Koda Kumi
Koda Kumi (倖田來未) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and dancer. She made her debut in late 2000 with the single "TAKE BACK", but it wasn't until 2002 that she released her debut album, affection. Since the release of her 1st best album BEST ~First Things~ , her popularity grew considerably . Futher factors such as her appearing on the Japanese soundtrack of Final Fantasy X-2, her revealing photo-shoots, and her "12 Days of Christmas" wide-scale releases of one single every week which happened 4 years ago on December 2005 contribute to this .
She is misono's older sister.
Profile
- Stage name: Koda Kumi (倖田來未)
- Birth name: Koda Kumiko (神田來未子)
- Nickname: Kuu-chan, Kuu-tan
- Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan
- Birth date: November 13, 1982
- Height: 154 cm / 5'0"
- Blood Type: A
- Favorite singers: Christina Aguilera & Ja Rule
- Favorite music genre Rock, R&B
- People she respects: Her parents
- Sibling(s): misono (younger sister; ex-vocalist of day after tomorrow)
Information
Early Life - Debut
Koda Kumi was the first girl born into her family in a number of generations. Her mother was a lounge singer, and Koda has looked up to her since. Koda has dreamed of becoming a singer since elementary school.
When she was in her teens she went through a number of auditons where she sang a variety of songs such as JUDY AND MARY's "Hello! Orange Sunshine". She even auditioned alongside Goto Maki for the 3rd generation of Morning Musume when she was seventeen. It's now unclear if she made into Morning Musume but turned it down due to the fact that she signed a contract with avex trax. She got the deal with avex, after winning the avex Dream 2000 contest. She was then signed under the rhythm zone sub-label.
Her debut single, "TAKE BACK", was released in December 2000. The single only reached #59. During this time Koda was poorly promoted by avex, and she ended up releasing a string of unsuccessful singles. She followed up six months later with the single, "Trust Your Love" which managed to crack into the top twenty on the Oricon. She soon then released an English version of "Take Back" in the United States which reached 18 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music charts.
After working very hard on writting the lyrics to these tracks and having them not sell well, Koda became depressed. She begain eating to comfort herself. Later when asked about her poor promotion Matsuura Max said that the reason was that she was overweight, and that portaying it around wouldn't have help. Koda then started working on her image. She kept a strict diet, and a vigours exercise routine. She has also said that she could have not keep up with it all if not for her boyfriend at the time.
At the end of 2001 Koda joined Komuro Tetsuya's chairty drive song nation which banned together to help raise money for the attack of the World Trade Center on 09/11. Koda work with the Korean popstar BoA for the release of "the meaning of peace".
In March of 2002 Koda released the single "So Into You" the single only peaked at #50, but was the lead-in single to Koda's three year in the making debut album, affection. The album reached #12 (higher than any of her solo singles) and eventually sold around 100k.
Initail Success
Koda's next couple of releases were flops. The singles "love across the ocean" and "m・a・z・e" onoly peaked at #19 and #25 (respectivly) on the Oricon chart, and failed to sell over 30,000 copies. During this time she also released another single in the US, "Trust Your Love". The single did well reaching #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 Sales Chart, and #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music.
It was rumored that Koda was about to not have her contract renewed and be dropped from the label she worked so hard to get on. But her salvation came with the release of "real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba". The single contained two songs with tie-in's to the Playstation 2 video game, Final Fantasy X-2. It ended up reaching #3 on the Oricon chart, making it her first release to enter the top ten and sold 282,734 copies. The single ended the year as the #24 single of 2003.
Her second album was released just weeks after the successful single. Her sophomore album, grow into one, showed a style change for Koda, with a lot more of the tracks having an added urban flavour to them. The album only reached #9, but ended up selling over double of her debut album's sales.
Ero-Kakkoii Image - Major Success
Koda's next string of singles ("COME WITH ME", "Gentle Words", and "Crazy 4 U") all would do moderatly well, all placing in the bottom half of the top twenty on the Oricon. The following album didn't fair as well. Although Feel My Mind reached #7 on the Oricon it ended up selling less copies then her previous album.
