Iri
Iri
Genres: j-pop, japanese, rnb, pop, female vocalists
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About Iri
There are multiple artists sharing this name: 1) iri (イリ; born March 15th 1994) is a Japanese pop and alternative R&B/Hip hop singer songwriter from Zushi (Kanagawa) who has been active since 2014. Biography: She decided to pursue music while in high school. Instead of joining school clubs, she devoted herself to vocal training. After entering university, she taught herself acoustic guitar using one owned by her mother. She began her music career in earnest by performing solo shows at a long-established jazz bar where she worked part-time, mainly taking part in sessions with jazz bands. In 2014, she won the Grand Prix in the Music Performance category at the joint audition “JAM,” hosted by NYLON JAPAN and Sony Music. After studying abroad in New York, which was part of the prize, she participated in Shingo Sekiguchi’s song “Tsunaita Mirai feat. iri” in February 2015 as lyricist and vocalist. The song was used in the film Terrace House: Closing Door. In 2016, she was selected as the opening act for Donovan Frankenreiter’s Japan tour. This led to appearances at major summer festivals such as RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL 2016 in EZO, OCEAN PEOPLES 2016, and SUMMER SONIC 2016, drawing wider attention. In October of the same year, she made her major-label debut with her first album Groove it, released by Victor Entertainment’s Colourful Records. The album entered the top 10 on the iTunes Store and reached number one on the Hip-Hop/Rap chart. On March 22, 2017, she released her first single “Watashi.” The song was used for Nike Women’s “Watashi ni Odoroke” campaign, and she also appeared in Apple Music’s spring campaign advertisements alongside Suchmos and KANDYTOWN. In April, she served as the opening act for Corinne Bailey Rae’s first Japan tour in six years. Despite being a newcomer, she appeared at numerous festivals such as SPACE SHOWER SWEET LOVE SHOWER 2017 and Corona SUNSETS FESTIVAL. On November 17, she held her first solo concert, “iri One Man Live 2017,” at Shibuya WWWX to mark the first anniversary of her debut. Her EP life ep, released on November 22, once again topped the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap chart. On February 28, 2018, she released her second album Juice. In March, she embarked on her first nationwide tour, “iri 1st Tour 2018.” In August, she released her second single “Only One,” whose title track was used in a commercial for the International Fashion Professional University. In December, she held her first self-produced event, “iri presents Night Dream 2018,” in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. On March 6, 2019, she released her third full album Shade. The track “Wonderland” was chosen as a SONY WALKMAN campaign song, and its music video was released in full on YouTube. In April, she launched her largest nationwide tour to date, “iri Spring Tour 2019 ‘Shade,’” performing in nine cities across Japan. In May, she held her first tour in China, with shows in Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi’an. After appearing at many summer festivals, she held a solo tour titled “iri presents ‘Wonderland’” in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka in October. On September 4, she released the digital single “SUMMER END,” which was used as the theme song for the AbemaTV program Renai Drama na Koi ga Shitai: Kiss to survive. In November, she contributed a cover of Yosui Inoue’s “Higashi e Nishi e” to Yosui Inoue Tribute. On January 22, 2020, she released the single “24-25,” whose title track was used in a Seiko commercial. On March 25, she released her fourth album Sparkle. The title track was again used for a SONY campaign, and the song “Clear color” was featured in an original movie by Zoff in which she appeared as a visual model. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the declaration of a state of emergency, all shows on her planned tours “iri Spring Tour 2020” and “iri Spring Tour 2020 ‘extra’” were canceled. On September 9, she held a live-streamed solo concert without an audience titled “iri Presents ‘ONLINE SHOW.’” On November 25, she released the digital single “Ienai.” On December 2, she opened her official fan club, “Wavy Club.” On December 11, she launched “iri Presents ‘Five Zepp Tour 2020,’” performing in Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Tokyo. On February 24, 2021, she released “Hajimari no Hi” in advance from her second EP Hajimari no Hi, which was released on March 24. On February 28, she held an online live show exclusively for Wavy Club members. Beginning April 28, she toured eight cities with “iri Spring Tour 2021.” At the tour final in Tokyo on May 29, she performed the unreleased song “Uzu” for the first time, which was released digitally on June 16. On July 13, she held the online live