Word: singings
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...virtually unknown in the U.S. but Americans are starting to find out what her Japanese fans already recognize: that Utada, 18, is one of the best and brightest young pop stars in the world. The Japanese media, of course, routinely sing her praises: "BILINGUAL STRAIGHT-A STUDENT" and "THE DIVA OF THE HEISEI PERIOD!" And the Japanese public devours her music: her debut CD, First Love (1999), sold more than 9.5 million copies, making it the best-selling album in Japanese history. Her latest CD, Distance, has also become a huge hit, with fans buying more than 3 million copies...
...While other Japanese pop divas are content to sing throwaway tunes in baby-girl tones, Utada, who says that growing up she used to go to sleep to Metallica and wake up to Pearl Jam, performs songs that draw from R. and B., rap and even rock. During an MTV Unplugged concert this summer, she surprised fans with a rendition of the Irish rock band U2's song With or Without You. Except for such occasional covers, Utada writes almost all her own material, combining light melodies and strong grooves. Her lyrics, though mostly about adolescent angst, can be intriguingly...
...Recently, Utada has started taking charge of her work. "I wasn't trying to exert that much control over the musical production in the first (album)," she says. "I would write the song and sing it, but then I left much of the arrangement up to my father and the arranger and the producers who were working on it. I'd just go in and like, say, 'Yeah, I think that's good. Maybe you can do that.' Whatever. But, for the second album, I was a lot more involved...
...Utada, is a producer and musician who now runs her management company. Her mother, Keiko Fuji, was a popular enka (Japanese ballad) singer in the 1970s who broke her fans' hearts by giving up her career and moving to the U.S. to find a little peace. ("I don't sing anymore," is all Fuji says now, smiling.) Utada says she got her own start when she followed her parents into the studio and began to make recordings around age 7. ("No, younger!" shouts her father from nearby.) Like her mother, Utada plans to retire young?as early...
...Each week we pick a few stories from the magazine and give you the essential websites to round out each one. This week see where to find the sheet music to George Harrison's and the Beatles' biggest hits and which karaoke websites allow you to sing Something...