May J.
May J. 橋本芽生 | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | May Jamileh Hashimoto |
Also known as | May J. |
Born | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | June 20, 1988
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels |
|
Spouse(s) | |
Website | http://www.may-j.com |
May Jamileh Hashimoto (橋本 芽生, Hashimoto Mei), better known by her stage name May J., is a Japanese
Early life
May J. was born as May Hashimoto on June 20, 1988, in
May J.'s Iranian mother refused to acknowledge her Persian roots due to perceived negativity towards Iranians in Japan and May J. grew up forbidden to speak the Persian language. Believing she was American, she discovered her true heritage on a chance overhearing of a conversation between her mother and grandmother.[1] During her formative middle school years she began listening to Iranian singers Googoosh and Afshin and has later said she hopes to debut in Iran.[1]
At the age of 14, May J. was successful at a
A childhood fan of Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston she then came to admire Canadian rock singer Avril Lavigne, winning a MTV lookalike contest as Avril.[1] She began listening to R&B while studying at the American School in Japan, from which she graduated in 2007 following a period of balancing her studies and her singing career.
Career
2006–2009: Debut and development
Released July 12, 2006, under Neosite Discs, the hip-hop division of Sony's
To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Neosite Discs, the single "I Say Yeah!" was released on October 4, 2006, as a collaboration by all 5 of the label's signed artists.[4] The single marked May J.'s first appearance in the Oricon top 10.
May J. performed as the opening act for American R&B singer
)" dropped and charted at #70 on the weekly charts.Her follow-up single, "
In October 2008, she became the co-host of
2009–present: Rise to prominence
On March 6, 2009, label
Her third full album titled For You was released on February 17, 2010. Her first solo live tour, lasting ten weeks and including 40 shows followed, culminating at Tokyo's
On November 24, 2010, she released a mini-album titled Believin... as a prelude to her fourth full album Colors, released on January 26, 2011.[6]
In 2012, May J. recorded the song "Back to Your Heart" with Canadian singer Daniel Powter.
May J. sang the end roll version of the title song "
May J. has appeared on the variety show
Personal life
On June 20, 2022, May J. announced that she has married actor Shogen.[10] In May 13, 2023, May J announced that she and her husband are expecting their first child.[11]
Discography
Studio albums
Album information | Chart position | First week sales (Oricon) | Copies sold (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|
JPN [12] | |||
Baby Girl
|
50 | 4,110 | 12,078 |
Family
|
4 | 26,662 | 94,848 |
For You
|
9 | 10,976 | 30,334 |
Colors
|
23 | 4,547 | 8,243 |
Secret Diary
|
35 | 3,105 | 5,140 |
Brave
|
57 | 2,585 | 3,331 |
Imperfection
|
3 | 16,799 | 39,917 |
Futuristic
|
24 | 3,128 | 3,984 |
Silver Lining
|
54 | ||
Bittersweet Song Covers
|
39 | 1,130[13] |
Singles
Title | Release date | Peak chart positions | Copies sold (Oricon) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oricon[14] | Japan Hot 100[15]
| ||||||||||
I Say Yeah! | October 4, 2006 | 8 | × | - | |||||||
Here We Go (featuring Verbal )
|
December 20, 2006 | 70 | × | 3,865 | |||||||
Dear… | May 30, 2007 | 97 | × | 1,758 | |||||||
Do tha' Do tha | November 21, 2007 | — | × | - | |||||||
Shiny Sky | June 9, 2010 | 54 | 41 | 2,144 | |||||||
Rewind | October 10, 2012 | 30 | 47 | 2,638 | |||||||
Hontou no Koi | September 10, 2014 | 6 | 6 | 23,378 | |||||||
ReBirth(Faith) | February 25, 2015 | 11 | 26 | 15,338 | |||||||
Sparkle | August 5, 2015 | 22 | — | 6,093 | |||||||
Have Dreams! | August 3, 2016 | 28 | 64 | 3,733 | |||||||
Haha to Musume no 10,000 Nichi ~Mirai no Tobira~ | May 24, 2017 | 55 | — | 2,302 | |||||||
Kizuna Infinity / Hero | March 7, 2018 | — | — | ||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.
"×" denotes periods where charts did not exist or were not archived. |
Extended plays
Album # | Album information | Chart position | Debut Week Sales (Oricon) | Sold Copies (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPN | ||||
1st | "All My Girls "
|
85 | 2,097 | 9,432 |
2nd | "Believin'... "
|
42 | 2,819 | 4,424 |
3rd | "Love Ballad"
|
6 | 18,773 | 50,599 |
4th | "Christmas Songs"
|
22 | 4,283 | 7,551 |
Best albums
Album # | Album information | Chart position | Debut Week Sales (Oricon) | Sold Copies (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPN | ||||
1st | "With ~Best Collaboration Non-Stop DJ Mix~" (Collaboration Mix Album)
|
95 | ||
2nd | "Don't Stop! Summer Best!" (Rental Album)
|
7 | 10,684 | 62,409 |
3rd | "May J. Best - Selected Edition -" (iTunes Exclusive Digital Album)
|
— | ||
4th | "May J. BEST -7 Years Collection-"
|
13 | 7,935 | 44,349 |
5th | "Selected Ballads" (Digital Album)
|
— | ||
6th | "Ballad Best '09~'13" (Rental Album)
|
— | ||
7th | "mu-mo Gentai May J. 2013 Summer Best 3" (mumo Exclusive Digital Album)
|
— | ||
8th | "mu-mo Gentei ☆May J. 2013 SUMMER BEST 6" (mumo Exclusive Digital Album)
|
— | ||
9th | "May J. W BEST -Original & Covers-"
|
7 | 10,684 | 62,409 |
10th | "Best of Duets"
|
30 | 2,839 | 3,519 |
11th | "May J. W BEST 2 -Original & Covers-"
|
84 |
Cover albums
Album # | Album information | Chart position | Debut Week Sales (Oricon) | Sold Copies (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPN | ||||
1st | "Summer Ballad Covers"
|
4 | 46,418 | 203,186 |
2nd | "Heartful Song Covers"
|
2 | 29,375 | 245,473 |
3rd | "May J. sings Disney"
|
6 | 9,006 | 22,981 |
4th | "Sweet Song Covers"
|
6 | 8,168 | 15,037 |
5th | "Cinema Song Covers" (Standart Album, English Album and Instrumental Album)
|
29 | ||
6th | "Heisei Love Song Covers Supported by DAM" (Standart Version and Karaoke Version)
|
24 |
Live albums
Album # | Album information | Chart position | Debut Week Sales (Oricon) | Sold Copies (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPN | ||||
1st | "May J. Live Autumn Tour 2013 ~Best & Covers~" (Rental Album)
|
— | ||
2nd | "Budokan Live 2015 ~Live to the Future~" (Rental Album)
|
— | ||
3rd | "10th Anniversary Tour 2016 @ Nakano Sun Plaza 2016.7.3" (Fanclub Limited Album)
|
— | ||
4th | "10th Anniversary Grand Finale ~The Request Live~ @ Orchard Hall 2016.10.9" (Fanclub Limited Album)
|
— | ||
5th | "Tour 2017 ~ME, MYSELF & OUR MUSIC~ "Futuristic" @ Hitomi Kinen Koudou 2017.7.3" (Fanclub Limited Album)
|
— | ||
6th | "Billboard Classics May J. Premium Concert 2017 ~Me, Myself & Orchestra~" (Digital Album)
|
— |
Video albums
Album # | Album information | Chart position | Debut Week Sales (Oricon) | Sold Copies (Oricon) |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPN | ||||
1st | "Baby Girl Clips" (PV collection DVD)
|
297 | ||
2nd | "Budokan Live 2015 ~Live to the Future~"
|
28 | ||
3rd | "May J. BEST LIVE DVD BOOK"
|
— |
As featured artist
- May 27, 2009 - "Unchain my Heart" by WISE feat. May J. (in album Love Quest)
- December 15, 2010 - "HeartBeat" by TARO SOUL & KEN THE 390 feat. May J. (in album So Much Soul)
- May 16, 2012 - "REBIRTH-DAY SONG" by Demon Kakka feat. May J. (in album MYTHOLOGY)
- October 24, 2012 - "who.am.i.?" by Bentley Jones feat. May J. and Curtis Young (in album UPGRADE 1.0)
- March 12, 2013 - "Sweet Spot" by Flo Rida featuring May J.
- November 27, 2015 - "北極星" by Show Luo - 羅志祥 feat. May J. - 橋本芽生
- April 2017 - Jun.K (from 2PM) - 私たちの別れた話 (Duet with May J.)
References
- ^ a b c d e f Robert Michael Poole (2010-04-15). "May J - The J-pop songstress reveals her Persian heritage". Metropolis (free magazine). Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- ^ Music Fair. May 17, 2014. Fuji Television.
- ^ "Sony Music Online Japan". May J.: All my girls. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
- ^ "NeOSITE 10th". Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
- ^ "Kingrecords Webcommunication". Tanaka Rōma. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
- ^ a b "May J - Official Site". Retrieved December 5, 2006.
- ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100 2014/04/28". Billboard (in Japanese). April 23, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
- Chuo-ku, Tokyo: Tokyo News Service, Ltd. May 30, 2018. Archived from the originalon July 3, 2018.
- ^ May j. カラオケ初黒星に涙「悔しい ゼロから頑張る」 - Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). May 3, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
- ^ Mu, Nalaie. "May J.が俳優の尚玄と結婚、今日は2人の誕生日". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-09-06.
- ^ Inç, Natash. "May J.が妊娠を報告「新たな経験から感じることを胸に、これからも歌い続けていきたい」". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ^ "May J.の作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "オリコン週間 アルバムランキング – 2022年11月21日付" [Oricon Week Album Ranking – November 21, 2022] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved January 31, 2014. (subscription only)
- ^ "Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
External links
- May J. Official Website - rhythm zone
- Sony Music Online Japan / May J.
- May J. Official Blog "Janglish Style" - in Japanese
- May J. News!! "Live & Information" - May J. Staff Blog
- May J. جون (Official Myspace) - MySpace
- May J. (MayJamileh) - Twitter
- May J. Lyrics Discography