"King" (stylized in

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) is a 2020 song by Japanese

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

musician

Kanaria is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Peach-Pit. It was serialized in ''Monthly Comic Birz'' between the September 2002 and July 2007 issues. The individual chapters were collected and released into eight ''tankōbon'' ...

. Following its release, it brought Kanaria to widespread popularity, and it received covers from dozens of

VTubers A , or , is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated in Japan in the mid- ...

and other singers.

Overview

King was released on 2 August 2020. The song uses the Megpoid Vocaloid and the music video was illustrated by Nou. King achieved one million views within two months of its release. The song caused Kanaria to rise to popularity. Subsequently, dozens of VTubers and other singers posted covers of the song, including from

Kizuna Ai is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on Youtube, with more than 4 million subsc ...

, ,

Nijisanji Nijisanji (Japanese: にじさんじ) is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by AnyColor Inc. (formerly Ichikara Inc., changed 17 May 2021) The agency was founded in 2018 with the purpose of promoting the use of Live2D models and streaming as oppo ...

members, and member Mei Osanai, as well as a duet by Calliope Mori and

Gawr Gura is a virtual YouTuber affiliated with Hololive English. She is a member of Hololive English - Myth (stylized as HoloMyth), alongside , , , and . She debuted on September 13, 2020, and has since become the most subscribed virtual YouTuber, ama ...

; Eimika Katsuya attributed this widespread trend to the popularity of Kanaria's previous song "Hyakkisai". Rena Murakami of the Japanese culture site ' characterizes the lyrics as "reminiscent of the execution of a king". In a column for the lyrics search and music news site , Amu Machioka characterized the song as an allegory for the house arrest,

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

, and execution of Louis XVI (whom they interpreted as the titular King), told from the perspective of his executioner

Charles-Henri Sanson Charles-Henri Sanson, full title ''Chevalier Charles-Henri Sanson de Longval'' (15 February 1739 – 4 July 1806), was the royal executioner of France during the reign of King Louis XVI, as well as High Executioner of the First French Republic. He ...

. Eimika Katsuya said of "King": "It's a dark song with an absurd string of words, but the lyrics have a pleasant rhyme that makes it addictive." Tower Records Online said of "King": "You can't talk about internet music in 2020 without listening to this!" It topped the Billboard Japan Top User Generated Songs for 33 weeks in 2021, as well the equivalent charts for the first half and entirety of 2021. It charted at #42 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and #76 at the Billboard Japan Top Download Songs chart. It ranked second place in 's 2021 Most Sung Vocaloid Songs chart. "King" was included in Kanaria's debut album of the same name, which was released four months after the song. In 2022, it was released as part of Kanaria's greatest hits album ''Kanaria.code''.

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King 2020 songs J-pop songs Songs in Japanese Vocaloid songs Songs about kings