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generasia:Featured article for 2025 week 4
Kato Miliyah
Kato Miliyah (加藤ミリヤ) is a Japanese pop and urban singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and author under the MASTERSIX FOUNDATION sub-label of Sony Music Entertainment. In 2003, Kato started her career as a singer when she provided vocal to Reggae Disco Rockers' song "Cherry Oh! Baby". Her hip-hop-influenced debut album, Rose (2005) was certified platinum in Japan. She gained further recognition when she was featured in m-flo's track "ONE DAY" (2005). At the time of her debut, she was called the "post-Utada Hikaru", referring to the two artists' similarities, from their lyrics to their shared "high school girl charisma".
Kato's second studio album Diamond Princess achieved minor commercial success, certified gold by the RIAJ and peaking at #5 in Japan. Her third studio album, TOKYO STAR (2008) yielded her first top-ten single, "LALALA", which was later certified double-platinum for its ringtone sales. Kato's first compilation album BEST DESTINY (2008) became her first #1 album, certified platinum in Japan. Her fourth studio album Ring became her best-selling album, and yielded three top-ten singles: "SAYONARA Baby", "20 -CRY-", and "Love Forever", which was certified million in Japan. The song from the album, "Aitai," was certified triple-platinum despite being not released as a single. Her fifth studio album HEAVEN (2010) debuted atop on the Oricon chart and has yielded two platinum singles, "WHY" and "Last Love".
Kato's second compilation album M BEST (2011) became her second consecutive #1 album, selling over 300,000 copies nationwide. In 2011, Kato published her first novel, Umareta mama no Watashi wo, which marked her debut as an author. Her sixth and seventh studio album TRUE LOVERS (2012) and LOVELAND (2014) reached top three in Japan. The former has yielded three gold-certified songs, "Yuusha-tachi", "LOVERS partII", and "Konya wa Boogie Back". In 2014, Kato recorded a collaborative album, THE BEST, with a Japanese singer-songwriter Shimizu Shota. Her next albums, LIBERTY (2016) and Utopia (2016), both reached top five in Japan. Her tenth studio album, Femme Fatale (2018) was released to a minor commercial success, only reaching #8 in Japan.
Kato is known for popularizing sampling in the J-pop scene, and has incorporated a wide range of tracks in her songs. Regarded as one of the biggest J-pop musicians in the late 2000s and the early 2010s, Kato has sold over 12.6 million records and ringtones.
Her vinyl EP, Epiphany EP, is released this week on January 22nd.