show “iri Special Live Show ‘Uzu.’” Starting October 7, she held her anniversary concerts “iri 5th Anniversary Live ‘2016–2021,’” with five performances across four cities. On January 7, 2022, she announced the release of her fifth album neon, her first live video work iri 5th Anniversary Live ‘2016–2021,’ an acoustic solo concert, and the tour “iri S/S Tour 2022 ‘neon.’” She pre-released the song “Matenrou” from neon on January 19. On February 23, both neon and the live video work were released. On September 14, she released the digital single “Shimi”. On October 13, she held a solo concert titled “iri Presents ONEMANSHOW ‘STARLIGHTS’” at Tokyo International Forum Hall A. Following her album "PRIVATE" which was released on May 10th 2023 she released the unplugged live CD "iri Plugless Tour Live at Shouwa joshi daigaku hitomi kinenkoudou" followed by the singles "hug", "Run" and "SWAMP" in 2024. In 2024 she played at legendary Nippon Budokan. The concert was released on Blu-ray and as a live CD in 2024 as "iri Live at Budokan". Following the singles "Pick me up", "Faster than me" and "butterfly", she released her "seek" EP in May 2025 followed by the digital single “CUBE". She also participated in the RADWIMPS tribute album "Dear Jubilee -RADWIMPS TRIBUTE-" and covered Futarigoto. In 2026 she celebrates her 10th anniversary accompanied by a tour. She has also opened for notable Western acts, such as Donavon Frankenreiter and Corinne Bailey Rae, and was invited to perform at parties for high fashion brands, Chloe and VALENTINO, proving her versatility and appeal across genres and styles. She has been signed to Victor Entertainment sub-label Colourful Records from 2015 to 2024. She's currently signed to Sony Music Associated Records. Her fans are known as "Waver". Style and musical influences: iri is a genre-defying singer-songwriter known for music influenced by hip-hop, jazz, and bossa nova, poetic yet message-driven lyrics with a hip-hop sensibility, and a soulful, reverberant voice. Her songwriting process involves creating melodies and lyrics simultaneously. She works in a collaborative style with multiple producers, a standard approach in Western music. She originally listened mainly to J-pop heavily influenced by Black music, such as PUSHIM and Toshinobu Kubota. The music that influenced her most was Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” which she discovered in middle school. At the time, she was insecure about her voice, but singing Alicia Keys’ songs helped her turn that insecurity into confidence. She initially admired powerful vocalists but later incorporated hip-hop wordplay and R&B-style soulful singing as she became influenced by hip-hop. She began performing solo with guitar after admiring the understated, narrative singing styles of Tabito Nanao and Shutoku Mukai. Her interest in wordplay was also shaped by these artists. As an elementary school student, she was supported by a school counselor and once aspired to become a counselor herself. Through discovering various kinds of music, she came to believe that music also has the power to heal and support people, which led her to pursue music. She cites her mother, who was supportive of her musical ambitions, as someone she deeply respects. Reception: Kenmochi Hidefumi of 水曜日のカンパネラ (Wednesday Campanella), who participated in her second album Juice, praised her strong sense of melody. Hikaru ARATA of WONK described her appeal as the unpretentious, natural quality of her singing and voice. Taichi Mukai, who performed with her at TOKYO MUSIC ODYSSEY 2017, said he was drawn to her voice and became a fan of her music. He also praised her smoky tone, the balanced fusion of digital and analog sounds, and her hip-hop-inspired approach to lyrics and flow. Actor Yutaka Matsushige said on his radio program Shinya no Ongaku Shokudo that he “fell in love at first listen” when she appeared as a guest. Fuma Kikuchi of Sexy Zone (now timelesz) frequently requested her songs on the radio program Rajira! Saturday, which led to iri providing music for Sexy Zone’s sixth album PAGES. Actress Mei Nagano selected iri’s “Wonderland” for a playlist segment on TOKYO FM’s LOVE CONNECTION, describing the lyrics as encouraging and praising iri as an inspiring woman with a powerful voice. In Buzz Rhythm 02’s annual feature “This Will Be Big! BEST 10,” based on a survey of 224 people active in the music scene, iri was ranked 19th among artists expected to break through in 2020. On Kanjam Kanzen Nenshow, her cover of “Higashi e Nishi e” from the Yosui Inoue tribute album was ranked ninth in producer Koichi Tsutaya’s “2019 My Best 10,” with Tsutaya noting that her low, glossy voice perfectly suited the song. She also appeared on Kanjam Kanzen Nenshow in March 2022 alongside Awich in a special feature highlighting female artists praised by professionals.
Taken from Last.fm
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