Crystal Kay covers Misora Hibari’s Enka classic “Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni”

Crystal Kay covered The Queen of Enka, Misora Hibari’s 1989 enka hit “Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni”. A very different style of song than we’re used to hearing Crystal sing. But she sounded amazing, as she always does.

Crystal doesn’t often sing so low. So it’s always a treat when she does, because you really get to hear the richness of her tone. And the fact that she’s able to go as low as she does and still maintain tone, clarity and control is just a testament to her singing talent. But what is new. Real ones always knew Crystal could SING sing.

What’s so cool about hearing Crystal sing Enka, is that she gives you enough of the flavour that you can tell she’s singing Enka, but she’s not just emulating how Enka singers sing. She’s still singing the song in that Crystal style. It’s what makes Crystal’s covers so good. She’s never tries to sing the song how the original artist sang it. She’s like ‘Fuck it. I’mma sing it the way I wanna sing it’. And Crystal knows her voice and has a great sense of musicality, so it always works out — even with songs which don’t seem like obvious matches for her.

Speaking of sing — it really is ridiculous that we have not had a follow up to Crystal’s 2021 cover album, I Sing. Because the amount of covers that Crystal Kay has performed over the past few years since I Sing released is enough to make up an album. And not only are they good covers, but they are popular covers which span a better range of decades, genres and styles than the selection of songs on I Sing did. Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Evolution”, Miyuki Nakajima’s “Gin no Ryuu no se ni Notte”, Rebecca’s “Friends”, Yumi Matsutoya’s “Manatsu no Yo no Yume”, Maki Matsubara’s “Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me”, a whole bunch of Disney songs, Fujii Kaze’s “Kaerou”, Lee Sun Hee’s “Fate”, Janet Jackson’s “I Get Lonely”, Namie Amuro’s “Baby Don’t Cry”, TLC’s “No Scrubs”, Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” and the songs she performed during her Broadway stints as part of Pippin and Rent, and the gig that never came to be — Hairspray.

It’s ridiculous that there has been no I Sing: The Empire Strikes Back yet.

Girl. Fire the whole management and marketing team.

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🎛️ CK mashups: Crystal Kay x Janet Jackson | Crystal Kay x Jordan Knight | Crystal Kay x Janet Jackson

💿 CK album reviews: C.L.L. ~Crystal Lover Light | 637 -Always & Forever- | Almost Seventeen | Crystal Style | 4Real | Call Me Miss... | All Yours | Color Change! | Spin the Music | Shine | Vivid | For You | I Sing | All Time Best 25th Anniversary

☕ CK tea: The ways Crystal Kay influenced and impacted J-R&B AND Japanese music that not enough people talk about