''Genic'' (stylized as ''_genic'') is the twelfth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Japanese singer

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

. It was released on various physical and

digital formats Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols, each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example ...

on June 10, 2015 by Amuro’s label Dimension Point, and serves as the singer's final studio album before her retirement in September 2018. Amuro began working on the album in 2014 and received over 200 demo recordings from her team, which included a diverse group of collaborators. Finally, she chose tracks based on their introductions and what was trending in music at the time. Stylistically, ''Genic'' is influenced by

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

from the

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...

and

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 335px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Space Shuttle Columbia, Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union, Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of ...

, and R&B elements from the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

, with additional elements of

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

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 ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

, and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

. Lyrically, the album addresses topics including

self-empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

, fun, glamour, and fashion. ''Genic'' is also Amuro’s third

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

record; the majority of the songs on the album are in English, with a few

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

phrases interspersed.

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

gave ''Genic'' positive reviews, with many praising the album's mix of sounds, production quality, and overall appeal. However, some reviewers were divided on Amuro's English delivery and use of EDM music. Since its release, ''Genic'' and its material have received numerous nominations and accolades. It was a commercial success in Japan, reaching number one 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 A ...

and component charts provided by ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'', and was certified platinum 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 exceeding sales of 250,000 units. ''Genic'' did not have any

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

before its release, but her cover of " What I Did for Love" with French DJ

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

was released as a

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 ...

. Several songs from the album received

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s and commercial attention, particularly "Golden Touch", which was highlighted by Western media. To promote the album, Amuro embarked on her Livegenic tour throughout Asia, as well as her annual Live Style show, which included songs from ''Genic'' on the set list. Following each tour, a live release was subsequently distributed.

Background

In 2013, Amuro established her own record label, Dimension Point, in collaboration with

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 ...

. Originally, the singer planned to leave Avex and management company

Vision Factory , operating as Rising Production, is a Japanese talent agency. It largely works with musical talent, but has branched out in recent years to include actors and comedians. The company came into prominence after the widespread successes of musical ...

(now

Rising Production , operating as Rising Production, is a Japanese talent agency. It largely works with musical talent, but has branched out in recent years to include actors and comedians. The company came into prominence after the widespread successes of musical ...

) after seventeen years. However, Avex confirmed that Dimension Point would be implemented to give Amuro control over her music and personal projects. Her first offering from the label was her eleventh studio and second bilingual album, '' Feel'' (2013). Following this, she released a succession of stand-alone singles: "

Tsuki derives from the verb , meaning "to thrust". The second syllable is accented, with Japanese's unvoiced vowels making it pronounced almost like " ski" (but preceded by a "t" sound). In Japanese martial arts and Okinawan martial arts, ''tsuki'' i ...

" (January 2014) and " Brighter Day" (November 2014). In January 2015, Japanese media reported Amuro's intention to work with American collaborators, with her relocating to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, to improve her English and incorporate it into her music. That same month, she left Vision Factory after 22 years to start Stella88, a private agency through Dimension Point. Amuro confirmed the release of ''Genic'' in May. A visualiser, which included lyric videos for all 12 unpublished recordings, was on trial that same month until the end of the month, and Amuro's website also hosted a special website dedicated to the album's release and promotional campaign.

Production and development

Production on ''Genic'' began in mid-2014, while Amuro was on her annual Live Style tour. Amuro told Japanese

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on journalism, writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about and critique fashion events and trends as well as cultivate and maintain relationships with stylists and ...

''Sweet'' that she wanted to create an album that sounded "trendy" at the time, while also drawing inspiration from sounds and aesthetics from the 1970s to 1990s. She stated that her "staff understands my vision and made a selection of demos for me. As always, I chose the songs which instantly felt right to me." Amuro attempted not to "play it too safe" and instead "express something that's a step forward from the previous album." Amuro and her team received over 200 demo recordings to listen to and choose from. She quickly selected each song based on the intro sections that she thought made an impression on her. However, she was dissatisfied with the full length of the demos and requested that each one be reworked except for the intro, saying, "To be honest, I hardly ever ask for demos to be changed like that. This might be the first time I’ve gone so far. I wanted those intros on my album that much." Two of the songs chosen were collaborations: "B Who I Want 2 B" with Japanese

Vocaloid is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...

Hatsune Miku , officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media. Its official mascot is depicted as a sixteen-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's personification has been marketed as a virt ...

