Koda Kumi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Koda Kumi |
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Kumi Koda performing at the 2005 Kami Kaze Con.
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| Background information | |
| Native name |
倖田 來未
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| Birth name | Kumiko Kōda (神田 來未子) |
| Born | November 13, 1982 Kyoto, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Rhythm Zone Orpheus (United States) |
| Associated acts | B. Howard |
Kumiko Kōda (神田 來未子, Kōda Kumiko, born November 13, 1982), known professionally as Koda Kumi (倖田 來未, Kōda Kumi), is a Japanese singer from Kyoto. She is famous for her pop and R&B songs.
Koda started her music career with the song "Take Back" in December 2000. She became well-known in March 2003. This happened when her songs "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" were used in the video game Final Fantasy X-2. Her popularity grew even more with her album Secret (2005). Her song "Butterfly" (2005) and her first greatest hits album Best: First Things (2005) also helped. This album reached the number-one spot on the music charts.
At first, Koda had a quiet image. But she soon became a fashion leader for young women. She started trends like the "ero-kakkoii" style, which means "cool and confident." In 2006 and 2007, Oricon, a Japanese music chart company, named Koda the top-selling artist of the year.
Contents
Kumi Koda's Early Life and Career
Becoming a Singer: Koda's Early Years
Koda was born into a family of musicians. Her grandfather was a master of the Shakuhachi, a Japanese flute. Her mother taught the Koto, a stringed instrument. Koda is also the older sister of Misono, who is also a singer.
Inspired by her mother, Koda wanted to be a singer from a young age. She had a difficult time in school. She felt self-conscious about her appearance during her junior and high school years.
In her second year of high school, Koda tried out for Avex's "Dream Audition." She placed second out of 120,000 people! After this, she signed with Rhythm Zone, a part of Avex. Koda's first book, Koda-shiki ("Koda-style"), tells her story. It describes how a girl who felt unsure about herself followed her dreams.
Starting Out: 2000–2004
Koda released her first song, "Take Back," on December 6, 2000. Other early songs included "Trust Your Love" and "Color of Soul" (both 2001). "Trust Your Love" was her first song to reach the Top Twenty on the charts.
Using the name Koda, she also released English versions of "Take Back" and "Trust Your Love" in the United States. "Trust Your Love" even reached the top spot on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart there.
In March 2002, Koda released her first album, Affection. It reached number 12 on the Oricon album chart in Japan.
After Affection, Koda released more songs. Her song "real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" (2003) became quite popular. It reached number 3 on the charts. These songs were used in the video game Final Fantasy X-2. Koda even did the dance moves for one of the characters and voiced the character Lenne in the Japanese game. Her second album, Grow into One, came out in March 2003 and reached number 8.
Koda continued to release popular songs like "Come with Me" and "Crazy 4 U". Her third album, Feel My Mind (February 2004), reached number 7. She also sang the theme song for the live-action film and Re: Cutie Honey, which was a bonus track on her album.
During this time, Koda changed her style to "ero-kakkoi," meaning "cool and confident." She was happy when her parents supported this new look.
Growing Popularity: 2005–2006
Koda's song "Hands" was released in January 2005. Soon after, her fourth album, Secret, came out. Secret was her first album to reach the Top Five, landing at number 3. It sold over 521,000 copies!
Her song "Butterfly" came out next and reached number 2. This was followed by "Flower" and "Promise/Star". In September, Koda released her first greatest hits album, Best: First Things. This album became her first number-one album and sold over a million copies.
In December, Koda started a special project. She released one new song every week for twelve weeks! The first song, "You," became her first number-one single. Other songs from this project included "Birthday Eve" and "Shake It Up".
Koda's fashion during this time, with her confident clothes, helped start the "ero-kakkoi" trend in Japan. Her second greatest hits album, Best: Second Session, came out after the project. It included all twelve songs and two new ones. This album also reached number one, selling 983,000 copies in its first week.
After Best: Second Session, Koda released "Koi no Tsubomi". It sold 140,000 copies in its first week and was downloaded over 1 million times. In July 2006, Koda released her first photobook, Maroc, along with her song "4 Hot Wave". This song also did very well, reaching number 2.
