Kato Miliyah

Kato Miliyah promoting "AIAIAI" (2012)

Kato Miliyah (加藤ミリヤ) is a Japanese pop-urban singer-songwriter and fashion designer. She debuted back in 2003 as a featuring artist and started her solo career with, "Never let go / Yozora" in 2004. Her debut studio album, Rose was a big success reaching #2 on the Oricon charts and making it into the top 100 albums of the year. She is under the Mastersix Foundation sub-label of Sony Music Entertainment.

Profile

• Stage Name: Kato Miliyah (加藤ミリヤ)
• Real Name: Kato Miho (加藤美穂)
• Birthdate: June 22, 1988
• Birthplace: Toyota city, Aichi prefecture, Japan
• Favorite Genres: R&B, Hip-Hop, Reggae
• Favorite Artist: Mary J. Blige

Information

Kato Miliyah promoting "Never let go / Yozora" (2004)

Pre-debut to Debut

Kato started writing lyrics and composing music at the age of fourteen. She made her debut onto the music scene with the track, "Cherry, Oh Baby". The song was featured on an album released by Reggae Disco Rockers. In 2004 she reappeared again as a featuring artist on Dozhi-T's single "Shouri no Megami". She also starred in the commercial the song was used for.

In September of 2004, Kato made her solo debut with the single, "Never let go / Yozora". The single sold well, reaching the #15 position on the Oricon charts. The track "Yozora", even sampled the hit song "Ningen-hatudenjyo" by Buddah Brand. The pre-release LP of the single is now rare to find as it sold out on the day of it's release. Two months later came the release of her second single, "Beautiful". The song was about Kato wanting to stay strong and beautiful, and was used as Lotte's Pure White Gum commerical theme song. Much like her debut LP it also sold out the day it released.

In March of 2005 Kato came back with the single, "Dear Lonely Girl". The single ended up being a big hit, and currently her best selling single. Soon she released a limited line of clothing named Miliyahhood, which was only available in Shibuya's Marui JAM department store. Kato's love for fashion runs strong with her just like her love for music and she hopes to release more clothing again soon.

Kato Miliyah promoting Jounetsu (2005)

Her next single, "Jounetsu" was released in Sepember. The song used a sample from UA's hit song of the same name. This fact on its own attracted many listeners and the single end up reaching #11 on the Oricon charts. Only a month had passed before the Kato's nest release. Her debut album, Rose was released on October 26th, 2005. The album ranked in at the #2 position on the Oricon charts. The album was very sucessful and sold a total of 189,293 copies that year, making the #79 album of the year. On November 29th, Kato held her very first one-man live concert to promote her album.

Diamond Princess to Present

Kato Miliyah promoting "I WILL" (2006)

Only four months after the release of her debut album, Kato started releasing singles again. The first of these singles was "Sotsugyou". The single showcased a more mature sound for Kato. The single was less successful then any of her previous releases ranking in at #23 on the Oricon.

Kato's next release, "Last Summer", was released in June, and did worst than her previous single. It ranked in at #30 on the Oricon charts. Her next release held up with the sucess of her Rose-era singles, and was used as the subject song for the movie, Otoshimono. The single ended up at #17 on the Oricon charts, becoming her most sucessful single since "Jounetsu".

Kato kicked of 2007 with the February release of "Eyes on you." The single charted at #24 on the Oricon charts. Her second album, Diamond Princess was released exactly a month later on March 7th. The album reached #5 on the Oricon charts. Though the album didn't rank less then Rose its sales were significantly less. After being on the Oricon for three weeks it had only sold a total of 68,029 copies.

Not even a month off the heals of the release of her previous album Kato annouced the release dates for two singles. The first of which being being a cover of the 1965 #1 hit by The Temptations, "My Girl". The song also features the Japanese R&B group COLOR. The second of the two was titled "Love is..." and faired much better one the Oricon than the first.

Kato's next single, "LALALA / FUTURECHECKA", is collaboration heavy. The song "LALALA" features the reggae styling of Wakadanna of the band Shonannokaze and production by MINMI. The second A-side, "FUTURECHECKA", features collaborations with SIMON, COMA-CHI (who recently appear on Kato's "Kono Mama Zutto Asa Made Remix") & TARO SOUL. The song is being produced by ZEEBRA & DJ KEN-BO.

