Crystal Kay to release her second (third!?) single of 2022 “No Pressure”, on November 11

A close-up shot of Crystal Kay, bathed in neon blue light.

Crystal Kay will be gracing us with another single following the June release of “Gimme Some”. A release which marked a long-requested homecoming for Crystal, returning to a more Hip-Hop / R&B influenced sound, after pretty much abandoning it for a whole decade.

“No Pressure” is another collaboration, this time around with VivaOla, and the song will also be in the vein of R&B.

Having heard some of VivaOla’s songs, I can’t imagine how well he and Crystal will sound together. But I’m used to hearing Crystal Kay mismatched on songs with other ‘singers’. Shout-outs to “Very Special” and “Revolution”.

The digital single cover artwork for Crystal Kay’s “No Pressure”. Featuring the song title at the top, the artists at the bottom, and a close-up shot of Crystal Kay, bathed in neon blue light.

So, now I am actually wondering if Crystal Kay’s upcoming album will be a collaborations album. I’m all for it. I think it’s a great idea. I’d even suggested a few times on this raggedy ole blog that Crystal should release a collaborations project, but for such an album to work, it would need bigger names attached to it. Hikaru Utada can do a song with a then unknown Nariaki Obukuro and some guy named Jevon, and not worry about the marketability of the songs, if they will hit, or pairings being some form of transactions; because they are Hikaru Ooofuckingtada. But Crystal Kay is not at that megastar phase of her career that she absolutely should be at by now, and could have very easily had already been at, where she can just collaborate with whomever for the sake of it and still bag a hit. Niko Brim, Daichi Yamamoto and VivaOla aren’t gonna cut it. These dudes ain’t even got Wikipedia pages. So Crystal’s releases and collaborations do need to be more strategic.

A MASSIVE issue with how Crystal’s team are handling her at the moment, is they are not doing enough to remind people of Crystal’s legacy and what she was known for. So whilst a collaborations album would be a good idea, it would need to feature songs with bigger names and acts Crystal was known for being affiliated with. So, we would need a song with M-Flo, a song with BoA, a song with Chemistry. This collaborations album could work if it is going to be treated like Namie Amuro’s Checkmate! and be a Best album of sorts, where we get new songs with featured artists, alongside older ones. But this would require more effort than I think Crystal’s team are willing to put in, because such an album would require rights and licensing deals being struck, given that Crystal’s discography is now split between Sony and Universal, and a couple of her widely adored M-Flo features are on Avex.

This feat is not impossible. Many other artists manage to release compilation albums on one label which feature recordings which were released on another. And Hikaru Utada is managing to slap one an old Universal album and a Sony album together for a package release. But this is Crystal’s team we’re talking about, so it isn’t going to happen. We still don’t even have “Kirakuni” available on streaming.

Girl. Fire the whole management and marketing team.

Therefore, IF Crystal’s next album is a collaboration album with no pre-existing material, then it should include guest artists that she’s worked with before. We would probably also end up with something featuring a member of Exile. Because, LDH. But Lawd, let it be Atsushi - the only member of EXILE who can actually sing and would actually sound good with Crystal.

I’m talking about this collaboration album like it is actually happening, when all it is at present is my speculation. Lemme stop.

At least the single arts for “No Pressure” and “Gimme Some” are consistent. So it feels like something is coming together with SOME form of consideration, and if we’re going by the vibes of the single arts an Crystal’s return to R&B, it seems to be on her terms, which is great. And there’s certainly a gap in the market for a main J-R&B bitch. A gap Crystal herself left after All Yours, which just so happened to be her first and still her only number 1 album. So let’s see how this shakes.

Random J Pop | Pop commentary foolishness

Search This Blog

Crystal Kay to release her second (third!?) single of 2022 “No Pressure”, on November 11

Comments

Post a Comment