"Summer Trip" is the fifty-fifth single by singer-songwriter

Koda Kumi , 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 ...

and is her first summer single in nearly two years. The single was a double

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 ...

and contained 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 ...

. It debuted at No. 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 ...

Daily, losing out to CNBLUE's "lady" and DAIGO's "Itsumo Dakishimete/Mugen∞REBIRTH." The single's music videos and artwork were shot in California, with the cover and booklet art being taken in Malibu. The video for "Touch Down" was filmed in Los Angeles, while "LALALALALA" was filmed at Venice Beach. Both videos were produced by famed

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 ...

Fatima Robinson.

Background information

''Summer Trip'' is Japanese artist Koda Kumi's fifty-fifth 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 charted at No. 7 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, coming in behind

CNBLUE CNBLUE ( ko, 씨엔블루) is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa (leader, main vocals, guitar, keyboard, rap), Kang Min-hyuk ( drums), and Lee Jung-shin ( bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left the ...

's "lady" single and DAIGO's "Itsumo Dakishimete/Mugen∞Rebirth" for a spot in the top five. However, it jumped to take No. 5 on the second day and took No. 6 on the weekly charts. The single became her first summer single since 2011's '' 4 Times.'' ''Summer Trip'' contains two

s, "Touch Down" and "LALALALALA." "Touch Down" is a hip-hop track written by famous

music 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 ...

Toby Gad Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producin ...

, who is best well known for his works with

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

, Fergie and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

. The song was originally produced by Toby for American singer-songwriter JoJo, and was intended to be for her then-titled 2012 album ''Jumping Trains.'' The singer had recorded the song under the name "Touch Down (Flippers Up)"; however, it was never released. Instead,

picked up the song rights and it was passed to Kumi, who then modified the lyrics for a Japan release. ''Summer Trips other a-side, "LALALALALA," was more upbeat, carrying elements of pop and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. The song was written by Swedish writers Figge Brostrom and Anna Engh. The

, "Is This Trap?", is an

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

track, accompanied by

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 ...

. The song was co-written by Swedish producers Henrik Nordenback and Christian Fast, and Japanese producer T-SK, both who are members of the world creator team "FUTURE UNISON," which was created by HiDE Kawada. The single's

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

and images used in the booklet were taken in the beach city of Malibu.

Music video

''Summer Trip'' contained two

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

for the two a-sides, "Touch Down" and "LALALALALA." The videos were filmed in California in the United States. Both were shot and directed by

music video director A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaboration ...

and choreographer

Fatima Robinson Fatima Robinson (born August 29, 1971) is an American dancer, music video director and choreographer. Career Robinson has choreographed dance routines (for live performances and music videos) for several musical and pop artists, notably for th ...

. Robinson is famous for her works with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

and

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. She has also worked with

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

and with Fergie's solo projects. "Touch Down" was filmed in Los Angeles and was shot with low lighting. The video featured one dancer and Kumi sporting several fashions, including a

crop top A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

with black shorts and gold chains and a

bustier A bustier (, alternatively bustiere) is a form-fitting garment for women traditionally worn as lingerie. Its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts up while gently shaping the waist ...

with tight-fitting leggings. "LALALALALA" was filmed in

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

. The video showed off many cultures and styles that are brought together at the beach in California. The theme of the video was how everyone would get together to have "the best days of their live" and how all cultures could coexist.

Track listing

Alternate versions

Lalalalala' # Lalalalala: Found on the single (2013) and corresponding album Bon Voyage (2014) # Lalalalala LMER VoVo Remix Found on

Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 6 ''Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 6'' is the eighth remix album by Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. It was released on March 19, 2014 and came in at No. 19 on Oricon, only remaining on the charts for four weeks. As with her two previous ''Driving Hi ...

(2014) Is This Trap? # Is This Trap?: Found on the single (2013) # Is This Trap? umping Dog Remix Found on

(2014) Touch Down # Touch Down: Found on the single (2013) and corresponding album Bon Voyage (2014) # Touch Down 36 Remix Found on

(2014)

References

{{Authority control Koda Kumi EPs 2013 EPs 2013 singles Rhythm Zone singles