sushigirl28
New member
Yui (or 'YUI') is a Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, music arranger and actress. She is currently signed to Studioseven Recordings and attached to the talent agency Stardust Promotion.Yui Yoshioka was born in Fukuoka, Japan on March 26, 1987. She grew up in a single-parent family; her father left her mother before she was born. She stated that she had always been close to music. She would remember the beats from music she heard on the radio, and could sing it. By the time she was in elementary school she thought she would like to become a singer.
During her third year in middle school, at her mother's suggestion, Yui began writing a journal of her feelings and tried to compose them into poems. By the time she was in high school, she began to write songs. While in high school, she worked part-time to help pay for tuition. She thought that, being so busy, she no longer had the time to realize her dreams of a music career. Eventually she got ill. While in hospital, she was overwhelmed with the desire to make music. She decided that school and music could not coexist. Upon leaving the hospital, she encountered a live street performance and expressed her desire to pursue a musical career to the band, Bianco Nero, at the end of the concert. Bianco Nero advised Yui to join a private music school. Yui soon dropped out of high school and began to study guitar and songwriting at a juku in her hometown of Fukuoka. Aspiring to become a professional, she took to street performing at Fukuoka's Tenjin Station. These street performances helped Yui to overcome her shyness.
At a singing audition she entered held by SMJ( :yuck ), she was allowed to sing 3 songs. The judges gave her the maximum score, causing a fierce scramble among record labels to sign her. Because one of the songs she sang called "I Know" was incomplete at the time, the judges were able to get a glimpse of what would later be dubbed "Yui-go", or Yui-speak (Yui語 in Japanese), nonsensical English hummed to a tune during her songwriting process – an example of Yui-go can be found in the film "Midnight Sun" when Yui is working on the song "Goodbye Days". On December 24, 2004, she released her debut single "It's Happy Line" under the indie label Leaflet Records, coupled with the track "I Know". The pressing was limited to only 2,000 copies in her home area. Upon leaving her hometown in Fukuoka for Tokyo, Yui wrote the song "Feel My Soul" as a tribute to her hometown. She initially had planned its release on an indie label. However, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer Mr. Yamaguchi, who saw the demo video clip, he claimed that Yui's voice touched him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio. Fuji Television's primetime drama Fukigen na Gene used Yui's debut track as an insert song.
On February 23, Yui released her first major debut single, "Feel My Soul". The music in Fukigen na Gene was based on her songs "Feel My Soul" and "It's Happy Line". With the publicity the drama tie-in drew in, "Feel My Soul" managed to sell over 100,000 copies in it's first week.
Yui made her acting debut in the full-length Japanese feature film "Midnight Sun", which opened on June 17, 2006. The film was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Yui attended the Japan Academy Prize and received the Best Newcomer Award for "Midnight Sun". Yui's seventh single "Rolling Star" was chosen as the 5th opening theme for the anime series Bleach, and her fan based was cemented from then on. She gained fans from overseas and from back home tenfold.
Yui released her B-side compilation album, My Short Stories, released Nov. 2008, again charted at number 1 on Oricon. The album included all the B-side tracks of all her singles to date, along with a new song "I'll Be". Yui is the second female artist whose B-side compilation album topped the charts, after Seiko Matsuda's "Touch Me" in 1984. On the success of "My Short Stories", sales of her first album "From Me to You" rose again.
In her "Yui Diary" blog entry on August 29, 2008, Yui mentioned that she would put her career on hold, not making any public appearances after the release of the album. With this break, she would be able to fully concentrate on her plans for the next year. During this break, she co-wrote the song "I Do It" with Okinawan girl band Stereopony. It was released as Stereopony's third single on April 22, 2009.
Yui announced her return from her 5-month hiatus on March 25, 2009 on her official website. The single celebrating her return is an up-tempo tune titled "Again." The track was chosen as the first opening theme of the new season of the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood anime series, premiered on April 5, 2009. The single was released on June 3, 2009. "Again" debuted atop the Oricon charts, selling over 110,000 copies in its first week. It currently has the highest opening week sales for a female act in 2009. She has since had 5 studio albums, 1 compilation album, and has had 1 nomination and has won 4 awards from 2007-2010 thus far including the MTV Student Voice Award 2008 for Best Artist. Her latest album is titled "Holidays in the Sun".
Now, onto the music. :yaychibi
Rain
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPBepMmfr-s&feature=player_detailpage[/media]
Rain
I realized that it was the night we were supposed to meet.
I look in the mirror and begin to ask myself a question.
Although my coat is white, my face isn’t clear,
Am I really anticipating something?
I don’t catch a taxi, as usual,
So I hurried along the national highway, ah
I often don’t have an umbrella,
So I got dripping wet
While I was walking on Christmas Eve.
You can’t even blame anyone
In the self-centered story I wrote.
If I have just a little bit of happiness, is that okay?
But you’re not coming,
I understand
It’s a silent night.
People who constantly look at their watches are weak,
They go over memories in their minds that are already lost.
No matter what, you can’t get rid of the past,
Don’t grieve forever.
I’m not special,
Because even if I do this over and over again,
I’ll lose myself in the same place.
You said you don’t lie…
Stop the lies!
This is an episode where I don’t know if it’s a real situation.
Even if my feelings get hurt,
I’m used to it,
I reacted to everything, although that’s a contradiction.
I didn’t have the courage to ruin everything.
But you’re not coming,
All on my own,
It’s a silent night.
In a dream, I saw that in the future, we’ll stand in line at the display window
Like we did back then in those days,
Attracted to the dimly lit candle,
Saying goodbye.
This rain will someday
Turned to powdered snow,
And when the time comes
For me to quietly conceal my sadness,
Will I come across a new hope?
