May J.
May Hashimoto ( jap. 橋本芽生 , Hashimoto Mei * 20th June 1988 in Yokohama , Japan ) is a Japanese R & B and pop singer, on stage she is under her pseudonym May J. known.
life and career
May's mother is believed to have Iranian ancestry and her father is Japanese . In the June 23, 2013 episode of J-Melo (J-Melo in Turkey Part 2), she said she was part Turkish . The J in her stage name is derived from a Persian girl's name, which is Jamileh , which means 'beautiful'. Hashimoto did not learn Farsi in her early childhood. At first she saw herself as a descendant of Americans, until, during a conversation between her mother and her grandmother, she learned that her ancestors came from Iran. Later in her school years, she also did research in Persian music and heard music by Googoosh and Afshin . She later also commented that she hopes to debut in Iran. Since childhood she has enjoyed listening to artists like Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston , and she also won a double contest on MTV , where she covered Avril Lavigne .
At the age of 14 she signed her first record deal with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and released her first extended play on July 12, 2006 , which was called All My Girls . The album was marketed as a mix of the styles of Jennifer Lopez , Beyoncé and Rihanna by the record company Neosite Discs , a hip-hop sub-label of Ki / oon Records , which is a sub-label of Sony Music Japan. It was also added that this style had never existed in Japan before.
Since October 2008 she has also moderated, first with Shanti Snyder, the weekly English program J-Melo , which is broadcast by NHK World . In March 2010 it was decided to let May J. moderate alone. Here she receives (mostly) Japanese artists as guests, reports are shown and the program is broadcast in 180 countries. This is also a reason why May J. is in contact with many artists.
However, she was only able to gain popularity in 2009, because with the release of her second studio album, Family , she landed for the first time at number 4 on the Oricon charts in Japan and was able to sell almost 100,000 units. Since then she has released several singles and other albums and is currently under contract with the record company Rhythm Zone, a sub-label of Avex . In 2011 she also worked in a collaboration with “Love Perfume” for a fragrance called “Miss Jamileh”.
After a few unsuccessful albums, she finally released her first compilation album on February 6, 2013, entitled May J. Best: 7 Years Collection . The album stayed in the Japanese Oricon charts for more than 25 weeks, making it their first album with such a long stay in the Japanese charts. It also sold more than 40,000 copies, making it their most successful album since Family (2009). In March 2013 she released a new edition of the hit Sweet Spot with Flo Rida , which was originally a duet with Jennifer Lopez. The song was released as a download and only in Japan. Finally, she also released her first cover album on June 19, 2013 entitled Summer Ballad Covers . It sold 46,418 times in the first week and made it their most successful sales week ever, after all, they broke the 100,000 mark after just four weeks and made it their most successful album of the time. She covered popular Japanese ballads such as Precious by Yuna Itō and First Love by Hikaru Utada . The cover album eventually broke the 200,000 mark. With the enormous success she became more popular than ever and released her third EP Love Ballad in October , which, in contrast to the second EP Believin '... , with approx. 50,000 units sold, increased by 1120% in sales.
On January 5, 2014, she released her download single Let It Go: Ari no Mama de (Let It Go ~ あ り の ま ま で ~), which was used as the end credits song for the Japanese edition of the US computer animation film Frozen . The song was awarded gold by the RIAJ in May of that year for 100,000 legal downloads. She previously released her second cover album entitled Heartful Song Covers in March of that year. The album sold almost 250,000 times, making it their most successful record. After her sixth single Hontō no Koi ( 本 当 の 恋 ), with which she was placed in the top 10 of the Japanese Oricon charts with a single for the first time, and her seventh studio album Imperfection , she released her second compilation on January 1, 2015 with the title W. Best: Original & Covers to usher in a new era in your career.
Discography
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Studio albums
EPs
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Compilations
Cover albums
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Web links
- Website (japanese)
- Blog (japanese)
- Facebook profile (Japanese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Robert Michael Poole The J-pop songstress reveals her Persian heritage In Metropolis , accessed on November 23, 2012
- ↑ Sony Music Japan ALL MY GIRLS In sonymusic.co.jp (Japanese), accessed November 23, 2012
- ↑ Generasia Family (May J.) In generasia (English), accessed on November 23, 2012
- ↑ Love Perfume May J. Interview ( Memento of the original from September 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in love-perfume.jp (Japanese), accessed July 29, 2013
- ↑ Generasia May J. Best - 7 Years Collection - In generasia , accessed August 7, 2013
- ↑ iTunes Sweet Spot (feat. May J.) - Single In iTunes (Japanese), accessed March 26, 2013
- ↑ Generasia Summer Ballad Covers In generasia , accessed August 7, 2013
- ↑ onehallyu RIAJ Digital Certifications for May In onehallyu.com (English), accessed December 20, 2014
- ↑ Generasia Heartful Song Covers In generasia.com (English), accessed December 20, 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | May J. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hashimoto Mei (maiden name); Hashimoto May (own transcription of the maiden name); 橋本 芽 生 (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese R&B pop singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 20, 1988 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Yokohama , Japan |