Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Meiri Alaha is a new soloist that I was unaware of until, well, about an hour ago, but given the complete dearth of emerging talent in the urban scene out of Japan, I was thrilled to find one with potential.
Meiri Alaha is a new artist. The 22 year old Osaka-born, Okinawa-raised singer / dancer is a fan of 70s funk and R&B. She has training in Okinawan folk music and dance, the sanshin, and acting. She was also active in the street dance scene. After high school, she left Okinawa for Tokyo to become a singer / dancer. She then moved to Los Angeles for a stint for further training in singing and dancing. Upon returning to Tokyo, she went on auditions, which led her being picked up by Being, the home of acts such as B’z and BREAKERZ.
Meiri Alaha has released three music videos so far in “PARTY TIME“, “21 ANTHEM“, and “CRAVE“, her latest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJEXpFxCTlQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beIWi02qywg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE0I2n67PAQ
“PARTY TIME” was a solid summer song that would’ve been better without the electronic elements, “21 ANTHEM” came off like one of those generic quasi-EDM songs, and “CRAVE” was easily the best effort. “CRAVE” showcased her R&B chops and proved that she could definitely execute the concept, which has grown increasingly rare in Japan and has unfortunately always been rare in Korea. It was a nice change of pace, and hopefully she’ll provide us with another urban-focused soloist going forward.
If she gets the quality songs to match her image and talents, she could take off sooner than later, and if nothing else she seems to be going down the right path for now.
…
That said, I’m admittedly not optimistic about the mainstream reception of her music in the current market in Japan. Sigh.
Oh yeah, she pretty.
