Jersey Club track ‘PULL UP’ by Japanese rising star artist LANA goes viral!

‘Pull up’ digital Jacket cover

Gaining popularity thanks to her unique mic skills and her tracks based on hip-hop and R&B, rising young Japanese artist LANA released her single ‘PULL UP’ on November 30, 2022 – and now it is going viral on TikTok. The track is based upon the Jersey Club genre, which is setting TikTok alight with a rush of dance videos from all around the world. Over the distinct rhythm style associated with that genre, the track’s melancholy melody is given a fresh finish with LANA’s iconic singing voice.

In December, right after the song was released, a wave of young Japanese “gyaru” (fashion-conscious young women) began posting videos of themselves dancing to the song on TikTok. By January, many popular female Japanese influencers had posted their own dance videos, igniting an unprecedented “gyaru x Jersey Club” dance trend, embraced by young Japanese women in their teens and twenties.

Now, back on February 1, LANA has released her latest track, ‘TURN IT UP (feat. Candee & ZOT on the WAVE)’, featuring popular male Japanese rapper Candee and hit producer ZOT on the WAVE.

About LANA

LANA was born in Shonan, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. In 2020, she began uploading music to SoundCloud, which quickly picked up strong word of mouth. She was soon flooded with offers from both within Japan and overseas, and began producing music as a trackmaker and rapper, while also featuring on tracks by other artists. While her music is based on hip-hop and R&B, she has a sense for melody that transcends boundaries and genres, as well as an unforgettable husky voice, making her one of the scene’s most promising newcomers.

Be sure to check out ‘PULL UP’ on all streaming platforms here, along with the lyric video below!

Canadian-Japanese hybrid rock band MONKEY MAJIK release 13th album ‘curtain call’!

CURTAIN call Digital Jacket Cover

Japan-based four-piece rock band MONKEY MAJIK released their 13th full-length studio album ‘curtain call’ on January 25, 2023. The album explores brand new musical possibilities for the future of MONKEY MAJIK, with 14 songs covering a wide variety of music styles – offering a chance to experience a whole new side to this veteran band as they enter the 23rd year since their formation. With their mix of Japanese and English lyrics and their splicing of rap and pop, this is an album that only MONKEY MAJIK could make. Look out for standout track ‘This Is The Night (MONKEY MAJIK × GAGLE)’ (track 6 on the album), a collaboration with the hip-hop unit GAGLE that embodies MONKEY MAJIK’s borderless style. Meanwhile, the cover artwork expresses the album’s musical breadth, based on the concept of “infinite change”.

About MONKEY MAJIK

MONKEY MAJIK are a four-piece hybrid rock band based in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, comprising Canadian brothers Maynard (vocals and guitar) and Blaise (vocals and guitar), and Japanese rhythm section TAX (drums) and DICK (bass).

The band released their first single, ‘fly’, in 2006. Since then, they have created countless songs for commercials and theme songs for movies and TV shows, as well as collaborating with and composing songs for other artists. Following the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan’s Tohoku region, MONKEY MAJIK were appointed Tourism and Goodwill Ambassadors of Tohoku, hosting the earthquake reconstruction support project ‘SEND Ai’ the same year, and holding fundraising concerts and auctions as part of their continuing activities to aid rebuilding in Japan’s Tohoku region. In 2020, they celebrated the 20th anniversary of their formation and released the best-of album ‘MONKEY MAJIK BEST -KACHO FUGETSU-’ in January 2021. In January 2023, they released their 13th original album ‘curtain call’, and they plan to hold a tour of Japan from February titled MONKEY MAJIK LIVE TOUR 2023 ~ THE HITS ~.

Be sure to check out the album here along with “This Is The Night” below!

Ongaku to You 2022 Songs, Artist and New Artist of the Year!

2022 was a very interesting year for the Japanese music industry and we at Ongaku to You would like to praise the songs and artists that helped us traverse this amazing year. Each member broke down the year in three categories; Song of the Year, New Artist We Discovered in 2022, and lastly our Artist of the Year. We hope that 2023 will bring many surprises to the Japanese music industry like we received in 2022!

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Luna’s Song of the Year

“Itsumademo” by Thelma Aoyama Feat. SoulJa

The melody, Thelma's vocals, SoulJa's rap, the lyrics - everything is perfect and it’s a callback to Koko ni Iru yo/Soba ni Iru ne. Just the idea of Thelma and SoulJa doing a collaboration and a call back to the tracks they did together on Thelma's debut is just fantastic and I fell in love upon first listen.

