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| Yukika Teramoto released her first solo album "Soul Lady" ("Seoul Lady" in Korean) last month. The title song is about a young woman who comes to Seoul in search of her dreams. Courtesy of Estimate Entertainment |
Yukika brings '80s Japanese city pop to K-pop fans
By Jung Min-ho
Can Korean pop music still be considered "K-pop" if it does not feature a Korean singer?
Yukika Teramoto, 27, a Japanese city pop artist based in Korea, believes it can.
"I consider myself as a K-pop singer," Yukika said in an interview at The Korea Times office in Seoul Thursday. "I sing Korean songs, working with Korean staff in Korea. If my music ― which was created by Korean producers who reinterpreted city pop in their unique way ― is not K-pop, what is K-pop?"
City pop refers to a music style that was popular in Japan from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. As the name suggests, it projects an "urban feel," with a rhythmic, funky base that is usually expressed with the minutely chopped rhythms of guitars or synthesizers.
Yukika was one of the first Japanese singers to bring that style to Korea. The term "city pop" began to appear in the Korean media in the late 2010s, around the time her first Korean solo single, "Neon (2019)," was released.
When asked how she developed an interest in the genre, which was born before her, Yukika said her taste in music was influenced by her parents.
"My father would always listen to the pop songs from between the '50s and the '70s and my mother likes '80s city pop," she said. "Their taste in music highly influenced me and my two sisters in terms of developing our own. So my taste has always been unusual among my peers."
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| Yukika / Courtesy of Estimate Entertainment |
Last month, Yukika released her first solo album "Soul Lady" ("Seoul Lady" in Korean), which has 13 tracks including "Neon." The title song is about a young woman who comes to Seoul in search of her dreams.
"Some parts of the song, such as 'with a one-way ticket in my hand,' definitely remind me of myself on the plane flying here to pursue my dream," she said.
Yukika, who started her show business career as a model and actress as a teenager in Japan, came to Seoul in 2016 for the TV show "The Idolmaster KR," which led her to join its tie-in K-pop girl group "Real Girls Project."
"Singing in Korean was challenging, but I increasingly felt drawn to it," she said. "I came here to become an actress. But for now, I would like to focus on my music career."
Born in Shizuoka and brought up in Tokyo, Yukika said Seoul has vibes of the two.
"I have found that Seoul is chic and energetic like Tokyo and has the warm atmosphere that I felt in Shizuoka," she said.
Her favorite areas of Seoul are Apgujeong and Cheongdam, where she visits at night just to walk and feel the city's vibe.
Yukika said she is often asked whether she wants to make her debut as a singer in her home country. But she rejected the possibility.
It was KCON ― a major K-pop festival held just outside Tokyo last year ― that reminded her of where she belongs as a singer.
"It was a surreal experience that I met Japanese fans as a K-pop singer," Yukika said. "Some of them did not even know that I'm Japanese. It feels more natural for me to sing in Korean. I cannot imagine myself singing in Japanese in front of a crowd, at least for now."
