Rising Japanese-English artist YATABE has recently released her new single 'Pretty Truth', co-written with Amber Van Day, who has also co-written for the likes of Lost Frequencies and Tujamo,
As a child growing up in Japan, YATABE became a disciplined musician, quickly becoming a proficient pianist and singer while using her craft as an emotional outlet. Now living in London, she brings forth a mix of Japanese and western culture in her music.
Together as a DJ, producer and vocalist, she displays her artistic capabilities through her music and her fashion sense. YATABE’s musical influences span far and wide, blending a mix of Electronic, Pop, UKG and Hip-Hop in her productions. Now with a fresh catalogue of new releases up her sleeve, the Japanese multi-hyphenate is ready to share these tracks with listeners this year.
We had the opportunity to speak with YATABE on the new release and more as part of our Introducing series...
Tell us a bit about yourself!
"I was born and raised in Japan in a small town outside of Tokyo called Tsukuba and moved over to the UK when I was 16, to study popular music at Leeds college of Music. After graduating from Leeds, I pursued a career as a make up artist. I knew this wasn’t my passion as I always had a love for music. Due to my passion for music, I decided to follow my dreams as a singer, songwriter, producer and DJ and has led me to released my own label YATABE."
Where are you from and do you feel your surroundings have inspired the music in any way?
"Originally from Japan, my surroundings have inspired me from the J-pop scene and Enka. For those who aren’t familiar with Enka, it’s a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. You will start to hear this fusion of music genres in my future releases."
How would you sum up your sound in the form of a hashtag?
"I would say #yatamazing lol!"
What’s your earliest musical memory?
"My earliest musical memory was visiting a Japanese music store in Tokyo and buying a mini disk by a J-pop singer called Namie Amuro."
Who would be your dream artist to collab with?
"My dream artist to collaborate with would be Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is a Japanese classical composer."
You’ve recently released your new single ‘Pretty Truth’. Tell us a little about it!
"Pretty truth was co- written by myself and Amber Van Day. The inspiration came about previous relationships and it was about taking back woman empowerment and self love."
How has the reaction been so far?
"The reactions has been very positive and welcomed by the music industry and listeners. I’ve been particularly touched by all the amazing feedback and love from my fans. So overall, the reaction has been amazing."
Is there a concept behind the accompanying visuals?
"I got to act out the five different sides to my personality, which are the Japanese school girl-growing up in Japan, and the influence of Japanese culture. East London, living in east London, making my way and discovering the east London scene and its fashion, art and music scene. The underground Berlin rave scene, which is a nod to the music I love and all the crazy nights in the clubs and parties there that I’ve experienced over the years. West London, which is more of my sophisticated side and represents my interest and love for high fashion and creative designers in the fashion industry. And there is me in the spotlight, where there is a reference to my career, figuring my way to the spot light and feeling empowered."
Do you have a favourite lyric from the track?
"Pretty poison you better taste it, who you are inside."
Finally, what do you have in store for the rest of 2021?
"For the rest of 2021, I will be dropping releases with B-sides, performing livestream sets and releasing a small fashion capsule of merchandise. If all goes to plan, I will be looking at DJing at live events. Fingers Crossed!"
'Pretty Truth' is out now.
Listen HERE @yatabeofficial
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