Word: utada
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...Utada Hikaru has a hidden life. She appears to be an ordinary American college student. Starting in the fall of 2000, she attended classes by day, hung out with friends by night and, like most of her fellow Columbia University freshmen, she hadn't settled on a major yet. But there were rumors about her among the students during orientation week at the Ivy League school on New York City's Upper West Side?stories that were hard to believe. "Most of my friends know the truth," says Utada. "Even before the first day of school, I was talking...
...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...
...Blow My Whistle, her voice is more resonant than on her Japanese-language songs, and the track boasts beats that are more forceful. She leaves no doubt: she's got Mary J. Blige, 125th Street-type soul. There's another twist. The credits bill her as "Hikaru Utada"--using the Western custom of listing the surname last. Says Hikaru: "I just figured it's a good way to separate my English and Japanese personas." After the interview, she sends a follow-up e-mail that begins, "This is Hikaru Utada. (Or is it Utada Hikaru...oh, whichever!)" She's still...