At the 69th NHK Red and White Song Festival held on December 31, 2018, musician Genshi Yonezu contributed the first live television performance of his career: at the Otsuka International Art Museum in todayoShima, his hometown of Tokushima, under the spark of thousands of candles, he sang his own global hit song "Lemon", while his famous work "Hit with Fireworks" was performed by DAOKO, and the song party was also composed of five elementary school students, "Foorin". He sang the lyrics and music of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games "Paprika (Red Hot Chili Peppers)", and his work successfully achieved three kills. For his live performance this time, the fans burst into tears: Baye's live perfect restoration studio... In fact, the singing is slightly flawed, but this is also the charm of the live (live) performance, not to mention the singer's identity, is only one of the many performances of this talented all-rounder.
Yonezu Genshi, Picture Source Visual China
Born in 1991, Yonezu Genshi, who sounds a somewhat dramatic name, is actually his real name; the nickname Hachiya is a nickname given by fans, derived from his early account name on the Japanese online video sharing site niconico, his name is "hachi", which is the Japanese pronunciation of "eight".
In 2009, the 18-year-old Yonezu submitted his first vocaloid song based on Hatsune Mirai's voice, and its style was particularly striking under a sweet and cute trend: the tune was rough, the lyrics were brain-opening, with a strong personal style and a unique world view, which fit the loneliness of the individuals in society and resonated with young people.
He became the first music creator on the site to have six million views, rose to fame with a sense of mystery, and in May 2012, he released his album diorama and announced his official debut, and was invited to write theme songs for several animated films and TV series.
When Yonezu was in middle school, he was very fond of manga artists, and once set his career goals here, but later he felt that manga was time-consuming, and he liked music, so his goal turned to musicians. In fact, it was the combination of manga and music that led to the later Yonezu Genshi. He said that musicians feel more suitable for them than cartoonists – drawing comics requires labor, while music only needs three elements: rhythm, lyrics and melody, which is why I have been engaged in music activities ever since.
Because he was diagnosed with high-functioning autism and social disorders at the age of 20, he thought that he was not suitable for cooperation with people, so all the music production, including lyrics and composition, editing, playing, recording, post-production, etc. were completed by him alone, which also created the famous meme of "Eight Masters is omnipotent, except for not being able to have a child".
In 2016, he held a solo illustration exhibition and single-handedly painted the covers of all his albums. Although he had no professional training in painting, Yonezu Genshi exhibited his own artistic style and exquisite visual expression, and was the perfect candidate to visualize his own composition. There has never been a person who can undertake the functions of a medium-sized and large record company, so he has been praised by the outside world as an "all-round artistic genius".
In 2017, Yonezu Genshi has jumped to become a Japanese A-list singer, and his name was known to more overseas listeners in 2018. The Divine Comedy "Lemon" is the theme song of the popular 2018 Spring Japanese drama "Unnatural".
"Lemon" single cover, image source Visual China
This forensic drama starring Rimi Ishihara and others can be said to be a model of the mutual achievement of drama and song. The whole song is clear and mellow, the lyrics do not appear a word "death", but the theme of death is told, full of the living people's deep and sincere nostalgia for the deceased, and the lyrics sing:
How nice it would be if it were all a dream
You can still be found in your dreams
It's like returning home to retrieve what you forgot
Clean up the dusty memories
Some happiness is lost and can no longer be recovered
You taught me at the end
The unspeakable obscurity of the past
And because you are not there, you are forever silent in the darkness
With the TV drama picture, people who are unwilling and suddenly deceased, busy and hard work in the world, all the thousands of emotions that have not been expressed in time, pour out a faint warmth and touch in the sadness, which makes people cry.
Talking about the creative process, Yonezu said that halfway through writing, his grandfather died, and the news came, which made him start to rethink.
Bring life to you like the sourness of a lemon
Makes it as sweet as lemonade
Perhaps this is the true meaning of the song title "Lemon(Lemon)", which won multiple awards in 2018, including the Best DRAMA Song of the Japanese Drama Academy Awards, the number one song of the Oricon Singles Download Weekly Chart, the number one song of the Oricon Karaoke Annual Chart, the 2018 Recording Association of Japan Mobile Phone Download Million Certified Song, and the number one song of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Annual Chart.
From the early alternative style to writing mainstream classics loved by the public, from not being understood but directly to the inner sadness, to the inspiration and warmth that soothes people's hearts. From a singer who tells himself to singing the common voice of people in the big era, Yonezu Genshi has completed a self-nirvana in just a few years, and has crossed the age class and gained insight into the hearts of more listeners.
□ Cheng Haoqing (Music Critic)
Beijing News Editor Wu Longzhen Wu Qihan Proofreader Guo Liqin