''Hotel'' (stylized as ''HOTEL'') is the fifty-seventh single by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese artist

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion ...

. It was her first single release since 2013's "Dreaming Now!." It debuted at #5, but took the weekly position of #7 on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

and remained on the charts for four weeks. The a-side's music video was heavily inspired by Koda Kumi's time in Dubai. The single contained two

a-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

s and one

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The a-sides were the title track and the song "Money In My Bag." The latter's music video was only released on the "fan club" edition of the single. The b-side was the pop/R&B track "Turn Around."

Background information

''Hotel'' is

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

Kumi Koda's fifty-seventh single under the

Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

sub-label

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000, ...

. The single debuted at #5 on the daily

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

, but dropped in rank to take the number seven slot for the week. Despite not being a limited release, the single only charted for four weeks. The single became her first release in nearly a year, with the prior being "

Dreaming Now! ''Dreaming Now!'' is the fifty-sixth single by Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda and was released on November 13, 2013. It charted at No. 5 on Oricon, took No. 9 for the weekly ranking and charted for four weeks. The song was written by Kumi ...

" in 2013. "Hotel" carried three tracks, with two of the songs carrying corresponding

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s. The title track is mid-tempo dance track containing elements of

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

, R&B,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and hip hop music. The music video for the song was heavily inspired by Koda Kumi's time spent in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, with the hotel in the video resembling the architecture and structures of the city. The coupling track "Money In My Bag" is a mostly hip-hop track, which Kumi had described as "not usually a category for "Koda Kumi," but how she "wanted to try a new style." The single's only

, "Turn Around," was a slower R&B/pop number with Kumi singing about the scent and experiences of summer.

Music videos

"Hotel" was directed by

videographer Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...

Kanji Sudo, who would later direct the music video for "

Like It "Like It" is a song performed by Belarusian singer Zena. It represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The song was performed during the first semi-final on 14 May 2019, and qualified for the final, where it finished in 24th place with 31 ...

" from her ''Walk of My Life''

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 ...

. The setting for the video was to introduce the viewer to Koda Kumi's hotel and the resort's small staff. The video contained a dual theme of day versus night, showing the personas most people carry during the day - very prim and proper - while, during the night, their inner selves come out. "Money In My Bag" was also directed by Kanji Sudo. The video was centered around night and was a hip-hop-infused dance number,

choreographed Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

by FUKO, a dancer who has been with Kumi since her 2006 album ''

Black Cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...

''. The music video was only available on the fan club editions of the single, which omitted the video for "Hotel."

Track list

Charts

Alternate versions

Hotel # "Hotel": Found on the single and corresponding album

Walk of My Life ''Walk of My Life'' (stylized in all caps) is the twelfth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. It was released a year after her previous studio album, '' Bon Voyage,'' on March 18, 2015. Continuing her streak of chart-topping a ...

(2015) # "Hotel" lastik Funk Remix Found on

Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 7 ''Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 7'' is the ninth remix album by Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. The album was released April 5, 2017. It debuted in the top ten on the Oricon Albums Charts at number 9. Keeping instep with her prior ''Driving Hit ...

(2017) Money in My Bag # "Money in My Bag": Found on the single and corresponding album

(2015) # "Money in My Bag" tarfvckers Remix Found on

(2017)

External links

Official Website

References

{{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Japanese-language songs Koda Kumi songs Rhythm Zone singles Songs written by Didrik Thott Songs written by Koda Kumi Songs written by Sebastian Thott