Japanese Queen of Hip-pop, Namie Amuro, 35, has released her second single off of her upcoming album "Feel," as well as a collaboration with R'n'B legends TLC!
The single, "Hands on Me," is an upbeat electro-pop dance track sung entirely in English, which adds to the excitement for international fans. This song is perfect for the summer and has all the potential to be a hit in the club and party scene. Check out the clip below!
T-L-C! Freakin' TLC! I for one love it when my favorite Asian pop stars come together with Western musical heavyweights. It just goes to show that music is definitely one of the few things in the world that can surpass cultural and language barriers and bring people together.
Although the ladies of TLC don't actually sing on the track, it was still a pleasant surprise just to see them in the video. However, Amuro is featured on the remake of the hit single, "Waterfalls," off of TLC's 20th Anniversary album, where she fills in for Left Eye. (Check out below.) Unfortunately the general consensuses is that the remake was horrid and Namie butchered Left Eye's rap. Being that Amuro is neither a rapper or a native English speaker, I guess next time she should just stick to the rivers and the lakes that she's used too! Singing in another language comes easy with practice. I did it all the time in school choirs growing up. Rapping however, is a whole other beast and can be twice as hard if you're not even a rapper to begin with.
The video, filmed in Los Angles, California, captured the essence of the song by creating a fun party atmosphere. The foam party scene towards the end was awesome! In all, the video had some great shots, high energy, and amazing choreography. I will say this though: is it me or does Namie look a bit out of place in her own video? Her choice of outfit doesn't suit what everyone else is wearing. The dancers and various bystanders are dressed in T-shirts, tanks, shorts, and other laid back attire. Even T-Boz is dressed in just a track suit. There's no denying Namie is sexy in her yellow halter pants suite with silver heels, but she's over done for the theme of video. She did work it in those heels though!
So far, the album seems to be going in the right direction. Look out for it in stores July 10th!
WATERFALLS feat. NAMIE AMURO
Namie can totally rap. SO CRAZY and Put 'Em Up are pretty good examples. She used to rap a lot between the albums SUITE CHIC, STYLE, and Queen of Hip-Pop. Maybe not as well in English, but she can definitely rap.
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