Fujii Kaze’s “Prema” Looks Outward, Recasting J-Pop for a Global Stage

Where Fujii Kaze stands today, and what lies ahead

Looking back from LOVE ALL SERVE ALL (March 2022) to Prema, Fujii Kaze’s journey is a study in evolution. Along the way, he’s consistently delivered singles tied to major campaigns, each one stretching the boundaries of his sound. What once branded him simply as an “R&B musician” now feels like a starting point rather than a definition.

Take “Hana” (October 2023). On the surface, it’s a classic, song-driven J-Pop track, but beneath the vocals, A.G. Cook’s minimalist production strips everything down to essentials, revealing layers of subtle complexity. Or consider “Workin’ Hard” (August 2023), which brought in DJ Dahi, who has produced for Kendrick Lamar and Drake, signaling Kaze’s growing engagement with English-speaking collaborators. Until now, his international partnerships had largely been with artists from elsewhere in Asia, making this a clear step into a broader musical world.

Slightly earlier in time, yet still noteworthy, is the global success around 2022 of “Shinunoga E-Wa” (May 2020, from his first album). While the phenomenon was largely driven by TikTok’s algorithm, it is remarkable that a J-Pop track, a genre often considered difficult to break internationally, emerged from Thailand as the starting point for a worldwide hit.

The song’s ambivalent charm comes from its hybrid of traditional Japanese kayōkyoku elements and trap beats, creating a sound both familiar and modern. This hybrid approach, combined with the track’s overseas success, highlighted the shifting dynamics of the domestic market after the globalization of “city pop, ”a scenario in which movements that gained traction abroad later resonated back in Japan, leaving a lasting impression on local listeners.

Looking at his live activities, since his first Asia tour in 2023, Fujii Kaze has successfully carried out multiple overseas tours, including stops in the United States and Europe. This demonstrates that his efforts are not limited to the Asian motifs he has often drawn on in his work, but extend to a proactive push into English-speaking markets, the very heartland of pop music.

Since the beginning of 2025, he has continued this momentum, strategically performing at major international festivals such as Lollapalooza in the US, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and Roskilde in Denmark. These appearances, woven between tours and releases, highlight a defining aspect of Fujii Kaze’s approach: exporting his music to the world through both his recordings and live performances.

Fujii Kaze’s Prema (Listen here)

A Reverence for Western Music and Its Reinvention

Looking at the roster of artists and the stylistic choices on Prema, it becomes clear that this album was created as a kind of culmination of Fujii Kaze’s recent activities.

The opening track “Casket Girl”, produced by Rob Bisel, features numerous musicians from English-speaking countries, resulting in a polished pop number that can feel almost impeccably orderly. Of particular interest is the participation of DURAN on guitar. His rock-influenced approach helps shape a welcoming and accessible opening track for listeners.

“I Need U Back” evokes the full energy of late 1980s New Jack Swing, pairing passionate vocals that capture the frenzy of disco with a gritty, urban sound. The track’s distinctive texture comes from the work of French electronic music producer Breakbot, who is signed to Ed Banger Records, the label founded by Pedro Winter, also known as Daft Punk’s manager. His touch on guitar, bass, and synth helps sharpen the overall direction of the album.

The overall direction of the album is likely guided by a single concept: to carefully unpack and deconstruct Fujii Kaze’s layered reverence for Western music, arranging it as faithfully as possible to its roots while updating it with contemporary resources and collaborators. In a long interview featured in the October 2025 issue of MUSICA, he explains, “From the start, I wanted this album to openly show the inspiration I drew from classic songs of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s without hiding it.”

This concept is likely possible precisely because Fujii Kaze, as a musician from Asia, a region historically positioned at the periphery, has long absorbed and admired the “golden age” of Western music.

The title track “Prema” carries this concept forward. Its relatively simple, firm hip-hop beat is complemented by jazzy bass and piano, creating a distinctive groove that feels effortlessly engaging. In the liner notes by Reiko Yukawa, included with the album, it is revealed that the love expressed in “Prema” is directed toward a higher-dimensional self, a soul at a transcendent level. This is the love of the song, the essence of divinity itself. The track’s spirituality, somewhat detached from a traditional Japanese sensibility, gives it a texture that differs from a straightforward love song.

Japanese Pop Music’s Internalized Perspective on Western Music

The concept of Prema, built around the idea of “export,” and its careful deconstruction of the layered inspirations available to an Asian musician like Fujii Kaze, becomes clear when looking at his recent work.

What is equally striking is how an album sung entirely in English and devoted to arrangements faithful to its roots has been so warmly embraced in the Japanese music market. From its release, it quickly climbed various charts, with all tracks, led by the pre-release singles and lead track, appearing on streaming surge lists. Its strong initial performance rivals that of his previous platinum-certified album.

It has long been said that Japanese audiences are drifting away from Western music, and Japanese-language songs dominate the J-Pop scene. So why has ‘Prema’ been received so enthusiastically? While the answer is not definitive, one useful perspective is to focus on Japanese pop music’s internalized gaze on Western music.

It is well known that the term J-Pop was coined in the late 1980s by the FM radio station J-WAVE to describe Japanese music that could be aired alongside Western music without feeling out of place. Originally conceived as “Japanese music on par with Western music,” J-Pop quickly became the mainstream of Japanese pop during the 1990s, driven by a combination of factors such as the mass production of drama tie-in hits and the nationwide expansion of large CD retailers. In contrast, Western music sales stagnated over the long term, and its presence in the domestic market has remained minimal to this day.

By the late 1990s, the so-called “CD bubble” had emerged, with annual sales routinely exceeding one million units, and a reference system within J-Pop was firmly established. Paradoxically, however, the value of Western music itself—the very music J-Pop originally drew upon—declined.

During the same period, a counter-movement emerged in response to the dominance of J-Pop. Bands such as SUPERCAR and NUMBER GIRL, which referenced the latest rock from the U.S. and U.K., and TRICERATOPS and NONA REEVES, which reinterpreted Black music through a band sound, received critical acclaim. Their approach bears some resemblance to Fujii Kaze’s current methodology. It should be noted, however, that their recognition existed within the context of alternative rock, and they never achieved mainstream popularity.

In this way, J-Pop since the 1990s can be seen as a form of “Japanese music” that incorporates elements of Western music absorbed in postwar Japan while applying arrangements that do not clearly reveal its roots. This formulation explains, in part, why international expansion has historically been difficult.