Music Corner Week 80: Yayoi Daimon

Yayoi Daimon is a hip-hop singer-songwriter, DJ, producer, and women’s rights advocate who got her start in the industry with the group rhythmic and began her solo career in 2013. She is completely self produced, from writing her own lyrics, songs, production, to her doing her own choreography. Yayoi’s music is heavily influenced by African American music and culture. Yayoi Daimon made her big break in 2017 with the collaboration single Choose Me/Melon Soda feat. ReicHi when it hit number 1 on the iTunes Reggae charts and garnished 3 million views on YouTube. From there on, Yayoi appeared on Fuji TV show LOVE MUSIC, gaining her even more love and support from audiences. She knows how to stun audiences with her impactful words, composition, and empowering presence leaving for memorable music.

Yayoi’s music has a way of leaving an impression through her lyrics, the song Best Friend feat. Dizzle does just that. The first time I heard “Best Friend” feat. Dizzle, I had a direct connection with the lyrics upon hearing it, but that is not all - the composition is phenomenal with its nice pop R&B fused beats and Yayoi’s voice shines in the track immensely. “Best Friend Part 2” feat. Dizzle has a completely different composition, a more upbeat dance vibe with different lyrics and is just as amazing as the original. “Melon Soda" feat. Rei©hi is one of my favorite bops as it has a catchy sound that fits with both Rei©hi and Yayoi’s style. Rei©hi’s rap flows soothingly to a hit and makes you bop along. Yayoi shows how powerful her vocals are but still keeps the reggae/hip-hop feel. “MAKENNA” is a fast paced tune that not only has meaningful lyrics about never giving up and to keep going but its unique combination makes for a great hip-hop dance tune that showcases Yayoi’s rap skills. Yayoi’s latest single “Ego” is a very powerful track with impressive lyrics, vocals, and music; Yayoi shows off her vocal prowess and her songwriting skills yet again in a resonating song that hits you deep in the heart.

Yayoi Daimon has one physical album (Word Hard Love Hard), 3 Digital EPs, ( “Girls - Diamonds”, “Girls - Love”, “Girls - Strong” ), and 18 Digital Singles with her latest, “Ego”, that just released on June 9th! Be sure to check out Yayoi Daimon’s official website, Twitter, Instagram, and her music video for “Ego” below!

Music Corner Week 79: Fujii Kaze

Fujii Kaze is a musician and singer who hails from Satosho in Okayama, Japan. His whole life he’s been fixated on music, listening to jazz, pop, enka, and classical music from a very early age. At the age of twelve, Kaze started uploading videos to YouTube with him playing piano and doing vocal cover videos, his personal YouTube channel has gathered over 30 million views. He stopped uploading during High School to focus on his studies and after he graduated he went back to making videos. In 2019, Kaze moved to Tokyo where he signed on with Universal and that same year he started releasing music. His debut single, “Nan-Nan” was released on November 18 of 2019, and his second single, “Mo-Eh-Wa” was released a little over a month later on the 24th of December. In 2020 Kaze dropped his first album titled HELP EVER HURT NEVER on May 20th.

Fujii Kaze has an amazing voice that he employs to great effect. The listener can really hear the jazz influence in all of his music. He has a really smooth and laid-back style that just helps the listener to relax and enjoy the music. Kaze is also an amazing pianist and that really shows in his work. The first song I ever heard by him was his latest release “Kirari” which is just so catchy it hard to stop listening to it. “Kirari” shows off his vocal talent really well, going smoothly into the higher octave before dropping back down. 

Fujii Kaze just released his Help Ever Hurt Cover which includes a wide variety of American tunes such as Taylor Swift”s “Shake It Off”, and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” just to name a few. His official website stays up to date with all his latest news along with his Twitter. Lastly, be sure to check out “Kirari” in the video below.

