MAO -- MAKE MY DAY

 

I remember being in the movie theatre when the trailer for cop thriller "Sudden Impact" came on. When Clint Eastwood said those classic words "Go ahead....make my day", the audience erupted as crazily and happily as any cameo scene from "Deadpool & Wolverine". That had to be the Clint-iest scene in Clint's entire career.

Singer-songwriter MAO's "MAKE MY DAY" from 2023 isn't quite as epic but it is a very pleasant musical walk in the city as we see in the music video. About a few months ago, I introduced MAO into the pages of KKP via her 2024 "Hikikomori no Mainichi"（ひきこもりの毎日）, and I'm happy that with "MAKE MY DAY", the lass is actually getting some fresh air by taking those refreshing night walks. The smooth rapping patter goes into a relationship between two buddies (maybe they're boyfriend and girlfriend?); no matter if things get tense, they'll stick together solidly. Though a short tune at a shade over 2 1/2 minutes, it gives its message with no muss and no fuss, and the arrangement is also just as efficiently melodic with a few instruments providing that atmosphere of cool, nice and nocturnal.

Ah, by the way, I'm starting my Urban Contemporary Fridays on Thursday night this week because I'm going to be away from the computer for a lot of this Friday. So, along with this one, I figure that I'll put up at least a few more City Pop/R&B/AOR tunes before the night is out.

MAO -- Hikikomori no Mainichi（ひきこもりの毎日）

 

Welcome to Hump Day! Indeed, Wednesdays can be rather blah but over here at least, considering that we had a very waterlogged April, I'm happy that May has come in blazingly sunny and not too cold either. 

A few years ago, I was once jokingly accused by a relative on whether I had become a hikikomori (a shut-in). I didn't counter too forcefully since, yes I admitted, I never really did go all that much and the pandemic was putting a major curb on person-to-person socialization. Plus, my room often appeared as if a mini-tornado had ripped through the place. But as it is in 2024, outside of the odd invitation to lunch, a movie or dinner, I'm usually as snug as a bug on a rug staying within the neighbourhood and writing out my two articles a day at least on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

Recently, I came across this short and sweet video by singer-songwriter MAO,（眞魚）aka Tomoe Kurohata, a self-described outlaw and nerd. Titled "Hikikomori no Mainichi" (The Daily Life of a Shut-In), her song came out in the last couple of months, and I had been expecting something akin to technopop. Instead, it's a mix of rap and old soul delivered in a smooth velvety voice while MAO is sticking around in her room. Basically the attitude is "Heck, I'm done with the speeches...I'll be in my futon".

Looking at the video, I confess that MAO has one up on me in her circumstances. She at least seems to have a more modern and comfortable swivel chair than I do.🪑