Meg (singer)
| Meg | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1980 |
| Origin | Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | J-pop, electronic dance, electronic pop, pop-rock, electronica |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, model, fashion designer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Burger Inn, Shampoo Nine, LSN, Dream Machine, unBORDE, Universal J, Starchild |
| Associated acts |
Yasutaka Nakata Capsule Perfume Hadouken! Shanghai Restoration Project |
| Website |
Official Site Universal Music Site Starchild Site |
Keiko Yorichika (born October 3, 1980[1]) is a Japanese recording artist and fashion designer from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. She is signed with Starchild Records, a division of King Records.
Career
Meg made her singing debut in July 2002 with the song "Scanty Blues", produced by Yasuyuki Okamura.
In the summer of 2004, Meg started her own fashion brand called "Cheryl". In January 2006, she changed the capitalization of her stage name from "meg" to "MEG".
Her third studio album, Aquaberry, reached number 1 on the pop albums chart on the Japanese upon its release and managed to sell higher than her previous album Dithyrambos.[1][1] The album did not produce any singles.[2]
Meg began working with producer Yasutaka Nakata in 2007 and released her ninth single, "Amai Zeitaku", in May 2007, switching to the electropop genre.[1] She has since worked with other producers, including the new rave English band Hadouken! for her 14th single, "Freak", and the Shanghai Restoration Project for a mini album titled Journey.[3]
Meg's 2008 album Step became her best-selling album in her career, peaking at number 8 in the Oricon chart, selling 29,048 units, making it the second technopop album to reach the Oricon Top Ten since Perfume's Game, which debuted at number one.[4]
Her sixth studio album, Beautiful, was released on May 27, 2009, and also has reached the Oricon Top Ten.[5] Her seventh full studio album, Maverick, was released on June 23, 2010, once again featuring production and songwriting work by Yasutaka Nakata.
In July 2010, Meg wrote in her blog informing fans that she would be leaving Universal Music Japan and travelling to Paris for a break. She would release the single "Passport/Paris" and a compilation album titled Best Flight with her label before going on indefinite hiatus.[6] On a May 2012 interview with Natalie.mu, Meg revealed that some of the reasons of her going on hiatus was the quick production of Yasutaka Nakata on her album Maverick, completing the album for just three weeks, and that she realized that she did not take much time on the lyrical content of the songs and added that the album is leaning towards more "pop" than club music, in which she considered a "fast pace" on the album's production.[7]
In 2011, she returned to Warner Music, under the management of the newly launched Unborde Records label. Starting June 20, 2011 Meg began releasing digital singles only available in the French iTunes Store. Her fourth digital single, "Rouge No Dengon", was originally supposed to be released on September 26, 2011, but due to issues getting it onto the iTunes France Store, it was delayed and released on September 27 instead.
Two singles, "Kiss or Bite" and "Save", were announced in April 2013 and marked Meg's first dual single release. They were released together in a special package and as separate releases on June 5, 2013. The tracks from the two singles were created with a unified narrative involving a love story with post-apocalyptic and horror themes. The release was also accompanied by a set of seven trading cards and a browser game called "Meg the World." The browser game was designed with a pixel art style evocative of fourth generation video games and featured chiptune versions of songs from the two singles, while dialogue in the game elaborated upon the themes found in the songs' lyrics.[8] These themes would later be used on the following studio album, Continue, which was released on December 4, 2013.[9]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Genre | Label | Oricon album charts |
Sales | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Mgrmx | Electronic dance | — | — | 300 | Kouichi Tsutaya |