Koda's song "Yume no Uta / Futari de..." (2006) was special because she took full control of its creation. She wrote the lyrics and chose the outfits for the music video. She also sang "Won't Be Long" with the group Exile. Her fifth album, Black Cherry, came out in December. It was the first album by a female artist to stay at the top of the charts for four weeks since Ayumi Hamasaki's album Duty.
At the end of 2006, Oricon named Koda the best-selling artist of the year.
A Decade of Music: 2010–2011
On January 20, 2010, Koda released "Can We Go Back," a cover of a Kelly Clarkson song. In February, she released a new best album, Best: Third Universe, and her eighth studio album, Universe, together as Best: Third Universe/Universe.
In July 2010, her 47th song, "Gossip Candy," reached number 4. In September, she released "Suki de, Suki de, Suki de./Anata Dake ga", which included two ballads. Koda also released her first cover album, Eternity: Love & Songs, in October. This album featured her singing songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
On December 5, 2010, Koda celebrated her 10th anniversary with a concert called "Fantasia" at Tokyo Dome. She performed many songs from her career.
In 2011, Koda released her 49th song, "Pop Diva," in February. Her ninth studio album, Dejavu, came out in March. Koda was also featured in the Far East Movement song "Make It Bump."
Koda's 50th single, "4 Times," was released in August 2011. It included four songs and four music videos. Her 51st single, "Ai o Tomenaide," came out in September and reached number 4. In November, Koda was the only Japanese star to perform at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. Her 52nd single, "Love Me Back," was released in November.
Koda's tenth album, Japonesque, was released in January 2012. It came in different versions, including one with music videos.
In August 2012, Koda released a remix album called Beach Mix. It included a new song and video, "Whatchu Waitin' On?" This was her first release after becoming a mother. Her 53rd single, "Go to the Top," came out in October 2012 and reached number 1. This was her first number-one song in three years!
New Albums and Tours: 2013–2016
In February 2013, Koda released her second cover album, Color the Cover. It featured her singing popular songs like Hide's "Pink Spider". The album reached number 3 on the Oricon chart. In March, she released her seventh remix album, Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 5.
Koda also went on a Japan-wide tour for her album Japonesque in March.
After releasing two new songs, "Summer Trip" in July 2013 and "Dreaming Now!" in November, Koda announced her 11th studio album, Bon Voyage. It was released in February 2014. She then went on the Bon Voyage Hall Tour to promote the album.
In August, Koda released her yearly summer song, "Hotel".
In November, Koda became the first singer in the world to use Oculus Rift technology for a music video. This was for her song "Dance in the Rain". This also marked the start of her 15th anniversary celebration, called 'KXVK'. She held a special concert in December, performing 62 of her songs!
As part of her 15th anniversary, Koda's 12th album, Walk of My Life, came out in March 2015. It reached number 1 on the Oricon charts. This was her eighth studio album in a row to hit number 1! Koda also went on a tour in 2016 to celebrate her 15 years in music.
Recent Works: 2017–Present
On March 8, 2017, Koda released her thirteenth album, which was actually two albums: "W Face ~inside~" and "W Face ~outside~". Both albums topped the Oricon Weekly Charts, at number one and number two. This made her the second female artist in forty years to hold the top two spots on the Oricon Album Charts.
In August 2017, Koda released her 61st single, "LIT". In October, she released her 62nd single, "HUSH". After "Never Enough" in December, she released her fourteenth studio album, AND, in February 2018. She released another album, DNA, in August of the same year.
AND debuted at number 2 on Oricon. DNA did better, staying in the top ten. Koda also had tours for both albums. Her eleventh remix album, Driving Hit's 9 -Special Edition-, came out in February 2019.
Starting in July 2019, Koda released several digital songs. The first was "Eh Yo," used for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. She also released "Summer Time" and "Do Me." Koda also covered Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "Goldfinger 2019." All nine of these songs were put on her album Re(cord), released on her 37th birthday in November. The album debuted at number 4.
In December 2020, Koda released her first physical non-album in over six years, Angel + Monster. It reached number five on Oricon. In 2022, Koda announced her 17th studio album, Heart, which was released in March. In October 2022, Koda worked with the band Shōnan no Kaze on the song "Trust・Last." This song became the opening theme for the Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Geats.