With the release of the "Crazy 4 U" music video Koda's image had changed. She had switched in the teen idol act for sex appeal. She and avex had decided it was the best for her career to move towards a sexier image (much like how Sugimoto Aya was marketed in the 1980s). This style is refered to as Ero-Kakkoii, which means Erotic-Cool. In the video Kumi was scantly dress, and dancing provactively. The image transition is often compared with Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty". Her next steps towards her succss come from this image change.
Success would strike again for Koda with the single, "LOVE & HONEY". The a-side, "Cutie Honey" is a cover of 1970's anime opening by Maekawa Yoko. The song was originally found as a first press bonus track on her Feel My Mind album. The song had two tie-in's: the opening theme song to both the Re:Cutie Honey anime OVA, and the Cutie Honey live action movie. Koda even made a cameo in the film, credited as the diva that sings to Sister Jill. All the songs on the single were features in either in one of the two releases. The single did extremely well reaching #4 on the Oricon and selling 150,634 copies.
Koda's next release didn't share the success; "Chase" only manged to reached #18 on the charts and is her last single not to chart within the top ten. Her next two singles ("Kiseki" and "hands") were both ballads and they both managed to reached #7 on the Oricon.
Koda soon began promoting her next album. Her fourth album, secret was a major success. It reached #3 on the Oricon, became the #22 album of 2005, and sold a total of 522,201 copies. Two months after she released the post album single, "Hot Stuff" which is a collabration with rapper, KM-MARKIT.
The Best Sessions
In June 2006, Koda released the "Butterfly" single. The single was an instant hit, reaching #2 on the Oricon chart, and it became the #85 single of the year. Koda then returned releasing two more singles: "flower" and "Promise / Star".
On 2005.09.21, Koda released her "BEST ~first things~" album. The album was a two disc best-of compilation containing all of her singles up until that point (this is the only album where her prevous three singles are found). The album has a massive hit and reached #1 on the Oricon. Even though it is a "best-of", the album is often considered Koda's breakthrough album. The album ended up selling 1,207,793 copies in 2005, becoming the #6 album of the year and the highest selling female album of 2005.
After avex trax seeing how well her last album did, they soon came up with a new promotion idea. Starting in Decemebr Koda would release twelve singles, one each week for twelve weeks, as a play on the 12 days of Chirstmas. Each single would feature Koda in outfits from a variety of places all over the world which include: Alaska, Californa, England, Brazil, China, Spain, Africa, India, France, Hawaii, Italy, and finally Japan (in that order).
The first of these twelve singles, "you" was a winter ballad which rose to the top of the charts. The single ended-up becoming Koda's first #1 single. All of the singles mangaed to chart top-ten. The sixth single, "feel" followed in "you" footsteps, reaching #1 as well. When all twelve of single's obis are lined up, it makes-up a revieling picture of Koda Kumi.
By the end of 2006 the alum had nearly sold two million copies and remained on the charts for a several months. It became the and reached #17 on the top albums of 2006. of release.
Black Cherry
"Koi no Tsubomi" was Koda's first single released after the 12 singles project, released in May 2006. It debuted at #2 with sales of 140,000 copies sold. This made it the highest debut week sales for female artists in 2006 until Hamasaki Ayumi surpassed it with her single "BLUE BIRD" in June. This title was reclaimed by Koda after her release of "4 hot wave" which debuted at #2 behind the KinKi Kids, nearly breaking their streak of consecutive #1 singles.
Alongside "4 hot wave", Koda's first photobook, MAROC, was also released on the same day, photographed by Leslie Kee in Morocco.
In October, Kumi released her 33rd single "Yume no Uta / Futari de...", described as a "two story ballad single," both songs sharing the same melody, only having different lyrics and arrangements, as Kumi felt that the melody contained both sad and happy elements.
Koda's next singles were, "Won't Be Long", a duet with EXILE, and she released a solo single entitled, "Cherry Girl / Unmei". The singles were released a week prior to her fifth studio album Black Cherry which would go on to include all the a-sides from her 2006 releases (excluding "Futari de..."). This album went on to become the first female studio album to stay at the #1 position for four weeks since Hamasaki Ayumi's album third album Duty in 2000.
Kingdom
Her third best-of compilation, BEST ~BOUNCE & LOVERS~, a limited release with only 300,000 copies, was released alongside her first single of 2007, "BUT / Aishou", both charting at #2.
