generasia:Featured article for 2022 week 45
May J.
May Jamileh Hashimoto (橋本芽生), better known by her stage name May J., is a Japanese pop and R&B singer who made her major label debut under Sony Music Japan on July 12, 2006, with her first mini-album All My Girls. She was born to an Iranian mother and Japanese father on June 20, 1988, in Yokohama, Japan. The "J" in her name comes from her middle name, the common Arabic girl's name "Jamileh" (Persian: جمیله), meaning "beautiful". She knows how to speak four languages, including Persian, Japanese, English and Spanish.
At the age of 14, May J. was successful at a Sony Music Japan audition and soon signed onto Sony Music. While waiting to make her major label debut, May J. was a dancer for Aaron Carter's Japanese concert and was featured on the track "Luyva: Another Episode" from Sphere of Influence's album Big Deal, credited simply as May.
On March 6, 2009, label Rhythm Zone opened a new official site for May J. confirming that she had left Sony to join the Avex imprint. On the May 23, 2009, her second album FAMILY was announced, featuring the single "Garden" (featuring DJ Kaori, Diggy-MO', Clench & Blistah). The album charted at #4 on the Oricon weekly chart.
May J. sang the end roll version of the title song "Let It Go" in Disney's Japanese release of the Frozen animated movie which hit #8 on the Japan Hot 100 after the film's Japanese release in March 2014. In 2018, she performed the song live in the finale of the touring ice show Fantasy on Ice in Makuhari and Kanazawa. May J. has also appeared on the variety show Kanjani8 no Shiwake Eight since 2012, as part of a karaoke contest segment, winning 26 straight contests before losing to Sarah Àlainn with the Idina Menzel version of "Let It Go", on the May 3, 2014, edition.
Her seventh cover album, Bittersweet Song Covers, is released this week on November 9th.
