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Old 2007.05.04, 03:43 PM   #1
Cosmo!
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Default Shiina Ringo: Kabukichou no Joou or International Breakthrough?

I was browsing the archives over at Musicwhore when I happened across this:

"Utada is poised for a breakthrough on the level of Absolute ego-era ACO or pre-Tokyo Jihen Shiina Ringo -- just not with Exodus."

That comment got me thinking about the possibility of Ringo breaking into the international market. Shoddy English pronunciation aside ("I am not your position" springs to mind...you were so close, Ringo!), because, with another visit to London or by working with a speech coach, that problem could be corrected in no time, what are your thoughts regarding this?

I think Ringo's capable of pulling off at least a minor success, maybe with either an R&B album in the vein of Kuroi Orufe or a rock 'n' roll album in the vein of...well, take your pick.

Is Ringo even interested in venturing outside of the Japanese music scene, or is she satisfied with putting out music that alienates as many of her Japanese fans as possible?

Would people take a skinny, nasally Asian woman seriously and not as a novelty?

Would her label be able to market her to the public? Island Records had a Hell of a hard time marketing Utada, and she has the biggest chance of crossing over.

Share your thoughts, everyone!
...and try not to bitch too much if this topic's been beaten into the ground.
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Last edited by Cosmo! : 2007.05.04 at 05:15 PM.
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Old 2007.05.04, 03:57 PM   #2
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I'm not sure if she has any serious interest in international releases, but I'd be excited if she did. I don't know how the world would react to her since there aren't a lot of Asian musicians going international. She'd be one of the first, so her unique style might cause different reactions. I think it'd be hard for the majority to grasp her ingeniousness at first.

HF was kind of directed to both the Japanese and American audiences, though. Maybe that's a first step...
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Old 2007.05.04, 04:02 PM   #3
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For me, I would just like it if she stays doing some english songs as she has been doing but not a whole english album. And NOOO WAY should she ever do an r&b album. Im sure she could do something special but it should definately be in japanese first. But either way, nooooooo. I dont think she would be a huge success because she would have to make super watered down, bad music to be successful in mainstream america. I dont know about anywhere else in the world though.

Also, I dont think she would even care to try to go specifically for another country, because, as this forum is proof of, she is already international. Plus most of her dvds are region free so she is making herself more accessible worldwide without having to market to a specific place.
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Old 2007.05.05, 10:27 AM   #4
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Western audiences would definitely have taken to the Shoso Strip era Ringo. She was sexy, violent, and edgy....like most mainstream Western entertainment. Hong Kong earned their international audience with action films, Japanese with horror films and cartoons....and in the late 90s SR looked liked someting that might have walked out of one of those horror films or cartoons and been an international star.

Thank God she didn't do that.

Anyway, that time is past. She's still an erotic icon, and I hope Sakuran makes waves over here (I think it'll make at least minor waves) and broaden her audience. But the edgy violent cartoony SR that would have made Western audiences easy to accept her is no more.
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Old 2007.05.05, 11:50 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by NIMH Rat View Post
She's still an erotic icon,
Hell yes she is!
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Old 2007.05.05, 11:57 AM   #6
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This topic hasn't been done to death actually. So let's take care of that!

Yeah, it would most certainly need to be SS-era Shiina that would break the west. MM and KZK coulda made waves, but nothing much bigger than "underground fandom"--much akin to this forum itself.
Something like "Kono yo ni" might warrant some college radio airplay, particularly Saturday/Sunday mornings, (and if I were still behind the board, most certainly) but that's not exactly "western breakthrough"

My main beef would be that seemingly it'd have to be an english-only album. I'm sorta against re-doing songs in english, so I'd prefer new english songs --obviously. Generally re-done english albums don't do all that hot --especially from Asian countries.

Would it be a novelty? Probably. Would she make an effort to not be a novelty with a follow-up? Eeh, I kinda doubt it for some reason of course though, it'd depend on the success.
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Old 2007.05.05, 03:55 PM   #7
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Usually bad things happen when Asian artists try to go for an International breakthrough. Think Jackie Chan in his early Hollywood days - nobody fucking cared about him. Also Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, John Woo (who died after 1997)... the Western audiences didn't warm up to them as expected.

One thing though, the SR sound will totally change "to suit the tastes of international audiences". And when that happens she's just going to be labeled as another one of those cookie-cutter artistes and the whole plan of introducing the SR sound to the whole world will backfire.

In short, SR should just stay in Japan. Because the best things in Japan stay in Japan.
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Old 2007.05.05, 05:54 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by justriiingo View Post
In short, SR should just stay in Japan. Because the best things in Japan stay in Japan.
Good point, but I think that the best things should stay where they are, no matter if it is in japan or not. Any american, british, or other artists from other countries do not necessarily try to market themselves overseas, they just become famous overseas because of how good they are. Just as we like Ringo without her trying to market to different parts of the world specifically.
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Old 2007.05.05, 06:17 PM   #9
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Yea i think we pretty much said everything we could about this in the old forums.

The American music scene ruins musicians of all races and backgrounds. Utada should serve as a constant reminder, she has just started to get her groove back.

I didn't even need to listen to her album, just reading the tracklist made me want to throw up
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Old 2007.05.05, 08:46 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by cjhobbies00 View Post
I didn't even need to listen to her album, just reading the tracklist made me want to throw up
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