Tsubaki
Xed51's note: This article, along with the
other Topdrunkee J-music based articles, was originally posted on
http://soulsaga.sitesled.com/
Occupation:
Singer
Style:
Ballad, Soul, R&B, Club R&B, J-Pop
Started:
2001
Status: Active
DOB : 12/05/1978
Similar Artists :
古内東子 Toko Furuuchi,
中島美嘉 Mika Nakashima
Sounds likes :
Originally sounded like a R&Bish Toko Furuuchi with a more womanly voice.
Post Harlem: A jpop
chick with soul. Her voice is noticeably higher pitched now.
Record Labels: Toshiba EMI, Harlem
Recordings
Career Bio:
© Soul Saga 2008, Paradise Hotel 51 2009
Written by David Tamoro 9/24/2008
Tsubaki is from
Imari, of the Saga prefecture located at the western most island of Kyushu.
She has a background in piano & dance. Tsubaki
got into R&B during her high school years. Her recording days began when she
took a roundtrip to Tokyo. Which is a considerably far way from her home in
Imari.
[Editor's note: Believe me I would know. I used to live at the
Yamaguchi prefecture & that place was quite far from Tokyo already. Saga is
located even farther west, because that prefecture exists in a different island
separated from the main land of Honshu.]
She participated in a challenge to sing covers
of popular Western music at Club Harlem in Shibuya. (A hiphop club.) I'm
guessing that the crowd's reaction was quite favourable as she eventually became
a regular livehouse act at Club Harlem under her stage name "Tsubaki".
[Editor's note: I believe that she sang these covers in
English.]
Her voice wasn't recorded on wax until 2002
when she participated in a compilation album called "HARLEM ver. 1.0" Tsubaki
later released a mini album "彼方へ…" (To the distance...)
in October of the same year.This is notable, because October 2002 had several
big J-hiphop releases during that same month. King Giddra's long awaited come
back album, Mr. Omeri's new joint & Sphere of Influence's debut album to name a
few.
Her mini album earned her quite a bit of
popularity.
So much so that she was eventually signed as a major label artist to Virgin
Music Records a half year later.
Which is rare, because it usually takes indies artist years or even decades just
to get signed to a major label.
For example the singer Minmi was actually an
indie artist since 1995 before she major debuted in the top 3 oricon charts of
2002.
No doubt that this was the same magic that the record execs were hoping to
achieve with Tsubaki.
[ Editor's note:Rumour has it that a record exec. at Virgin
records heard her music, and wanted to sign her immediately after hearing her
sing "kanata e...".
I'm not quite sure about that though.
Back in 2003 I always heard that a record exec.
was actually in the audience at Club Harlem where they saw Tsubaki performing.
Which then led to her contract with Virgin/Toshiba emi.
Either way they both sound unbelievable, as if it were some hackneyed over
dramatic script ripped straight out of a hollywood movie.
Yet I can believe that one of the two scenarios actually did occur, because in
my humble opinion Tsubaki truly does posses all the qualities needed to be an
extremely marketable commodity within the music industry.]
Tsubaki later made her long awaited debut with
a cover to
t美空 ひばりMisora
Hibari's
"Kawa no nagare no yō ni
(川の流れのように, As the river flows)"
Unfortunately Tsubaki's cover of "Kawa
no nagare no yō ni" didn't exactly fly off the shelves. Although most people who
have heard Tsubaki's rendition have favoured it highly.
It should be noted that there were also far more fans of the original song who
did not approve of Tsubaki's cover due to her R&B style vocals.
"Konomi wo maKA-SE-TEH ITAI-EEEeeeeeEAAHHYeaah!"
Many fans of the original song felt that it was arrogant that Tsubaki's voice
tried to overshadow flow & tone of the original composition.
