''Grow into One'' (stylized as grow into one) is the second studio album released by Japanese

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and R&B singer

Koda Kumi , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single " Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, " Real Emot ...

, released on March 19, 2003. It barely peaked in the Top 10 on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...

, coming it at #8, and charted for 43 weeks. The album also contained, at the time, one of her best-selling singles, " Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba". Combined with the singles, the album has sold over half a million copies in Japan. The album featured rap duo Clench & Blistah and urban contemporary singer and producer Lisa, who had been featured on Kumi's single " Maze", after having just split from her founded hip-hop group M-Flo.

Background and composition

''Grow into One'' was released one year after her debut album '' Affection''. The album was predominantly R&B with the only

songs being those she performed for '' Final Fantasy X-2,'' which was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003. Those songs were "real Emotion" and "1000 no Kotoba". The only other pop song was "To Be One", which was used in some of the

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for ''Final Fantasy X-2.'' There was one

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to make it to the album: the song "One," which featured

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artist and

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Lisa, and was originally released on Kumi's single " Maze". The album also contained her first collaboration attempt with Japanese rappers Clench & Blistah with the first track, "Teaser." She would later feature Blistah (known as Mr. Blistah) for several works and collaborate with the duo for their own songs, most notably her song "

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" and Clench & Blistah's song "Stands Up!." Concerning the success stemming from '' Final Fantasy X-2'', Koda stated, "Although my second album, which I released directly after "Real Emotion" … the singles I released afterwards ranked outside of the top 10." Koda Kumi was hopeful for her ''Grow into One'' album due to the success of "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba". Due to the album gaining attention by charted in the Top 10, she began to push herself in her later singles. However, none of the following singles followed the success of "real Emotion", with Koda saying, "Because my hopes had been so high, the fall was really too hard."

Release

''Grow into One'' was released in a standard and limited edition. The former contained the standard fourteen tracks, while the latter contained a Final Fantasy X-2 trading card and an unpublished, alternate arrangement of "1000 no Kotoba", was used during the ending credits of the game and had been placed on the second disc of the '' Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack.'' She would later be placed on her third compilation album '' Best: Bounce & Lovers'' in 2007.

Reception

''Grow into One'' peaked at number eight on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon ...

, becoming her first album to chart in the top ten. It remained on the chart for nearly ten months. Between the album and the preluding singles, the total sales reached over 500,000.

Music videos

Music videos for several songs on ''Grow into One'' were released alongside the DVD '' 7 Spirits'', which included

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s for the songs "

Love Across the Ocean "Love Across the Ocean" (stylized as "love across the ocean") is Koda Kumi's fifth domestic solo single. It charted at No. 19 on Oricon and stayed on the charts for four weeks. Information ''love across the ocean'' is Japanese R&B singer-songwr ...

", set in a futuristic setting with Kumi being sent to earth, " Maze", set in an airport with Kumi being evaluated by a

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, and " Real Emotion", set in the Final Fantasy world of Spira.

Track listing

Official track list.

Charts and certifications

References

{{Authority control Koda Kumi albums 2003 albums Avex Group albums