| Room Girl | Pop | Dream Machine | 87 | 4,000 | Yasuyuki Okamura, CMJK, Nobuhiko Kashihara, Meg | |
| 2006 | Dithyrambos | Pop | Shampoo Nine | 291 | 800 | Meg |
| 2007 | Aquaberry | Indie electronic | AZ Tribe, Rainbow | 139 | 2,000 | Nakamura Hiroshi |
| Beam | J-pop/electropop | Universal J | 24 | 29,000 | Nakata Yasutaka | |
| 2008 | Step | J-pop/electropop | 8 | 29,000 | ||
| 2009 | Beautiful | J-pop/electropop | 10 | 18,000 | ||
| Journey | Indie electronic | 38 | 6,000 | Shanghai Restoration Project | ||
| 2010 | Maverick[10] | J-pop/electropop | 20 | 8,000 | Nakata Yasutaka | |
| Best Flight | J-pop/electropop/ electronica/pop-rock | 22 | 7,000 | Nakata Yasutaka, Hadouken!, Shanghai Restoration Project, Zentarou Watanabe | ||
| 2012 | La Japonaise[11] | Pop | Starchild, King | 60 | 2,000 | Nakata Yasutaka, Shanghai Restoration Project, The Telephones, various |
| Wear I Am[12] | Pop | 36 | 3,000 | Nakata Yasutaka, taku (m-flo), Yasuyuki Okamura, various | ||
| 2013 | Continue | Pop | 80 | — | TeddyLoid, Masaru Yokoyama, Tomoki Hasegawa, various |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak (Oricon) |
Peak (Billboard) |
Sales | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Scanty Blues" (スキャンティブルース Sukyanti Burūsu) | — | — | — | Room Girl |
| "Ikenai Kotokai/Kasa to Shizuku" (イケナイコトカイ/傘としずく) | 84 | — | 4,000 | ||
| 2003 | "Kōro" (光露) | 156 | — | 700 | |
| "Groove Tube" | 131 | — | 1,400 | ||
| 2004 | "Stereo04" | — | — | — | Dithyrambos |
| 2006 | "Rockstar" 1 | — | — | — | |
| "Dawn" 1 | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Amai Zeitaku" (甘い贅沢) 1 | 183 | — | 600 | Beam |
| "OK" | 43 | — | 8,000 | ||
| 2008 | "Magic" | 42 | — | 4,000 | Step |
| "Heart" | 26 | 62 | 6,000 | ||
| "Precious" | 17 | 49 | 8,000 | Beautiful | |
| 2009 | "Freak" | 21 | — | 5,000 | Best Flight |
| 2010 | "Secret Adventure" | 44 | — | 2,400 | Maverick |
| "Passport/Paris" | 75 | — | 1,600 | Best Flight | |
| 2012 | "Trap" | 34 | — | 3,000 | Wear I Am |
| 2013 | "Kiss or Bite" | 72 | — | — | Continue |
| "Save" | 73 | — | — | Continue |
Digital singles
- "Discothèque / Banana no Namida" (June 20, 2011)
- "Ma Mélissa (covered from Les Minikeums)" (July 25, 2011)
- "Believe" (August 29, 2011)
- "Rouge no Dengon" (September 27, 2011)
- "Still Love Her (Ushinawareta Fuukei)" (October 31, 2011)
- "Tough Boy" (November 28, 2011)
Other appearances
| Year | Song | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Hikyou no Oku no Ushi no Kioku" (秘境の奥の虫歯の記憶) | Ukawanimation! | N/A |
| "Denwa" (電話) | Suneohair | Birthday | |
| "Wish You Smile" | Sound Around | Sweet Music | |
| 2009 | "Lyricist" | Towa Tei | Big Fun |
| "Haruka" (遥) | Ryukyudisko, iLL | Pleasure, ∀ | |
| "When You Wish Upon a Star" | Meg × Q;indivi | House☆Disney | |
| 2012 | "Hijitsuzai Boy" (非実在ボーイ) | Ram Rider | Audio Galaxy: Ram Rider vs Stars!!! |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Biography. universal-music.co.jp
- ↑ MEG Official Discography Page On Official Website. Megweb.jp. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ Oricon Style "Freak" Information. Oricon.co.jp (1999-02-22). Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ "2008年06月16日～2008年06月22日のCDアルバム週間ランキング（2008年06月30日付）". Oricon. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
- ↑ Oricon Style "Beautiful" Detail. Oricon.co.jp (1999-02-22). Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ News on Meg's Hiatus. Tokyograph.com (2010-07-30). Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ ナタリー – [Power Push] MEG「LA JAPONAISE」インタビュー (1/3). Natalie.mu. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ MEG＆MEG ZOMBIES、ゲームで新作の世界観チラ見せ. Natalie.mu. Retrieved on 2014-01-19.
- ↑ MEG師走に新アルバム＆RPG「MEG THE WORLD」続編も. Natalie.mu. Retrieved on 2014-01-19.
- ↑ "TBA/Ltd Edition". 95music (in Chinese). Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ↑ MEG Concept Album "LA JAPONAISE". Cdjapan.co.jp (2012-04-25). Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
- ↑ MEG reveals new album wtitle, "WEAR I AM". Natalie.mu. Retrieved on 2013-10-14.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to MEG. |
- Official website (Japanese)
- Meg on WMG/unBORDE (Japanese)
- Meg on Universal Music website (Japanese)
- Official blog (Japanese)
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