Music Corner Week 78: Homecomings

Homecomings is a four-member multi-gendered rock band that form back in 2012 from Kyoto. After first meeting during their college years, the band currently is making a splash in the indie scene with their music comprised with fuzzy filled composition, bittersweet dream-pop melodies with beautiful vocal harmonies, and were tipped as “the next break-out indie band to watch out for” by several pop-culture media sites. This fame brought eyes to Pony Canyon’s sub-label IRORI Records which where they’ll be making their major label debut from in 2021.

Inspired by prior industry legends such as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION and Quruli, Homecomings keeps the Japanese indie spirit strong with songs like “Cakes”, “Hurts”, and “Songbirds” which really blends that ‘indie garage-band’ feeling and nostalgic mid 00’s memories. Vocalist Ayaka Tatamino’s vocals does an interesting thing of both standing out at times but perfectly just fuses in with amazing composition. While not being the most energetic or mellowed out band in the scene, Homecomings makes up with perfection in thier craft of their own unique style with emotionally thought out lyrics that were sung in English in their early years. 

Homecomings has released three singles, four E.P.s and five albums throughout their career with their major label debut album Moving Days dropping at the time of this write up. Be sure to check out the band’s official website, Twitter, and Instagram, along with the lyric video for the track “Herge” below!

Homecomings stars:

Yuki Fukutomi- Guitar 

Ayaka Tatamino- Vocals/ Guitar

Honami Fukuda- Bass/ Chorus 

Narumi Ishida- Drums/ Chorus

Music Corner Week 77: Rei©hi

Rei©hi is a rapper who began her career in 2016 when she participated in the BAZOOKA!!! High School Rap Championship and released her first single “Good Day”. In 2018, she signed with label SONIC GROOVE and released her first mini album JK wa Burando (JK is a Brand). From there on Rei©hi went to collaborate with Karin with the track “Tooku2018” and has also been featured on several songs with Yayoi Daimon! Rei©hi is known for her cute look with a model-like style and a punchy rap. Due to her unique style and rap, Rei©hi has caught the eye of many through SNS.

Rei©hi’s latest track “NOKINAMI” is interesting as it starts out at a slow pace as far as composition goes mainly focusing on Rei©hi’s rap, but picks up right around the chorus and continues at that pace. I enjoyed what “NOKINAMI” became when it picked up as it matches the flow of Rei©hi’s rap so well. “Excuse Boy” is a track that shows off Rei©hi’s vocals as well as her rap. She does an amazing job combining both rap and vocals in this track and it flows with the mid-tempo composition and makes it an easy listening track on the ears. “#bowdown” is a fast paced rap song that fits very well with Rei©hi’s style and flows perfectly with her cadence and composition.

Rei©hi currently has two mini albums (JK wa Burando and TWEMPTY ) and five digital singles with her latest being “NOKINAMI”. You can follow Rei©hi on her official website, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Check out her track “Excuse Boy” below!

Music Corner Week 76: Spira Spica

Spira Spica is a three-member pop-rock band that got started in 2013 under the name Snowman. When they made their major-label debut under Sacra Music they changed their name to Spira Spica with the release of their song “Start Dash”. The group is centered around the lead vocalist Mikiha who the band feels has an innocent character that naturally makes viewers and listeners smile. The lead guitarist is Yuji Teranishi and the bassist goes by the name Masuda.

Mikiha is truly the heart and soul of this group with her nice vocals, she is capable of being cute in some songs, and in others, she has a nice soft voice that really pulls the listener in. Teranishi’s guitar work also stands out when it needs to. The song that really put them on the map for me was “Kamisama No Ita Zura” which is a wonderful mid-tempo track that has a really nice opening that transitions really well to Mikiha’s singing. 

Spira Spica released their first album last year which is titled Pop Step Jump! They also have eight EPs and one single. Their latest EP, “Pyramid Dai Gyakuten”, was released earlier this year. Their official website along with their official Twitter account stays up to date with all their latest news . Lastly, be sure to check out their song “Kamisama No Ita Zura” in the video below.

Vocalist - Mikiha

Gutarist - Yuji Teranishi

Bassist - Masuda