generasia:Featured article for 2010 week 27

MINMI

MINMI is a Japanese urban singer-songwriter whose music is heavily influenced by Jamaican music such as reggae and dancehall. She started performing in 1996, but didn't make her debut until 2002 with the single "The Perfect Vision" under Victor Entertainment. The song became quite popular on radio stations. The single reached #4 on the Oricon weekly charts; at the time it was the highest ranking debut single from a female artist since Utada Hikaru's "Automatic / Time Will Tell". (In 2006, ayaka's "I believe" reached #3.)

Not long into 2003, MINMI released her debut album, Miracle. The album ranked #2 on the Oricon weekly charts. The album spent two months in the top 20, eventually selling 467,175 copies and becoming the #21 album of the year. She then started the tour LIVE TOUR 2003 "Miracle" on May 20, 2003. The tickets for all shows sold out almost immediately, and all of the venues were full.

On June 26, 2007, MINMI married Wakadanna from Shonannokaze. She gave birth to their first son on November 11, 2007. Ten days later, MINMI released a love song concept album called THE LOVE SONG COLLECTION 2006-2007. In 2008, after the release of her best album MINMI BEST 2002-2008, MINMI transferred to the Universal Music Japan sublabel Far Eastern Tribe Records.

MINMI is currently pregnant with her second child and is expected to give birth in August 2010. Her fourth studio album, MOTHER, was released on July 7th. It is her first studio album in over four years.