City pop is a loosely defined subset of pop music that originated in Japan in the late 1970s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced "new music", but came to include a wide range of styles associated with the country's nascent economic boom, such as AOR, soft rock, R&B, funk, synth pop and boogie. It was also associated with new emerging technologies, such as the Walkman, cars with built-in cassette decks and FM stereos, and various electronic musical instruments. There is no unified consensus among scholars regarding the definition of city pop. In Japan, the tag simply referred to a broad array of artists that were considered to project an "urban" feel. In other words, "music made by city people, for city people." Most of these artists refused to embrace Japanese influences, and instead, largely drew from American soft rock, boogie, and funk. Some examples may also feature tropical flourishes or elements taken from disco, jazz fusion, Latin, Caribbean, Synthpop, New Wave or Polynesian music. The genre reached the peak of its popularity in the 1980s before losing mainstream appeal. Tatsuro Yamashita, who was among the genre's pioneers and most successful artists, is sometimes called the "king of city pop". Since the 2010s, city pop has gained an international online following as well as becoming a touchstone for the sample-based microgenres known as vaporwave and future funk.
Definitions
Definitions of "city pop" have varied and many of the artists tagged with the genre have played in styles that are significantly different from each other. According to Ryotaro Aoki of The Japan Times: Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone concurred that city pop was "less a strict genre term than a broad vibe classification," and according to Japan Archival Series supervisor Yosuke Kitazawa, there "were no restrictions on style or a specific genre that we wanted to convey with these songs" but that it "was music made by city people, for city people." Kitazawa identified two distinct styles that exemplified city pop: "the former a lush, tropical romp, the latter a thumping rug-cutter". According to Wax Poetics Ed Motta: "City Pop is really AOR and soft rock but with some funk and boogie too. Because when you hear funkier City Pop tunes, you hear not only the influence, but in some parts they steal from groups like Skyy, BB&Q Band, and those kinda American boogie and funk groups." An Electronic Beats writer characterized city pop as Japan's "answer to synth pop and disco".
Musical origins
Musically, city pop applies relatively advanced songwriting and arranging techniques – such as major seventh and diminished chords – that are drawn directly from the American soft rock of the era. Motta traces city pop to the mid-1970s with the work of Haruomi Hosono and Tatsuro Yamashita. Vice contributor Rob Arcand similarly credited Hosono as a "key influence" on city pop. In the mid-1970s, Hosono founded the bandTin Pan Alley, which fused southern R&B, northern soul and jazz fusion with Hawaiian and Okinawan tropical flourishes. In the view of Fact Mags Mikey I.Q. Jones, this led to the style of music that would be dubbed "city pop". The genre became closely tied to the tech boom in Japan during the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the Japanese technologies which influenced city pop included the Walkman, cars with built-in cassette decks and FM stereos, and various electronic musical instruments such as the Casio CZ-101 and Yamaha CS-80 synthesizers and Roland TR-808drum machine. According to Blistein, electronic instruments and gadgets "allowed musicians to actualise the sounds in their heads" and cassette decks "allowed fans to dub copies of albums". According to Blistein: "An opulent amalgamation of pop, disco, funk, R&B, boogie, jazz fusion, Latin, Caribbean and Polynesian music, the genre was inextricably tied to a tech-fueled economic bubble and the wealthy new leisure class it created."
Popularity
City pop became a distinct regional genre that peaked in popularity during the 1980s. According to Vice, the most popular figures of the genre were "accomplished composers and producers in their own right, with artists like Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshiki Kadomatsu incorporating complex arrangements and songwriting techniques into their hits,... The booming economy also made it easier for them to get label funding". Yamashita is sometimes referred to as the "king" of city pop. The genre lost mainstream appeal after the 1980s. Since the 2010s, city pop has experienced a resurgence, with veteran artists such as Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi gaining an international online following, as well as becoming a touchstone for the sample-based microgenres known as vaporwave and future funk.