Following the trend of 4 hot wave, Koda released another four-track summer single "FREAKY", with two of the songs having music videos. FREAKY became Koda's fourth #1 single.
She then released ballad single "Ai no Uta" in September, charting at #2. Another single, "LAST ANGEL", featuring Korean Boy-band Tohoshinki, was used as the theme song to the Japanese release of Resident Evil 3, better known in Japan.
On the December 21st 2007, she became the seventh female Japanese artist to hold a solo concert at Tokyo Dome, marking her 7th year anniversary since her debut with "TAKE BACK" by making the ticket prices 7,777yen.
Her sixth studio album, Kingdom, was released on the 30th of January 2008, one week after her first single of 2008, "anytime". The album reached #1 and held the #1 position for two weeks, selling more than 500,000 copies. The CD+2DVD included her PREMIUM LIMITED LIVE IN HALL IN YOKOHAMA ARENA concert and all the tracks on the album had their own music video.
Controversy
On the 1st of February, 2008, Koda Kumi was retelling how her manager recently got married and asked "whether or not they would have children". However her manager said not for the time being and Koda commented on how they should have children early as "when women are around 35 years old their amniotic fluid goes bad".
The answer was so offensive that many radio shows and newspapers had a lot complaints from women around the country. avex trax decided that all promotion of Kingdom was to be cancelled, her official website being shut down, and so was all of the websites of her endorsements, such as Kirin and Kose Vise.
A week later, Koda Kumi appeared in an exclusive interview on Fuji TV's "FNN Super News" to apologize for the remark she made. Even though she tearfully apologized for the harm she caused, reactions to Koda's apology were mostly negative. An informal poll taken after the broadcast through Sankei Sports' website indicated that 81% of the viewers felt the apology was insufficient, while only 9% said it was enough.
Post Controversy
As of April 2008, her endorsements with Kosé and Gillette have reopened post this controversy. However, she is no longer the spokesperson for Honda, Kirin, and GemCerey.
On March 31, 2008 her KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ SPECIAL FINAL in TOKYO DOME DVD was released and went to #1 on the Oricon DVD Charts. Her LIVE TOUR 2008 ~Kingdom~ still went ahead as planned, and commenced on April 12, 2008, where she again apologized for her controversial remark. The shows on the 15th and 17th of May, 2008 at Yoyogi National First Gymnasium, Tokyo, were filmed for a WOWOW TV broadcast of the tour on the 26th of July. LIVE TOUR 2008 ~Kingdom~ was released on DVD on September 24, 2008, becoming her fifth consecutive #1 DVD.
On April 17, 2008, Avex Entertainment announced her 40th single, a "four elements single," featuring four tracks, much like "FREAKY" and "4 hot wave", called "MOON". It was released on June 11, 2008 and went to #2 on the Oricon Single Charts. Koda followed "MOON" with her 41st single, "TABOO" released on October 8, 2008. TABOO went on to debut at #1 on the Oricon chart, making it her fifth #1 single. Her 42nd single, "stay with me", was released on December 24th, 2008, and also debuted at #1. It is described as a "winter love ballad" and is featured in the au LISMO CM. Shortly after, she released her seventh studio album, TRICK on on January 28, 2009, also topping the Oricon Charts at #1 for 2 consecutive weeks.
On March 25th, Koda released two albums: Out Works & Collaboration Best and Driving Hit's, the later a remix album remixed entirely by HOUSE NATION. On March 31, 2009, Koda released her 43rd single, "It's all Love!". It was a collaboration with her younger sister, misono, and the song featured elements native to both singers. The second song from the single, "Faraway", was a solo-ballad by Koda, and was used as a theme song for the movie "Subaru".
