Well, If You Like Japanese City Pop...

 

Ahh...yes. That title above. Well, it all began when commenter Gen let me know about a singer and actress by the name of Yukika Teramoto（寺本來可）who's currently living and working in South Korea under the one name of Yukika, and she's been singing not only the internationally popular K-Pop but also Korean City Pop. Gen wanted to get my two non-existent Canadian pennies on a recent single (in fact, it came out only about a month or so ago) of hers, something that I'm more than happy to do.

That got me thinking...and thankfully, I had a large lunch and dinner to help me in that endeavor. I've heard in the past about various non-Japanese singers and musicians tackling that sort of groovy urban contemporary for which Japanese City Pop has regained popularity over the past few years. I just covered one fellow, Ginger Root from America, earlier in the summer and will be doing the same in this list. 

But Yukika and Ginger Root aside, the other singers and musicians that I've found out about online are from the past, as far back as 1980 in fact, when Japanese City Pop had its original peak time, and their material wasn't actually based on City Pop although the sound is there. Most likely, the artists were influenced by the combination of disco, soft rock and the like coming out from the United States at the time just like City Pop singers were. So, I think that it would be somewhat unfair and inaccurate to utilize the title "International City Pop" or "City Pop by Non-Japanese Singers" under the circumstances which is why I'm going with the more whimsical title above.

Anyways, why don't we take a look?

1. Yukika -- Loving You (South Korea)

Indeed, we are beginning with the first person I mentioned off the top. Late in September 2021, Yukika released her 4th digital single "Loving You" and this has some disco and some of that feeling from the former band Especia which was also covering its own brand of 80s synthpop and City Pop. In fact, I think that Yukika in the video looks like she could have actually belonged to the group. 

She also released another single only a few days after "Loving You", "Tokyo Lights" which is in Japanese. I will have to cover that soon enough. Also, along with modeling, I also read that Yukika has also dabbled as a seiyuu and even had a supporting part in the anime "Seitokai Yakuindomo"（生徒会役員共）.

2. Emmanuel -- La chica de humo (Mexico)

Interestingly enough, I'd heard a few years ago about the concept of Mexican City Pop but didn't really investigate further. However, I browsed through YouTube yesterday and actually came across a compilation titled "Mexican City Pop" and starting things off was veteran Mexican singer Emmanuel with "La chica de humo" which means "The Smoke Girl".  

"La chica de humo" can be found on Emmanuel's 1989 album "Quisiera" and it's got that nice synthy strutting beat with that popping percussion. According to his Wikipedia entry, Emmanuel is usually known for his balladry but this second single from the album became a huge hit, becoming his third No. 1 single. It's been classified as straight pop but I can imagine anyone in Japan covering it shuffling down a Shinjuku sidewalk to it.

3. Ginger Root -- Juban District (United States)

Commenter Matt K. cottoned me onto Cameron Lew, aka Ginger Root, back in July this year. And everything about his "Juban District", a track from his August 2021 EP "City Slicker", from the mellow arrangement to the slight echo in his vocals to the aged and hazy look of the music video taking place among the gleaming towers of Los Angeles gives me that warm and fuzzy Vaporwave feeling although he likes to call his brand of music "aggressive elevator soul". The future hasn't looked this nostalgic.

4. Fariz RM -- Selangkah ke Seberang (Indonesia)

Indonesian multi-instrumentalist Fariz RM began his career in 1977 when he was still a teenager, and his debut album, "Selangkah ke Seberang", came out in 1979. It is from this album that the title track has a lot of reminders of fusion bands like The Square and Casiopea but Fariz RM's vocals has me thinking of drummer Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）from Yellow Magic Orchestra. It also strikes me as being a good highway drive tune. I've seen the name Indonesian City Pop being bandied about in the comments, but the album itself has been described as encompassing progressive pop, funk and pop soul. 

5. Viyada Komarakul Na Nakorn -- Kein kæ̂ (Thailand)

Of all the singers that I've put up here tonight, Viyada Komarakul Na Nakorn is the one that I have almost no information about so I will need some help here. All I could find out was that she is an actress as well as a singer. I'm not even sure of the proper pronunciation or romanization of the title of the song although I gave Google Translate a whirl. The original spelling in Thai is เกินแก้ which apparently means "beyond".

According to its presence on Spotify, เกินแก้ was released in 1990 and for those who are searching outside of Japan for songs that have that City Pop vibe, I can say that this particular song also has it with a mixture of 90s synth arrangement and 70s disco flute (reminiscent of Boz Scaggs). Then, one commenter put it best when he said that it was really similar to Chaka Khan's 1981 "Whatcha' Gonna Do For Me".

6. Masa (Sora Satoh) -- No Matter What, No Matter Where

I've already given Masa and "No Matter What, No Matter Where" its due within its own article but I simply didn't want to leave him off the list. His 2020 debut single contains some of that bluesiness in his form of Neo City Pop.

That's basically a very short international list of what might tickle the fancy of Japanese City Pop fans outside of the source nation. I can imagine that there are quite a few other countries where singers and bands are currently exploring the groove, and if so, power to them. Of course, it also helps that artists like the aforementioned Masa are also providing their insights on the actual structure of City Pop through individual videos about the genre's common chords which will give the contemporary up-and-comers further ammunition. To those people, the best of success!