Generasia would not be possible without tokyograph and all the wonderful people who've contributed over the past 15 years. Thank you!

Crystal Kay

Revision as of 03:47, 5 May 2010 by Plisskin (talk | contribs) (→‎Singles)
File:CK The Best Remixes of CK Promo.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting THE BEST REMIXES of CK (2009)

Crystal Kay (クリスタル・ケイ) is the daughter of an African-American father and Korean mother, born and raised in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. She first sang some songs for TV CF, thanks in no small part to her mother's contacts, at the age of 6. This young start got her noticed early on and by 1998 she had signed to Epic Records at only 12 years old. The following year she debuted with the single Eternal Memories. To date she has released eight albums and has collaborated with the likes of m-flo and CHEMISTRY. Like a number of Japanese artists, Crystal can speak both English and Japanese, the former making a regular appearance in her songs which exhibit a distinctly western influenced R&B sound.


Profile

  • Name: Crystal Kay Williams
  • Nicknames: Kuri, CK
  • Birthday: February 26, 1986
  • Birthplace: Yokohama, Japan
  • Blood Type: O

Information

1999-2001: Debut & Image Change

File:CK Eternal Memories Promo.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting "Eternal Memories" (1999)

Crystal Kay began her career at just 4 years old, debuting as a jingle singer for several CM's. In 1999 at just 12 years old Kay teamed up with the composer Kanno Yoko to produce her debut single "Eternal Memories". The single peeked at #47 on the Oricon chart. Before the end of 1999 Kay released two more singles, "TEENAGE UNIVERSE ~Chewing Gum Baby" and "Komichi no Hana" with the former charting the same position as "Eternal Memories" and the latter charting significantly less, at #80.

On March 23, 2000 at the age of 14, Kay's debut album C.L.L.～Crystal Lover Light was released. It reflected a more R&B and acoustic side of her, as later albums would gear towards the pop and urban genres. This album reached #60 on the charts and manged to chart for four weeks, selling 19,930 copies. Kay also released her fourth single "Shadows of Desire" simultaneously with the album. "Shadows of Desire" was her first A-side single to be sung entirely in English and is Kay's only single to date not to chart.

File:CK 637 -always and forever- Promo.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting 637 -always and forever- (2001)

Inactive for the rest of the year, Kay made her comeback in 2001 collaborating with Osawa Shinichi and Fujiwara Hiroshi to release the single "LOST CHILD" which was a theme song for the film Satorare. In that same year Kay underwent an image and genre change to an urban style and released her fifth single "Girl's Night" which would be her first single produced by T.KURA and MICHICO. The title track for the single was used for the TX music program JAPAN COUNTDOWN and it reached #100 on the Oricon weekly chart while only charting for one week. Kay's sixth single "Ex-Boyfriend" featured Hip-Hop artist VERBAL of the group m-flo. At the time of it's release the single was a minor success for Kay peaking at number #44 and charting for five weeks.

Kay's second album 637 -always and forever- was released August 22nd, 2001. The songs on the album featured her new venture into the urban and pop market. The album reached a position three times higher than her previous album C.L.L CRYSTAL LOVER LIGHT, it manged to reach #19 on the Oricon weekly charts and charted for a total of eight weeks selling 48,550 copies. Kay's seventh single "think of U" was a Christmas themed single and was her final release of 2001.

2002-2006: Early & Growing Success

File:CK CK5 Promo.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting CK5 (2004)

Establishing herself as an urban artist Kay released her eighth single "hard to say" which featured SORA3000 and SPHERE of INFLUENCE. For the single Kay enlisted ☆TAKU of m-flo to produce. The single debuted at #26 on the Oricon charts and became Kay's first single to chart in the top thirty. Kay's next single "Girl U Love" would chart poorly at only #156 with her third album almost seventeen subsequently following it's release, however, the album reached #2 in Oricon charts and charting for 58 weeks it would sell 51,360 in it's first week and 213,023 copies in 2003 to become the 62nd best selling album of that year.

Kay began 2003 with the her tenth single "Boyfriend -part II-" which peeked at #23. For Kay's eleventh single she teamed up with m-flo again to release "I LIKE IT" which was credited as "Crystal Kay loves m-flo". The single was meant to go hand-in-hand with m-flo's 14th single "REEEWIND!" which was credited to "m-flo loves Crystal Kay". The single was Kay's first in the top ten, reaching #8 on the Oricon chart it charted for thirteen weeks.

Kay released two more singles in 2003, "Candy" a single written and produced by YOSHIKA and "Can't be Stopped" followed by her fourth studio album 4 REAL. The album reached #5 in Oricon charts and charted for 25 weeks. It sold 246,306 copies in 2004 and become the 59th best selling album of that year. Towards the end of 2003 Kay released her first fully English album NATURAL -World Premiere Album-. The album featured English versions of previous singles and several cover songs from artist like Amel Larrieux and Cindy Lauper. In Japan, the album reached #33 in Oricon charts and charted for 8 weeks. Although imported versions were made available of the album, it was never officially released internationally.

File:CrystalKay.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting "Kirakuni / Together" (2006)

In 2004 Kay released her fourteenth single "Motherland". The title track for the single was used as the third ending theme for the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist from episodes 26 to 41. Following the single, Kay released her first best album CK5. The title of the album was homage to the 5 years since her debut. Kay's fifteenth single "Bye My Darling!" reached #40 on the charts and would her final release of 2004.

Before the end of 2004 Kay graduated from Kinnick High School and enrolled in Sophia University, ironically the same college fellow singer Beni Arashiro was attending at the time. The two reportedly became good friends.

For 2005 Kay released her sixteenth single "Kiss". The single is Kay's second best selling. After "Kiss" Kay released her fifth studio album Crystal Style which reached #2 on the Oricon charts and charted for thirty-one weeks. It ended up selling 296,756 copies and became the #44 best selling album of 2005. The single "Koi ni Ochitara" would be Kay's next release. It to reached #2 on the Oricon weekly chart but charted for thirty-seven weeks. It is currently the best selling single of her career, selling 73,717 copies in it's first week and 295,456 copies to date. The title track for the single was also used as the theme song for the Japanese dorama Koi ni Ochitara. In October 2005 Kay collaborated with the pop duo CHEMISTRY to release her eighteenth single "Two As One". Another single to reach the #2 position on the Oricon weekly chart. It charted for fourteen weeks and the title track for the single was used for a Toyota WISH CM.

In 2006 Kay released her nineteenth single "Kirakuni / Together", her second A-side to be sung in English. It debuted at #27 on the Oricon weekly chart and charted for five weeks. "Together" was used in Japan as the theme song for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Kay's final release of 2006 was her sixth album Call me Miss which reached #2 on the Oricon charts and charted for five weeks. As the album sold 250,698 copies in 2006, it became the #50 best selling album of the year.

Discography

File:CKPROMO2.jpg
Crystal Kay promoting Color Change! (2008)

Albums

Other Albums

Singles

Digital Singles

DVDs

Vinyls

Compilation / Other

Filmography

Movies

Dramas

External Links

v • d • e
Crystal Kay
Songs · Images
Studio Albums Crystal Kay - Nando Demo (Promotional).jpg
Best Albums
Cover Albums
Mini-Albums
Remix Albums
English Albums
Singles
01 · 02 · 03 · 04 · 05 · 06 · 07 · 08 · 09 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33
Digital Singles
Vinyls
Video Releases
01 · 02 · 03 · 04
International Digital Singles
Universal Music Website
Retrieved from "http://www.generasia.com/w/index.php?title=Crystal_Kay&oldid=114045"