropped a month earlier. The group is still rocking out to this very day; in fact, they just released their amazing single “Bokura Mada Chippokenakorono Hanashi” and have also announced they will be releasing a brand new album in October. 

You can find out more about BIllie Idle on their official website and you can follow them here on Twitter. On YouTube they have a small selection of their music but if you want to listen to more of it you can check them out on Apple Music and Spotify where you can catch more of their discography.

Music Corner Week 14: The Charm Park

The Charm Park is the brainchild of talented, Los Angeles-raised vocalist Charm, who started the project in 2015. Charm’s solo project is becoming the missing link that lies among western and eastern styles of pop music, and it’s even making big waves with the rise of the fusion pop genre in Japan as of late. Dubbing himself the next generation pop maestro, Charm is true to his word, having organic and dynamic compositions accompanying his melodic vocals. He hopes that his arrangements can be enjoyed by fans all around the world. 

While the majority of his songs are in Japanese, Charm’s time in the U.S. has not gone to waste, as several tracks have him weaving back and forth between English and Japanese in perfect ease—so much so that listeners might not even know when the switch will happen. Some tracks are even sung almost entirely in English, such as “Still in Love”—which might puzzle some, as it seems like a song that could appear on the radio in the U.S. However, Charm keeps these English-only songs as special events. “Stars Colliding”, for example, is a very emotional and thought-provoking track which might have domestic fans of his feeling somewhat left out in his work, but entirely fulfilling for English fans of his which makes Charm’s solo project the catalyst in introducing Western fans to the Japanese music genre.

Under his The Charm Park motif, Charm has garnered major levels of success and signed with Avex in June of last year. He released two mini-albums during his indie days with A LETTER (2015) and A REPLY (2016) with Avex’s mini-album Standing Tall in 2019. He has also released four singles during that time—and two under Avex—along with two full albums, THE CHARM PARK (2017) and Timeless Imperfections (2018).

Check out The Charm Park’s official site along with his Twitter and watch the music video for “花が咲く道” (“Hana ga Sakumichi”) along with the link for Standing Tall here!

Music Corner Week 13: CHANMINA

CHANMINA is a 19-year-old  trilingual Japanese-Korean rapper and singer-songwriter who got her start at an early age. She was brought up learning piano, ballet, vocals, and dance during childhood which lead her to self-produce everything, including songwriting, track production, and choreography. In her sophomore year of high school she produced two songs, “MISEINEN feat. MESHI” and “Princess”, both of which were highly rated and resulting in her becoming an overnight hit. In February 2017, CHANMINA made her major debut with “FXXKER” followed up by “LADY”, which hit number 1 on the LINEMUSIC hip-hop/rap charts. She followed all of this with her debut album Miseinen which made #59 on the Oricon charts.

CHANMINA’s music style is the perfect flavor of hip-hop mixed with dance tunes and her rap style is lit. She can’t only rap, either; her singing capabilities and her amazing songwriting, along with eye-popping music videos and catchy tunes, make her stand out from the rest. Her song “Doctor” resonated with me most due to its lyrics and message, as she discusses how everything is the same in a “cookie cutter” sort of world wherein it’s hard to stand out for who you are in fear of others’ judgment. The track, however, teaches you it’s okay to be different and not to be the same as everyone else even though there is so much societal pressure to be cookie cutter. What else I love about “Doctor” is its catchy beat and I find the video unique in its own way. Not to mention, you remember this song once you hear it. 

CHANMINA currently has one studio album, Miseinen; one mini album, CHOCOLATE; and one single, “i’m a pop”. Her second album Never Grow Up will be out on August 7. You can visit her official website and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you like what you heard, check out her debut album Miseinen, mini album CHOCOLATE, and latest single “I’m a pop”. You can also pre-order her second album Never Grow Up as well!

Check out “Doctor” below! And a little hint, English subtitles are available for “Doctor” as an option!

Music Corner Week 12: Rude-α

Rude-α (alpha) is a rapper who got his start on the streets of Okinawa. In his first year of high school he started performing street dances and would make various appearances in dance battles. The next year Rude-α started doing freestyle rapping in the nearby park. During Rude-α’s third year of high school he participated in the 6th National Highschool Student Rap Championships and finished in second. That June he dropped his very first EP, 098 ORCHESTRA. In April of 2016 Rude-α left Okinawa and moved to Tokyo and two years later dropped his first EP since moving there: 20. 20 placed number one on the iTunes Hip-hop  album chart.

On May 29 this year Rude-α dropped his major debut EP, 22, which is his current age. We recently wrote about how he will be providing the ending theme for the upcoming anime Dr. Stone, which you can read here.

Rude-α has a really fun rap style that has good rhythm and cadence that is full of energy, along with an ability to write pretty catchy tunes. Not only does he have very impressive rap capabilities but he has a great singing voice to go with his music. Rude-α’s music has a fun way of getting into listeners’ heads. You can quite poignantly hear his unique style in “Good Bye Baby”, which you can check out below.

You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram and check out his official website to keep up on all his most recent news. And if you’re excited for his upcoming single “Life”, pre-order your copy here and purchase Rude-α’s recent major debut EP 22 here.