２００４年６月３０日、待望のセカンドアルバム“imagine”をリリース。全国ライブツアー”MINMI LIVE TOUR 2004“imagine””を同年９月１０日からスタートし、１２月には５枚目のシングル”Are yu ready”をリリースした。日本の伝統楽器である三味線を取り入れたミンミオリジナルリズム”SAKURA”がこの曲から生まれ、ジャマイカでも人気となり最もポピュラーなFMラジオ局［IREI FM］でもヘビープレイされていた。この頃から、”SAKURA”をプロデュースしたJUNIOR(RED SPIDER)にミンミが加わりTSURU KAMEレコーディングの制作チーム「ZA-REC」がジャマイカで制作活動を始める。そして２００５年の始め頃から様々なジャマイカ人のアーティストをプロデュースし、オリジナルの７インチレコードをJA国内でリリースしている。
２００７年、２年連続となるトリニダード・トバゴのフェスティバルに参加。この年にミンミはキングオブソカとして絶大な人気のあるマシェル・モンターノHDとのコラボレーション曲“Sha na na～Japanese Wine～“をレコーディング。実はマシェルはミンミのパフォーマンスに惚れ込み、前年のフェスティバルに参加させた人なのである。このフェスティバル開催に合わせて一緒に制作した”Sha na na～Japanese Wine～“は、トリニダードでリリースされマシェルのアルバム" Book Of The Angels”に収録されている。
フェスティバル出演の為トリニダード・トバゴに滞在中、テレビ、新聞、雑誌などのローカルメディアから注目され連日取材が続いた。この年はトリニダードで昨年を大きく上回る合計１０万人以上もの観客の前でパフォーマンスした。
国内、国外に限らず、枠に囚われることのないミンミの活動は、これからも予想をはるかに超えて進んでいくだろう。
The voice, being well-brushed-up thru performing reggae for a long time, still had
The “Wa” taste associated with the identity of being Japanese.
Her brown tanned complexion, made from under the Jamaican sunshine,
Enhancing her natural beauty and female sensualness.
Her original and artistic style, combined with her independent stance has increased her fan base, being especially appealing to female fans.
The “Diva”, MINMI…
MINMI started her musical career in 1996, performing at rub-a-dub showcases and hip hop events in the clubs of Osaka. She also began to develop her own sound by making her own original tracks around this period. Soon after she began performing live, word began to spread about the talented MINMI. She made guest appearances on the albums of established artist such as Red Spider and other artists, of the Japanese Big Sound label. Both CDs featuring MINMI as a guest artist went on become big hits both in the Reggae, and Hip Hop music scenes of Japan.
With great anticipation, MINMI signed her first recording deal with JVC records, releasing "The Perfect Vision" as her first Maxi Single in August 2002. MINMI's first single became extremely popular, and was widely accepted and heavily rotated by as many as 20 FM radio stations. “The Perfect Vision”, after gradually increasing in popularity, would eventually reach 400,000 units sold, an extraordinary figure for a debut single.
With her 2nd Maxi Single, titled "T.T.T.", scheduled to release in December 2002, MINMI began show her artistic talents, and reveal her diverse approach in her music. With a different sound from her Reggae based 1st single "The Perfect Vision", MINMI's 2nd single would be based more from Hip Hop. This unique arraignment of Hip Hop and Reggae flavors, mixed as only MINMI could, became an instant hit with many of her teenage fans.
In March 2003, the long-awaited debut of MINMI's 1st Album "Miracle", was finally released. Although there was only limited exposure prior to its' release, hefty record sales would land "Miracle" in the Top 5 of the Album Sales Chart for 2 months in a row, and would eventually go on to exceeded 600,000 total unit sales. This would only help to solidify MINMI's position in the Japanese music scene, and prove that MINMI's flavor and taste for music, was what the market has desired all along.
To coincide with her album's release, MINMI began her first nationwide tour [LIVE TOUR 2003 "Miracle"] on June 20, 2003. Concert tickets for all of MINMI's summer shows sold out instantly, and were packed with excited fans at every venue. Performing in her own, and other major concerts, mixed with her experience from the underground scene, MINMI was able to successfully entertain her fans.
