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What is J-POP?
Officially, it is translated as “Japanese Popular Music”. But
let’s look at the people associated with J-POP.
Some of the more famous musicians or singers include Keisuke
Kuwata, Ayumi Hamasaki, AKB48, B’Z, Exile, Arashi, Noriyuki
Makihara and Kumi Kouda, just to name a few.
Now, here’s a question: do all of these artists perform the
same kind of music?
NO, they do not! So why would you put them in the same category?
In my opinion, Mr. Kuwata (and the Southern All-Stars) would
be classified as “folk rock”.
B’Z would be considered as “rock”.
Kumi Koda and Exile could be “Hip-Hop” or “Black Pop”.
AKB48, Arashi and any other “idol” group could be considered
as “POP”.
Another point of confusion for me is, “what is a “KAYO-KYOKU”?
and how is this different than J-POP?
I think the music industry needs to be more specific in their
classification of music.
Of course, the industry probably ignores specific classifications
on purpose to make their job easier; which shows how little
the music industry cares about real music and real music fans.
Wouldn’t you feel better with classifications that actually
told you what you want to know?
Rock, Rap, Enka, Soul, R&B (Rhythm and Blues), Hip-Hop,
Folk, Metal, Easy Listening, New Age and so many other classifications
exist.
Go through your CD collection and see if you can give genre
names to all of your favorite artists!
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