[Editor's note: Tis a sad shame really. I happen to believe
that Tsubaki's cover far exceeds the original. Don't get it twisted. I love the
original by Misora. Her version is relaxing & flows smoothly . It's just that I
prefer Tsubaki's version, because of her "soul" inspired vocals. She sounds so
damn sexy when she sings the line
"kono mi wo makasete itai".
Granted it's this very line that most hardcore enka fans seem to have a problem
with, because Tsubaki sings it improperly.
In my opinion if you want to hear a cover that hasn't done justice to the
original. Then look no further then
Sowelu's cover of "Dare yoni suki na noni".
Toko Furuuchi's original
is clearly superior. Not that it matters.
Sowelu's rendition is actually quite popular for some odd reason or another.
It's a sad shame that Tsubaki suffered in sales due to the execs focusing on her
main selling point. (Her voice.)]
This pretty much leads up to the turn that her
music career would eventually take. Her 2nd single didn't make the top 100, and
her cover of "Bridge over troubled water" didn't chart at all.
She had a noticeable change in style & musical direction during the release of
her fourth single "Hands".
(She also got somewhat of a makeover.)
It's around this time when most of Tsubaki's original fans from her Club Harlem
days eventually forgot about her.
Harlem Recordings also stopped playing an influence into her music. Which
happens to be the main reason why her style sounds far less R&B now.
[Editor's note: It seems that Tsubaki's contract required that
Virgin records shared rights with Harlem Recordings to Tsubaki's music for her
first three singles & her major debut album.]
Her 5th single "あなたがいるだけで"
(Anata ga iru dake de)
(Just being by your side)
Brought Tsubaki back some moderate success as it barely entered the oricon top
50. (Much like her debut with "kawa no nagare no yo ni")
I believe that this was the turning point in her career as Tsubaki completely
cut her hair short for her 5th single. Possibly to make her appearance look less
"R&B", and for her to appear more "Japanese". This eventually led to most of her
original fans including myself to stop supporting her music.
It signified that she went "pop" to most of us hiphop heads.
Her 2nd album "Cotton Voice" released during
the end of the year, and it faired even worse than her debut album did as "Cotton
Voice" failed to even make it to Oricon's top 100.
Judging from sales figures alone it seemed that Tsubaki never really did gain
any new fans after her Club Harlem days, because she flopped a second time in a
row with the release of "Sea of Love"
Which ironically speaking happens to be the song that Tsubaki is most well known
for.
In conclusion:
Tsubaki hasn't been doing anything
since she flopped with "Sea of love". She did record a new single during october
or november of 2007, but it hasn't been released yet. It's currently scheduled
for Fall 2008. Although it was originally slated for a Summer release.
It appears that Virgin records is still trying to recover from all the excessive
money that they spent on her when she first debuted, and failed to recuperate
due to Tsubaki's massive failure streak. (Despite the high quality of her
music.)
I was hoping for 2008 to be Tsubaki's come
back year much similar to how 2000 was Hirai Ken's year to "come back with a
bang." (Hirai also went trough a five year hiatus prior to his mainstream
success.)
However I'm growing doubtful for it, because her single that she recorded a year
ago still has yet to be released.
Even then I have my doubts that her latest single would even hit the top 20
Don't get it twisted it's a very pretty song. It just doesn't sound like "come
back" material in my opinion.
It sounds more like a
credits song for a
movie
which is exactly what it is.
It's just too bad, because Toko Furuuchi is making a comeback from a three year
hiatus in October 2008.
This is relevant, because Toko Furuuchi has a
very similar style to Tsubaki, and both of them are often recognized as having
talent that equals their beauty. The difference between the two is that Toko is
also a songwriter, & has already proven constantly that she can sell records.
Whereas Tsubaki remains in the "highly regarded, & talented" category, but
happens to be a massive flop magnet.
Read more about Dr. Soul Saga's thoughts & opinions about what Tsubaki could've
or should've done in the right side bar of this page.
Trivia:
*Tsubaki once modeled for the cover of Custom L/S.
