Hikaru Utada shares their ‘Firsts’ with NME, and spills a drop of tea

I don’t know what conversation Hikaru and Teruzane have had, but a bitch is out here doing Coachella and actually press with English language publications. I thought it would stop at phone calls and Zoom interviews with Dazed, Billboard and Apple Music. But here is Hikaru Utada, on a video on NME’s YouTube channel.

This is a pretty light interview, which is super ideal given when it was done. Hikaru initially seems nervous, as they do in all of their interviews; constantly on edge like something may be asked of them to try and catch them out. But as the interview progresses, Hikaru relaxes and opens up more and more with each answer.

For an interview setup which is so surface level such as ‘Firsts’, Hikaru gives some really insightful info and imparts things that fans may not have known prior.

In all of the press that Hikaru has done for Bad Mode thus far, they have mentioned their mother. Fantôme was Hikaru attempting to make peace with the grief of losing their mother, but it’s nice to know that Hikaru has reached a place where they can talk about their mother pretty flippantly and just be okay. Somebody close to me recently lost their mother, and as soon as our conversations turns to her, they burst into tears. So kudos to Hikaru for being able to move past that stage. I hope my friend gets there.

Somebody else that Hikaru has mentioned a lot as of late is their son. Hikaru has gone from pretty much not acknowledging their child in any press whatsoever, to now always giving small stories of things he’s done and said, and even featuring him in her work; such including him on their album cover and on songs (“Bad Mode” and “Kibun Ja Nai no”).

Family is clearly something of importance to Hikaru, and it’s nice to see them folded more into what they do. Hikaru Utada has always seemed so solitary that I think it’s easy to forget that her family is why they are in music in the first place, and that they’ve had and continue to have a presence in their career. And Hikaru now has a family of their own.

It’s always heart warming when acts start to dote on their children and put them in what they do. No matter how big they are as stars, that shit don’t mean shit to their children, who be running all their shit. Hikaru’s son is out here as Hikaru Utada’s personal videographer, string arranger and vocal producer. Blue Ivy is the Parkwood CCO and Beyoncé’s choreographer. Mariah Carey’s twins be managing her whole career and acting as her social media executives.

It’s also great to have a long standing J-pop star who still has a career, and is open about being a mother, as it’s not a very common thing in J-pop. Namie Amuro gave birth, then said ‘What child!?’. And Ayumi Hamasaki is out here with two secret babies like they’re Skywalkers.

Hikaru Utada on Mary J. Blige, performing live & Bad Mode | NME

Now, the tea on the tea.

Hikaru Utada shared that the first song of theirs which was released on vinyl was “I’ll Be Stronger”, which was released under Cubic U. But those who have the Cubic U Precious album will know that “I’ll Be Stronger” is not featured on it. I’d imagine that the vinyl is pretty difficult to get a hold of now, but a nice house remix of which featured on the vinyl release  can be found on YouTube. Even from before the beginning, Hikaru’s remix commissions were fire.

The drummer than Hikaru Utada had mentioned was Vinnie Colaiuta; a Grammy award winning drummer who has been inducted into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame. Yep. Drummers have a Hall of Fame too. He was a very accomplished drummer, who had toured with the likes of Sting, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa before Hikaru Utada had even debuted, hence Hikaru’s reaction that they couldn’t believe that he was playing for her. But really accomplished and seasoned musicians playing for Japanese artists who aren’t BIG big is more common than you’d think. I’ve watched a couple of J-artists tours and spotted non Japanese musicians that I’ve recognised from bands of established acts in the US.

Hikaru Utada saying that they were a big Mary J. Blige fan comes as no surprise, given the hard R&B sounds on Precious and First Love, and also the general swag Hikaru had early on in her career. And it’s weirdly fitting in the ways in which Hikaru Utada and Mary J. Blige have crossed over. Hikaru featuring on a version of Ne-Yo’s song “Do You”, after a version was released which featured Mary J. Blige. And Hikaru Utada’s Deep River cut “A.S.A.P” featuring a melody which sounds very similar to “Nadia’s Theme”, better known as the theme song of the TV series The Young & The Restless, which Mary J. Blige would go on to sample for her song “No More Drama”. And then there’s the denim over the knee denim boots that Hikaru Utada wore during their Coachella performance, which a fan succinctly pointed out was giving Mary J. Blige.

Beautiful World (will accept any mix of Simple&Clean as alternate for KH fans)
This is Love
Automatic
One Last Kiss

Outfit would be an homage to the Automatic MV outfit—the red turtleneck & cargo pants. White raincoat also OK. No jean-boots stolen from MJBlige’s shoe closet🚫

— Kei Hotoda (@keipop) April 17, 2022

Where was the lie? Although I liked the boots.

As a Brit, it’s really wild hearing Hikaru Utada mention shopping in Waitrose. They really do just be riding the tube and pushing shopping trolleys around supermarkets like my regular-degular-ass self.

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🎛️ Kingdomkaru Heartada: The Sanctuary of Passion
💿 Singlekaru Reviewtada: Pink Blood | One Last Kiss | Dare ni mo Iwanai | Time
💿 Albumkaru Reviewtada: Hatsukoi | Fantôme | This is the One | Heart Station | Ultra Blue | Exodus | Deep River | Distance | First Love
🎧 Spotifykaru Playlistada: Slaykaru Queentada | Hikaru Utada: R&B | Hikaru Utada: Ballads | Hikaru Utada: Bops | Hikaru Utada: Remixes