Discography
Studio Albums
- [2002.03.27] affection
- [2003.03.19] grow into one
- [2004.02.18] feel my mind
- [2005.02.09] secret
- [2006.12.20] Black Cherry
- [2008.01.30] Kingdom
- [2009.01.28] TRICK
Compilation Albums
- [2005.09.21] BEST ~first things~ (Best Album)
- [2006.02.22] KODA KUMI REMIX ALBUM (Download Exclusive Remix Album)
- [2006.03.08] BEST ~second session~ (~12 Weeks of Christmas~ Project Compilation)
- [2007.03.14] BEST ~BOUNCE & LOVERS~ (Ballad Best Album)
- [2009.03.25] Out Works & Collaboration Best (Collaboration Best)
- [2009.03.25] Driving Hit's (Remix Album)
Singles
- [2000.12.06] TAKE BACK
- [2001.05.09] Trust Your Love
- [2001.05.12] TAKE BACK (Koda)
- [2001.10.03] COLOR OF SOUL
- [2002.03.13] So Into You
- [2002.07.24] love across the ocean
- [2002.11.02] Trust Your Love (Koda)
- [2002.12.11] m·a·z·e
- [2003.03.05] real Emotion / 1000 no Kotoba (1000の言葉; 1000 Words)
- [2003.08.27] COME WITH ME
- [2003.12.10] Gentle Words
- [2004.01.15] Crazy 4 U
- [2004.05.26] LOVE & HONEY
- [2004.07.28] Chase
- [2004.09.08] Kiseki (奇跡; Miracle)
- [2005.01.19] hands
- [2005.04.13] Hot Stuff feat. KM-MARKIT
- [2005.06.22] Butterfly
- [2005.08.10] flower
- [2005.09.07] Promise / Star
- [2005.12.07] you
- [2005.12.14] Birthday Eve
- [2005.12.21] D.D.D. feat.SOULHEAD
- [2005.12.28] Shake It Up
- [2006.01.04] Lies
- [2006.01.11] feel
- [2006.01.18] Candy feat. Mr.Blistah
- [2006.01.25] No Regret
- [2006.02.01] Ima Sugu Hoshii (今すぐ欲しい; I Want You Now)
- [2006.02.08] KAMEN feat.Ishii Tatsuya
- [2006.02.15] WIND
- [2006.02.22] Someday / Boys♡Girls
- [2006.05.24] Koi no Tsubomi (恋のつぼみ; Bud of Love)
- [2006.07.26] 4 hot wave
- [2006.10.18] Yume no Uta / Futari de... (夢のうた / ふたりで...; Dream Song / Together...)
- [2006.12.06] Cherry Girl / Unmei (運命; Destiny)
- [2007.03.14] BUT / Aishou (愛証; Proof of Love)
- [2007.06.27] FREAKY
- [2007.09.12] Ai no Uta (愛のうた; Love Song)
- [2007.11.07] LAST ANGEL feat.Tohoshinki
- [2008.01.23] anytime
- [2008.06.11] MOON
- [2008.10.08] TABOO
- [2008.12.10] stay with me
- [2009.03.31] It's all Love! (Koda Kumi x misono)
- [2009.07.08] 3 SPLASH
- [2009.09.16] Alive / Physical thing
- [2010.01.20] Can We Go Back
Download Exclusive
- [2006.03.01] Get It On
DVDs
- [2003.03.19] 7 SPIRITS
- [2004.03.24] feel...
- [2004.11.25] girls ~Selfish~
- [2005.09.21] secret ~FIRST CLASS LIMITED LIVE~
- [2006.09.13] LIVE TOUR 2005 ~first things~ deluxe edition
- [2007.03.28] LIVE TOUR 2006~2007 ~second session~
- [2008.03.31] LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ SPECIAL FINAL in TOKYO DOME
- [2008.09.24] KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2008 ~Kingdom~
- [2009.10.21] KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2009 ~TRICK~
Collaborations / Compilations
- [2001.12.19] Koda Kumi & BoA - the meaning of peace
- [2002.01.23] VARIOUS ARTISTS FEATURING songnation (#2 the meaning of peace)
- [2003.09.29] 99% Radio Show (Every-After-Party -Rather Unique & Koda Kumi)
- [2003.11.03] DJ YUTAKA - EPISODE 1 (#4 BELIEVE feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2004.04.21] LISA - SWITCH / I ONLY WANT TO BE WITH YOU (#1 SWITCH feat. Koda Kumi & Heartsdales)
- [2004.06.30] LISA - GRATITUDE (#3 SWITCH feat. Koda Kumi & Heartsdales)