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Luna’s New Artist of the Year

Grace Ami

Grace Aimi released her debut studio album near the end of 2021 and I discovered her music in early 2022 after my best friend introduced me to her song "Karaoke Queen". Grace Aimi's music took me by surprise in a good way. I love that her music was all English based (as I wasn't expecting that at all) and that it reminded me of a mixture of 00s pop at times creating a funky fresh vibe. Tracks such as Friend Zone had a more western feel, especially lyrically and composite wise. Tracks like "if" and "Karaoke Queen" give off some mixed vibes which I love. She's an artist I have been anticipating releases as I'm curious to see what she will do next.

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Luna’s New Artist of the Year

Koda Kumi

Koda Kumi has had a fantastic year, especially coming off of her 20th anniversary and going into her 21st anniversary. She's released 'heart' in March of this year, which is a fantastic album and has a new digital track titled "WINGS". Her music has matured so much and I love that with each release; she does something different and showcases her talent as an artist. Her versatility in the industry is always needed.

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Gray’s Song of the Year

“Last Dance ni Bye Bye” by Ballistik Boyz From Exile Tribe

“Last Dance ni Bye Bye” is a song that I come back to time and time again. This release just oozes the coolness factor and I love every second of it. The Ballistik Boyz have really grown since they released their first album and they have proven how insanely talented they are. This is a song that I play at work all the time when I want to brighten my day. Such a fun dance number with really great vocals. This was easily my song of the year, and I think the Ballistik Boyz has earned it.

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Gray’s New Artist of the Year

Octpath

Octpath has had a really good year, and I wanted to make them my New Artist of the Year because when we first started coving them I wasn't a huge fan of them. They then released their "Perfect"-EP and that was the real turning point for me. I've enjoyed every release they have had since. I look forward to every release this group puts out and can't wait to see what they do next.

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Gray’s New Artist of the Year

BiSH

So I was thinking about my Artist of the Year and I feel like BiSH has really earned this spot even though they don't have a song in my top 5 songs of the year. But week after week on the show we cover groups that are way past their prime and how sad in many ways it has become. So for a group like BiSH to say hey we are going out on our terms and to finish with such a strong year of releases. This has been some of my favorite music BiSH has done and it's created a bittersweet moment, on one hand I don't want to see them go next June, but I respect them leaving on their terms and I wish everyone in BiSH the best of luck on their future endeavors.

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Ken’s Song of the Year

“Shock!” by Sakanaction

This is a track that upon first listen I had already known was going to be on my list, being top or not would be the only problem. I have loved what Sakanaction has been doing recently by delivering a modern city pop style of music and “Shock” is the bread and butter of that. It’s composition alone would be something to talk about as it just jazzercises a lot that 80’s feels and while the lyrics might not be anything too meaningful, it just adds to that style that Sakanaction has been trying to perfect. The bongos throughout the track had really won me over for my overall enjoyment of this song. I had enjoyed their concept, album Adapt, that was released back in March. I am much looking forward to a more traditional original album in the future.

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Ken’s New Artist of the Year

Nishina

Not to beat a dead horse by having two unique female vocalists as my New artist of the Year back to back, but this year it would have to be Nishina. She has that “it” factor that I look for in a female vocalist. Her music is calm, yet has a hint of mysterious madness hidden throughout which attracts all listeners. One of the things that I absolutely love about Nishina is that she has this really soft but show addictive vocals that just capture anyone which was one of the reasons that I fell for her in the first place. Like I had said in my Music Corner write up about her, she can really mix it up and just take listeners on a ride that never has been heard before. Her latest release (as of this write up) “Hot Milk” was something that I didn’t picture her doing after her album 1999, but it just works cause of her vocal range that she puts into all of her tracks. It was things like this which really had made me thinking there was no one else that I could pick as my new artist aside of Nishina.

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Ken’s Artist of the Year

back number

There isn’t an artist that had filled my ears throughout the year that was 2022 like back number. While it is true their actually 2022 was fairly light in actual releases, it was their whole backlog of releases that really got me. Like I had said with Yellow on my top 5 in 2021, they have this way just to grip the listener into their lyrics about love, unrequited or otherwise. I was even a huge backer of Suiheisen this past year, in which I didn’t see the big appeal of it back in its initial release. Songs like “Happy End”, “Takaneno Hanakosan”, “Shiawase” were constantly in my rotation and it had killed me because they weren’t modern enough that I couldn’t really talk about them in my Ongaku Go’s throughout 2022. These songs and its lyrics had really helped me in this really difficult year. I’m looking forward to HUMOR which will release in January of the 2023 and hope that these boys will keep on having an amazing year.

