By Nathan Phua

Her constant singing made her adamant in wanting a music career. Thus, she went for different auditions from high school onwards that came to no avail. Finally, her persistence and perseverance carried her in passing the BMG audition in Sept. 1997. On Feb. 21, 1998, she debuted with her first CD maxi single, . Tsutsumi Komu Youni. . Following that, on Jun. 24, 1998, she released an interestingly titled first album, . Mother Father Brother Sister. . It comfortably occupied the no. 1 spot after four weeks on the Oricon Chart.

Adding to this achievementAikawa Nanase (25), a pop-rock singer that has magically mixed her powerful vocals into high-energy rhythm for her 16 singles and 5 albums. Though a household name at present, her past is one of trying and difficult. In secondary one, she faced the hard reality that her parents had divorced. Lacking fatherly love, she hunted seclusion.

However her most terrifying adolescence years began when she transferred school, she was severely bullied by her schoolmates. Subsequently, the same nightmares surfaced in her every night. The resultant effect was that she fervently refused to attend school for one year. The dark age soon gone when she entered into pre-university. Her friends and teachers were amiable toward this single-parent girl. Sadly, she dropped out of school in the second year and engaged a part-time position at a petrol kiosk.

At 15, she participated in a singing contest that she gained nothing. However, she met her producer, Tetsuro Oda who helped her to catapult to the top at a later stage. At 16, impressed by her singing at the contest, Tetsuro Oda specially flew from Tokyo to Osaka (her birthplace) to sign her as a singer. She rejected but kept his contacts. At 17, she called up Tetsuro Oda to take back her earlier rejection and flew to Tokyo when she was 19 to begin her singing career. A year later on Nov. 08, 1995 she made her debut with a maxi single, “Yume Miru Shoujo Jya Irarenai”. Ever since, she has generated numerous thumping, pulsating singles and albums. With her latest single, “Midnight Blue” out on May 31, 2000 having a new producer, Tomoyasu Hotei. For the past four and a half years, she has been under the same producer that propelled her at the same spot. Though in recent years she made several attempts to change her image and singing, it wasn’t rewarding. Hopefully, this new combination and force will be popularly recognized. “Midnight Blue” is ranked tenth for its first week into the Oricon Chart. Looks like this mark a new beginning for Aikawa Nanase and this cooperation is here to stay with her next maxi single, “Seven Seas” due on Aug. 09. 00, she clinched . Best New Artist of the Year. and . Best Pop Album of the Year. awards from the Nihon Gold Disc Award in Mar. 1999. She currently has 6 singles, 2 albums and 2 remix albums under her wings. In her latest single, . Escape. that was out on the same day as her birthday, Jul. 07, the words and music is by her. The title track is also the CM song for Kenwood. s . Avino. . With many budding R & B singers in Japan lately, looks like her skills in writing and composing will certainly sustain her in this stormy battle of the best 

Listen To -

Midnight Blue