ใกใใใฃใ It's Spacy!
A few weeks ago there was plenty of discourse on music and 'gyaru' music! I pay £.750 a month for spotify premium, so I spend thousands of hours each week listening to music, and through some hard searching and research, I put together my own personal ultimate gyaru playlist. But exactly what music is popular with gals, not only from Heisei era, but Reiwa era as well, let's talk about it!
First thing I'm going to say here is I won't talk about para para music here, i'll save this for another blog, second thing, I've tagged this under history because there's bit of historical information here... and i didn't wanna leave my history of gal blog post lonely so I made her a friend.
Now let's start with an obvious one, Namie Amuro!
If you aren't new to gyaru, then I dont need to explain who Namie even is, as the former star is an icon within the gyaru community and early gals of the mid-late 90's took major inspiration from her, but for those who may be. Namie Amuro is a former teen idol turned pop artist, exploring many genres like eurobeat, r&b and so much more, to the point where I can't give her justice!
Unfortunately for those not skilled in the art of internet diving, Namie's music has essentially been scrubbed from most streaming services and from youtube, making it hard to find her music outside of live performances, however there is a way.... Unfortunately the golden rule of gatekeeping in jpop has to be applied here, but you can always dm me on instagram if you are interested in obtaining her music!
Personally, my favourite Namie songs are:
ๅคช้ฝใฎSEASON (Finally album disk1)
ใในใฟใผU.S.A
ๆใใฆใในใซใใ
Hope
A walk in the park
Chase the Chance
Body feels EXIT
Rock Steady
SWEET 19 BLUES
CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK
NEW LOOK
Baby Don't Cry
RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE
Queen of Hip-Pop
My Darling
and Free
Next is Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayu is also an icon that can't be described by me, but as the second best selling japanese artist in its history, and the best selling soloist in japanese history, ayu is deserving of her title as the 'Empress of Jpop'. A year after her debut, Ayu released a song that to this day, is still a favourite in the gal community, Boys and Girls, with her album loveppears, selling nearly 3 million copies and in general just being fucking amazing ๐ญ. I think I also noted this before, but Ayu's popularity in the early 2000's was one of the causes for the decrease in ganguro gals, starting the 'bihaku' craze of shiro gals (white gals, or gals who didn't tan) as these gals wanted to look like ayu, and ayu pretenders like Koakuma Ageha and Kilala model, Himeka (may not be her name.... oh well). Ayu's influence of gyaru can't be overstated, with her music released in 1999 still being popular with gals today!
My favourite Ayu songs:
Boys and Girls
Boys and Girls - A Eurosenti Mix
Evolution - Time is Pop Mix (My Personal Favourite)
Evolutions
Trust
HANABI
Startin
July 1st
Appears
Appears - Melodic Extended Mix
Microphone
Days
WARNING
Koda Kumi:
Very personally I really only enjoy pre.... 2016 Koda Kumi hits but that doesn't mean anything!
If I could describe Koda Kumi in 3 4 words I would say 'Jpop Queen of cvnt'. Setting trends with younger women and cultivating the 'ero-kakkoii' style, Koda Kumi had a huge influence with gals of the mid to later 2000's, to the point where I'm not sure there is a single gal out there that doesn't follow her on sns. For me, I like the contrast between her sexier and more softer songs, and r&b aswell.
My Favourite Koda Kumi songs:
็ใ็ฝ (Sweet Trap)
Black Cherry
ๆใฎใใ (Song of Love)
Shake it Up (My personal favourite)
Hot Stuff
ใญใฅใผใใฃใผใใใผ (Love & Honey)
Butterfly
girls
Get Up & Move
you
LOVE HOLIC
Star
Nishino Kana
Now if you know me, you know I literally adore Nishino Kana. Her music dubbed 'gyaru enka' and her cute and simple style being popular amoung gals of the 2010s. Nicknamed Kanayan by fans, kanayan starred on the covers of popteen and pop sister, and displayed her fashion and make in the pages of the magazine during her 11 year career from 2008-2019. In 2019, Nishino Kana announced an indefinite haitus, and hasn't (much to my dismay) returned to music in her almost 5 years since, marrying her former manager. For me, Kanayan is very much an icon, even tho her career peaked during the decline of gyaru, her music is still popular with gals today, and i personally pray everyday she comes back with new music ๐
My favourite Nishino Kana songs:
Best Friend
Esperanza (my personal favourite)
Dear...if
Distance
LOVE & JOY
ไผใใใใฆ ไผใใใใฆ (Aitakute Aitakute)
ใใฃใจ… ( Motto...)
ๅใฃใฆ (Kimi Tte)
ใใชใปใ (Torisetsu)
SAKURA, I love You
Day 7
UTADA
In my opinion, if you're looking for R&B, I think Utada is an amazing artist for this. Utada's music is pretty popular within gyaru communities, but she's not really a gyaru icon like Ayu or Namie, but they're is extremely popular, selling tens of millions of singles during her career, with the release of her hit album 'distance' selling 3 million+ copies and oricon labelling it the best selling japanese album of the 2000's decade! Even in 2024, one of Utada's most recognisable songs 'first love' is charting on billboard japan, despite it being released 24+ years ago!
My favourite Utada songs:
Can you keep a secret
first love
DISTANCE
B&C
Movin'on without you
COLOURS
Flavour of Life
Gold (Mata au Hi Made)
Automatic (Personal favourite)
MINMI
Minmi is the most obscure artist on this list so far, but me? Personally I'm obsessed with Minmi! Alot of the artist I've talked about centre their music around mainly pop or r&b, Minmi however explores reggae and soca in her music. Due to the influence of African American and Caribbean culture and music in the gyaru community, primarily seen with B-Gyaru, where b-gals would often sport box braids and dark tans in admiration of black singers and celebs (Yes i do not condone b-gal, but the bad ways in which b-gals expressed their admiration for these black musicians, mainly by CA and blackface, to a degree, is a discussion for another day).... Gals started to listen to j-reggae, hip hop and rap and dancehall. Minmi is definetly one of the more popular artists in this scene of music. In 2004, she made the ending to the anime samurai champloo, shiki no uta, remaining one of her most popular song to the present.
My favourite Minmi songs:
Shiki No Uta
ใทใฃใใ☆ (SHANANA)
ใตใใผใฟใคใ !! (Summer time)
ใณใณใใฌ ~Coconuts Flavor'97~
็็ ใๆถ (Pearl Tears) ft -Kenty Gross
ๅนณๆใฎไนๅฅณ Heisei no Otome - ft Kenty Gross (My personal favourite)
Who's Theme
TOKYO GIRL (as a feature)
I think i'm going to leave this here for today! In part 2 I'll start talking about artists popular in the Heisei era, such as repezen foxx, 775, Elle Teresa, Bar Yahman
In part 3 We'll return back to Heisei era and talk about artists like Miliyah, Crystal Kay, Julie, Ami Suzuki, Thelma Aoyama!
On Part 4, I'll talk about songs made by male hosts groups like CLUB PRINCE and Club Romeo, or songs made by hostesses and model groups such as LOALO and EGG.
I also plan on talking about hip hop and other artists that I haven't talked about here! I have lots in store so be sure to return
Bye bye - SPACY
I'm not that familiar with Namie's and Ayu's discography but I absolute love Concentration 20 and LOVEppears, I need both in my CD collection <3
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