Fujii_Kaze

Fujii Kaze

Fujii Kaze

Japanese musical artist


Fujii Kaze (藤井 風, born June 14, 1997) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician under Universal Music Japan. Raised in Satoshō, Okayama in Japan, he began uploading covers to YouTube since the age of 12. He released his first studio album, Help Ever Hurt Never in 2020, which reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart and number two on the Oricon Albums Chart. His second album, Love All Serve All, released in 2022 topped both the Japanese Billboard charts and the Oricon Albums Chart and has since been certified platinum in March 2022[2] by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), beating his debut's gold certification in January 2021.[3][4] Fujii was the first Asian act in history to debut a song in all 73 available countries and regions of the Spotify Daily Viral charts.[5]

Quick Facts Born, Origin ...

Biography

Early musical beginnings

Fujii Kaze was born in 1997 in Satoshō in Okayama, Japan, and has one older brother and two older sisters. As a child, he listened to all kinds of music such as jazz, classical music, pop, and enka. Starting at 12 years old, Fujii uploaded various piano and vocal cover videos on his personal YouTube channel, amassing more than 30 million views. During his high school years, he stopped uploading to focus on his musical studies; he returned to YouTube after he graduated. In early 2019, he moved to Tokyo.[6]

2019–2020: Major label debut, Help Ever Hurt Never

Fujii released his debut single, "何なんw" on November 18,[7] 2019, and his second single, "もうええわ (Mo-Eh-Wa)" on December 24. Each single was re-released digitally with its own extended play, with each EP including cover songs that can only be downloaded on Apple Music.

In January 2020, he was named as one of Spotify's Early Noise 2020 Top 10 Breaking Artists.[8] One-man live performances in the form of Nan-Nan Show 2020 were scheduled for April 4 and 26 at Zepp Namba and Zepp Tokyo respectively, but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Fujii released his first studio album Help Ever Hurt Never on May 20, 2020, and reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. He also announced his first national hall tour, which consists of 12 performances in 11 cities from December 25, 2020, to January 31, 2021.[10]

In August 2020, he became the first Japanese person to be a YouTube's Artist on the Rise. Immediately after Fujii Kaze "Nan-Nan Show 2020" Help Ever Hurt Never at Nippon Budokan, Fujii released two new singles: "Hedemo Ne-Yo" and "Seishun Sick" on October 30.[11] Each single was released digitally with its own extended play and selection of cover songs.

2021: Two tie-ins, Nissan stadium "Free" live and 1st NHK Kohaku appearance

In January 2021, "Tabiji" started airing on TV Asahi as the theme song for the TV drama series "Nijiiro Carte “ (にじいろカルテ/ Niji Village Clinic).[6] This was the first time Fujii's song was used as a tie-in. The song was digitally released as his 7th single on March 1, and on the same day, Fujii performed the song live with piano during the TV news program "Houdo Station" (TV Asahi), which was his first live TV appearance.[12] The song won first place in the Oricon Weekly Digital Single Ranking which was announced on March 10.[13]

On March 8 , Fujii won the Best Breakthrough Artist award at Space Shower Music Awards 2021.[14] In addition to that, the music video for "Seishun Sick" won the Best Conceptual Video award. Fujii gave a live performance of "Seishun Sick" with piano and was broadcast on Space Shower TV.

On March 10 , Fujii won the "Popular New Artist" Award at the 33rd Music Pen Club Music Awards.[15] Furthermore, on March 23 , Help Ever Hurt Never won the Grand Prize <Blue> of 13th CD Shop Awards.[16]

On April 22, "Kirari" started airing in the new Honda Vezel TV ad. "Kirari" was later released as Fujii's 8th single on May 3.[17] The song led to an explosion of his popularity both domestically and internationally, debuting at number one on the Billboard Japan Download Songs chart.[18] The music video of "Kirari" was released on the official YouTube channel on May 21, which incorporated dance and motorcycle scenes that Fujii requested by himself for the first time, according to Fujii's 'After Talk' live streaming.[19] "Kirari" surpassed 100 million streamings in August 2021[20] and 300 million streamings in June 2022.[21] On January 14 of the following year, Fujii digitally released a remix EP Kirari Remixes (Asia Edition) .[22]

On May 20, 2021, in commemoration of the 1st anniversary of Help Ever Hurt Never, Help Ever Hurt Cover which was originally came with the 1st edition of Help Ever Hurt Never as a bonus disc, was reprinted and also digitally released. Help Ever Hurt Cover contains 11 English cover songs.[23] Along with this, the analog record of Help Ever Hurt Never was also resold (limited quantity production by lottery)  .

In August 2021, Fujii was named one of the most exciting musicians around the world by GQ.[24]

On September 4, "Fujii Kaze "Free" Live 2021 at Nissan Stadium" was held at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa, Japan. This performance was live-streamed on Fujii's official YouTube channel for free, and about 180,000 people watched it simultaneously, recording the world's No.1 trending word.[25] On the same day, Fujii performed " Mo-E-Yo" for the first time and the song was released as a digital single.[26]

From October to November, "Fujii Kaze "Help Ever Arena Tour"" was held. The concert movie (Blu-ray) of the final performance at Yoyogi National Gymnasium was released on June 14,2022[27] and ranked No. 1 for the second consecutive year,[28] which made Fujii Kaze the first solo artist in the history to have two consecutive No. 1 for its concert movies.

