May J.

Overview

May J. (born Mei Jamileh Hashimoto, 橋本 芽生, on June 20, 1988) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. Born in Tokyo and raised in Yokohama, Kanagawa, she made her major-label debut on July 12, 2006, with the mini-album All My Girls on Neosite Discs, the hip-hop division of Sony's Ki/oon Records. Since 2009 she has been signed to Rhythm Zone, an Avex imprint. Her stage name combines her given name Mei (芽生) with the "J" of her middle name Jamileh, a Persian name meaning "beautiful" and "richly talented." She rose to wide fame with her Japanese end-credits version of "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen in 2014 and made her first appearance on NHK's 65th Kōhaku Uta Gassen that December. She announced her marriage to actor Shogen on June 20, 2022.

Background

Her father is Japanese, from the Kansai region, and her mother is Iranian-born and later became a Japanese citizen, with Persian, Russian, Spanish, British and Turkish ancestry on the maternal side. She grew up in a multilingual household and is fluent in English, Japanese, Spanish and Persian to varying degrees; her English is on par with her Japanese. Her parents ran schools for languages, music and computing, and she studied ballet and piano from age 3 and vocal training from age 8, while also writing lyrics and music. Influenced by her father, she listened to Iranian music, and in her middle school years she discovered Iranian singers Googoosh and Afshin; she has said she hopes to debut in Iran. As a child she was a fan of Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston, and later came to admire Avril Lavigne. She began listening to R&B while attending the American School in Japan, from which she graduated in June 2007, after attending Morimura Gakuen from kindergarten through middle school (graduating March 2004). Aoyama Thelma was one year ahead of her in the same jazz vocal class, Utada Hikaru was five years ahead, and Emma Miyazawa was an elementary school classmate.

Career

Before debut

At age 8 she performed opera songs at Philia Hall, and in 2002, at 13, she graduated at the top of the vocal course at the Avex Artist Academy. In 2003 she won a special prize in the solo division at the Yamaha Singer Competition 2003 national finals singing Mika Nakashima's "STARS," won the MTV Japan–BMG Avril Lavigne contest (the prize trip to a concert in Canada was cancelled because of the outbreak of the Iraq War), received the Audience Award at the MTV Music Awards 2003, became one of 12 finalists in Elite Model Look 2003 Japan, and won the dance contest at the NBA Japan Games 2003 halftime show. She also danced onstage with Aaron Carter at his Japanese concert. At around 14 she passed a Sony Music Japan audition and signed with the company, and appeared as "MAY" on Sphere of Influence's album COLOR (2004).

2006–2009: Debut and development

Her debut mini-album All My Girls (July 12, 2006) was billed by her label as "Jennifer Lopez/Beyoncé style music which has never before existed in Japan." To mark Neosite Discs' 10th anniversary, the single "I Say Yeah!" was released on October 4, 2006, as a collaboration among all five of the label's artists, giving May J. her first Oricon top-10 appearance. On November 28, 2006, she opened for Cassie at Shibuya O-EAST, and on December 20 she released her first solo single, "Here We Go feat. Verbal (m-flo)," which charted at No. 70. The ballad "Dear…" followed, and she was featured on ZEEBRA's album World of Music on "Shinin' Like a Diamond." She then released her third single, "Do tha' Do tha'," and her first full-length album, Baby Girl (December 5).

In October 2008 she became co-host, with Shanti Snyder, of NHK's English-language weekly music program J-Melo, broadcast to 180 countries via NHK World. She became sole host in March 2010 and remained host through March 2026.

2009–present: Rise to prominence

In March 2009 Rhythm Zone opened an official site for May J., confirming her move from Sony to the Avex imprint. In April she released the download-only "Garden" (featuring DJ Kaori, Diggy-MO' and Clench & Blistah), and her second album, Family, reached No. 4 on the Oricon weekly albums chart. Her third album, For You, came out on February 17, 2010, followed by her first solo tour, a ten-week, 40-date run that ended at Shibuya AX in Tokyo on May 23, 2010. On November 24, 2010, she released the mini-album Believin... as a prelude to her fourth album, Colors (January 26, 2011).

In 2012 she recorded "Back to Your Heart" with Canadian singer Daniel Powter, and in 2013 she was featured on Flo Rida's "Sweet Spot." She sang the end-roll version of "Let It Go" in the Japanese release of Disney's Frozen, which reached No. 8 on the Japan Hot 100 after the film opened in March 2014; that December she made her first Kōhaku Uta Gassen appearance. In 2018 she performed the song live in the finale of the touring ice show Fantasy on Ice in Makuhari and Kanazawa. Other collaborations include WISE, TARO SOUL & KEN THE 390, Demon Kakka, Bentley Jones with Curtis Young, Show Luo (2015) and Jun. K of 2PM (2017).

Media and other activities

On the variety show Kanjani8 no Shiwake Eight, she won 26 straight karaoke contests from June 16, 2012, earning the nickname "diva," before losing to Sarah Àlainn with the Idina Menzel version of "Let It Go" on May 3, 2014. On Fuji TV's Chidori no Oni Renchan she became the first to clear 10 songs in a row in the "chorus-only karaoke" challenge. Her radio work includes FM Yokohama's DANCING GROOVE HOT JAM M.J. Radio (from April 2009), TOKYO FM's Heart of Sunday (April 2014–March 2016), FM-FUJI's May J.'s Hashimoto Time! (October 2016–March 2017) and FM Osaka's AKRacing presents May J.'s Music Time Travel (January 2022–September 2023). She appeared on the documentary Jonetsu Tairiku in 2014 and published the book Watashi no Mono Janai, Watashi no Uta (TAC Publishing) on March 16, 2016. In 2014 she won the Japan Glasses Best Dresser Award (Special Glasses Award) and the Nail Queen 2014 Artist Category.

Personal life

May J. announced her marriage to actor Shogen on June 20, 2022. She announced her pregnancy with their first child in May 2023 and the birth in the autumn of that year, without disclosing the date of birth or the child's sex.

Musical style

May J. works mainly in J-R&B and J-pop, with touches of kayokyoku. She started out on a hip-hop/R&B label, and her repertoire has expanded to include ballads and Disney songs. Her broad musical education, which included vocal training, ballet and piano as well as exposure to Western music and Asian and Middle Eastern folk music, underpins her style, and she is renowned for the powerful vocals showcased on karaoke programs.