''Genius 2000'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Japanese recording artist

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

, released on January 26, 2000, through Avex Trax. The album was released three years after her last album, ''

Concentration 20 ''Concentration 20'' is the third studio album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro, released July 24, 1997 by Avex Trax. The album's genre is a fusion of styles including pop, dance and rock. Unlike Amuro's previous effort, '' Sweet 19 Blues'', whic ...

'' (1997), and was produced by

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

and

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events inv ...

, marking her first collaboration with an American producer, the album spawned four singles: "

I Have Never Seen "I Have Never Seen" is Namie Amuro's 11th single on the Avex Trax label. Released after a year hiatus, it serves their lead single for her fourth studio album ''Genius 2000'', it debuted at #1 on January 11, 1999. It is her ninth number one singl ...

", " Respect the Power of Love", "

Something 'bout the Kiss "Something 'bout the Kiss" is Namie Amuro's 14th single under the Avex Trax label, released on September 1, 1999, taken her fourth studio album ''Genius 2000''. Overview "Something 'bout the Kiss" is Amuro's first song to be produced by Americ ...

" and "

Love 2000 "Love 2000" is Namie Amuro's 15th single on the Avex Trax label. First pressing privileges came with a bonus remix of the title track. The same remix was later included on a vinyl single released two months after the CD version, as their fourth ...

". Upon its release, ''Genius 2000'' debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart with 536,000 copies sold. It became her fourth studio album and fifth overall to top the chart, but had the lowest first week sales of her career at the time. The album has sold over 800,000 copies and has been certified 2× Platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

in February 2000. Only 11 months after the album's release, Amuro released her fifth studio album, '' Break the Rules''.

Singles and tie-ins

The album's first single, "

", was released 13 months before the album, on December 23, 1998. The single marked her return to the entertainment industry following her

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

and was her last number one single until ''

60s 70s 80s ''60s 70s 80s'' is a triple A-side single, Namie Amuro's 33rd solo single under the Avex Trax label. It was released in CD and CD&DVD formats on March 12, 2008, 11 months since her previous single " Funky Town", and nearly nine months after her su ...

'' almost 10 years later. The second single, " Respect the Power of Love", was released on the same day that Amuro's mother was murdered, causing the singer to cancel promotion for the single. "

", produced by

, was released in September and was Amuro's first single to be produced by Austin. The final single, "

", was released on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

in 2000, preceding the album by three weeks. The album contains the songs which Komuro produced with American musicians, and the songs which Dallas Austin produced. Musically, it shows that Amuro's interest shifted towards hip-hop and R&B. It also features a duet with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Imajin Imajin is an American R&B boy band that is known for their hit "Shorty (You Keep Playing With My Mind)" featuring Keith Murray. The group also made a version of this song with (rapper) Mr. Cheeks of the rap group The Lost Boyz. This single ...

, titled "You Are the One". The song "Things I Collected" would be covered by

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development dea ...

for the soundtrack of ''

Diary of a Mad Black Woman ''Diary of a Mad Black Woman'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Darren Grant and written by Tyler Perry. Inspired by the play of the same name, it marks the debut feature film of Perry, in addition to being the first ...

.'' Tamia's version of the song omits the acoustic guitar solo, but otherwise is identical to Namie's version.

Track listing

Personnel

* Namie Amuro -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, background vocals * Imajin - vocals, background vocals * Terry Bradford - background vocals * Alex Brown - background vocals * Sheila E. - background vocals,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Kiyoshi Hiyama - background vocals * Yuko Kawai - background vocals * Debra Killings - background vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* David Lawson - background vocals *

Maxayn Lewis Maxayn Lewis is an American soul singer, musician, songwriter, and producer. She began her career in the 1960s, under her birth name Paulette Parker, as member of the Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In the 1970s, Lewis sang lead in the ba ...

- background vocals * Lynn Mabry - background vocals * Minako Obata - background vocals * Takeo Saito - background vocals * Kenji Sano - background vocals * Naoki Takao - background vocals * Will Wheaton Jr. - background vocals * Tetsuya Komuro - acoustic piano,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Tomi Martin -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Kazuhiro Matsuo - bass, guitar * Chiharu Mikuzuki - bass * Renato Neto - keyboard * Ramon Stagnaro - guitar * Michael Thompson - guitar *

Production

* Producers - Dallas Austin, Tetsuya Komuro * Mixing - Mike Butler, Alvin Speights * Mixing Assistant - Skye A.K. Correa * Midi & Sound Design - Rick Sheppard * Vocal Direction - Kenji Sano * Photography - Itaru Hirama * Art Direction - Tycoon Graphics

Charts

Album - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan) Singles - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan) Total Single Sales: 1,754,750 Total Album and Single Sales: 2,557,490

References

{{Authority control Namie Amuro albums 2000 albums Avex Group albums Albums produced by Tetsuya Komuro Albums produced by Dallas Austin