(sampled from a piece by British producer

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

) and a cover of " What I Did for Love" with French DJ

.''Genic'' formats listed below: * * * During the sessions, Amuro decided to include only new recordings on the album, her first since '' Dance Tracks Vol. 1'' in 1995. Amuro had previously released "Tsuki" and "Brighter Day", both of which featured B-side tracks on various formats. According to Amuro, her team had discussed including the songs in ''Genic''. However, she rejected the idea because she believed it would interfere with the album's concept, sound, and tempo. Furthermore, each single and its B-side were released as commercial tie-ins, which Amuro was opposed to, putting that decision at risk for ''Genic''. The songs chosen were all written in English, with some phrases written in

by previous collaborators Tiger and Emyli. Amuro found the original demo, which included English lyrics, difficult and "were often translated opposite of what I intended". She wanted each song to convey a different message, and she thought that incorporating Japanese into a mostly-English record would be a "puzzle". She said, "I’ll take up the challenge of solving that puzzle because I also have the desire to rattle people more. Also, I think there are puzzles which only the people who bought the album can solve!"

Music and content

The sound on ''Genic'' is divided between 1970s-1980s

and 1990s R&B, with lyrics that focus on self-empowerment, fun, glamour, and fashion. According to Lauren du Plessis of ''Electric Bloom'', the album covers all of her career genres: "there's some ultra-fluffy

teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...

, flashes of her R'n'B phase, and plenty of popular dance elements." Similarly, ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' writer Patrick St. Michel found the album influenced by EDM, but he also noted "diverse" genres such as

europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

and contemporary

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 ...

. In a similar review, Kenichi Shirahara of Utalabo compared the sound to Amuro's previous studio album ''Feel'' while also identifying new wave and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

elements in ''Genic''. ''Genic'' begins with "Photogenic", an R&B-influenced song with heavy

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

s and

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

lyrics; the line "Strike a pose" has been compared to "

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

" by American singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. "Time Has Come" is a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

track with

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...

sounds and varying tempos, starting with a slow

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

intro and progressing to a fast-paced

chorus. "Golden Touch" was noted for its retro vibe, blending R&B and pop elements, love-inspired lyrics, and a joyful chorus, and was compared to the work of American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

. "Birthday" is a pop song with a fast-paced rap section that has been compared to the work of American singer

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

due to its upbeat and girly tone. "It" is a rhythmic love song with

whistling Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. Th ...

handclap A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

s, and bouncy keyboards, using the playground game tag as a metaphor for falling in love. "Scream" is an upbeat electronic dance song with heavy club influences that discusses having fun at a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. "Fashionista" is a fast-paced EDM and R&B song that focuses on self-love and empowerment through

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

. "Fly" is an upbeat EDM track with

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

and rock influences that lyrically explores the highlights of a luxurious lifestyle. "B Who I Want 2 B" is a collaboration with Hatsune Miku. Miku was initially advertised as the anagram U Hum Speak It when ''Genic'' was first announced. Sophie created it as a demo track in 2014 and gave it to Amuro during the early production sessions. Musically, it is an electronic track with influences from

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

and

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...

, while the artificial vocal deliveries and sound have been described as having an

uncanny valley The effect is a hypothesized psychological and aesthetic relation between an object's degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost huma ...

effect. "Stranger" is an aggressive EDM track with elements of

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

and subtle dubstep music. "Every Woman" is an upbeat rhythmic dance track about female empowerment, whereas "Space Invader" is a cheerful pop song with R&B and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

elements. The album's closing

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, "Anything", focuses on Amuro's vocals and acoustic instrumentation. Lyrically, it is an empowering anthem about self-confidence and the value of believing in oneself. "What I Did for Love" is a bonus track on the album that is a cover song featuring David Guetta as the lead artist, but omits the original vocalist, British singer Emeli Sande. Musically, it is a dance song with soulful vocals by Amuro.

Release and formats

Dimension Point released ''Genic'' on June 10, 2015, in a variety of formats. All formats included 14 songs totalling more than 49 minutes in length. The physical versions included a standard disc with all featured songs, while the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

included

s for "Golden Touch", "Birthday", "Fashionista", "Stranger", and "Anything". Hidden footage on the DVD and Blu-ray versions also included a special

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph or a short video, typically taken with an electronic camera or smartphone. The camera would be usually held at arm's length or supported by a selfie stick instead of being controlled with a self-timer ...

video for "Birthday" and a dance-only visual for "Fashionista". The standard version of ''Genic'' was then released through

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and

music streaming services A music streaming service is a type of online streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to s ...