MINMI has been constantly releasing singles. Her 3rd Single, "Another World", was released in September 2003 and "Ai No Mi", her 4th single, in March 2004. By blending the latest world music trends with the Japanese popular music trends, and not belonging to any specific musical genre, MINMI has become a major artist in the Japanese music industry, and created a style all her own.
MINMI is rare artists in that she does all the songwriting (including the lyrics), arrangements, production works, and making tracks. Her production has become so highly regarded in the industry that she is now being sought by other artist and offered the Production job of the production for the other artists. And also, many of the leading musicians and the engineers from Jamaica, home of Reggae music, and the United States, home of Hip Hop and R&B music, participate in her production, which is a key factor of blending the latest music trend and making high quality music.
On June 30, 2004, her long anticipated 2nd album “imagine” was released. Her nationwide live tour “MINMI LIVE TOUR 2004 “imagine” ”, started on September 10, 2004 and in December, she released her 5th single “Are yu ready”. The song originated from MINMI’s original riddim “SAKURA” which contains a sample of the Shamisen, a Japanese traditional guitar, and became popular in Jamaica as well. From this point, the production team ZA-REC for TSURU-KAME Recording, consisting of MINMI and JUNIOR (Red Spider), who produced the riddim “SAKURA”, started their production works in Jamaica. They have produced various Jamaican artists, and released their original 7 inch vinyls in Jamaica in the start of 2005.
In the summer of 2005, MINMI released her 6th single “Summertime!!”. The song is based on Soca rhythm, the music of Trinidad Tobago. And she was very active in live performances in 2005, from organizing a monthly regular reggae club event in Tokyo, a nationwide club tour, to appearing in the major summer rock festival “Summer Sonic” in August. In September, MINMI released the album “FRIENDS”, the best selection compilation album of her featured works.
In 2006, MINMI’s single “Summertime!!”, the song based on Soca rhythm, had a big reaction in Trinidad Tobago, the home of Soca. In February, She was invited to the famous Trinidad Tobago Festival, which is known as the Top 3 major festivals, compared with the festival in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Venice in Italy. In the Festival, MINMI performed in front of 30,000 fans, and fascinated the audience who saw her performance, including Wyclef Jean of the Fugees.
In March, MINMI released a long-awaited 3rd album “Natural”. The album includes the hit single “Summertime!!”, “Are yu ready”, as well as the fancy disco tune “Nishi-Azabu Legend” which is the same title of the club event MINMI produces. The album proved that MINMI is not just another Reggae Diva, but diversed into many music genre.
MINMI’s nationwide tour entitled “Natural Mystic” & “Natural Showcase” coincided with the release of “Natural”, and ended successfully, selling out all the dates. In the summer, MINMI appeared in the major rock festival “SUMMER SONIC’06” as the headliner, only Japanese artist to headline in the Festival ever. In Sept. 2006, MINMI was nominated as the Best New Artist of SOCA AWARDS, took place in New York, as the only Japanese artist ever to be nominated in the Awards. She was the center of the attention of the worldwide media.
In 2007, MINMI participated in the Trinidad Tobago Festival for the second straight year. MINMI recorded the new Soca tune “Sha na na ～Japanese Wine～” a collaboration with Machel Montano HD, known as the “King Of Soca”, to coincide with this year’s Festival. Machel was the person responsible for bringing MINMI over to the Festival the previous year. This year, they got together to record the new tune just in time for this year’s Festival. And “Sha na na ～Japanese Wine～” is included in Machel’s new album “Book Of The Angels” was just released in Trinidad Tobago.
Also, in this year’s Festival, MINMI participated in “Soca Monarc”, a competition for the local major artists. She became the first Japanese artist ever to win in the preliminary round and advance s into the final round of the competition. She performed on the National Stage, in front of the audience of over 30,000 people, and MINMI became the first Japanese artist ever to make it into the Best 8 of the Competition. She was Best 3 artist among the female artists in the Competition.
During her month long stay in at the Festival, MINMI was the center of attention of the local media, including TV programs, newspapers, and magazines. And MINMI performed in front of over 100,000 audiences in total in Trinidad Tobago this year.
MINMI’s activity has no limit, in Japan nor abroad, and will keep on going beyond everyone’s expectations in the future to come.
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