Make Believe Mailer Vol. 34: USA! USA!
This newsletter has devoted a lot of time to the frazzled state of charts and metrics in the Japanese music industry. Physical sales have become more a game than a reflection of anything, and since digital charts remain unreliable in a country due to the platforms they draw from not being dominant yet, divining the "popular songs" of the day requires a lot of work.
Sometimes in this digital maelstrom of confusion however, a song emerges that nails a bunch of trends just right and becomes a weird viral hit that suddenly appears everywhere. And sometimes, that number is mostly seen as being deeply goofy, but in such a way to generate even more attention to it. J-pop in 2018 can count DA PUMP's "USA" as a truly strange hit.
"Cool" in 2018
This isn't an upstart group finding viral success through cleverness...it's basically the opposite. DA PUMP were a big pop group in the late '90s / early Aughts, jumping between a bunch of styles such as dance-pop, hip-hop and rock to create a weird stew. They are the type of group perfect for a streaming playlist, because you can get a good overview of what they are about from one curated set rather than having to dip into albums. Still, DA PUMP offers a nice snapshot of where non-Johnny's boy groups were going around the turn of the century, and listening today they actually predicted a lot of what would happen in the years to come (hot take: DA PUMP probably should be brought up more in relation to K-pop boy groups, because they sound like a primordial and cornier version of where dudes from Korea would go later in the decade).
And then in 2008 all but one original member ditched the project. This should have been the end, but survivor Issa simply welcomed six new guys into the group and moved forward. DA PUMP have largely been ignored since, existing on the fringes of J-pop and only getting attention when Issa did a song with TV talent Rola a few years back. But now here's "U.S.A." and if you haven't clicked the video link above, do it now! It's a cover of sorts of Italian artist Joe Yellow's "USA" from 1992, which appears to have been a solid Eurobeat hit in Japan during those early days of decadence (here's some shaky video to back that claim up). The video though...oh man. DA PUMP dances in synch while KidPix-quality graphics show up, sometimes in the form of flames coming out of their legs. It's...a lot, and that's before you remember the guy at the front for all of this is 40.
stop it stop it stop it
I have no doubt part of the charm it has racked up over three million views at time of writing and become this inescapable topic on Japanese websites and social media is because of how it taps into nostalgia. Namie Amuro is currently wrapping up her final tour ever, other artists are channeling the glory days of gyaru and the '90s...well, they are back baby. Yet the word that keeps popping up online (and in the bulk of YouTube comments) with "U.S.A." is "dasai," Japanese for "not cool at all" or basically "washed." That captures the video and sound just right -- here's a group well past relevance both falling through time to try to resurrect Bucky Kimura and acting like your uncle who got into Supreme way too late in life. Even Issa says in an interview his first reaction to hearing his company president tell DA PUMP this was the direction they were going in was more or less "huh?"
But that "dasai" has now mutated into "cool dasai," and "U.S.A." is getting even more attention as a result. So bad it's good? Maybe...though I'd argue it's the fact DA PUMP go all in on the song and video that makes it feel more charming than it probably should (Thelma Aoyama's '90s-centric clip strikes me as being in similar "dasai cool" territory with it's chunky CGI phones and dancing, but that one feels a little too winking). Online conversation might be the worst way to deduce popularity of all, but "U.S.A." has cornered the market in 2018 -- I can't think of any J-pop song out this year that has gotten your basic 2chan resident talking as much. And that's partially because of it's Photo Booth filters and trash-bag-like outfits, but also because it's a total out of nowhere surprise (to riff on something from last week, most music trying to play on digital platforms tries to ratchet itself up to be viral-ready...ready any profile of 88Rising from this year, this is what they get lauded for. DA PUMP's latest is classic viral...out of nowhere, kinda bizarre but something you want to watch over and over again).
They also performed the song in a Don Quixote in Saitama, godspeed DA PUMP.
News And Views
The sexual harassment scandal brewing between a former idol and the president of a social media site is the biggest story of the week, even if mainstream media is ignoring it. Online, though, it has a lot of traction, and tabloid Flash will run something about it in a future issue. Stay tuned for more on it.
Oricon Trail For The Week of May 21, 2018 To May 27, 2018
New Johnny's group King & Prince set records with their debut single. It will be interesting to see if they can keep that going...I feel every Johnny's group has been a copy of a copy, with each feeling less powerful than the one before them. Can this one break that trend? Speaking of boy groups...number two this week is a combo I never would have expected.
Perfume's GAME (33 1/3)
My entry in the 33 1/3 Japan series is out now! Get a copy at Bloomsbury or Amazon. Or at Kinokuniya bookstores in the U! S! A!
Look At Me!
Blog highlights: Suiyoubi No Campanella, Miyabi, Hello, Wendy!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
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