, and was physically distributed in Hong Kong and Taiwan.International formats listed below: * * * Tisch photographed the album's

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

, which shows Amuro dressed in black and wearing a black-lace veil. Jun Hirota later created the art direction and booklet for the album. Standard jewelcase packaging includes close-up shots of Amuro, whereas

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

versions include various cut-out shapes that hold the booklet but only show parts of Amuro's face; each format includes a different shot of Amuro. The title ''Genic'' refers to the title track "Photogenic"; however, Amuro believed that the term "genic" could be interpreted in a variety of ways.

Promotional content

Amuro had stated that she planned to release ''Genic'' without any

. However, "What I Did for Love" with David Guetta was released as a

on July 1, 2015, across digital and streaming platforms. Despite this, several songs from the album experienced success. Amuro released music videos for "Golden Touch", "Birthday", "Fashionista", "Stranger", and "Anything" on her

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. During the album's release week, "Birthday" and "Golden Touch" were successful in Japan, with "Birthday" reaching number 36 on the ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 and "Golden Touch" reaching number 43 on the ''Billboard Japan'' Radio Songs chart. Western media highlighted the video for “Golden Touch”, which was hailed as her international breakthrough. Several publications featured the music video. ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' compared the video to the sensation of

optical illusion In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...

s, describing it as "Colorful, fun, gay ... but especially interactive." According to Japan Trends, they felt "Golden Touch" is "a good marketing stunt for a dying industry, and overseas media has picked up the story too". British publication ''

Creative Review ''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print an ...

'' named it their music video of the month. On June 5, "Golden Touch" premiered in North America on

SiriusXM Hits 1 ''Sirius XM Hits 1'' is a Contemporary hit radio, Top 40 radio station on Sirius XM Radio channel 2 and Dish Network channels 6002 and 099-02 (099-02 is only for Hopper users). Like most Sirius XM stations, it plays no commercials. The channel wa ...

as part of their YouTube 15 schedule, hosted and chosen by American YouTube personality

Jenna Marbles Jenna Nicole Mourey (born September 15, 1986), better known as Jenna Marbles, is an American former YouTuber. Over the span of ten years, her YouTube channel has accumulated approximately 1.8 billion video views and, at its peak, over 20 million ...

. Following the original music video's 10 million views on YouTube, a second video featuring Amuro premiered. In October 2015, Amuro and Hatsune Miku appeared as computer-generated characters on the cover of fashion magazine ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

''. With their appearance, Amuro confirmed that the two would collaborate on a music video. That same month, Nylon TV premiered the music video for "B Who I Want 2 B", which featured the singers in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional animated form.

Livegenic Tour

Prior to its release, Amuro promoted ''Genic'' on various Japanese radio stations. In June 2015, she announced her Livegenic tour, which included flyers of the tour in the album booklet. The Livegenic tour included 47 shows across Japan, starting on September 5 at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Chūō-ku, Saitama (city), Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum capa ...

and ending on February 10 at the

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

Event Hall in

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

. She expanded her tour to include two shows in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and one in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Dimension Point hosted a special website featuring photos, digest films, and other tour-related content. A live video was recorded at the

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its Suspended structure, suspension roof design. The arena holds 13,291 people (9,079 stand seats, 4,124 arena sea ...

on December 8 and released in a variety of physical formats on March 2, 2016.''Livegenic 2015-2016'' formats listed below: * * The track list features 29 songs from the show, including two bonus tracks " Break It" and "Arigatou" recorded at the Miyagi Super Arena, and a hidden video track of Amuro's song "Birthday". The live releases achieved success in Japan, topping the Oricon DVD and Blu-ray charts, and was certified gold by the

(RIAJ) for exceeding 100,000 units in the region.

Set list

Shows

Critical reception

''Genic'' received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. ''

'' praised the album's "colourful" mix of genres, describing it as a "whole body of work". Japanese magazine ''CDJournal'' praised Amuro's decision not to release any singles from the album, giving it an overall "bullishness" quality. They called the album "smart" and praised the collaborations with Guetta and Miku. Lauren Du Pressis of ''Electric Bloom'' described the singer as a "chameleon force in the music industry" due to her musical exploration and mature image. Despite criticism of the album's "repetitive" nature and collaborations, Du Pressis recommended it for

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

listeners seeking a more mature sound; "You can't hide from an album this infectious." Patrick St. Michel wrote two reviews for ''Genic''. Writing for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', he praised the album's "confident" and "inspired" vibe, and felt this was her best EDM offering after her previous efforts, which he described as "cheap replicas". Despite his reservations about her English delivery and some productions, such as "Every Woman", "It", and "What I Did for Love", he concluded that ''Genic''s best moments were the "most straightforward". For ''

