In the life and times of Corona, shit has slowed all the way down. And with everybody, even big ol' Pop stars having more time on their hands to be still and connect with fans, Crystal Kay appeared on the Jinjja Cha podcast. A podcast about South Korea Pop culture, because Crystal Kay is of Korean heritage.
Crystal doesn't do that many interviews. And whenever she does, it's in Japanese and about really basic surface level stuff. So it was nice to have an interview take place where Crystal was able to talk about a combination of things we knew, things we'd want to know and then random things in-between.
The Sony catalog is coming to streaming. Maybe.
Crystal Kay knows that we've been hounding a bitch on when her Sony catalog will be on streaming platforms globally and she is trying to make it happen. When, is anybody's guess. But she's on it.
I'm not going to bullet point everything from the podcast, because you really should listen to it. But for the sake of putting this info out there for those who be too lazy and to force your straggly ass to listen to it, here are some of the biggest takeouts.
Crystal Kay knows that we've been hounding a bitch on when her Sony catalog will be on streaming platforms globally and she is trying to make it happen. When, is anybody's guess. But she's on it.
Crystal is still working on her cover album.
Nothing was touched on in terms of how that process is going in light of the pandemic and everybody in Tokyo staying home and social distancing. The album is intended to be of covers of other people's songs, but she is considering including a cover or two of her own songs, after revealing how much she loved "Eternal Memories", that she'd recently performed it for a televised performance and that it was recorded. I personally would prefer an album of covers of other people's songs and then a WHOLE separate-ass album of self covers. So I hope Crystal keeps that in her back pocket.
Crystal wants to start dabbling with Funk and playing more with her lower registers.
This won't come as such a shock to anybody who has been listening to Crystal over the years. When she started to write more of her own music and take a bit more control with Spin The Music, we got a taste of Crystal dabbling in funk with songs like "Konya Ha No. 1" and her cover of "Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa". And once she left Sony for Universal, she started to sing songs in lower keys and registers.
Crystal Kay didn't like "Koi Ni Ochitara" when she first recorded it. At all.
This was the start of Crystal spilling the tea and really giving us s'um to sip on. "Koi Ni Ochitara" is what became Crystal Kay's signature sound, leading to the likes of "Konna Ni Chikaku De..." and "One". Songs I actually love. Crystal says that she was never a fan of this sound because it pulled her away from the more R&B focused sound she was doing before. But I'd say that she managed to retain a great balance between juggling the two sounds whilst delivering a hat-trick of great albums with Call Me Miss..., All Yours and Color Change!. Crystal's dismay at the direction her sound was heading in partly explains why Spin The Music ended up becoming what it did and why she left Sony. But it would seem that she's right back in this situation though, given her last two albums, Shine and For You, which saw her pivot back to songs which were even more Pop and squeaky clean than anything she did when she was signed to Sony. At least her Pop bops with Sony still slapped.
Crystal was surprised how much people liked her Distant Worlds performance.
I was at this show. When Crystal Kay came out there wasn't much of a reception. But the standing ovation she got after her performance was long and deafening. I'd actually really like for her to include a cover of Faye Wong's "Eyes On Me" on her upcoming cover album.
Miss Corona has cancelled the Japanese run of Hairspray
Kuri Clark Sheard has hung up her wig. No surprise here. But it's a real shame, as her stint at Motormouth Maybelle would have been good PR for her cover album.
That's all I'mma highlight, because it really was an amazing and in-depth chat that you should listen to in full. Crystal spoke in greater depth on all of the above, in addition to the early years of her career, the music she's listening to at the moment, her experience of being a part of Pippin, her thoughts on K-Pop now being global, and more besides. Crystal was incredibly candid to the point of dropping F-bombs and showing us a side to her that we rarely see with J-artists because of the poise they're always made to maintain in the media.
Jinjja Cha host Girl Davis was also giving Crystal her flowers constantly throughout which was real special, because I don't think Crystal gets enough recognition for what she's done and how many fans she has internationally. She genuinely seemed surprised that somebody outside of Japan even knew of her and enjoyed her music, which is a further signal that record labels and management in J-music really don't pay attention to anything that happens outside of Japan. Crystal Kay was my gateway to so many other artists and the J-R&B genre in general. Nobody was putting it down on songs the way that she was. So it was great to finally hear Crystal get her props from an international fan, and a UK one at that.
Thanks to the anonymous tipster in the comments of this post who alerted me to this podcast.
📝 Album Reviews: Call Me Miss... | All Yours | Color Change! | Spin The Music | Vivid | Shine | For You
🔊 Playlists: This is Crystal Kay | This is (some of) Crystal Kay
📀 A Crystal Kay dance album: Euphoria
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