''3 Splash'' (stylized as ''3 SPLASH'') is an EP by Japanese recording artist and songwriter

Kumi Koda , 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 Emoti ...

. It was released on 8 July 2009, by Kumi's record label,

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000 ...

. Her fourth extended play consists of three recordings; "Lick Me" (stylized as "Lick me♥"), "Ecstasy" (capitalized as "ECSTASY") and "Hashire!", with three additional

interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

s. It was released in two different formats: stand-alone CD, and a CD+DVD bundle - the latter bundle was re-released with a pink-transparent CD holder. The three artworks for the EP depicts Kumi posing with the title of the work superimposed over her. The CD+DVD bundle artwork features her holding a basketball, this artwork was also used for the digital release of the EP. ''3 Splash'' contains predominantly

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

. Kumi contributed by writing the lyrics to "Lick Me" and "Hashire!", while Japanese songwriter and producer Hum created "Ecstasy". Hiroto Suzuki and Shinjiro Inoue were credited as the EP's producers. ''3 Splash'' received favourable reviews from music critics who commended the EP's production and commercial appeal. ''3 Splash'' reached number two on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

, and was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

(RIAJ) for shipments of 100,000 units. "Lick Me", "Ecstasy", and "Hashire!" served as

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

s, while "Lick Me" was certified platinum for 250,000 digital shipments and nominated for a Japan Record Award at the 51st Japan Record Awards.

Background and composition

In 2009, Kumi released two compilation albums: '' Out Works & Collaboration Best'' and '' Koda Kumi Driving Hit's''. Following this, along with the release of a collaborative single with her younger sister,

misono , publicly known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Misono (stylized in lower case), is a Japanese singer-songwriter and TV personality. She was born in Kyoto, Japan, and is the younger sister of singer Koda Kumi. Career In 2000, Misono participa ...

, Kumi announced plans of releasing a double album. The double album was to promote both her third greatest hits album, and a new studio album that consisted of unreleased material from recording sessions for her 2008 album, '' Trick''. "

It's All Love! ''It's all Love!'' is a collaboration single by Japanese singer-songwriters Koda Kumi and misono. The single was originally set to be released on March 4, but was pushed back to its official release date of March 31, 2009. The single charted ...

" was later served as the studio album's lead single. Kumi announced that she would release a new extended play, marketed as a single, entitled ''3 Splash'', which would consist of three recordings: "Lick Me", "Ecstasy" and "Hashire!" with three additional

s. ''3 Splash'' opens with the first interlude, "09:00AM", which is an instrumental piece with "groovy" DJ spins and scratches. "Lick Me", the first tracks to include vocals, is an uptempo "cute summer number" with suggestive lyrics. "Ecstasy" is an electronic song with Kumi's "cool husky" vocals being heavily processed with

autotune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles from the vocoder ...

and

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

effects. According to Adam Greenberg from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, ''Ecstasy'' "share some ideation with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

concepts, mixing sultriness with oddity and playing with the instrumentation and voicing along the way." The album's second interlude, "12:35PM", is another instrumental piece with "slow-paced" handclaps, and subtle urban undertones. ''Hashire!'' is a "distorted" midtempo dance song with influences of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, and the EP is closed with a final instrumental interlude, "12:00AM".

Promotion

''3 Splash'' was released on July 8, 2009, through

. There are three official versions: a stand-alone CD version, a CD+DVD version and a CD+DVD version which features an accessory pouch for the physical single. Each version featured a different cover sleeve, all with Kumi standing in front of a grey background: the CD version features Kumi in a black outfit (which she wore in her "Ecstasy" music video), the CD+DVD and digital EP version features Kumi in urban street gear (which she wore in the video for "Hashire!") and the CD+DVD version, which includes a pink-transparent CD holder, features Kher in a 60s-influence dress (which was worn in her "Lick Me" video). The CD+DVD bundle artwork features Kumi holding a basketball. This artwork was also used for the digital release of the EP. All three recorded songs were promoted through advertisement deals in Japan. "Ecstasy" was used for Music.Jp, "Lick Me" was used for the televised commercial of her Fever Live in Hall II concert, and "Hashire!" was used for the NTT communications advert Musico. All three tracks served as the EP's promotional singles, released on July 8, 2009. "Lick Me" reached #2 on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and Hanshin Contents Link since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thursday ...