'', he wrote, "Her busy EDM songs don't always work and her English delivery still needs practice, but ''Genic'' is a solid collection of catchy pop tunes... It’s a heck of a comeback, and a well-earned one at that." Amuro received numerous nominations and accolades for ''Genic''. "Anything" won the DOTD category at the Design Awards Asia, the Design Award at the FWA Design Awards, and the Best Innovative Integration Bronze Award at the Spike Asia Awards in 2015. For the Design Award Asia awards, it received three specific ranking strategies: creativity (8.4 points), its content (8 points), and its visuals (7.8 points). "Birthday" was nominated for Video of the Year, and won Best Female Video, at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. "Golden Touch" won the DOTM category at the Design Awards Asia, and was awarded silver for the Top Japanese Gold Songs ranked by RTHK International Pop Poll Awards.

Commercial performance

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

Japan (now Luminate) predicted that ''Genic'' would top the

and ''

''s Top Albums Sales chart, surpassing the work of Japanese acts

Mr. Children , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one ...

and Superfly. As expected, ''Genic'' topped both the Top Albums and Top Albums Sales charts, and spent 25 weeks on both charts. ''Genic'' then debuted at number one on the Oricon daily chart, selling 81,491 units. Furthermore, it debuted at number one on the weekly chart, selling 160,474 units, her third lowest first-week sales since '' Break the Rules'' (2000) and ''

Style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

'' (2003). Despite this, ''Genic'' became the best-selling album by a female artist in 2015, surpassing ''White'' by Superfly. By the end of June, the album had reached number two on the monthly chart. By the end of the year, ''Genic'' had sold 246,269 units, making Amuro the best-selling solo artist and female artist of the year. The album was certified platinum by the RIAJ for exceeding sales of 250,000 units.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''Genic''. Locations *Recorded at ABS Recordings, Bunkamura Recordings, LAB Recorders, and Prime Sound Studios in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Mixed at Daimonion Recordings in Tokyo, Japan. Mastered at Sterling Studios in

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. Musicians *Namie Amuro – main vocals, background vocals *Gary Adkins – chorus vocals *Alisa – chorus vocals *Namie Amuro – main vocals *Olivia Burrell – chorus vocals *Jeroen de Rijk – tambourines *Sean Douglas – keyboards *Emyli – chorus vocals additional background vocals *Bardur Haberg – all instruments *

– vocals *Breyan Stanley Isaac – vocal background *Singo Kubota – guitar *Jocab Luttrell – vocal background *Sam Martin – keyboards *Neue Philharmonic Frankfurt – orchestra *Andreas Oberg – guitar, synth bass guitar *Candace Shields – vocal background *Giorgio Tuinfort – piano Imagery *Wakana Chiba – creative coordination *Jun Hirota – design *Eichi Matsunaga – manicurist *Akemi Nakano – hair, make-up *Akira Noda – stylist *Toshiyuki Suzuki – art direction *Tisch– photographer Production *Johan Alkenas – producer *Sky Beatz – track producer *Kevin Charge – producer * Tom Coyne – mastering *Dimension Point – sound production, A&R *D.O.I. – mixing *Hiro Doi – music producer *James "Keyz" Foye – producer *

– instrumentation, producer, programmer *Bardur Haberg – producer *Jon Hällgren – producer *Kohei Hatakeyama – vocal recording *Svante Halldin – producer *Jakob Hazell – producer *Hirofumi Iwanaga – Hatsune Miku vocal production coordination *Erik Lidbom – producer *Maria Marcus – producer *Raphaella Mazaheri-Asadi – vocal arrangement, vocal production *Mighty Mike – producer *Mitchie M – Hatsune Miku vocal production * Skylar Mones – producer *Wataru Namiusa – vocal recordin *Joacim Persson – producer *Wataru Sasaki – Hatsune Miku vocal production coordination *

– producer *Stella88& – management *Scott Stoddart – producer *Sunny Boy – producer *Giorgio Tuinfort – instrumentation, producer, programmer *Sam Wheat – recording engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

External links

''Genic''
on Namie Amuro's website (archived).

special website.
"Anything"
special

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"Anything"

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. {{Authority control 2015 albums Albums produced by David Guetta 2010s Japanese-language albums Namie Amuro albums Albums produced by Sophie (musician)