On December 31, 2021, Fujii performed on the prestigious year-end music program, NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, for the first time. Fujii performed "Kirari" first, which was said to be pre-recorded at his parents' home in Okayama, Japan, then he made a surprise appearance at Kohaku venue at the Tokyo International Forum. Fujii performed "Mo-E-Yo" live with piano on stage.[29] Moreover, in the grand finale, Fujii accompanied Misia, who sang "Higher Love", which was the first song Fujii had ever provided to another artist.[30] Fujii took part in piano and the chorus.[31]

2022: Second album Love All Serve All

On January 14, 2022, Fujii released the EP Kirari Remixes (Asia Edition).[22]

On January 21, 2022, Fujii announced that the release of his second studio album, Love All Serve All, will be on March 23, 2022.[32]

On March 15, Fujii was awarded a very prestigious Art Encouragement Prize for New Artist (popular entertainment category) by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.[33] On the same day, Fujii also received three awards at the Space Shower Music Awards 2022: Best Solo Artist, Best Conceptual Live, and People's Choice which was chosen by the public vote of music fans.[34]

On March 20, lead single of Love All Serve All, "Matsuri", was pre-released at the same time as its music video. On the following day, March 21, live-streaming of the album's advance viewing "'Love All Serve All' Listening Party" was held on Fujii's official YouTube channel followed by 'LASA Listening YouTube Premium Afterparty' on YouTube Premium. On March 23, Love All Serve All was released both in physical and digital format.[35] The album reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Album chart and got numerous prestigious awards.

Since July 2022, Fujii was brought to the attention of a global audience thanks to one of his songs from Help Ever Hurt Never, "Shinunoga E-Wa", going viral on TikTok. With that, the song reached #4 on Spotify’s Global Viral chart, and also reached #1 on the platform’s local viral charts in 23 countries. On Spotify’s Global Song chart, it reached #57, and also the #118th position on the US Billboard Global 200 chart, despite the song being originally released in 2020. On YouTube’s Global Top Songs chart, the song spent 12 weeks, reaching as high as #33.

On October 10, 2022, Fujii released the digital single "Grace". The song served as the theme song for his collaboration with NTT Docomo, Japan's largest telecommunications company's "Kaze Films Docomo Future Project". The project films were broadcast as TV commercials throughout Japan for few months. Fujii shot "Grace"'s music video in Uttarakhand, India.[36]

In October 2022, Fujii held a stadium show called “Love All Serve All Stadium Live” at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka, Japan, attracting 70,000 people in two days. On March 10, 2023, this performance has started to broadcast on Netflix globally as Fujii Kaze Love All Serve All Stadium Live.[37]

On December 17, 2022, Fujii kicked off the nationwide arena tour "Fujii Kaze Love All Arena Tour" of 16 shows in 8 cities throughout Japan until February 2023, attracting a total of 210,000 people.[38]

2023: First international tour 'Fujii Kaze and the Piano Asia Tour 2023'

Fujii held an Asian tour, Fujii Kaze and the Piano Asia Tour 2023, from June to July 2023. The tour, which was Fujii's first overseas tour, consisted of a total of eight performances in seven cities (Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong), with Fujii performing with just a piano.

It was also announced that vinyl editions of Fujii's first album and second set Love All Serve All would be released in the touring markets and re-released in Japan in conjunction with the tour.[39]

On April 21, Fujii released a remix of Jvke's song "Golden Hour".[40]

On July 4, it was announced that Fujii's single "Workin' Hard" had been chosen to be the theme song for "FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023", which was broadcast on Nippon TV and TV Asahi from August 25. In preparation for the production of this song, Fujii visited and watched the B-League and Japan's national team matches, as well as NBA games in the US. Fujii then stayed in Los Angeles to create a demo of the song. After returning to Japan, Fujii continued working on the song. In his busy schedule with his Asian tour and video production, he went back to Los Angeles to record the song.[41] The song's sound producer is DJ Dahi; the mix engineer is Jeff Ellis; and the mastering engineer is Dale Becker. On August 8, Fujii announced on X (previously Twitter) that "Workin' Hard" had been pre-released exclusively on TikTok in four parts, while the full song would be released on August 25.

