''Still'' is the twentieth 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 hip-hop group

Lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, released on December 12, 2012, and first to bring in their new era for '' The Showcase'' album. The single took the #4 position on the

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 ...

weekly singles charts and remained on the charts for two weeks. The single was released in four formats: a standard CD, a limited CD+DVD edition and three limited edition CD versions. Each of the limited editions contained a different

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 ...

, and each version harbored a different back cover. ''Still'' became their last single with group leader and

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Hiroki Nakadoi is a former Japanese singer and actor. He is a former member of the boy band Lead and was their leader until retiring in 2013 to become a hairdresser. Biography Hiroki Nakadoi was born in Fujiidera, Osaka, Japan on July 26, 1985. He has two ...

, whereas he left the group shortly after due to feelings of inadequacy.

Information

''Still'' is the twentieth single by Japanese hip-hop group

, released on December 12, 2012. It was their first to be released after their seventh

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 ...

'' Now or Never,'' which had been released five months prior in July. The single performed well on the

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 ...

s, where it held the #4 position for the week, remaining on the charts for two consecutive weeks. This became their second single in a row to chart in the top five, ''Wanna Be With You'' ranked at #3, making it a first since their debut in 2002. The single was released in five editions, a standard CD and four limited editions that corresponded to each member, each with differing content. The standard edition carried the title track and the

"Fuyuiro Girl" (冬色ガール / ''Winter Colored Girl''), along with their corresponding instrumentals. Jacket A, which corresponded with Hiroki, carried the two tracks, along with the

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 ...

for "Still." Jacket B, corresponding with Shinya, carried the song "Ordinary" (stylized as ''ORDINARY''); Jacket C corresponded with Keita and held the song "anytime"; Jacket D corresponded with Akira and featured the track "Masquerade." "Still" was written by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

DJ and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Vincent DeGiorgio, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Anderz Wrethov Anders Wrethov, professionally known as Anderz Wrethov, is a Swedish songwriter and producer. Biography Wrethov was born in Trelleborg and grew up in Vellinge. He graduated from Musikhögskolan in Malmö in 2002. He sings and plays the piano ...

, with the lyrics written by the members of Lead. The music was performed by Seiji Motoyama. The b-side "Fuyuiro Girl" was written and composed by

musical composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Kenji Tokuda. "Masquerade," which was on Akira's corresponding edition Jacket D, was written by composers Danny Schofield,

Matthew Tishler Matthew Tishler is an Emmy-nominated, multi-platinum songwriter and music producer who has written and produced songs for film, television, radio, stage, and theme parks. He is known for his work with teen pop artists such as Ashley Tisdale, Dove ...

and Robyn Newman. The music for the piece was performed by DJ Blackout. The lyrics were done by 7chi子♪.

Background and composition

The title track "Still" was written by Canadian DJ and record producer Vincent DeGiorgio, and Swedish songwriter

, with the lyrics written by the members of Lead. The music was performed by Seiji Motoyama. Vincent has worked in the music industry since the 1980s and has worked with many well-known artists, including

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

, Petula Clark and Caro Emerald. Anderz Wrethov, who goes by his stage name "Wrethov", began his career in 1999 and has worked with the likes of

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

, KAT-TUN and

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent ...

. The b-side "Fuyuiro Girl" was written and composed by musical composer Kenji Tokuda. "Masquerade," which was on Akira's corresponding edition Jacket D, was written by composers Danny Schofield,

and Robyn Newman. The music for the piece was performed by DJ Blackout. Robyn Newman had previously worked with Japanese artist

Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, "Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, '' Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese ...

for her song "I'll Be There" from her '' Spin the Music'' album. The lyrics were done by 7chi子♪.

Hiroki's departure

After Lead celebrated their tenth anniversary with the ''Leader's Party 10!'' concert for their fan club in March 2013, vocalist

stepped away from the group. His final single release with Lead was for their single ''Still,'' which had been released on December 12, 2012, and his departure was in April the following year. Hiroki began to discuss his feelings about leaving to the other members prior to his departure, explaining how he felt that they had surpassed him since they debuted in 2002 with "

Manatsu no Magic is the debut single by Japanese hip-hop group Lead released on July 31, 2002. The single debuted on Oricon at #18 and remained on the charts for five weeks. The success of the single and their following single, " Show Me the Way", helped them w ...

"; however, due to their reassurance and saying that they would all "do their best together," he had decided to stay on, putting more effort into his overall performance. Despite this, he fell into a depression, believing that he was unable to "catch up" to his friends' level and began talking about wanting to leave again. He said how he felt that, due to him still not having any self-confidence, he "shouldn't be with the members who are aiming higher and . . . relying on the kindness of the staff members . . . and the Leaders (their fans)." Prior to Hiroki making his final decision, the other members, Keita Furuya, Akira Kagimoto and Shinya Tanuichi, had questioned if they should remain as a unit if Hiroki decided to leave. When Hiroki finalized his decision, with full support to the others as a group, they chose to stay together due to the constant support of their fans.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

Lead Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Still 2012 singles 2012 songs Japanese-language songs Pony Canyon singles Lead (band) songs