Karin. hopes to identify her true self with first album!

Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Karin. announced the release of her first album Identity Crisis: August 7. Debuting last year while still in high school, Karin. is looking to bookend her first year in the industry with a heavily emotional album.

Dropping with eight tracks total, Identity Crisis will include recently released track “愛を叫んでみた” (“Ai wo Sakendemita”) and will be released with a CD-only edition. Alongside the announcement of the album Karin. dropped the music video for “Ai wo Sakendemita”, which was choreographed by famous videographer Mishiro Fumiko. Fumiko has also worked with other female vocalists Aimyon and Aimer, leaving the future bright for Karin.

Unfortunately there are no pre-order links at this time of reporting, but in the meantime check out the music video for “Ai wo Sakendemita” below.

Track listing:

Karin.「Identity Crisis」

01. 愛を叫んでみた (Ai wo Sakendemita)

02. teenage

03. だいじなもの (Daiji na mono)

04. 貴様に流す涙なんて (Kisama ni Nagasu Naimida nate)

05. 白色のコンバース (Hakushoku no Converse)

06. あたしの嫌いな唄 (Atashi no Kiraina Uta)

07. エンドロール (End Roll)

08. 青春脱衣所 (Seishun Datsuisho)

Taemin leaves Japanese fans wanting more with new mini-album!

Member of popular Korean group Shinee, Taemin announced he will be dropping a brand new mini-album August 28. Currently not much is known about it except the info that it will be released with six tracks total and will be the latest release since “WANT” back this past February. The mini-album, which will be his third overall in the Japanese market, will drop with three editions: a standard CD-only edition and two limited editions, Type A and Type B. The difference between the two is that Type A will include a sixty-page photo book while Type B will boast a DVD copy of the music video for an album track (currently unknown) and Making Of for the album. But wait, there’s more; B is also to include goods such as a clear file folder or card case depending on the place of order. 

TAEMIN ARENA TOUR 2019 ～X～

2019年6月8日 Hokkaido’s Makomanai Ice Arena 

2019年6月9日 Hokkaido’s Makomanai Ice Arena 

2019年6月15日 Shizuoka Ecopa Arena 

2019年6月16日 Shizuoka Ecopa Arena 

2019年6月19日 Osaka’s Osaka Castle Hall

2019年6月20日 Osaka’s Osaka Castle Hall

2019年6月25日 Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan

2019年6月26日 Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan

2019年7月5日 Hiroshima’s Hiroshima Green Arena

2019年7月6日 Hiroshima’s Hiroshima Green Arena

2019年7月13日 Osaka’s Osaka Castle Hall

2019年7月14日 Osaka’s Osaka Castle Hall

2019年8月6日 Fukuoka’s Marine Messe Fukuoka

2019年8月7日 Fukuoka’s Marine Messe Fukuoka

Taemin also announced that he’ll be holding his first arena live tour, 「TAEMIN ARENA TOUR 2019 ～X～」, starting June 8 and running until the release of the mini-album (see right for dates).

Pre-order the mini-album at the links below!

Standard edition

Limited edition Type A

Limited edition Type B

Billboard Japan drops Top 10 list for first half of 2019!

With the arrival of June, Billboard Japan dropped rankings for the first half of 2019. The particular rankings were taken from the Billboard Japan Top 100 Chart and somewhat different from what we usually cover on the show with the Oricon, but they’re pretty similar in some regards.

#1 Aimyon

#2 Kenshi Yonezu

#3 Queen

#4 back number

#5 ONE OK ROCK

#6 TWICE

#7 Gen Hoshino

#8 Nogizaka46

#9 BTS

#10 DA PUMP

Surprising no one, vocalist Aimyon takes number one Top Artist. With thirty-one tracks on the Japan Hot 100 and four releases charting on the Japan Hot Albums list, it’s no surprise she’s the face of Japan’s Top Artists this year. What’s even more impressive is that she was only rank sixteen on last year’s chart. Not too far behind her is predecessor Kenshi Yonezu who took this past year’s Top Artist of NHK’s Kohaku, bearing twenty-five tracks on the Japan Hot 100 list and four releases charting on the Japan Hot Albums list. It’s no question, then, that Yonezu will remain in the top three. With the upcoming release of “Umi no Yurei”, Yonezu is hoping to overtake Aimyon to take the number one spot overall. With the success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” fever hitting Japan, Queen rounds out the list at number three.