Note:
Zeebra and the rest of
King Giddra posed for the
sixth issue of Custom L/S.
So this is a telling example of how accepted within the "hiphop"/"urban"
community she used to be.
The Tsubaki L/S cover was taken in Oct. 2004. A month before she chopped her
hair off for "Anata ga iru dake de".
(This is the point of no return when Tsubaki completely shed her R&B image.)
Tsubaki was eventually replaced by Takako from Double as the cover model of L/S
before the mag went belly up during 2006/2007.
*She's also a model for the jeans brand known as xoxo.
*Many people assume that Tsubaki is only 19 or in her early 20's. She's actually
in her 30's. (Tsubaki is 29, but going on 30 by the end of 2008.)
*Tsubaki
once claimed that she
chose to cover "Kawa no nagare no yoni" because she saw it as a metaphor for how
her career flowed like a stream from her humble beginings in 2001 to her
eventual major debut in 2003.
[Editor's note: Many people may see that as a sign of arrogance,
but what you have to realize is that it's completely abnormal for most
underground musicians to rise to the big leagues as quickly as Tsubaki did. (It
took her only 5 - 7 months to get signed after the release of her indie album.)
You too would've agreed that her career was flowing smoothly from 2002 to 2003.
If you had followed her career starting from 2002 as I have.]
References and sources
椿_(歌手)
wikipedia,
tsubakiss profile,
FACTORY #0098 椿
Note: Most info comes from my first hand knowledge about her
career.
 椿
Tsubaki
|
Discography:
Albums Underground Album: Kanata e... (2002/10/23) 1st: Camellia (2004/01/28) 2nd: Cotton Voice (2004/12/8) Singles 6th: Sea of Love (2005/9/7) 5th: Anata ga Iru dakede (2004/11/10) 4rth: Hands (2004/8/18) 3rd: Asu ni Kakeru Hashi (2004/1/16) 2nd: Hakuchumu (2003/11/12) 1st: Kawa no Nagare no Youni. (2003/8/12)
|
Images,
music samples & videos are displayed for educational and decorative purposes
only under the
"fair use" clause.
Music/
Gallery/
Video/
Lyrics/
Tsubaki is my favorite music
artist from Japan! I keep "corsage", "kawa no nagare no yoni", Hakuchumu, Anata
ga iru dake de, Kanata e, letter without an address, Better days & "Free rein"
on constant repeat. I fell in love with her music
ever since I first saw her video "kanata e" on MTV Japan.
Her voice is amazing. What's more she's also an extremely attractive specimen.
I immediately spread word about her to as many as I could.
She truly seemed like she was going to blow up big time during her "Harlem" days.
I swear we were all talking about her.
It's just unfortunate that she never really achieved any real hits in her
career. (post Harlem.)
PROS:
A phenomenal voice. A marketable look. (Well she started out marketable at
least.)
She speaks pretty decent English. I wonder what her background is? She actually
speaks without an accent. Her only problem is that she doesn't bother to
enunciate.
Than again most of us Americans don't bother to enunciate either. So I guess
she'd blend in.
Her music style is very mature. Or at least it
was until "Cotton Voice". Even then "Cotton Voice" still has some of the
maturity of Tsubaki's prior sound left.
If only due to Tsubaki's amazing vocals.
Tsubaki has a wide vocal range. She's one of the few female singers in Japan who
could truly sing a cappella. Most female artists in Japan are all production
with little to no substance.
I can kind of see why female music artists are
often manufactured after seeing how badly Tsubaki fares in comparison to them.
Tsubaki is one of the rare few who is naturally talented & naturally good
looking, yet she still fails to sell records.
CONS: Ironically it's Tsubaki's beauty, & youthful appearance that seems to be her downfall as most people don't seem to want to give her music a chance, because they assume her to be just another pretty face hack in Japan's endless ocean of pretty faced bimbos.
No matter what you do with Tsubaki she just
does not sell for some reason.
