City pop

• 1. Genre Definitions And Debates

  ›

  A 2015 article in The Japan Times by Ryotaro Aoki described city pop as music made by city people for city people. Yutaka Kimura, an author of numerous books about the genre, defined it simply as urban pop music for those with urban lifestyles. Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone called it less a strict genre term than a broad vibe classification. Yosuke Kitazawa, supervisor of the Japan Archival Series, stated there were no restrictions on style or specific genre they wanted to convey. Pitchfork's Joshua Minsoo Kim labeled it a vague descriptor for Japanese music that incorporated jazz and R&B. PopMatters' Chris Ingalls categorized it as a type of soft rock, AOR, or funk. Wax Poetics contributor Ed Motta noted that funkier City Pop tunes steal from American boogie groups like Skyy and BB&Q Band. An Electronic Beats writer characterized the sound as Japan's answer to synth pop and disco. These varying definitions highlight the lack of scholarly consensus regarding what exactly constitutes the genre.

• 2. Origins In The Seventies

  ›

  The catchphrase for Terry Melcher's second album Royal Flush in 1976 was Mellow Mexican Country Hollywood City Pop. Single Orange Train released in 1977 and the album City Lights by the Moonlight also used the phrase city pops during marketing campaigns. An article published in July 1977 introduced Takao Kisugi, Tatsuro Yamashita, Jun Fukamachi, Junko Ohashi, and others as city pops musicians. Record companies and music magazine editors began using the term city pops in the late 1970s to promote music with an urban atmosphere. Sugar Babe's 1975 album is said to be a pioneer of city pop even though the term was not in widespread use at that time. Music critic Yutaka Kimura redefined city pop in a book published in 2002 attributing its origin to Happy End which existed between 1969 and 1972. Haruomi Hosono founded the band Tin Pan Alley in the mid-1970s fusing southern R&B northern soul and jazz fusion with Hawaiian and Okinawan tropical flourishes. Carrie Ann Inaba briefly sang in the genre in the late 1980s before returning to the United States.

• 3. Technological And Economic Context

  ›

  The genre became closely tied to Japan's tech boom during the 1970s and 1980s through consumer electronics like the Walkman. Cars with built-in cassette decks and FM stereos allowed fans to dub copies of albums according to Jon Blistein. Electronic instruments such as the Casio CZ-101 and Yamaha CS-80 synthesizers shaped the sonic landscape of the era. The Roland TR-808 drum machine provided rhythmic foundations for many tracks produced during this period. An opulent amalgamation of pop disco funk R&B boogie jazz fusion Latin Caribbean and Polynesian music filled the airwaves. Cassette decks enabled listeners to create personal mixes while electronic gadgets allowed musicians to actualize sounds in their heads. The booming economy created a wealthy new leisure class that consumed these sophisticated recordings. This economic bubble fueled the production and distribution of music that felt distinctly modern and urban.

• 4. Peak Popularity And Key Figures

  ›

  City pop peaked in popularity during the 1980s when artists like Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshiki Kadomatsu incorporated complex arrangements into their hits. Yamashita is sometimes referred to as the king of city pop due to his commercial dominance and songwriting prowess. The booming economy made it easier for these accomplished composers and producers to get label funding from major record companies. Instrumental jazz fusion bands such as Casiopea and T-Square were influenced by the genre and subsequently affected Japanese video game music. City pop's influence spread to Indonesia leading to the development of a local style known as pop kreatif. Many Japanese people who grew up with this kind of music considered it cheesy mainstream disposable music going so far as calling it shitty pop. Despite its eventual decline, the era produced some of the most technically proficient and commercially successful records in Japanese history.

• 5. Cultural Decline And Derision

  ›

  Since the 2010s city pop has seen a resurgence with artists such as Mariya Takeuchi gaining an international online following. Blogspot blogs and Japanese reissues introduced music nerds to a strain of AOR funk disco and yacht rock trafficked under the amorphous term. YouTube algorithms launched songs into the wider collective consciousness causing city pop to surge in popularity abroad. In 2020 Miki Matsubara's song Mayonaka no Door Stay with Me took the No. 1 spot on Spotify's global viral chart for the week of 10, the 16th of December. It broke Apple Music's J-pop top 10 in 92 different markets proving its global appeal. Universal Music Japan reissued limited editions of a total of 107 albums from the 1970s and '80s under City Pop Selections by Universal Music in 2022. Boutique labels began releasing

• 6. Digital Resurgence And Global Reach

  ›

  compilations like Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop AOR and Boogie 1976, 1986 in 2019. The genre became important to sample-based microgenres known as vaporwave and future funk while sparking renewed interest in Showa retro culture.