Michiko Evwana (born December 8, 1974), better known by her stage name , is a Japanese

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

musician,,

United Daily News ''United Daily News'' (UDN; ) is a newspaper published in Taiwan. It is considered to support the pan-Blue Coalition in its editorials. History UDN was founded in 1951 by Wang Tiwu as a merger of three newspapers, ''Popular Daily'' (全民日� ...

(in Chinese), August 22, 2008 as well as a singer-

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. She is the first soca artist from Japan. Since 2007, she has been married to , a member of Japanese reggae group Shōnan no Kaze. She began playing reggae music in Japanese clubs in 1996. Her 2002 debut single, "The Perfect Vision", went on to sell over 500,000 copies.

Biography

Michiko Evwana was born in

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

, Japan, on December 8, 1974. She began playing the piano at the age of five, at which time she began to take interest in soul and jazz music. Minmi began her musical career in 1996, performing at rub-a-dub showcases and hip hop events in the clubs of Osaka. She also began to develop her own sound by making her own original tracks around this period. Minmi signed her first recording deal with JVC Records, releasing the reggae song " The Perfect Vision" as her first single in August 2002. Minmi's first single became extremely popular, and was widely accepted and heavily rotated by as many as 20 FM radio stations. " The Perfect Vision," after gradually increasing in popularity, would eventually sell over 500,000 copies. Minmi contributed songwriting and vocals to two theme songs from the popular 2004 anime series

Samurai Champloo is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete a ...

, including the main ending theme "Shiki no Uta". In 2005, Minmi released her first soca-influenced song, " Summertime!!," as opposed to her regular reggae and hip-hop sound. Because of this event, she attended the

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural ev ...

in February 2006, performing on stage. In September, she was nominated for best new artist at the Reggae/Soca Music Awards in New York. Minmi attended the festival again in 2007, performing " Sha Na Na (Japanese Wine)" with

Machel Montano Machel Montano (born 24 November 1974)Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Soca Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 300–301. is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian Soca music, soca recording artist and record producer. Known for his high energy, fast-pa ...

. In June 2007, it was suddenly announced that Minmi had married Wakadanna, a member of reggae group Shōnan no Kaze, and was four months pregnant. The two had first met in 2001 in Jamaica, and began dating soon after. In November she gave birth to her first child, a son. In March 2010, it was announced that Minmi was pregnant with her second child. Her fourth album ''Mother'', released in July when she was roughly eight months pregnant, prominently features her stomach in the photographs. The child, the second boy, was born ten days early on August 4 in New York. On June 10 and July 22, 2015, Minmi released her seventeenth single "

Hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

Bibliography

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Discography

Albums

Other albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Digital Singles

DVDs

Collaborations

References

External links

*
Minmi
at Oricon Agency profiles:
Minmi
at

Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...

Minmi
at

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

Japan {{Authority control 1974 births Living people Japanese reggae musicians Japanese women pop singers Japanese women singer-songwriters Singers from Osaka Prefecture 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers Women hip-hop musicians Japanese hip-hop singers