- [2004.11.03] 80 Days Original Soundtrack (#1 It's a small world -Koda Kumi & Heartsdales)
- [2005.03.24] JHETT aka YAKKO for AQUARIUS - JHETT (#6 JUST GO feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2005.04.20] KM-MARKIT - VIVID (#13 Rainy Day feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2005.08.01] 573 (#3 Super Sonic -Koda Kumi & Daisuke "D.I" Imai)
- [2006.02.01] SOULHEAD - Pray / XXX feat. Koda Kumi
- [2006.02.15] TRF - Lif-e-Motions (#10 JOY -meets Koda Kumi)
- [2006.03.01] The Japan Gold Disc Award 2006 (#1 Butterfly)
- [2006.03.08] SOULHEAD - Naked (#13 XXX feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2006.07.27] SMAP - PopUp!SMAP (#5 everybody feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2006.11.20] Show Luo - Speshow (#6 TWINKLE feat. Koda Kumi)
- [2006.11.22] EXILE & Koda Kumi - WON'T BE LONG
- [2006.12.06] Amazing Nuts! (#3 Twinkle (Japanese Version))
- [2007.03.28] m-flo - COSMICOLOR (#7 Simple & Lovely -m-flo loves Koda Kumi)
Collectibles
- [2006.07.27] 1st Photo book - MAROC
- [2006.10.14] 2007 Calendar
- [2006.12.28] Koda-Shiki
- [2006.01.29] Special Photo Album Box
- [2007.09.28] 2008 Calendar
- [2008.10.25] 2009 Calendar
Live
Tours
- [2005.10.15] - [2005.11.13] LIVE TOUR 2005 ~first things~
- [2006.10.09] - [2007.02.23] LIVE TOUR 2006~2007 ~second session~
- [2007.09.28] - [2007.12.01] LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~
- [2008.04.12] - [2008.06.01] LIVE TOUR 2008 ~Kingdom~
- [2008.09.22] - [2008.10.15] FANCLUB LIVE TOUR 2008
Concert Series
- [2005.06.11] secret -FIRST CLASS LIMITED LIVE- *one date only
- [2007.06.20] LIVE IN HALL *one date only
- [2008.10.23] KODA KUMI SPECIAL LIVE "Dirty Ballroom" ~one night show~ on DVD2 of TRICK
Music Related Awards
- [2005] 47th Nihon Record Taishō for Butterfly
- [2006] Artist of the Year (Japan Gold Record Grand Prix)
- [2006] Pop Album of the Year (Japan Gold Record Grand Prix)
- [2006] Music Video of the Year (Japan Gold Record Grand Prix)
- [2006] Triple Crown (Japan Gold Record Grand Prix)
- [2006] Best Collaboration Video for D.D.D. feat. SOULHEAD (Space Shower Music Video Awards 2006)
- [2006] Best Female Video for Butterfly (MTV VMAJ 2006)
- [2006] Best Video of the year for Butterfly (MTV VMAJ 2006)
- [2006] buzzASIA from Japan for Trust you (MTV VMAJ 2006)
- [2006] Grand Prize for Yume no Uta (Best Hit Kayousai 2006)
- [2006] Grand Prize for Yume no Uta (39th Japan Usen Grand Prize)
- [2006] Best Vocal (48th Nihon Record Taishō)
- [2007] Best Female Video for Yume no Uta (MTV VMAJ 2007)
- [2007] Best Video of the year for Yume no Uta (MTV VMAJ 2007)
- [2007] Grand Prize for Ai no Uta (Best Hit Kayousai 2007)
- [2007] Golden awards for Ai no Uta (49th Nihon Record Taishō)
- [2008] Best Collaboration Video for LAST ANGEL (MTV VMAJ 2008)
Non-Music Related Awards
- [2006] Best Jeanist (Woman)
- [2006] Nail Queen
- [2006] Women of 2006 by Vogue Nippon
- [2007] Best Stylish Artist Award (MTV VMAJ 2007)
- [2007] Best Jeanist (Woman)
- [2007] Nail Queen
- [2008] Best Jeanist (Woman)
- [2008] Nail Queen
External Links
- Official Website (Japanese)
- Taiwanese Official Website
- English Wikipedia: Koda Kumi
- Japanese Wikipedia: 倖田來未
- Honey Flash: Koda Kumi Forum (English)
|