LOVEBITES Return with JUDGEMENT DAY a Brand New Album Out February 2023!

LOVEBITES, one of Japan’s most important names in heavy metal, return from their hiatus with a new member, a new music video and news of a fourth studio album coming in February 2023. The album is also available to preorder today from JPU Records, and is available physically in three editions.

JUDGEMENT DAY, the fittingly titled album will be the first to feature the band’s new line-up, which includes bassist Fami, who was selected after an audition process and is just 20 years of age. The fast, melodic and heavy metal sound that LOVEBITES has excelled at since their debut is still burning strong, but has been sublimated further. Newcomer Fami also brings an added charm to the quintet, including her signature slap technique. The album contains ten completely new songs, mixed and mastered by Finnish masterminds Mikko Karmila and Mika Jussila, who have worked on all of the band’s studio albums. Fans can get a taste of the new LOVEBITES today with the release of the digital single and music video to the album’s title track, available to download, stream and watch now:

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The cover art for the album features a wolf, an incarnation of the band that has appeared on all of LOVEBITES’ previous albums. This time, as the title suggests (JUDGEMENT DAY), the wolf clutches scales that weigh good and evil within its jaws, and is captured sprinting between the sun and the moon. Further meaning from the cover art can be discovered in the title track’s music video, and further details will likely be revealed in the future too.

The album will be released digitally worldwide on 22 February 2023, and released on CD from our friends at JPU Records from 24 February 2023. A video on Demand and CD bundle is also available directly from JPU Records’ website. It features a documentary of the bassist auditions which includes interviews with the members of the band, as well as Fami while she was still one of the finalists – all with English subtitles. It also includes four studio sessions; ‘The Hammer of Wrath’, ‘Golden Destination’ and ‘Shadowmaker’ from the audition finals, and ‘Bravehearted’, the first session with Fami as an official member of LOVEBITES. There is also a third edition that includes the CD, the video on demand content and a JUDGEMENT DAY T-shirt. Additionally, 50 orders of this latter bundle will randomly receive a sleeve case that has been signed by the members of the band.

The World’s First Label to Produce 2.5D Artists: RIOT MUSIC Launches “Kigenshou Records”!

Brave group, and its subsidiary SuperYellow Inc. who operate the internationally renowned RIOT MUSIC, are pleased to announce the Virtual Music Agency has launched the “Kigenshou Records” Sub-Label, the world’s first to focus on 2.5D Artists; Existing as entities in both the virtual and real world.

Additional Details:

To broaden the creative and musical output of The RIOT MUSIC Virtual Music Agency, the Sub- Label “Kigenshou Records” has been established. Connected two dimensions never before so seamlessly linked, “Kigenshou Records,” headed by the production team behind existing and beloved 2.5D Artist Yuka Nagase, will further explore the artistic potential in fusing the second dimension (illustration, traditional and CG animation) with the third (live action, film).

Connecting Dimensions

RIOT MUSIC through “Kigenshou Records” hopes to manifest an entirely new type of experience through connecting 2D with 3D. Fans will be able to appreciate a new degree of tangibility through this new project; They will feel these performers right next to them in a way only made possible by these artists who meld dimensions. The project plans to incorporate a vast array of Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality experiences, in addition to Super Yellow’s ongoing metaverse development.

Connecting Music

The “Kigenshou Records” Sub-Label project won’t be content with doing the bare minimum on the musical side. Not only will the project collaborate with established creative teams who’ve seen success with virtual artists, but working with established labels and creators in the world of Japanese music is paramount. The goal is to appeal both to fans of virtual culture, and music listening audiences alike.

Connecting Experience

Cat Nap, the team behind Yuka Nagase and her 100 Million TikTok hit “Torokeru Tetsugaku” will be responsible for the overall direction of “Kigenshou Records.”

The team will strive to leap into new territory for both Yuka Nagase herself and a new generation of 2.5D artists. Taking what’s already been learned and accomplished with Yuka Nagase to this point, the team will incorporate an independent production style that can foster new developments in music.

Connecting To The World

In conjunction with the establishment of “Kigenshou Records,” RIOT MUSIC will hold an ongoing series of auditions for each of its Sub-Labels. RIOT MUSIC hopes to hear from singer-songwriters amongst other kinds of performers who see themselves able to transcend dimensions! The “Kidenshou Records” production team is committed to working with their talents’ own individual vision and artistic history for this project!

Audition Details

Please consult the site below if interested in applying.

Audition Site: https://riot-music.com/virtualartistaudition/