YOASOBI is a Japanese music super duo formed by Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
composed of Vocaloid producer Ayase, and singer-songwriter Ikura.
The group formed after being contacted by Japanese creative-writing site Monogatary to create music inspired from original stories on their platform.
Their first album, THE BOOK, was released in January 2021.
Early life and background
Ayase the producer of Yoasobi, was born on April 4,1994 in Tokyo Japan. Both members of Yoasobi had active music careers before forming the duo.
Ayase started producing music while he was in the upper grade of elementary school when his parents bought him an acoustic guitar as a Christmas present. He first began to practice Sheena Ringo’s song on the guitar. He released his first solo Ghost City Tokyo on Nov 23, 2019.
Lilas Ikuta performs under the stage name Ikura in Yoasobi, born on Sept 25, 2000 is a singer-songwriter.
Participated in various auditions, and in 2015, she participated in the artist category of the Tokyo Girls Audition and advanced to the third round. Also, Sony MusicSponsored by “SINGIN’JAPAN”Has been selected as a finalist
Inspiration and music
Ayase grew up on mainstream J-pop artists like aiko, Sukima Switch, Kobukuro and EXILE. They were major influences, so when I make my own music — whether it be vocaloid tracks or songs for YOASOBI — I don’t have a sense of doing anything particularly offbeat and always aim to straightforwardly create the best kind of J-pop.
Ikuta grew up in the States until she was 3 years old and listened to a lot of Western music from a young age. When Ikuta was in elementary school, she watched a lot of programs on the Disney Channel and bought the soundtracks to practice singing the songs in English. Ikuta says I think the way I sing now has a lot to do with my experience from back then. Also, my father likes folk music, and he taught me how to play the guitar. I listened to a lot of folk and country music up to my early teens, so those kinds of simpler tunes are my influences as well.
Careers
In 2019, Ayase received an offer from Monogatary.com [ja], a novel-centered social media website operated by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, to collaborate on a project to produce songs inspired by novels written on the website. After discussion about vocalists, he found Ikura on Instagram, where she had uploaded some of her music, and formed the super duo.
Music
The first song released by Yoasobi, “Yoru ni Kakeru“, based on Mayo Hoshino‘s short story Thanatos no Yūwaku, published on Monogatary.com and won the Monocon 2019.
The music video was initially uploaded via YouTube on November 16, 2019, before subsequently being officially released on December 15. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, the song went viral on social media.
Popular Songs
The Blessing song is here to give the listener a feeling of happiness, hope, and love. And it will make him/her feel happy when it is sung by him/her in a good mood. This is a song that has many meanings. The original meaning refers to the person who cannot be bothered by other people’s feelings and therefore, himself/herself is not affected. Thus, this person is insensitive, without feeling disgusted or worried about other people’s feelings.
But in fact, this person prefers to stay calm and indifferent for life rather than worrying about others’ emotions. So, it is not that these people are insensitive, but they prefer to remain indifferent among others. This is a track where the listener will be able to experience the feeling of being shy, nervous, and insecure. The song is easy on the ears, it has a catchy beat, and it will make you feel relaxed and comfortable. This track will attract you during your best times in life when you want to express yourself openly about your feelings for someone or for something, or if you have just been dumped by someone you are in love with.
What does it mean to be blessed? You stay young and you have fun if you have the blessings of God. The song contains a long list of blessings, but it is one of the most famous blessings in the world and it is said that people have been asking for it for centuries. It’s your life, your story, your way. You have the chance to do what you want and more importantly, you can choose to do it properly! But there are some blessings that are more than just your life.
Of course, the most important of all is that you have the chance to make a difference in your children’s lives and in society at large. It may be through music, art, or sport, but it’s always people coming together who can make these amazing events happen! The blessings of God are the blessings that people feel when they see two loved ones together, children playing, adults sitting down together for a meal, or a family having time together.
We were born with a certain destiny that we can’t change. But there’s no point even thinking about changing our destiny. We are just going to have to accept it. Go ahead and crush it. Nothing is going to change anything if you don’t do anything about it. I’m sure most of us have heard the song Blessing’ You at least once in our lifetime, right? It’s a very catchy song because of its catchiness and the music video is also very good. But that song is not the one we should go by when we choose what to listen to on our playlist, music or otherwise.
Volunteer and services
A novel-centered social media operated by their label, which is also from various media like novels written by professional authors, books, and letters.
Discography
The Book
- Released: January 6, 2021
- Label: Sony Japan
- Formats: CD, DL, streaming
E-side
- Released: November 12, 2021
- Label: Sony Japan
- Formats: DL, streaming
Awards and nominations
The group won the 2020 Billboard Japan Music Award for Hot 100 of the year and the Japan MTV Video Music Award for Song of the year in 2020.
Conclusion
Yoasobi has a great influence on anime music, Tokyo Japan overall music scene. The duo Ayase and Ikuta have tremendous followers on many platforms of social media. Yoasobi is proven to be a new sound for the new generation but, more importantly a big impact on the Japanese culture for music.