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Utada
603,496 plays (31,629 listeners)
japanese, j-pop, pop, jpop, female vocalists… see all
New York City (1983 – present)
Utada is the English language project name of 宇多田ヒカル (Utada Hikaru). She is a third culture singer-songwriter, arranger, and record producer in Japan and United States. Utada maintains this name in the west as she intends to keep her English style separate from her Japanese music. She has sold an estimated 33 million albums worldwide. Utada is fluent in both English and Japanese as she was raised in both New York and Tokyo. She is most notable in the west for composing and singing the Kingdom Hearts themes 光 (Hikari) and Simple And Clean, as well as the theme songs for Kingdom Hearts II, Passion and Sanctuary.
Utada Hikaru was born on January 19, 1983 in New York City to Japanese parents who both had roots in the Japanese music industry; her father, Teruzane Utada, was a producer, while her mother, Junko Utada, was an enka singer (she performed under the stage name 藤圭子/Keiko Fuji). Utada made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. The album led to her career overseas. In a recent MTV interview (MTV’s You Hear It First, October 2004), Utada said: “Someone in Japan heard it, at a Japanese record company, and he said, “Oh, can’t you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese.” And I didn’t want to say no, so I had to try it.”
Originally, Utada’s music had an R&B style to it, but now her music has progressed to a more pop/experimental tone. Her R&B sound was what brought her so much attention with her first release in Japan, Automatic/time will tell, as there were no other artists with her distinct style.
Utada was married to famed director Kiriya Kazuaki, who directed the movie CASSHERN. However they divorced in March of 2007.
Utada Hikaru was born on January 19, 1983 in New York City to Japanese parents who both had roots in the Japanese music industry; her father, Teruzane Utada, was a producer, while her mother, Junko Utada, was an enka singer (she performed under the stage name 藤圭子/Keiko Fuji). Utada made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. The album led to her career overseas. In a recent MTV interview (MTV’s You Hear It First, October 2004), Utada said: “Someone in Japan heard it, at a Japanese record company, and he said, “Oh, can’t you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese.” And I didn’t want to say no, so I had to try it.”
Originally, Utada’s music had an R&B style to it, but now her music has progressed to a more pop/experimental tone. Her R&B sound was what brought her so much attention with her first release in Japan, Automatic/time will tell, as there were no other artists with her distinct style.
Utada was married to famed director Kiriya Kazuaki, who directed the movie CASSHERN. However they divorced in March of 2007.
Videos
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Play
Utada: You Make Me Want To Be A Man (Junior Jack Remix)
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You Make Me Want To Be A Man (Bloodshy and Avant Mix)
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Play
You Make Me Want To Be A Man (Tom Neville Mix)
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MTV FLUX - YMMWTBAM
Top Albums
Top Tracks
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Devil Inside
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Easy Breezy
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Exodus '04
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Shoutbox
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boheemi wrote:
Exodus is one of my all-time favorites, can't get enough of it! Totally brilliant <3
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CurvyAsh1988 wrote:
Exodus is awesome. Yeah the lyrics weren't her greatest but it still contains some of her best music production wise. Oh and I don't want it too sound like her Japanese stuff. If you want that go listen to Deep River or Heart Station.
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[deleted-user]
wrote:
Utada's a rockstar!
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Shorty5 wrote:
I really like Exodus, I think it's a great album. My favourite tracks are The Workout, Exodus '04 and Animato.
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shinmeiryu wrote:
Exodus '04 wasnt a succes album really but i admit a few song were great except songs like easy breezy.... Her Heart station album is great however ^^
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Aeritho wrote:
ewww
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glockenpop wrote:
I hope they actually might consider promoting the next album. :x
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Hypa-Link wrote:
Eodus was good, but it just wasn't touching Deep River or her Japanese sound. And songs like Exodus 04 and kremlin Dusk were awesome, and then some songs like...I doin't even remember the title, but it sounded like she was trying to sound too "American" and ended up sounding like a mix between a random R&B chick and country cowgirl. lol
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numberoneoppa wrote:
mergeeeeeee <3
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Maxell-Hitachi wrote:
I really liked and always likes the music of Exodus, it's just different I think.
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Furik wrote:
Exodus did NOT suck. I bought it the day it came out and was the only Hikki CD I listened to for that remainder of the year. I have to say, the lyrics were horrible but in terms of the song constructions, they were decent and very experimental for her. It was a nice spot of light for her. I only wish it was promoted more - which probably led to the horrible sales.
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chaosakita wrote:
Exodus completely sucked, but I <3 Kremlin Dusk.
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TwistedInsanity wrote:
exodus was great...
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Fleseastorm wrote:
I hope her new English album DOESN'T sound like her Japanese stuff because I won't be able to handle that crap.
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SoraJrMD wrote:
I'm with Hypa-link I want her next english album to sound like her japanese ones because I God knows I love her but Exodus' was....not good.
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Kuma7 wrote:
@Hypa-link I liked Exodus very much, and I hope her new album is more of the same. I like you can tell the differences between her English and Japanese works (Aside from language...). Can't wait for her new album. :o
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LavenderYuki wrote:
Apple and Cinnamon? there wont be more dirty blonde Texan? D:
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The_Slickness wrote:
Hot pic!!! And yeah, she can play guitar. She did a great job when she performed Devil Inside live a few years back.
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[deleted-user]
wrote:
Yup, she can.
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Djratchet wrote:
Utada can play guitar?!?
Listeners
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Recent Activity
- Shorty5 wrote about Utada in 15 song survey. 2 hours ago
- oloriwen added Utada to oloriwen’s library. 6 hours ago
- CatFreeeek tagged Utada with ‘artist’, ‘can actually sing’ and ‘talented’. yesterday evening
- green_aurora added Utada to green_aurora’s library. yesterday evening
- Tsuki-Namida connected Utada to the group J-Music in Deutschland. yesterday afternoon
- hydeist6, Mellorine-chan and nighttimeapp added Utada to their libraries. Saturday evening
- Poorit tagged Utada with ‘japanese’ and ‘j-pop’. Saturday evening
- hiimechi, whiteboyaz, GurenSympathy and 6 other people added Utada to their libraries. Saturday evening
- mihochannel tagged Utada with ‘female vocalists’, ‘japanese music’ and ‘utada’. Friday morning
- MioKawaii, joaoscatarino, bubble__yum and 14 other people added Utada to their libraries. Thursday evening
Related Journals
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15 song survey
by Shorty5 |
13 Oct 2008 | 
Add comment
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Album collection
by Shorty5 |
6 Oct 2008 | Add comment
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Questions on my top 10
by Ganny |
28 Sep 2008 | 1 comment
Groups (35)
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Utada
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Utada Hikaru
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Multilingual Music Listeners
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Namie's Style
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♥ Japanese
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