J-rock Belgium: J-Pop Corner: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ)

You have at least heard of her or accidentally seen one of her weird and colorful clips. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ) is real popular these days. This Harajuku Girl won everyone over with her cuteness, creativity, weirdness and fashion. Her songs are very happy, playful and fun-spirited. Similar artists are Perfume and ももいろクローバーZ (Momoiro Clover Z).

Kyary started out as a fashion blogger but began her professional career when she got snapped on the street by a photographer of Harajuku fashion magazine “Kera!”. After that she became a full-time model for “Kera!” and “Zipper”. After she had gained some considerable fame she did her first fashion show, Harajuku Style Collection, in September 2010. She quickly became one of the top fashion models for the “Aomojikei” style. Her popularity rose due to her Harajuku style and quirky faces online through blog sites around the world. Kyary also launched her own line of fake eyelashes called “Harajuku Doll Eyelashes by Eyemazing x Kyary".

In early 2010, Kyary signed a contract with “Avex Trax” after she had joined the “highschoolsinger.jp” project, which gives high school students the opportunity to show off their talents by professionally recording songs in a studio. “Highschoolsinger.jp” released her songs “Miracle Orange” and “Love Berry” as digital singles.

In April 2011, Kyary frontlined the charity event “One Snap for Love” with Japanese fashion editor and photographer Yasumasa Yonehara and Japanese brand “6%DokiDoki” for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku disaster.

Kyary also produced a Studio Ghibli cover album with Avex in 2011. She oversaw production and mixed one track, but she did not sing on the album herself. That same year she met famous producer Nakata Yasutaka. He decided to work with this eccentric Harajuku girl on her official debut, so Kyary switched labels to “Warner Music Japan” in June 2011.

A month later Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's first digital single”PONPONPON” was released on July 20,2011, and entered Billboard Japan's Hot 100 chart at #72. The PV, a tribute to “kawaisa” and “Decora” culture went viral on YouTube and gained worldwide recognition. After it's release Kyary said that her inspirations were Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry.

On August 3, 2011, the second single “Jelly” was internationally released via iTunes. Kyary's first mini-album, “Moshi Moshi Harajuku”, would be released on August 17, 2011. Only a week later her autobiography “Oh! My God!! Harajuku Girl.” hit the shelves.

“Tsukema Tsukeru” got it's digital international release on December 7, 2011. The popstar visited Culver City, California on December 9. She performed in a fashion show and played 2 of her songs. It was the first time she went overseas and it was also the first time that she performed “Tsukema Tsukeru”. A physical copy of “Tsukema Tsukeru”, which included a special edition photobook, was released on January 11, 2012.

“Candy Candy” was Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's second physical copy got released on April 4, 2012. There was also an announcement that she was planning to hold her very first nationwide tour in June, and that she would launch an official fan club in spring. The tour started on June 2 at the “Namba Hatch” in Osaka. It continued in Hiroshima, Nagoya, Sendai, Sapporo, Fukuoka and finished in Tokyo on June 29.

Kyary was given the title of “Kawaii Harajuku Ambassador” on August 30, 2012, by the mayor of Shibuya. After she accepted her award a montage of her success followed on a large screen. For the occasion she also played a couple of songs for the crowd.

In early September 2012, Kyary announced that she was collaborating with Japanese budget fashion brand “g.u.” for her new single, “Fashion Monster”. The new single was given a release date of October 17, 2012. Kyary was also used as the image character for “g.u.” after the announcement. New single “Kimi ni 100 Percent / Furisodation”, used as the 15th opening theme for the anime “Crayon Shin-Chan”, will be released on January 30, 2013.