At any time,
I was able to have fun on that Holy Night.
Even adults
Feel lonely sometimes,
So it was okay for me to cry,
At the beginning of the silent night.
Hope to enjoy!
:heart
xo
During her third year in middle school, at her mother's suggestion, Yui began writing a journal of her feelings and tried to compose them into poems. By the time she was in high school, she began to write songs. While in high school, she worked part-time to help pay for tuition. She thought that, being so busy, she no longer had the time to realize her dreams of a music career. Eventually she got ill. While in hospital, she was overwhelmed with the desire to make music. She decided that school and music could not coexist. Upon leaving the hospital, she encountered a live street performance and expressed her desire to pursue a musical career to the band, Bianco Nero, at the end of the concert. Bianco Nero advised Yui to join a private music school. Yui soon dropped out of high school and began to study guitar and songwriting at a juku in her hometown of Fukuoka. Aspiring to become a professional, she took to street performing at Fukuoka's Tenjin Station. These street performances helped Yui to overcome her shyness.
At a singing audition she entered held by SMJ( :yuck ), she was allowed to sing 3 songs. The judges gave her the maximum score, causing a fierce scramble among record labels to sign her. Because one of the songs she sang called "I Know" was incomplete at the time, the judges were able to get a glimpse of what would later be dubbed "Yui-go", or Yui-speak (Yui語 in Japanese), nonsensical English hummed to a tune during her songwriting process – an example of Yui-go can be found in the film "Midnight Sun" when Yui is working on the song "Goodbye Days". On December 24, 2004, she released her debut single "It's Happy Line" under the indie label Leaflet Records, coupled with the track "I Know". The pressing was limited to only 2,000 copies in her home area. Upon leaving her hometown in Fukuoka for Tokyo, Yui wrote the song "Feel My Soul" as a tribute to her hometown. She initially had planned its release on an indie label. However, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer Mr. Yamaguchi, who saw the demo video clip, he claimed that Yui's voice touched him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio. Fuji Television's primetime drama Fukigen na Gene used Yui's debut track as an insert song.
On February 23, Yui released her first major debut single, "Feel My Soul". The music in Fukigen na Gene was based on her songs "Feel My Soul" and "It's Happy Line". With the publicity the drama tie-in drew in, "Feel My Soul" managed to sell over 100,000 copies in it's first week.
Yui made her acting debut in the full-length Japanese feature film "Midnight Sun", which opened on June 17, 2006. The film was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Yui attended the Japan Academy Prize and received the Best Newcomer Award for "Midnight Sun". Yui's seventh single "Rolling Star" was chosen as the 5th opening theme for the anime series Bleach, and her fan based was cemented from then on. She gained fans from overseas and from back home tenfold.
Yui released her B-side compilation album, My Short Stories, released Nov. 2008, again charted at number 1 on Oricon. The album included all the B-side tracks of all her singles to date, along with a new song "I'll Be". Yui is the second female artist whose B-side compilation album topped the charts, after Seiko Matsuda's "Touch Me" in 1984. On the success of "My Short Stories", sales of her first album "From Me to You" rose again.
In her "Yui Diary" blog entry on August 29, 2008, Yui mentioned that she would put her career on hold, not making any public appearances after the release of the album. With this break, she would be able to fully concentrate on her plans for the next year. During this break, she co-wrote the song "I Do It" with Okinawan girl band Stereopony. It was released as Stereopony's third single on April 22, 2009.
Yui announced her return from her 5-month hiatus on March 25, 2009 on her official website. The single celebrating her return is an up-tempo tune titled "Again." The track was chosen as the first opening theme of the new season of the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood anime series, premiered on April 5, 2009. The single was released on June 3, 2009. "Again" debuted atop the Oricon charts, selling over 110,000 copies in its first week. It currently has the highest opening week sales for a female act in 2009. She has since had 5 studio albums, 1 compilation album, and has had 1 nomination and has won 4 awards from 2007-2010 thus far including the MTV Student Voice Award 2008 for Best Artist. Her latest album is titled "Holidays in the Sun".
Now, onto the music. :yaychibi
Rain
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPBepMmfr-s&feature=player_detailpage[/media]
Rain
I realized that it was the night we were supposed to meet.
I look in the mirror and begin to ask myself a question.
Although my coat is white, my face isn’t clear,
Am I really anticipating something?
I don’t catch a taxi, as usual,
So I hurried along the national highway, ah
I often don’t have an umbrella,
So I got dripping wet
While I was walking on Christmas Eve.
You can’t even blame anyone
In the self-centered story I wrote.
If I have just a little bit of happiness, is that okay?
But you’re not coming,
I understand
It’s a silent night.
People who constantly look at their watches are weak,
They go over memories in their minds that are already lost.
No matter what, you can’t get rid of the past,
Don’t grieve forever.
I’m not special,
Because even if I do this over and over again,
I’ll lose myself in the same place.
You said you don’t lie…
Stop the lies!
This is an episode where I don’t know if it’s a real situation.
Even if my feelings get hurt,
I’m used to it,
I reacted to everything, although that’s a contradiction.
I didn’t have the courage to ruin everything.
But you’re not coming,
All on my own,
It’s a silent night.
In a dream, I saw that in the future, we’ll stand in line at the display window
Like we did back then in those days,
Attracted to the dimly lit candle,
Saying goodbye.
This rain will someday
Turned to powdered snow,
And when the time comes
For me to quietly conceal my sadness,
Will I come across a new hope?
At any time,
I was able to have fun on that Holy Night.
Even adults
Feel lonely sometimes,
So it was okay for me to cry,
At the beginning of the silent night.
Hope to enjoy!
:heart
xo