Discography

Kato Miliyah promoting "LALALA / FUTURECHECKA" (2007)

Kato Miliyah promoting "SAYONARA Baby / Koishiteru" (2008)

Kato Miliyah promoting "WHY" (2009)

Kato Miliyah promoting "Last Love" (2010)

Kato Miliyah promoting M BEST (2011)

Studio Albums

• [2005.10.26] Rose
• [2007.03.07] Diamond Princess
• [2008.04.02] TOKYO STAR
• [2009.07.08] Ring
• [2010.07.28] HEAVEN

Best Albums

• [2008.11.05] BEST DESTINY (Sample-Best)
• [2011.08.03] M BEST (Best Album)

Singles

• [2004.09.08] Never let go / Yozora (夜空; Night Sky)
• [2004.11.17] Beautiful
• [2005.03.24] Dear Lonely Girl (ディア・ロンリーガール)
• [2005.09.21] Jounetsu (ジョウネツ; Passion)
• [2006.02.01] Sotsugyou (ソツギョウ; Graduation)
• [2006.07.19] Last Summer
• [2006.09.27] I WILL
• [2007.02.07] Eyes on you
• [2007.05.30] My Girl feat. COLOR
• [2007.06.20] Love is...
• [2007.10.17] LALALA / FUTURECHECKA
• [2008.02.21] 19 Memories
• [2008.09.24] SAYONARA Baby / Koishiteru (SAYONARAベイベー／恋シテル; Goodbye Baby / I Am In Love)
• [2009.01.28] 20 -CRY-
• [2009.05.13] Love Forever (Kato Miliyah x Shimizu Shota)
• [2009.11.18] WHY
• [2010.02.03] FOREVER LOVE (Shimizu Shota x Kato Miliyah)
• [2010.03.24] BYE BYE
• [2010.06.09] Last Love
• [2011.03.16] Yuushatachi (勇者たち; Heroes)
• [2011.06.22] DESIRE / BABY!BABY!BABY!
• [2011.07.13] BELIEVE (Kato Miliyah x Shimizu Shota)
• [2011.12.14] ROMAN
• [2012.06.06] AIAIAI
• [2012.08.08] HEART BEAT

Digital Singles

• [2010.12.xx] Only holy

Analog Singles

• [2004.08.12] Yozora ~DO THE BOBO JAMES RMX.~ feat. ILLMATIC BUDDHA MC'S (夜空)
• [2005.01.26] AT THE FEVER feat. TWIGY, NIPPS, DEV LARGE, SHINNOSK8
• [2005.03.11] Dear Lonely Girl (ディア・ロンリーガール)
• [2005.09.09] Jounetsu (ジョウネツ)
• [2006.03.24] Sotsugyou (ソツギョウ)
• [2006.07.13] 24HOURS feat. TWIGY
• [2006.07.24] for so long
• [2007.01.26] Kono Mama Zutto Asa Made (このままずっと朝まで)
• [2007.07.27] Kono Mama Zutto Asa Made Remix (このままずっと朝まで)
• [2007.09.14] FUTURECHECKA feat. SIMON, COMA-CHI & TARO SOUL

DVD / Blu-rays

• [2007.12.12] Diamond Princess Tour 2007
• [2008.12.10] TOKYO STAR Tour 2008
• [2010.05.26] Ring Tour 2009
• [2010.12.08] MILIYAH THE CLIPS 2004-2010
• [2011.11.02] "ETERNAL HEAVEN" TOUR 2010-2011

Other DVDs

• [2006.02.22] m-flo - m-flo Tour 2005 Beat Space Nine at NihonBudokan (#8 One Day)
• [2006.04.26] TWIGY - Thing Twice (#11 RIGH' NOW!)
• [2006.12.20] Heartsdales - The Legend Final Live (#17 Paradise feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2007.10.31] m-flo - m-flo Tour 2007 "Cosmicolor" @ Yokohama Arena (#19 One Day)
• [2007.12.05] Dohzi-T - Complete Clips (#6 better days, #11 Shouri no Megami)
• [2008.04.02] Rhythm Nation 2007 -The biggest indoor music festival- (#11 Diamond)
• [2009.10.14] Dohzi-T - 12 Love Stories Live Tour 2009 at Shibuya C.C.Lemon Hall (#2 better days, #3 Hikaru Mirai)
• [2011.01.12] FREEDOM 2010 in Awajishima "Aozora" (#20 LALALA)
• [2011.12.14] AI - "Densetsu NIGHT" at Nippon Budokan with Cho SPECIAL GUEST Ozei!!! (#17 STRONGER feat. Kato Miliyah)