chart on the week end of July 20, 2009, which is her highest chart entry to date. "Lick Me" was certified platinum for 250,000 downloads in January 2014. "Ecstasy" and "Hashire!" did not chart in any Japanese music charts, but were marketed as promotional singles by Rhythm Zone. All three songs featured an accompanying music video, which were included on the DVD version of ''3 Splash''. An alternate version of the music video for "Lick me♥" was later placed on the DVD for her second

pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...

game, '' Fever Live in Hall II.'' All three songs have appeared on several live albums and compilations released by Kumi respectively. "Lick Me" and "Ecstasy" were performed during her Live Tour 2009: Trick, her 2009 Taiwan Live, Live Tour 2010: Universe, 10th Anniversary: Fantasia in Tokyo Dome, and Live Tour 2011: Dejavu. "Hashire!" has only been performed on her Live Tour 2009: Trick. "Lick Me" and "Ecstasy" both appeared on her 2013 digital compilation, ''Summer Single Collection 2013'', while "Lick Me" was included on both Kumi's concept compilations: ''Happy Love Song Collection'' (2014) and ''

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a major social phenomenon that occurred in San Francisco during the summer of 1967. As many as 100,000 people, mostly young people, hippies, beatniks, and 1960s counterculture figures, converged in San Francisco's Haig ...

'' (2015).

Reception

''3 Splash'' received favourable reviews from music critics. Chris True from

highlighted ''Hashire!'' as a career stand out track from Kumi's discography. Ian Martin from the same publication reviewed "Lick Me" and "Ecstasy" from the ''

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

'' album and was divided. For "Lick Me", he said, "She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, with song titles like "Lick Me" laying their erotic playing cards on the table from the get-go, and her lack of any recognizable singing ability compensated for by an awful lot of gumption." For "Ecstasy", he commended her "hard working ethic" in many songs, highlighting the song and concluded that, "All of this reveals a desperate need to achieve success no matter what, but also the humanity of the effort underpinning it." Greenberg commended the production of "Ecstasy", and said that "Lick Me" was "slightly off-tempo" that "brings Kumi back to more standard territory." A reviewer from ''CD Journal'' complimented the production of each song, and described the EP as "catchy" and "danceable". Hiraga Tetsuo from ''Hot Express'' was positive, who commended Kumi's song writing and the "summer" theme throughout the EP. On the Japanese

, ''3 Splash'' debuted at #2, Kumi's third consecutive EP to have peaked at this position. The EP lasted twelve weeks in the top 100, selling 93,000 units, and was certified gold by the

(RIAJ) for shipments of 100,000 units; this became her fourth consecutive EP to have shipped over 100,000 units, after '' Love & Honey'' (2004), '' 4 Hot Wave'' (2006), and ''

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

'' (2008). ''3 Splash'' reached number eight on the Taiwanese East Asian chart. "Lick Me" reached #2 on the Billboard

chart, and reached #8 and #15 on the Japan Billboard Adult Contemporary and Radio Songs chart, respectively. "Lick Me" was nominated for the Japan Record Award at the 51st Japan Record Awards, but lost to

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

's "Someday".

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, backing vocals, song writing, executive producer * Hum – producer, song writing, composer, arranger * Yu – producer, composer, arranger * Hiroto Suzuki – producer, composer, arranger * Shinjiroh Inoue – producer, composer, arranger *

– record label *

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

– parent label, management Credits adapted from the EP's liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

Alternate versions

;"Ecstasy" #"Ecstasy": Found on the single (2009) and corresponding album

UNIVERSE The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

(2010) #"Ecstasy (Caramel Pod E Remix)": Found on the single (2009) #"Ecstasy (Caramel Pod Remix)": Found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 2 (2010) ;"Lick me♥" #"Lick me♥": Found on the single (2009) and corresponding album ''

'' (2010) #"Lick me♥ (Yusuke Tanaka Remix)": Found on the single (2009) #"Lick me♥ (Prog5 BIG BASS Remix)": Found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 2 (2010) #"Lick me♥ (Floorbreaker remix)": Found on Beach Mix (2012)

Notes

References

External links

3 Splash
– Kumi Koda's official website. {{authority control 2009 EPs Rhythm Zone albums Koda Kumi EPs