Music video: Kumi Koda's "XXKK" gives us the title and the look that the damn Best album shoulda had

Kumi Koda will be releasing her 13th (the Internet will tell you 14th, but Best ~Second Session~ was not a damn Best album) Best album My Name Is... on and it will feature 3 new songs. "Puff", "Lucky Star" and "XXKK". Oddly this release is exclusively for Kumi Koda's fanclub only. But with all of the new songs being digital releases which are currently available on streaming, and the other 18 tracks being made up of pre-existing songs which are also on streaming, it's not like anybody will be missing anything.

"Puff" was actually a really cute song which got itself a really charming video. "Lucky Star" is neither here nor there. Just a generic electro-ass Pop song, which a video could've done wonders for. But the hero song of My Name Is... looks to be "XXKK", which has gotten itself a music video and features the theme and motifs of Kumi's upcoming 20th anniversary tour, which is set to kick off this month. I'm sure Miss Corona will be right there in the front row with the fanclub hand towel.

I'm not a big fan of Kumi Ghettoda. When ever she does these types of songs it's like everything goes out of the window. Vocals, song structure, production and most importantly, diction. I can never understand what she's saying on these songs. It takes me about three listens (if I can even take three listens) to realise that she's rapping a sizeable chunk of the verses in English. And then on top of that there's busy production, auto-tune, ad-libs thrown all over the place, bad mixing. The whole entire song is a mess, but by comparison of some of the other songs Kumi has done in this vein, it's not the worst.

I do not understand why Kumi Koda chose to have herself shot smeared in doo-doo for her Best album cover, to then shoot a music video with looks which would have been far more fitting. The branding for the Kumi KOVID tour include the Lion motif, and XXKK would have been a far better Best album title than My Name Is....

Kumi Koda really gave us this...

When she coulda given us this.

I know it's a fanclub only release, but STILL. Get the branding together and consistent.

My Name Is... will be available for Kumi Koda fanclub members to purchase on September 11th, and I'm sure it'll hit streaming at some point down the line.

🔊 The playlist: This is Kumi Koda (The Random J version. Fuck that Spotify one)
💿 Album reviews: Re(CORD) | W Face | Japonesque | Deja Vu | Universe | Trick | Kingdom | Black Cherry  | Best ~Second Session~ | Secret | Feel My Mind | Grow Into One | Affection