![]() I still look back on "Sparkle" and feel that it could have been a great song if it were re-arranged and that the video could have been a lot better if the looks were stronger and the whole thing were more of a spectacle. Some would say that she's already lost it. And at a time in J-Pop where her peers were gaining more popularity and delivering on the freshness and it-factor that Ayu should have been maintaining, she was running the risk of losing her own sparkle and would come close to losing it altogether. "Sparkle" was meant to be a nudge in the ribs to those who felt that Ayumi Hamasaki's sound and image weren't exciting enough, but the end result proved the point. But she didn't really hit the mark neither and this was the problem, and it would be the beginning of more misses than hits. And by this point in her career Ayu and her team should know her sound well enough to not have shit like this happen.but it did, and it would keep happening and is STILL happening.Īyu hadn't done anything catastrophically wrong with "Sparkle". Ayu didn't give a vocal performance to match the energy of the music itself. (Don't ya'll go making jokes about Ayu not even being able to hear herself). Ayu's vocals get completely lost in the music. My gripe with the song was that it just generally fell flat, which is how I've felt about Ayu's music for a long time. "Sparkle" received a mixed reception from critics, with many not deeming it up to par with what they expected from an Ayu single. "Sparkle" was loud, brash and in your face, but it didn't really say anything. A bitch is still spinning that damn wheel now. But with Kumi Koda releasing music every minute, shooting a video for every song and giving people something to talk about maybe she felt the pressure.Įverything that would follow on from "Sparkle" would show a lack of consistency in Ayu's brand to such a point that she'd lose it. Ayu had no reason to see anybody as competition, as she'd already secured her legacy and made her impact. After years of people calling Kumi out for desperately trying to be the crazier, sexier and cooler version of Ayu, the tables were starting to turn and some where starting to wonder if Ayu was playing Kumi at her own game. ![]() Titillation was something Ayu had explored in music videos before, but "Sparkle" was the most aggressive that Ayu had been with it. An artist who made a name for herself by bussin' it open in every music video and using sex to sell her music something that was bold thing to have made her brand as a pop star at this point in time in Japan, but bodies were ready. Something that could possibly be attributed to Avex's rising star, Kumi Koda. ![]() "Sparkle" marked the beginning of a shift we'd see with Ayu where her fashion and her music videos would become far more sexualised than they'd ever been. And to this day, Ayu hasn't really found her sweet spot. Everything that would come after would be an attempt to recapture, reinvent and redo. With the release of Guilty Ayu had pretty much reached her peak. Over the course of her career, Ayu had effectively redefined what it meant to be a J-Pop star on a national scale that could rival a Western counterpart.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |