Is race the obstacle preventing Crystal Kay from big success in Japan?

In Japan there is an artist who goes by the name of Crystal Kay. Some of you J-Pop aficionados may have heard of her. Signed to Sony at the tender age of 13 and still releasing music now.

Crystal Kay shares the same linguistic trait as Hikaru Utada, in that she speaks fluent English and Japanese. But unfortunately, Crystal has not reached anything even remotely close to the meteoric levels of success that Hikaru has; despite being active for the same amount of time, embarking on more tours, starring in a J-drama and releasing more material. Fans have spent many years speculating as to why Crystal's success has not been bigger than it probably should be. But after 12 years, a label change and an amazing album which fell to the bottom of the charts quicker than a cinder block in the Yokohama bay we need to address the elephant in the room and ask the question: Is Crystal Kay's lack of success in Japan because of her race?

It's unfortunate that not every artist who puts out consistently solid music (I will cross Spin the music off the discography) gets the recognition and sales that their fans feel they deserve. I'll give you a Western example of a non-seller I'm a fan of. Brandy. I adore her. But she's been a commercial flop for 7 years straight, despite releasing stellar albums and showing a clear form of evolution between each release. But everybody in music knows that talent does not equate to success. There are many other factors which fall into the equation of an artists success. But in this case, you cannot help but wonder if the colour of Crystal's skin is playing a part in preventing her reach higher levels of success.

We all know that image is a large part of music. After all, it's the album covers, the magazines and the music videos that the eyes see before the ears hear the music. Japan is not as heterogeneous a society as the West, despite their musical range disclaiming as such. Crystal Kay identifies as Black and Japanese. Her mother is Korean and her father is a Black American. Some would regard Crystal as not being Japanese at all, regardless of her being born in the country, speaking the language and having a Japanese passport. Being 'Japanese' is a huge part of the Japanese music business; whether it's an ideal or a representation of a sub-culture. The country is proud of its heritage, and in most cases would always support 'their own' in favour of whomever they'd deem an 'outsider'. And it's unfortunate that it may just be the case that Japan sees Crystal this way; regardless of her proficiency of all things Japanese and the country having always been her home and her ACTUALLY being Japanese. Hikaru Utada has always openly stated she feels like an alien because of her life being evenly divided between New York and Tokyo. But when Japan sees Hikaru Utada, they see a Japanese girl. When Japan sees Crystal, they don't.

Artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki have not helped matters for Crystal, oft seen as being the Japanese ideal of beauty. A round head, large eyes, pert lips and smooth hair. A look which Pamyu Pamyu has taken to bolder extremes and a template which Kumi Koda has famously followed to a tee to secure her own successes. Even Hikaru Utada fits into this bracket. Naturally conforming to this ideal, as opposed to actively chasing it and adhering to it as her peers had done. Big dark brown eyes, smooth hair and a round face - something her album covers have always highlighted. Your cute Japanese girl next door. Identifiable to the masses. Crystal on the other hand looks different. Crystal's skin is darker, her face is not round, her eyes are smaller, her hair is of a different texture. Whether it had been a subconscious effort or not, a couple of Crystal's album covers had gone to lengths to downplay her ethnicity. Color change! had her look essentially white. As did her Best album, alongside a lightened hair colour popular amongst Japanese girls at the time. A stark contrast from Call me miss... and All yours which made zero effort to whiten her in anyway. If anything, they played up her darker, natural skin tone.

It seems what was once seen as a hook for Crystal (the 'exotic mixed girl', with the Black voice who can speak Japanese) now seems to be acting as a blockade against her. The early 2000s saw a surge in popularity with R&B which reverberated throughout the world and set a trend in Japan, which is when Crystal notably became a more prominent force in music than she was prior. But now, female acts in Japanese are reverting back to a more pure-bred ideal of pop. The hair is getting blonder. The skin is getting whiter. The paradigm has shifted, but in a direction to which Crystal can't adjust to. And now Crystal finds herself with dwindling sales and a career which isn't spoken much of in modern day Japanese music, despite being an integral part of its history.

Crystal Kay's media promotion has always been minimal in comparison to her peers. Where her contemporaries appear regularly on TV shows, variety shows, enjoy a slew of endorsement deals and have morning news segments dedicated purely to 30 seconds of their latest music video; Crystal is lucky to get a spot on a music show where she can just perform her lil' songs. Her biggest endorsement deal is a brand of coffee which nobody in Japan drinks. Meanwhile Namie Amuro is the face of cosmetics, Ayumi Hamasaki is the face of Panasonic cameras, and every other act is endorsing a beverage from Suntory to a release from Nintendo. Crystal may just be too dark, too different and too 'gaijin' to be the face of a brand which is catered to the masses in Japan. A country which buys into what it can identify with.

To chalk ones lack of success down to race is a card oft avoided because it is a touchy subject and very much a grey area. But in Crystal Kay's case, we can no longer deny it plays a part into why she's continued to struggle her ascent to higher levels of success and her career has been a flat-line for years. 

Many of us thought that Crystal's defection from Sony would fix everything and give her career the boost it needed, as we all thought Sony were the ones holding Crystal back from national success. But at Universal the same thing is happening. Granted, many more doors are opening for Crystal now and she's more active than she's ever been, but Crystal's success is still stifled. Which tells us outright that Crystal's lack of career upswing is bigger than Sony.

You would think after 14 years things would change. They are changing slowly, as more Black / mixed race artists make their way onto the Oricon charts, and established Japanese artists feature non Japanese talent in their music videos and live performances. Crystal Kay has paved the way for artists such as Emi Maria and Thelma Aoyama, and is a beacon of hope that you can be Black and / or mixed raced and be a pop star in Japan. It's just a shame that Crystal Kay's sales and mainstream media attach rate isn't backed by big numbers to really drive this message home and show that there is racial equality in the Japanese music industry. As the current verdict is that you can have a career, but you won't ever be as big as somebody who is 'pure' Japanese or Korean and doing the exact same thing.

So how can Crystal fix this? One would be to try and seek other markets. The UK would be a viable place to start. It's a smaller market, but a versatile one in which anybody can have a hit single or album if the song is right. Crystal performing at the London Distant worlds event was a foot in the door and she's sure to get some European exposure as a result - much in the way that Europe woke up to Hikaru Utada as a result of her being tied to Kingdom Hearts. Another may be to not conform to the Japanese ideals, but go against them. Play up the fact that she is by all Japanese accounts 'Western'. Release a cover album as lesser hoes such as Beni and Thelma Aoyama are doing and sing the shit out of Western classics. If Japan won't take note of you singing in their language, hit them with amazing renditions of songs in your second tongue. Embrace the digital market. If your physical release in Japan is going to get thrown straight into bargain bins. Ease up on it. Go digital. Release your singles via iTunes worldwide. Go one better and record each of these singles in English and Japanese. Put yourself up for the themes of video games. Play up to the fact that you are bilingual. Hit up Square Enix to sing the theme of the next Final Fantasy game for the Japanese and NTSC and PAL releases. Ayu, Kumi and Sayuri Sugawara could never. Do select small venue gigs outside of Japan. Announce an intimate venue tour of Europe, or select dates in the US. Leave your footprint on the world, not just in Japan. Seek other audiences you feel will be into you, instead of focusing energies into one which couldn't care less. Seek endorsement deals with global brands who aren't so fussed about skin colour. Coca-Cola. Uniqlo. Nintendo. H&M.

Crystal may not want to admit that Japan seems to be ignoring her due to the colour of her skin, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. And it's something Crystal and her need to seriously think about and how to address it if they find it is a contributing factor to Crystal's career stalling.

Album reviews: All yours | Color change! | Flash | Spin the music | Vivid