Koda Kumi

Kumi Koda (倖田 來未 Kōda Kumi, born November 13, 1982), is a Japanese solo rhythm and blues singer. She was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. She debuted in the professional singing career on December 6, 2000.

Related Topics:
November 13 - 1982 - Rhythm and blues - Kyoto - Japan

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Kumi's first single track is "Take Back", which was released as remix in english speech in the United States in March 2001. Her follow-up single is "Trust Your Love" (again in english-remix version), which held the 39th position in Billboard's Hot 100 singles sales chart and the first position in Billboard's Hot Dance Music and Maxi-Singles chart. Two more singles were released, "Color Of Soul" and "So Into You", but none of these were released out of Japan.

Related Topics:
March 2001 - Billboard

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To honor the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack, Kumi collaborated with Korean singer Kwon BoA on the charity album SONGNATION with the single "The Meaning Of Peace", produced by Tetsuya Komuro, one of the most prolific, famous, and successful music producers in Japan.

Related Topics:
September 11 terrorist attack - Kwon BoA - Tetsuya Komuro

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Her first album was Affection, produced by Max Matsuura. It contains bonus tracks remixes by Hex Hector and Jonathan Peters (songs that were released as singles in US before).

Related Topics:
Max Matsuura - Hex Hector - Jonathan Peters

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Koda Kumi subsequent singles were "Love Across The Ocean" and M.A.Z.E." but was her notable work with the Japanese versions of "Real Emotion" and "1000 No Kotoba" (released as Double A-side single) what starts to cause sensation. Both songs were the main vocal themes from the video game, Final Fantasy X-2. She was also the voice actress for Lenne in the Japanese version of that video game.

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Her second album was Grow Into One. It contains bonus track alternate orchestra version of "1000 No Kotoba".

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She has been widely known for her effort to gain popularity as the singer for the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X-2, singing "1000 no Kotoba" (1000 Words) and the opening song "real Emotion". Although she recorded English versions of both songs, Square Enix believed that it sounded low-quality or lackluster, and many English-speaking fans have commented on the versions' Engrish lyrics and pronunciation. Consequently, Square Enix opted to have Jade of Sweetbox to perform the English versions of the Final Fantasy X-2 vocal songs. However, Kumi's versions were later released as b-sides on her single, "Come With Me".

Related Topics:
Final Fantasy X-2 - Square Enix - Engrish - Jade - Sweetbox

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More recently, Kumi released a Best Of collection on September 21st. Though the album held #2 on the Oricon for the first four days, it reached the top spot on the 25th. Even more impressive, Kumi beat out Mr.Children for that spot, one of Japan's most highest selling artists ever. At the weeks end, the album placed #2 on the weekly charts and sold a highly impressive amount. Though the next week, Kumi finally reached #1 on the weekly charts and has sales over 750k.

Related Topics:
Best Of - Oricon - Mr.Children

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Kumi is also a spokeswoman for Christian Dior in Japan. Her favorite artists are Christina Aguilera,Beyonce, Pharrell Williams,Nelly, and Pink (musician) .

Related Topics:
Christian Dior - Christina Aguilera - Beyonce - Pharrell Williams - Nelly - Pink (musician)

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