Toshi Kubota's Columbia Debut
(843 words - Issue Date: September 16, 1995)
By STEVE McCLURE
TOKYO--Japanese soul man Toshi Kubota, like many musicians
from this part of the world, makes a habit of recording in the U.S., where the grooves are
deeper and the funk funkier.
His ability to transmute black American musical styles
into a Japanese idiom has made him one of Japan's biggest stars. Now Kubota hopes to gain
a place in the American musical firmamentwith his U.S. debut album, "Sunshine Moonlight."
The album features high-profile collaborators including Soul II Soul's Caron
Wheeler (with whom Kubota duets on a cover of Bill Withers' hit "Just The Two Of Us"),
Nile Rodgers, and Omar Hakim.
A typically polished example of funk ala Kubota,
featuring his smooth vocals, the album wasreleased in the U.S. Sept. 5 on Columbia.
It will be released in mid-September in Japan on Sony Records. "Funk It Up," the album's
first single. was remixed for U.S. release by David Moralesand was out August 29. Japanese
singles will be released Sept.21 on a mini-album comprisingremixes of the tracks "Funk It
Up" and "Nice and Easy."
"This has been my dream, ever since I was a boy,
to release an album in the States." Kubotasays. "I felt like I had to do this."
The 33-year-old Kubota began living in New York two years ago but frequently travels to
Japan.
"I like the environment in New York--this city has the great vibe I"m looking
for." he says." Also, there are great musicians here."
Columbia decided to release
the album here based on the label's faith in Kubota as an English-speaking artist.
"There's never been an artist from Japan who succeeded in making an album in English in
the U.S. marketplace." says Jay Krugman. Columbia's VP of marketing. "But basedon his
talents as a writer, singer, and performer, there was a real belief that Toshi
could have areal shot and have great appeal in America."
"Funk It Up" was
initially released to clubs, and now Columbia is beginning to push it at crossover radio,
while the video is getting airplay at both the Box and BET. Krugman says that at this
point, the label is focusing on crossover specialty shows at radio. then will aim for
crossover play in regular rotation, and then. "if the time is right," go for top 40 play.
"We also think the press will play an important part. " he says. "Because Toshi
has sold somany records in Japan, he has a strong presence in the Japanese-American market
in the U.S., sowe've started there through advertising in the press and on Japanese
syndicated televisionnetworks. He's also already done a number of interviews from both here
and Japan with a numberof Japanese-American newspapers."
The album was recorded in
New York. Except for three tracks recorded in Los Angeles withproducer Christian Warren.
Kubota handled overall production duties.The promotional video of "Funk It Up " for the
album 's U.S. release was directed by Marcus Nispel, whose credits include the videos for
Elton John's "Believe" and C&C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat."
"He's a great
director--he's crazy, and I need that kind of crazy director to grab people's attention,"
says Kubota's manager. Kazu Hayashida.
Kubota finds it difficult to describe his
stye of music.
"It's between hip-hop and funk." he says, explaining that he's tried
to give the album more of a street flavor than his previous efforts. "Some American people
tell me that my music is like that of George Michael--I don't know if that's good or not,
but it's a good example for me. GeorgeMichael is not black, but he likes black music a lot,
and the result is that his music is pop but witha black flavor."
Kubota says he'd
like to be able to appeal to the same kind of people that buy Michael'smaterial, but he
quickly adds, "'Basically. I don't care what kind of audience we have, but the people at
Columbia are thinking of a younger audience than George Michael. That's why we made the
house mix (with Morales)."
While Kubota was responsible for writing the tunes on
the album. he savs he needed help in working on the lyrics.
"I still don't understand
American people's thoughts because I'm Japanese." he says.
During the "Sunshine
Moonlight" project. Kubota worked directly with Columbia A&Rstaffers.
"Almost a
year and a half ago, we started to make demo tapes." he says. Columbia liked what they
heard, and work on the album began.
Kubota is scheduled to do some U.S. showcase
dates in support of the album. but so far no full-scale concerts are planned. He plans to
do a Japan tour at the end of the year.
The artist admits that staying away for so
long from the fast-paced Japanese pop-music market is risky--even million-selling artists
like Kubota can quickiy become yesterday's news if they don't work the market constantly.
"But I think my Japanese fans understand what I'm trying to do." he says.
(c)
BPI Communications, 1995 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED