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May J.

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May J.
橋本芽生
May J. performing in 2015
May J. performing in 2015
Background information
Birth nameMay Jamileh Hashimoto
Also known asMay J.
Born (1988-06-20) June 20, 1988 (age 36)
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Genres
Occupations
Years active2006–present
Labels
Spouse
Shogen
​
(m. 2022)​
Websitehttp://www.may-j.com

May Jamileh Hashimoto (橋本 芽生, Hashimoto Mei), better known by her stage name May J., is a Japanese pop and R&B singer who made her major label debut under Sony Music Japan on July 12, 2006, with her first mini-album All My Girls. She was born to an Iranian mother and Japanese father.[1]

Early life

May J. was born as May Hashimoto on June 20, 1988, in Yokohama, Japan. The "J" in her name comes from the Persian name "Jamileh" (Template:Lang-fa), meaning "beautiful".[1] She knows how to speak four languages, including Persian, Japanese, English and Spanish.[2]

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 Sony Music Japan audition and soon signed onto Sony Music. While waiting to make her major label debut, May J. was a dancer for Aaron Carter's Japanese concert and was featured on the track Luyva: Another Episode from Sphere of Influence's album Big Deal, credited simply as May.

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 Ki/oon Records, the music of her debut mini-album All My Girls was billed by her label as "Jennifer Lopez/Beyoncé style music which has never before existed in Japan."[3]

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 Cassie alongside Rōma Tanaka at Cassie's concert at Shibuya O-EAST on November 28, 2006.[5] December 20, 2006, saw May J.'s first solo single release when "Here We Go feat. Verbal (M-Flo)" dropped and charted at #70 on the weekly charts.

Her follow-up single, "Dear…" was released on May 30, 2006, and was unlike most of her previous work. Despite the ballad being much more Japanese-friendly than her debut, the single charted at just #90. May J. was then featured on Hip-Hop artist Zeebra's new album World of Music on the track "Shinin' Like a Diamond". In October, it was announced that May J. would be releasing her 3rd single, "Do tha' Do tha'" on November 21, followed shortly by her first full-length studio album, Baby Girl on December 5.

In October 2008, she became the co-host of NHK's English-language weekly music program J-Melo, with Shanti Snyder, going out to 180 countries via NHK World. She became sole host in March 2010 and has remained ever since.

2009–present: Rise to prominence

On March 6, 2009, label Rhythm Zone opened a new official site for May J. confirming that she had left Sony to join the Avex imprint. On the May 23, 2009, her second album Family was announced, featuring the single Garden (featuring DJ Kaori, Diggy-MO', クレンチ＆ブリスタ).[6] The album charted at #4 on the Oricon weekly chart.

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 Shibuya AX venue on May 23, 2010.[1]

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 "Let It Go" in Disney's Japanese release of the Frozen animated movie which hit No. 8 on the Japan Hot 100 after the film's Japanese release in March 2014.[7] In 2018, she performed the song live in the finale of the touring ice show Fantasy on Ice in Makuhari and Kanazawa.[8]

May J. has appeared on the variety show Kanjani8 no Shiwake Eight since 2012, as part of a karaoke contest segment, winning 26 straight contests before losing to Sarah Àlainn with the Idina Menzel version of "Let It Go", on the May 3, 2014, edition.[9]

Personal life

On June 20, 2022, May J. announced that she has married actor Shogen.[10]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and sales
Album information Chart position First week sales (Oricon) Copies sold (Oricon)
JPN
[11]
Baby Girl
  • Released: December 5, 2007
 50 4,110 12,078
Family
  • Released: May 27, 2009
 4 26,662 94,848
For You
  • Released: February 17, 2010
 9 10,976 30,334
Colors
  • Released: January 26, 2011
 23 4,547 8,243
Secret Diary
  • Released: January 25, 2012
 35 3,105 5,140
Brave
  • Released: December 5, 2012
 57 2,585 3,331
Imperfection
  • Released: October 1, 2014
 3 16,799 39,917
Futuristic
  • Released: October 25, 2017
 24 3,128 3,984
Silver Lining
  • Released: December 8, 2021
 54
Bittersweet Song Covers
  • Released: November 9, 2022
 39 1,130[12]

Singles

Title Release date Peak chart positions Copies sold (Oricon)
Oricon[13] Japan Hot 100[14]
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 "
  • Released: July 12, 2006
 85 2,097 9,432
2nd "Believin'... "
  • Released: November 24, 2010
 42 2,819 4,424
3rd "Love Ballad"
  • Released: October 23, 2013
 6 18,773 50,599
4th "Christmas Songs"
  • Released: November 16, 2016
 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)
  • Released: April 27, 2011
 95
2nd "Don't Stop! Summer Best!"
(Rental Album)
  • Released: August 8, 2012
 7 10,684 62,409
3rd "May J. Best - Selected Edition -"
(iTunes Exclusive Digital Album)
  • Released: January 30, 2013
 —
4th "May J. BEST -7 Years Collection-"
  • Released: February 6, 2013
 13 7,935 44,349
5th "Selected Ballads"
(Digital Album)
  • Released: August 21, 2013
 —
6th "Ballad Best '09~'13"
(Rental Album)
  • Released: September 27, 2013
 —
7th "mu-mo Gentai May J. 2013 Summer Best 3"
(mumo Exclusive Digital Album)
  • Released: September 30, 2013
 —
8th "mu-mo Gentei ☆May J. 2013 SUMMER BEST 6"
(mumo Exclusive Digital Album)
  • Released: September 30, 2013
 —
9th "May J. W BEST -Original & Covers-"
  • Released: January 1, 2015
 7 10,684 62,409
10th "Best of Duets"
  • Released: March 29, 2017
 30 2,839 3,519
11th "May J. W BEST 2 -Original & Covers-"
  • Released: January 1, 2021
 84

Cover albums

Album # Album information Chart position Debut Week Sales (Oricon) Sold Copies (Oricon)
JPN
1st "Summer Ballad Covers"
  • Released: June 19, 2013
 4 46,418 203,186
2nd "Heartful Song Covers"
  • Released: March 26, 2014
 2 29,375 245,473
3rd "May J. sings Disney"
  • Released: November 4, 2015
 6 9,006 22,981
4th "Sweet Song Covers"
  • Released: March 16, 2016
 6 8,168 15,037
5th "Cinema Song Covers"
(Standart Album, English Album and Instrumental Album)
  • Released: July 25, 2018
 29
6th "Heisei Love Song Covers Supported by DAM"
(Standart Version and Karaoke Version)
  • Released: April 17, 2019
 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)
  • Released: July 2, 2014
 —
2nd "Budokan Live 2015 ~Live to the Future~"
(Rental Album)
  • Released: March 30, 2016
 —
3rd "10th Anniversary Tour 2016 @ Nakano Sun Plaza 2016.7.3"
(Fanclub Limited Album)
  • Released: October 25, 2017
 —
4th "10th Anniversary Grand Finale ~The Request Live~ @ Orchard Hall 2016.10.9"
(Fanclub Limited Album)
  • Released: October 25, 2017
 —
5th "Tour 2017 ~ME, MYSELF & OUR MUSIC~ "Futuristic" @ Hitomi Kinen Koudou 2017.7.3"
(Fanclub Limited Album)
  • Released: October 25, 2017
 —
6th "Billboard Classics May J. Premium Concert 2017 ~Me, Myself & Orchestra~"
(Digital Album)
  • Released: July 25, 2018
 —

Video albums

Album # Album information Chart position Debut Week Sales (Oricon) Sold Copies (Oricon)
JPN
1st "Baby Girl Clips"
(PV collection DVD)
  • Released: January 30, 2008
 297
2nd "Budokan Live 2015 ~Live to the Future~"
  • Released: August 19, 2015
 28
3rd "May J. BEST LIVE DVD BOOK"
  • Released: June 7, 2018
 —
  • 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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Music Fair. May 17, 2014. Fuji Television.
  3. ^ "Sony Music Online Japan". May J.: All my girls. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  4. ^ "NeOSITE 10th". Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  5. ^ "Kingrecords Webcommunication". Tanaka Rōma. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  6. ^ a b "May J - Official Site". Retrieved December 5, 2006.
  7. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100 2014/04/28". Billboard (in Japanese). April 23, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  8. ^ 羽生結弦選手出演「ファンタジー・オン・アイス 2018」千葉・幕張公演リポート 第1弾 [Yuzuru Hanyu's "Fantasy on Ice 2018" Performance in Makuhari, Chiba - Part 1]. tvguide.or.jp (in Japanese). Chuo-ku, Tokyo: Tokyo News Service, Ltd. May 30, 2018. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "May J. ties the knot with actor Shogen". Tokyo Hive. June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "May J.の作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "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)
  14. ^ "Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
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