Crystal Kay

Juggling three cultures is all in a day’s work for the J-pop star

“To a certain extent people look at me as a foreigner, but I think they also see me as a Japanese singer” Courtesy of Epic Records

A fixture on TV commercials and the pop charts since her teens, Crystal Kay has just released her sixth album, Call me Miss…, which she named in celebration of her 20th birthday. Speaking with Metropolis at her record label Epic’s Tokyo office, the tri-cultural star asserts her newfound maturity.

Your father is African-American and mother Korean. How did they come to meet in Japan?
My mother’s third-generation [and was] born in Japan, but my father’s from New Jersey. He was stationed here with the Navy twenty years ago. My mom used to hang out by the base, so that’s how they met.

You went to an international school?
I went to an American school on base at Yokosuka.

Your Japanese is fluent, so you must have had a lot of interaction with Japanese as well.
There weren’t many Japanese on base, but I had a lot of mixed friends, half-Japanese half-American. Since I was born in Japan, I picked it up as a baby.

How did you get your first break?
My very first job was when I was four. I sang [songs for] commercials. My mom had a friend [who] worked at a commercial production company. They needed a child’s voice, and I kept doing that. When I was 12, I did one commercial for a product called Vitamin Water, and we got a lot of calls and decided to make the jingle into a song. That was how I debuted.

The Japanese entertainment world is now very internationalized, but that wasn’t the case when you started out.
Hip-hop wasn’t the thing like it is now. But I don’t feel a big difference. The music culture is changing, but it didn’t really affect my career.

It would have been a challenge suddenly having a public persona.
I just had to get used to it. I still get stage fright every time. When I first debuted I wasn’t really ready to sing as a business. I was still 13. I finally felt ready after two years. That was when I had my first concert and saw the listeners. I was like, Oh, there’s actually people who like my music and are looking forward to watching me live.

You must have had to make a lot of adjustments to your life.
That didn’t change either. Even now, my first priority is school, and I never missed [it] because of work. I went to school every day. I woke up at 5am... Now that I’m in college in Tokyo it’s different, but I think I’m still living a normal life.

You sing in Japanese. Do you feel your fans relate to you as a Japanese person or as a foreigner?
My image is definitively that of a foreigner: I’m black. So to a certain extent people look at me as a foreigner, but I think they also see me as a Japanese singer. They want to represent me as a Japanese singer because I was born here. A lot of people know that my dream is to cross over and become a worldwide singer, and people say they’re going to miss me if I leave. I don’t think there’s a big wall because I’m a foreigner.

There have been examples of J-pop artists who have done English albums, but they haven’t done well. How would you try to approach an overseas audience?
I really can’t say. I think the American audience expects a lot. You have to come with the whole package: dancing, catchy songs, catchy look, big attitude. You have to be ready. I think one difference is the accent. With some bands, you can tell they’re not fluent. Americans are pretty picky about those things.

Are you thinking specifically toward an English album?
I hope. But I want to be ready. I think it’s going to be a new start. I have to work on my singing, my dancing... I’m really going to be a beginner when I do come out over there. But hopefully when I’m still in my early 20s, I can make the crossover.

Are there any US singers you like in particular?
Honestly I don’t think I’ve heard a good song lately. The rap songs, it’s not really rapping. I think they’re running out of ideas lately. Recently I’ve been listening to Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani.

What did you think of her “Harajuku girls”?
I think it was cool. Nobody really mixes in different cultures, and she did it in a cool way.

Would you also try to work in aspects of Japanese culture in an overseas release?
That’s hard because I don’t think they are looking for that... but it would be cool if I was able to put some of my culture into my music, because I’m from Japan.

In terms of your three identities, what parts have you taken from each culture?
They are always in me. I’m totally American when I’m on base, because it’s just like the States and I’m seen as a normal American girl. But when I’m working because I was born here and sing in Japanese, we can pretty much say I’m Japanese... I’m not really familiar with my Korean side, although I’ve been there a few times.

Do you have Korean fans?
Actually I do. Sometimes people from Korea will post messages on my website. And I performed in an awards ceremony in Korea; some people had signs up and I was like, “Wow.”

There must be many Korean-American kids there as well.
There’s a lot of hafu Korean-American girls [who] write to me saying, “It’s cool what you’re doing.” They can relate to me because they’re the same mix.

How did the collaboration with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on the new album come about?
When we had a meeting about the album, they asked me who I wanted to work with in Japan. I always have this section where I write American producers anyway. I didn’t even think they would offer, but I guess they did, and they didn’t even tell me until it was confirmed. When they told me, I was like, “No, get out of here.” We went to LA like a week later, and were there for three days and did the song from scratch in two days. It was really quick but I learned a lot. The way they work is different from producers here. They really know how to bring out the best.

Did you feel like you got something out of it that you could put toward an international release?
It was a big boost of confidence. They’re world-class producers, so it was kind of like a preview of what it would be like if I were to come out in the States working with American producers. Experimenting while recording was new. They don’t do that here. Everything is done in pre-production.

The title of your new album is Call me Miss… and you’re about to turn 20, so you’re projecting a new maturity?
Yeah, with the songs and the whole theme of the album.

Where do you see yourself in a decade?
Hopefully a worldwide singer, maybe married, maybe a mom. I really admire what Madonna, Janet are doing. They’re in their 40s but still really successful. My goal is also to win a Grammy.

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