She's done did songs with some of Japan's most talented mc's such as Micro, and
Kohei Japan. (Brother to Mummy-D from Rhymester.)
She has also done a duet with Take from "Skoop on Somebody".
Who in my opinion could be classified as the male Tsubaki. Considering that he
also has talent that equals his charm. Guess what? Tsubaki still flopped.
While her English is good. I'd much prefer if
she kept her English exclusive to the hooks. As I often find that most of her
English lines that aren't part of the hook all tend to lack the sultry soul that
her voice usually emanates.
I believe this could be attributed to Tsubaki concentrating on the sound of her
English pronunciation rather than just singing from the heart like she usually
does.
P.S. Tsubaki sounds horrible speaking New York slang. She
should stick to proper English.
As much as I'd hate to say this...
Tsubaki's real problem is that she's just a mere singer. She doesn't have any
true artistic integrity at all.
The only reason she stands out so much is because she has an astounding soulful
voice, an equally as pretty face to go along with it, & unique fashion sense.
(Tsubaki wore traditional female Vietnamese attire for most of her earlier
videos.)
Essentially, Tsubaki is nothing more than a marketable dream package that the
execs still haven't been able to capitalize on yet.
Harlem recordings seemed to be the only people who knew how to utilize her
properly.
Personally I would've gone a more Sowelu like direction with Tsubaki rather than
the pure pop that Toshiba EMI tries to push her as.
Why is she such a failure?:
Music artists in Japan generally don't have much power to control what they do
once they hit the major leagues. Which is exactly what happened to Tsubaki.
Tsubaki was so big when she was underground that she was promoted to a major artist way too soon before she could attain a stable enough base of familiarity. (The company who signed her ended up alienating all her original fans.)
What could've been done?:
Unfortunately I believe that Virgin Records already
tried everything that they could.
The most logical process to follow with a proven failure is to cut her contract
short, yet for some reason they haven't.
I'm guessing that there are either some specifics to Tsubaki's contract that
they must abide by, or Virgin records still holds a lot of faith in her even
after all her colossal failures.
It's quite obvious that Virgin records had a
lot of faith that Tsubaki's debut single would be a sure fire hit. Considering
how big budget her "Kawa no nagare no yō ni" video appeared to be.
In all honesty who could blame them. I'd be thinking that Tsubaki would've flown
off the charts just based off her beautiful vocals & visage.
Her 2nd single "Hakuchumu (Daydream)" was also
a decently budgeted music video, & it happens to be one of the best R&B songs
I've ever heard coming out of Japan.
For one thing the entire backing track consists of acoustic guitars. The rest of
the song falls on Tsubaki's shoulders as she carries the entire track with her
voice alone. As good as Daydream was, it still flopped.
I believe the reasons why Tsubaki has such a
lukewarm reception are
A. She has an older sister look. (Mature woman.) That generally
does not fly in the world of J music especially if you're just a singer.
The only way you can sell the"older sister" look is to go the way of Kumi Koda,
and whore yourself out.
Or to become a singer songwriter like Mika Nakashima.
B. She's good looking, but her main selling point actually
isn't her looks. It's her voice. That also generally doesn't fly too well in
Japan. Look no further than Leah Dizon. She can't sing worth shit, but she still
makes bank, because she's good looking.
Virgin noticeably stopped lavishing so much
money into promoting Tsubaki after she failed to chart two times in a row with
both "hands" & "Bridge over troubled water".
This is the part where I felt Virgin Records could've done things much
differently.
First off I'll chronicle what path Virgin records actually took.
Reality: Virgin Records opted to shed Tsubaki of all or most of her R&B influences, and they tried to market her as a standard Jpop artist. Which means that they had to get rid of Tsubaki's "intimidating" (To pansy Japanese boys.) mature woman look, and make her appear more cute, & 10 years younger looking in order to be more palatable to what the Japanese are used to. (And overseas Jpop weaboo fags who also prefer underaged girls.)