Koda Kumi's Musical Style
Koda's music is mainly Japanese Pop and R&B. However, throughout her career, she has also explored other styles. These include rock, hip-hop, electropop, and dance music.
Writing Songs
Koda has been writing the lyrics for her songs since the beginning of her career. On her second album, Grow into One, she wrote lyrics for four songs.
Her control over writing lyrics grew with her song "Yume no Uta / Futari de...". This song was meant to be about "happy love." But Koda felt the music also had sadness. So, she wrote lyrics for two songs with the same tune, one about happiness and one about sadness. She said, "It was a first time experiment for me, but I was able to convey how happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin."
Koda also helps with the music composition for her songs. "Milk Tea" from her album Black Cherry was the first song she helped compose. She also wrote lyrics for other artists, like Faky's song "New Age."
Koda Kumi's Personal Life
On December 12, 2011, Koda's official website announced she was engaged to Kenji03 from the band Back-On. She then announced on December 16 that she was expecting a baby. The couple got married on December 22. Koda gave birth to their son on July 17, 2012.
Helping Others
In March 2011, Koda helped victims of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. She supported the Japan Relief Fundraising Auction. All money raised went to the Japanese Red Cross.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan had "stay-at-home" orders. Many Japanese artists made music from home to encourage people to stay safe. On April 19, 2020, Kumi and her husband Kenji03 joined other artists in the song "Be One ~Bokura ni Dekiru Koto~" (What We Can Do).
Koda also released "Puff" as a digital song on June 26. The music video showed Koda and her backup dancers doing yoga and exercises from their homes. She even released a version with a blue screen so fans could add their own backgrounds. In December 2020, during the third COVID wave, Koda recorded all her songs in her home studio. This allowed her to work with many Western writers and composers.
On February 15, 2021, Koda and other artists took part in the song "My Hero ~Kiseki no Uta~" (Miracle Song). This song was the theme for the charity concert Live Empower Children. The concert supported childhood cancer treatment on International Childhood Cancer Day.
Kumi Koda's Music Albums
Studio Albums
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Cover Albums
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Awards and Achievements
Koda won her first award at the 47th Japan Record Awards for her song Butterfly in December 2005. She also won "Triple Crown" at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in March 2006. She received awards for "Pop Artist of the Year," "Pop Album of the Year," and "Music Video of the Year."
In May 2006, the MTV VMAJ's gave Koda "Best Female Video" and "Best Video of the Year" for "Butterfly." Her song "Yume no Uta" also won her more awards later in 2006. She won a Grand Prix at the 39th Japan Usen Grand Prize.
On May 26, 2007, Koda won three awards from MTV Video Music Awards Japan for the second year in a row. "Yume No Uta" won "Best Female Video" and "Best Video of the Year." Koda herself won a special "Best Stylish Artist Award." At the 2007 Best Hit Kayōsai, Koda's "Ai no Uta" won the Grand Prix in the pop category.
Koda has sold over 15 million records in Japan. In 2013, Koda and director Mika Ninagawa won an award for "Pink Spider" at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.
Concert Tours and Live Videos
- Koda Kumi Live Tour 2005: First Things (2005)
- Koda Kumi Live Tour 2006–2007 Second Session (2006–2007)
- Live Tour 2007: Black Cherry (2007)
- Live Tour 2008: Kingdom (2008)
- Live Tour 2009: Trick (2009)
- Live Tour 2010: Universe (2010)
- 10th Anniversary: Fantasia in Tokyo Dome (2010)
- Live Tour 2011: Dejavu (2011)
- Live Tour 2013: Japonesque (2013)
- Hall Tour 2014: Bon Voyage (2014)
- Live Tour 2015: Walk of My Life (2015)
- Live Tour 2016: Best Single Collection (2016)
- Live Tour 2017: W Face (2017)
- Live Tour 2018: DNA (2018)
- Live Tour 2019 Re(live): Black Cherry (2019)
- Live Tour 2019 Re(live): Japonesque (2019)
- 20th Anniversary Tour 2020 My Name Is... (2020)
Images for kids
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Kumi Koda performing at the 2005 Kami Kaze Con.
See also
In Spanish: Kumi Kōda para niños