Compilations / Other

• [2003.09.18] Reggae Disco Rockers - Reggae Magic (#5 Cherry Oh!Baby feat. Miliyah)
• [2004.05.26] Dohzi-T - Shouri no Megami feat. Kato Miliyah
• [2005.03.02] Heartsdales - Super Star (#13 Paradise feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2005.03.24] We Love Dance Classics Vol.1 (#2 IN THE NIGHT)
• [2005.04.20] KM-MARKIT - VIVID (#7 Sunshine feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2005.06.29] Heartsdales - Heart Attack! 2 The Remixes & Video Clips (#7 Paradise ~DJ TARO Cosmic Bass Mixx~ feat. Miliyah Kato)
• [2005.08.24] m-flo - BEAT SPACE NINE (#6 ONE DAY (m-flo loves Kato Miliyah))
• [2005.11.02] m-flo - DOPE SPACE NINE (#1 ONE DAY (KREVA remix) (m-flo loves Kato Miliyah))
• [2006.02.15] Dohzi-T - Better Days feat. Kato Miliyah, Tanaka Roma
• [2006.03.22] Dohzi-T - WARABEST ~The Best of Dohzi-T~ (#2 Better Days feat. Kato Miliyah, Tanaka Roma)
• [2006.05.10] TWIGY - TWIG (#2 Righ' Now! feat. YOU THE ROCK★, Kato Miliyah)
• [2006.07.12] Heartsdales - The Legend (Disc 2 #2 Paradise feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2006.07.26] m-flo - m-flo Inside -Works Best II- (#4 One Day -Yozora Remix- (Kato Miliyah loves m-flo))
• [2006.09.06] Lupin III TV Special Seven Days Rhapsody Original Soundtrack (#12 Michelle)
• [2006.12.06] KM-MARKIT - MARK OUT (#9 Me & My... feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2007.07.18] ZEEBRA - My People feat. Kato Miliyah
• [2007.08.29] Dohzi-T - ONE MIC (#14 Hikaru Mirai feat. Kato Miliyah)
• [2007.09.26] TRIBUTE TO CELINE DION (#9 I'M YOUR ANGEL feat. Kato Miliyah, Shimizu Shota)
• [2009.06.10] HASE-T presents Reggae Gold Mine (#3 PERFECT PITCH)
• [2009.12.23] Hit Songs - Yasashii Hikari / Unmei no Hito - Hit Songs Orgel Collection (#10 Love Forever)
• [2010.10.27] AI - Stronger feat. Kato Miliyah
• [2011.05.04] Dohzi-T - 10th ANNIVERSARY BEST (Disc 1 #9 Hikaru Mirai feat. Kato Miliyah, Disc 1 #11 Better Days feat. Kato Miliyah, Tanaka Roma)
• [2012.03.14] m-flo - SQUARE ONE
• [2012.03.28] DJ KAORI - DJ KAORI'S JMIX V (#3 BYE BYE)

Publications

Magazines

• [2010.03.xx] S Cawaii! 2010 April Issue (Cover & Feature)
• [2010.07.xx] BARFOUT! 180 (Cover & Feature)
• [2010.09.xx] MILIYAH 300 STYLES
• [2010.11.xx] ViVi 2011 January Issue (Cover & Feature)
• [2011.02.xx] Vogue Nippon 2011 April Issue (Feature)
• [2011.04.xx] MandW Magazine Vol.001 (Cover & Feature)
• [2011.07.xx] BARFOUT! Vol.191 (Feature)
• [2011.07.xx] ViVi September 2011 Issue (Cover & Feature)
• [2011.08.xx] LouD No.200 (Feature)
• [2011.09.xx] KAWI JAMELE

Books

• [2011.09.22] Umareta Mama no Watashi wo

Band Score

• [2011.10.xx] Piano Hikikatari Artist Collection Kato Miliyah

External Links

• Official Website