Fujii's song "Garden" from Love All Serve All was used in a TV ad for fabric softener Laundrin, which depicts the life of a single girl in tune with the song. Fujii took part in the narration of the ad as well.[42]

On October 10, it was announced that Fujii's song "Hana" would be the theme song for TV drama series Ichiban Sukina Hana (いちばんすきな花), scheduled to air from October 12. The song was released on October 13 as his 14th single.[43]

On March 12, 2024, Fujii announced that he would go on tour in the United States, and released a new single, "Michiteyuku", on March 15.[44]

Artistry

Fujii Kaze writes/composes all of his songs. Fujii's music has been described as "fresh yet familiar", with clear influence stemming from the western music he grew up with. His vocals are "reminiscent of Japan's kayōkyoku pop standards", making his music also distinctly Japanese.[45]

Discography

Studio albums

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Compilation albums

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Cover albums

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Extended plays

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Singles

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Other charted and certified songs

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Music videos

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Concert tours

Headlining

Others

Awards and nominations

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Tie-ins

2021

  • 'Tabiji' for a TV drama series "Nijiiro Carte “ (にじいろカルテ/ Niji Village Clinic)
  • 'Kirari' for new Honda Vezel TV ad
  • 'Moeyo' for mobile phone Google Pixel TV ad

2022

2023

  • 'Beat It' (Cover of Michael Jackson) for a TV program 'まつも to なかい (Matsumo to Nakai)'
  • 'Workin' Hard' for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 (Limited to broadcasting on TV Asahi /Nippon TV)
  • ''Garden' for TV ad of Nature Lab's 'Laundrin'

Notes

  1. "Grace" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 104 on the Global Excl. US chart.[66]
  2. "Hana" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 122 on the Global Excl. US chart.[68]
  3. "Kaerou" did not enter the Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 48 on the Download Songs.[72]

References

  1. "Profile" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. "Japanese album certifications – Fujii Kaze – Love All Serve All" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 21, 2022. Select 2022年3月 on the drop-down menu
  3. "ゴールドディスク認定". 一般社団法人日本レコード協会(Recording Industry Association of Japan/RIAJ). March 21, 2023.
  4. "Japanese album certifications – Fujii Kaze – Help Ever Hurt Never" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 21, 2022. Select 2021年1月 on the drop-down menu
  5. "あいみょん・髭男を輩出、「Early Noise 2020」Novelbrightら10組発表". マイナビニュース (in Japanese). January 16, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  6. "藤井風が初のテレビ生出演、卒業生に向けて生演奏". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). February 25, 2021.
  7. "藤井風、Honda「VEZEL」テレビCMに新曲「きらり」書き下ろし". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). April 22, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  8. "Kirari MV After Talk". Youtube. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  9. "佐野元春と藤井風が「芸術選奨」受賞". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). March 9, 2022.
  10. "藤井風のスタジアムライブ映像、Netflixで本日10日から配信!". Cinema Today (in Japanese). March 10, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  11. Schube, Will (March 12, 2024). "Fujii Kaze Announces 'Fujii Kaze And The Piano' U.S. Tour, New Song". uDiscover Music. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  12. "Fujii Kaze: The Biggest Japanese Musical Phenomenon Since Utada Hikaru?". nippon.com. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  13. "オリコンランキング". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  14. "Fuji Kaze on Oricon Combined Albums". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  15. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums | Charts". Billboard JAPAN (in Japanese). Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  16. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums 6/1 | Charts". Billboard JAPAN (in Japanese). Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  17. オリコン週間 アルバムランキング 2022年03月21日~2022年03月27日 [Oricon Weekly Album Ranking March 21, 2022 – March 27, 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  18. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums | Charts". Billboard JAPAN (in Japanese). Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  19. "藤井風の合算シングル売上" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  20. Chart positions for singles on the Japan Hot 100:
  21. Chart positions for singles on the Vietnam Hot 100:
  22. Chart positions for singles on the Billboard Global 200:
  23. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Nan-Nan" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved October 25, 2023. Select 2023年9月 on the drop-down menu
  24. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Yasashisa" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 28, 2024. Select 2024年4月 on the drop-down menu
  25. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Tabiji" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 29, 2024. Select 2024年1月 on the drop-down menu
  26. "Japanese digital single certifications – Fujii Kaze – Kirari" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 21, 2022. Select 2021年7月 on the drop-down menu
  27. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Kirari" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 28, 2023. Select 2023年1月 on the drop-down menu
  28. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Matsuri" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved August 23, 2023. Select 2023年7月 on the drop-down menu
  29. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Grace" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved July 26, 2023. Select 2023年6月 on the drop-down menu
  30. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Hana" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 29, 2024. Select 2024年1月 on the drop-down menu
  31. "RIAS Top Charts Week 39 (23 – 29 Sep 2022)". RIAS. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  32. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Shinunoga E-Wa" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved August 23, 2023. Select 2023年7月 on the drop-down menu
  33. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Kaerou" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved March 1, 2023. Select 2022年10月 on the drop-down menu
  34. "Japanese single streaming certifications – Fujii Kaze – Garden" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 29, 2024. Select 2024年1月 on the drop-down menu
  35. Bradshaw, Kyle (October 24, 2021). "Google helps debut Japanese music video shot with the Pixel 6 [Updated]". 9to5Google. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  36. "[藤井 風] FLASH REPORT". VIVA LA ROCK 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  37. "[藤井 風]PHOTO & REPORT !!!". VIVA LA ROCK 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  38. "藤井風と羊文学が「CDショップ大賞2023」受賞". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  39. "2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards Winners | 2020 MAMA". Mwave. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  40. "佐野元春さんに大臣賞 21年度芸術選奨、濱口竜介監督も(写真=共同)". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2022.

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