It was a huge gamble, because doing so would
mean the alienation of her original fans who seemed to have supported her enough
to contribute the meager sales that she already attained.
The gamble didn't exactly pay off, because Tsubaki completely fell off of the
oricon charts once she went pop.
It appears that her original fanbase were actually the only fans that she had.
The ironic thing about all of this is that her pop albums still have a fair
amount of soul to it. (Due solely to her voice once again.) Once you get over
the "pop" like production.
I've also heard of some fans who stopped
purchasing Tsubaki's music around the time she released "Anata ga iru dake de"
simply because they could not recognize Tsubaki without her long hair.
(Which in my opinion is part of Tsubaki's signature appearance, & should have
never been tampered with in the first place.)
What I would've done:
Tsubaki has the entire package to
make it big.
Her vocal range is insane, and she's beautiful enough to make a living off of
her looks alone.
The only thing she seems to lack is exposure.
Assuming that Virgin Records didn't already spend all the funds that they
allotted for Tsubaki's promotion...
If it were up to me I'd
try to get her feat. in a Dohzi-T joint (That guy has made almost everybody who
collaborated with him a sought after commodity.), an Mflo loves track (More
exposure), or basically just get her to do more cuts with recognizable names
like Verbal, Zeebra, & Hi-D in order to reintroduce her.
However you can't do all of the above, because it would cost a lot of payola
just to get a collab going on with one of the scenarios that I listed above.
I would bank my chances
on either the Dohzi-t joint, or petition to get Tsubaki signed on as a permanent
member of Mflo.
I'd market her as the the coming of the next "Lisa", because Tsubaki is the only
other woman in Japan who is as "soulful" as Lisa.
Unfortunately this is a battle plan that simply would not have worked, because I found out a couple days ago that Tsubaki is actually too old to have these strategies work for her. (Most of the artists that Dohi-T introduced to the masses were only in their teens or early 20's.)
In any case Virgin records already tried a similar approach when Tsubaki collabed with Micro & Kohei Japan.
So what could really be done?: In all honesty. Nothing. She went pop, and she fared even worse. When she was R&B nobody really paid attention to her, because her style of R&B is far more mature than most of her Japanese contemporaries. (A similar problem that also plagues Shiina Junpei.)
Assuming that Virgin Records doesn't just cut
her contract off. I believe that we'll be seeing a "Tsubaki singles collection",
or a "best hits collection". (Even though she has no hits.)
In the world of music this is usually a last ditch effort that the record execs
rely on to see if you're still worth the trouble of producing.
If there's one thing that I've noticed in the
Japanese music industry is that most artists who failed to sell "best hits"
records usually had their contracts revoked a couple months after.(Deeps)
By contrast some faltering artists have actually had their music careers saved
because their "best hits" record made bank.(Lisa)
My greatest fear is that Tsubaki might stay pop forever.
Is there any hope at all?: I feel that Tsubaki has enough prestige that she won't ever just disappear like Mie Yamamoto did. She still has roots within the hiphop community. If & when Tsubaki's current contract expires. I can easily foresee her coming back to her hiphop / R&B roots from her Club Harlem days.
Either that or another big time record company will immediately snatch Tsubaki up soon after she's released. It seems that many people can see that Tsubaki is "money in the bank". It's just a question of how to market her particular skill set to the masses. Kumi Koda's career was in a similar drought until she was featured in Final Fantasy X-2. Who knows what could happen with Tsubaki?
Though one suggestion if I may. Tsubaki needs
to seriously change her name to "Camellia".
I'm sick & tired of fans of the Tsubaki rock band making fun of her, because
they assume her to be a pop artist when she's actually Soul/Ballad.
It just so happens that Japan groups almost every Japanese artist into the Jpop
category.
(Even hardcore hiphop artists such as Ozrosaurus are considered Jpop.)