Queen Of Hip-Pop

''Queen of Hip-Pop'' is the seventh studio album, by recording artist Namie Amuro, It was released on July 13, 2005 after four singles and was her most commercially successful effort in five years before ''Play'' was released, the album received positive reviews and was nominated the Album of the Year in Asia Association Music Prize Awards.

Background and development

While planning the album, Amuro decided she wanted to create music that would have its most profound effect live. The result is an album that is her most uptempo containing 11 R&B and hip hop songs and only one pop ballad. The term "Hip-Pop" has been coined to the describe the music on the album because of her image as a pop music icon and her transition to R&B/ Hip-Hop music.

Packaging

The album art theme is that of the Pink Panther. Amuro happened to be a big fan of the Pink Panther cartoon character and wanted to include its image. A licensing deal was struck with MGM studios allowing Amuro to freely use the character in her album artwork and promotion. A special character "Namie Panther" based on Amuro herself was also created as a counterpart to the Pink Panther. Because of the Pink Panther deal, all of the material released for the album has been pink (Amuro had stated in an interview years before that she did not like pink). First pressing packaging of the album included Pink Panther stickers and a Pink Panther styled newspaper containing lyrics for the album.

Tie-ups and theme songs

"Alarm", "Girl Talk", and "WoWa" were used in TV commercials for the LUCIDO-L hair products. Amuro appeared in the three ad campaigns.

"All For You" was the theme song of the popular Japanese drama "Kimi Ga Omoide Ni Naru Mae Ni"

"No" was later used to promote the "Space of Hip-Pop -namie amuro tour 2005-" DVD

In the Hindi film "Darling", in the song "Aa Khushi Se Khud Khushi Kar Le", not only it had the same sitar sample, the first few opening lines and chorus parts are from the song "WANT ME, WANT ME" as well. The sitar sample from the song was also featured in the background music to the cycle 8 premiere episode of ''America's Next Top Model''.

Before the announcement of the album, the title track, "Queen of Hip-Pop" was used as a commercial jingle for Chevrolet Suzuki Cruze automobiles.

Singles

Four singles were released before Queen of Hip-Hop. The first, "ALARM", released in early 2004, is her first (and to date, only) single to miss the top ten. Despite the low sales, "ALARM" became a popular hit in Japan and she performed the song at the 2004 MTV Video Awards Japan.

Four months later she released "ALL FOR YOU", her first ballad since "I WILL" in 2002. The single was a great success and became the first of three consecutive singles to sell over 100,000 copies. She performed the song at the MTV Buzz Asia Concert.

In October, the double A-side single " GIRL TALK / the SPEED STAR" was released. However, only "GIRL TALK" was included on the album. Both songs were major hits. Amuro performed "GIRL TALK" at the MTV Asia Aid Concert in February 2005.

The last single of the album, "WANT ME, WANT ME", was her first single of 2005. The song was performed at the 2005 Kobe Collection before its release. "WANT ME, WANT ME" is an up-tempo track similar to reggaeton music and it's her first song to feature sexually aggressive lyrics. The single was a smash hit and opened at #2 with her largest first week sales since " Say the word". Two months later she performed the song at the 2005 MTV Video Awards Japan.

Another track off the album, "WoWa" (pronounced "Ooh Wah") was released as a video and radio single but was not retailed.

Sales

Upon release, the album charted at number one in Japan for two days ultimately debuting at number two for the week. It has sold over 475,600 copies and is the 27th best selling album of 2005. Queen of Hip-Pop debuted at #1 on the Taiwanese J-Pop chart and #2 on the Combo Chart.
In the second quarter of 2006, Avex reported that Queen of Hip-Pop sold 494,000 copies in Japan.

Album information

After "No", there is a hidden track which has no official title but is known to fans as "No Pt.2" or "Yes". At 4:06, the listener begins to hear the subtle sounds of the hidden track beginning. The song is a slower version of "No" with new lyrics and vocals. It also features lyrics from her song "WoWa" with variations of "I'ma make ya mine" and "I'ma read ya mind." The version posted on sites such as Imeem clocks in at about 2:35.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

# Queen of Hip-Pop
#* ''Produced by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''All instruments performed by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''Mixed by'' D.O.I.
# WANT ME, WANT ME
#* ''Produced by'' SUGI-V
#* ''Co-Produced by'' Michico
#* ''Vocal Produced by'' Michico
#* ''All instruments performed by'' SUGI-V
#* ''Mixed by'' D.O.I.
# WoWa
#* ''Produced by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''All instruments performed by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''Mixed by'' D.O.I.
# I Wanna Show You My Love
#* ''Produced by'' T.Kura
#* ''Vocal Produced by'' Michico
#* ''All instruments performed by'' T.Kura
#* ''Mixed by'' T.Kura
# GIRL TALK
#* ''Produced by'' T.Kura
#* ''Vocal Produced by'' Michico
#* ''All instruments performed by'' T.Kura
#* ''Mixed by'' T.Kura
# Free
#* ''Produced by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''All instruments performed by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''Mixed by'' Yoshiaki Onishi
# My Darling
#* ''Produced by'' T.Kura
#* ''Vocal Produced by'' Michico
#* ''Additional Vocals by'' L.L.BROTHERS
#* ''All instruments performed by'' T.Kura
#* ''Mixed by'' T.Kura
# Ups & Downs duet with Nao'ymt
#* ''Produced by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''All instruments performed by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''Mixed by'' Yoshiaki Onishi
# I Love You
#* ''Produced by'' C."Tricky" Stewart
#* ''Japanese Lyrics by'' Shoko Fujibayashi
#* ''All instruments performed by'' C."Tricky" Stewart
#* ''Track Recorded by'' Brian"B-Luv"Thomas
#* ''Mixed by'' Carlton Lynn
# ALL FOR YOU
#* ''Arranged by'' Jun Abe & Ryoki Matsumoto
#* ''Chorus arranged by'' Ryoki Matsumoto
#* ''Programmed by'' Jun Abe
#* ''Chorus:'' Ryoki Matsumoto
#* ''Piano & Keyboard:'' Jun Abe
#* ''Guitar:'' Kenji Suzuki
#* ''Strings:'' Rush by Takashi Katou
#* ''Mixed by'' Junya Endo
# ALARM
#* ''All instruments performed by'' MONK
#* ''Mixed by'' Yoshiaki Onishi
#No
#* ''Produced by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''All instruments performed by'' Nao'ymt
#* ''Mixed by'' D.O.I.

* ''Lead and Background Vocals directed by'' Nao'ymt(#1,8,12), Michico(#2,4,5,7), Daisuke Imai(#3,6,9), Kenji Sano(#11)
* ''Recorded by'' Toshihiro Wako, except #3 (by Yusuke Abe) and #10 (by Toshihiro Wako & Eiji Kameda)
* ''Mastered by'' Tom Coyne

Production

* Producers - T.Kura, Michico, Nao'ymt, C. "Tricky" Stewart, SUGI-V
* Vocal Producers - Michico
* Vocal Direction - Daisuke Imai, Michico, Nao'ymt, Kenji Sano
* Chorus Arrangement - Ryoki Matsumoto
* Mixing - D.O.I, Junya Endo, T.Kura, Carlton Lynn, Yoshiaki Onishi
* Photography - Shoji Uchida
* Art Direction - Hidekazu Sato

Charts and sales

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Singles - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Total Single Sales: 371,880

Total Album and Single Sales: 827,308

RIAJ Certification

As of January 2006 "Queen of Hip-Pop" has been certified double platinum for shipments of over 500,000 by the RIAJ.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of Hip-Pop
Namie Amuro albums
2005 albums
Avex Group albums