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#1 Yonezu Kenshi「Lemon」

#2 Aimyon「Marygold」

#3 DA PUMP「U.S.A.」

#4 Aimyon「Konya Kono Mama」

#5 Yonezu Kenshi「Flamingo」

#6 Kiyakizaki46「Kuroi Ushi」

#7 back number「HAPPY BIRTHDAY」

#8 Hinatazaka46「Kyun」

#9 Nogizaka46「Kaerimichi wa Tomawari Shitaku Naru」

#10 Aimyon「Kimi ha Rock wo Kiganai」

Strangely enough for the Hot 100 list, the top two artists swap with each other; “Lemon” continues to dominate from last year’s Hot 100 list with it also wrecking this year’s download charts. Overtaking last year’s impressive point count at 219,288.49, Yonezu is looking to become a mainstay in the industry for Reiwa. Running in at 155,429.37 points, Aimyon’s “Marygold” takes number one Top Streamed song and ninth Top Downloaded. Rounding out the list at number three is DA PUMP’s “it song” “U.S.A.“

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#1 Gen Hoshin『POP VIRUS』

#2 ONE OK ROCK『Eye of the Storm』

#3 Nogizaka46『Ima ga Omoi Detani Narumade』
#4 Queen『Bohemiam Rhapsody Official Sound Track』
#5 back number『MAGIC』
#6 Aimyon『Shukanteki Six Sense』
#7 Kobukoro『ALL TIME BEST 1998-2018』
#8 TWICE『#TWICE2』
#9 Kenshi Yonezu『BOOTLEG』
#10 GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE『BEST GENERATION』

Surprisingly, none of the top three artists above have taken the Hot Albums list, with Gen Hoshino’s POP VIRUS taking the number one spot for both CD sales and downloads overall. Selling an impressive 281,000 copies since the album’s release back in December of last year with downloads over 26,000, Hoshino outdid himself with this album. Not too far behind him, popular rock band ONE OK ROCK took the number two spot with their album Eye of the Storm, taking fourth in CD sales with an impressive 288,000 copies sold and third in downloads with over 53,000. The idol community not to be forgotten, Nogizaka46’s album Ima ga Omoi Deni Naru took third.

We at Ongaku to You would like to congratulate all of the artists for their achievements thus far and look forward to their future releases this 2019.

Rude-α turns from stone to life

Artist Rude-α has revealed that he will be releasing a brand new single titled “Life” July 13. “Life” will be used as the ending theme for upcoming shonen anime Dr. Stone which will start airing July. Rude-α has discussed how the series’s protagonist left an impression him when he first read the manga. He also mentioned how he overlapped himself with the protagonist in his upcoming song. 

“Life” will be released in both a standard edition and limited edition. The standard edition will be CD-only as well as the limited edition. There will be a total of four tracks, the first three being original tracks with the last an instrumental version of “Life”.

You can pre-order your copy here and check out the full posted track listing at the bottom of this page.

Standard edition

Limited edition

You can check out Rude-α’s single “グッバイベイビー” (“Goodbye Baby”) below.

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Standard Edition

Rude-α「LIFE」

01. LIFE

02. Dance in the rain

03. Time on you

04. LIFE（instrumental）

Airi Suzuki will release first physical single

Popular actress, singer, model, and radio personality Airi Suzuki will be releasing her very first physical single “Escape” September 4. Suzuki first debuted the song May 26 at a concert held at Shimizu Culture Center Marinato. It was written by Miho Karasawa and the composition was completed by Kazuhiro Hara.

“Escape” is being released in a staggering six editions. The standard edition will be released in a Type A, Type B, and Type C edition and they will be CD-only. The limited edition will also be released in a Type A, Type B, and Type SP and will include both a CD and DVD. You can pre-order your copy here.

Type A

Type B

Type C

Limited Edition Type A

Limited Edition Type B

Limited Edition Type SP

You can check out Suzuki’s song titled “Distance” below.