Def Jam deletes Utada

Utada's in the bin | created by J ;P
Hikaru Utada's name has been backspaced off of Island Def Jam's artist roster. Which means, chances are she's been dropped. I don't think any Hikki fans are surprised at this. Her two Def Jam releases sold really badly despite being highly marketable, especially across Europe. And despite selling out a North American tour - Def Jam did nothing to promote her except have her sit her ass down at Sephora looking like a Japanese Jiminy Cricket in a poncho.

I definitely think Hikaru and her management should consider still releasing music on the Western market. The phenomenal success of her In the flesh tour showed she has a large fanbase outside of Japan. And her 2 London gigs which sold out in a couple of hours is definitive proof that a UK release of her album would actually sell. Hikaru is still very much signed to a label in Japan. I'm not 100% sure of how the logistics would work, but I'm sure she could release an English language album through her Japanese label, given it's a subsidiary of EMI music.

I always preferred her Japanese releases to her English ones. But it was great to have 2 albums of songs from an artist I love that I could understand and sing along to.

There are no concrete plans for Hikaru to release anything any time soon in Japan. Although she stated at the tail end of last year that she'd began writing songs. And mixing engineer Goetz B (who had mixed 2 tracks from her Ultra blue release) has confirmed he was mixing new material for her. Sometimes I wish Hikaru Utada was more like those chicks on Avex Trax, new single every month and an album a year. Although the fact she takes her time and goes at her own pace is what makes me anticipate her releases so much more. Me, along with her leigon of fans will be ready to jump on whatever she releases next - whenever that'll be. I've got my fingers crossed for some new Hikaru songs this year though.

Album reviews: Deep river | Ultra blue | Heart station | Exodus | This is the one

Utada removed from IDJ’s artist roster @ U.blog

UPDATE - May 22, 2010 - She's back on the list! God knows how long for though. Her first 2 albums sold so badly. And Western sensations such as Mariah and The Forehead are getting done badly at Def Jam; so Hikaru stands no chance. Let's hope we're able to get at least one more Def Jam release out of her. And that she strikes a balance between her awesome Japanese releases and a Western sound. Exodus was too random. And as much as I liked This is the one, you did get the feeling she was dumbing herself down on tracks.

Comments

  1. That's a damn shame. But like you said, no surprise here.

    As long as she continues to drop her Japan releases, I'll continue to get 'em on itunes.

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  2. I really do need a new album from her. It's always the chicks I stan for that have gangsta gaps in between album releases.

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  3. Umm... please read the article again. She's back on the list.

    http://blog.utada2.net/?p=1719

    Here's the actual list: http://goo.gl/qyzd

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  4. I agree with everything you said, "Exodus" had some AMAZING songs on it but it was all over the place and I just felt "This is the one" was ok but DuMbEd down for mass appeal but with no promotion so what was even the point in dumbing down?
    I definately think Utada should release her music in the UK and concentrate more on the UK & Europe because were more open to new artists than the US generally...
    I am PRAYING for a japanese release from her this year X_X

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  5. Adding to the fact that when she got the opportunity to perform on tv she sounded terrible. Nothing about her performance said "wow who is this singer".

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