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Japan's rock scene was never replaced by hip hop, like what has happened in most countries. Streaming did nothing for Japanese hip hop. Japan did have a urban boom in the 00s, but it was much more about R&B than hip hop. And even then, Japanese hip hop didn't have the harder edge, which made it more palatable. Japanese hip hop does do well on YouTube though. Nobody really buys it in the end. For instance, BAD HOP is having a concert at Budokan next month. It's because they get millions of YouTube views as opposed to actually selling records. I believe the first video is actually the most watched Japanese hip hop video on YouTube. These have done well on YouTube too recently, but they don't sell:

Kenshi definitely has more youth appeal than Gen. But if you look at how the songs are covered by amatuers and go viral, that's largely down to the youth. That's not something older people really do. The realm of social media is much more of a youth thing.

I can see another idol boom happening because those fans are obsessive and will buy. Unlike the youth as a whole, idol fans are willing to spend actual money on CDs instead of just streaming. They are listening to Hoshino Gen though. Gen gets support from various age groups. Yonezu Kenshi is big. KPop. Streaming reflects well what the youth is listening to.

Probably not. The market has changed way too much. The youth population is in decline, the market has segmented, there are many more hobbies now compared to then besides listening to music.

LOL, he cancelled it a few days later.

I LOVE that song. They made their Kohaku debut with it: I also love: Four Japanese concerts in 4 weeks: 10/23: [Alexandros] (New York) 11/3: Shiina Ringo (Osaka) 11/4: Ame no Parade, Mukai Taichi, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, SPECIAL OTHERS ACOUSTIC, and bonobos (Osaka) 11/13: Sakanaction (Saitama) It is! I'm reminded of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBIb-8YegA

Saw [Alexandros] tonight with pk@fire. Was a pretty good show! The audience was more than half Japanese.

Why did you bring this back?

Thanks!

Can someone split this and sig-size it for me?

I've been listening to globe quite a bit recently due to Oricon Flashback. This time 20 years ago, they were on their "BRAND NEW globe 4 SINGLES" run. The first 3 singles went to #1. What is the question?

The music isn't good anymore, so...

Bops!

Ooooh... Setlist: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%AC32%E5%9B%9ENHK%E7%B4%85%E7%99%BD%E6%AD%8C%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6#%E5%87%BA%E5%A0%B4%E6%AD%8C%E6%89%8B Seiko did "Natsu no Tobira." And Tahara Toshihiko!

LOL, the new site is never happening.

It's all fan driven. The fans here will hype up anything they do. There was a thread talking about how TWICE was the biggest thing on Japanese Twitter for the 8 hours after their Shibuya Note special. The thing is though that Shibuya Note airs on Saturday nights at 11PM. Is it really an achievement to be the hottest thing on Twitter in the middle of a Saturday night?

TVXQ is still the most popular because they actually connected to the public by having songs that connected with the public. BTS's sound is too niche in Japan and only appeals to KPop fans. TVXQ managed to blend into the Japanese mainstream, while BTS stands out like a sore thumb. This is largely due in part to BTS having a sound rooted in hip hop, which isn't popular in the Japanese mainstream. And people really need to get over the sales = popularity thing, especially when it comes to Japan. Anyone will tell you that Perfume is the most popular girl group, even though all the 48s and 46s and even TWICE outsells them. No. TWICE is the closest, but they're only really known among the youth. The other acts had actual hits that reach across age ranges.

I'll be in Japan 10/31 - 11/15. I finally bought my ticket. Seeing Sakanaction on 11/13 for sure, got that ticket a while ago. Trying to see Ringo 11/3. Looking to see who else is around and playing... All that matters is the chart position!

Deborah Cox!!!

He liked my post agreeing.

LOL, I was actually watching old Soul Train videos the other day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7HJzO3SEQQ

There are actually going to be three new charts: a combined single chart, a combined album chart, and a streaming chart.

I'm going in November! Where are you going?

They think that because BTS has a #1 album here that it means something. The music scene here is so fragmented now that having a #1 album means nothing really. The average person has no idea who they are still.

It's all quite shit now. It's attracted the dregs of people interested in pop culture.