Shota Shimizu

Shota Shimizu (清水 翔太, Shimizu Shōta, born 27 February 1989) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician from Yao, Osaka, Japan, who debuted in 2008.[1] On June 1, 2008, Shimizu performed at Central Park in New York City, USA, during the annual Japan Day Festival. Shota Shimizu went to a local Christian school in Osaka where he learned how to sing gospel music. He became captivated with soul music, which is how his music career started. He was inspired by Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, and Ray Charles.[2]

Shota Shimizu
清水 翔太
Shota Shimizu performing at Japan Day 2008 in Central Park, New York City
Background information
Born (1989-02-27) February 27, 1989
Yao, Osaka, Japan
GenresJ-pop, R&B
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, musician, rapper
Years active2008–present
LabelsMastersix Foundation
Websitewww.shimizushota.com
Japanese name
Kanji清水 翔太
Hiraganaしみず しょうた

Before his debut, in November 2007, Shimizu sang in English on amateur night at the Apollo Theater in New York City. He was called a "one in a million soul singer" by a local newspaper in New York. The second time he performed at the Apollo Theater was on November 19, 2008. He sang the song "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto in Japanese, where he was given a standing ovation from an audience of 1,500 people. He said he sang it because he wanted to show his Japanese pride and demonstrate the beauty of the Japanese language.[3]

Career

Umbrella (2008)

Shimizu's first single, titled "Home", was released on February 20, 2008, and he appeared on Music Station two days after the single's release to promote it. "Home" peaked at ranked at number 5 and sold 27,820 units in its first week. After 17 weeks, it had sold 125,735 copies. His second single, "Aishiteru" (アイシテル, I Love You), was released on June 4, 2008 in Japan. It ranked at number 4 and sold 22,778 units in its first week. After 12 weeks, it had sold 47,114 copies. Shimizu released his third single "My Treasure" on October 22, 2008. It ranked at number 15 and sold 9,540 units in its first week. After 5 weeks, it had sold 15,365 copies.

He released his debut album titled Umbrella, on November 26, 2008 in Japan. The album ranked at number 2 and sold 56,442 units in its first week. After 8 weeks, it has sold 115,863 copies. In March 2009, Shimizu began his first headlining tour, the "Umbrella Tour 2009". The tickets sold out in one day.[2]

After Umbrella (2009)

Shimizu released his fourth single titled "Utsukushii Hibi yo" / "Sayonara wa Itsumo Sobani" on July 15, 2009 in Japan. It debuted at number 14 and sold 8,576 copies in the first week. The track "Kaze no Youni" from this single was inspired by the song "Kaze no Dōkei" from the Chrono Trigger Soundtrack. The single sold a total of 11,144 copies so far.

Collaborations

Shimizu worked with Dohzi-T on the single "One Love", which was released on July 18, 2007. He also collaborated with Miliyah Kato on the song "I'm Your Angel" on the album Tribute to Celine Dion, which was released on September 26, 2007. Shimizu collaborated with Miliyah Kato again in 2009 on her "Love Forever" single (which was also released onto Miliyah Kato's album, Ring), which was released on May 13, 2009. "Love Forever" was a hit in Japan, and its ringtone sold over two million downloads.[2] These Japanese singers/songwriters were both twenty years old and loved soul music, but still maintained very different music styles.[4] On September 16, 2009, M-flo released a tribute album named Tribute: Maison de M-Flo and Shimizu covered the song "Let Go". He then released a song, "Loving You", in a compilation album named Beat Connection with Crystal Kay, Seamo, Mummy-D, and Dohzi-T on October 27, 2010.

Discography

Singles
# Title Release date Oricon charts Album
Weekly
Ranking[5]		 Sales
Debut "Home"
  • 2008 Year-End Singles Chart: 50
  • RIAJ Certification: Gold
 20.02.2008 5 128,000 Umbrella
2nd "Aishiteru" (「アイシテル」, I Love You) 04.06.2008 4 47,000
3rd "My Treasure" 22.10.2008 15 15,000
4th "Utsukushii Hibi yo/Sayonara wa Itsumo Sobani" (美しき日々よ/さよならはいつも側に) 15.07.2009 14 13,000 Journey
5th "Kimi ga Suki" (君が好き) 09.12.2009 8 19,000
6th "Goodbye" 07.07.2010 10 14,000 Colors
7th "Kimi ga Kurasu Machi" (君が暮らす街) 20.10.2010 12 9,000
8th "You & I" 26.11.2011 14 11,000
9th "Love" 29.06.2011 16 7,000 Naturally
10th "Mada Owaranai" (マダオワラナイ) 26.10.2011 17 7,000
11th "Fuyu ga Owaru Mae ni" (冬が終わる前に) 21.12.2011 19 6,000
12th "Kimi Sae Ireba" (君さえいれば)
  • feat. Oda Kazumasa
 22.02.2012 15 7,000
13th "366 Nichi" (３６６日)
  • feat. Nakasone Izumi (HY)
 12.09.2012 11 10,000 MELODY
14th "WOMAN DON'T CRY" 03.07.2013 18 5,000
15th "Dream" 29.01.2014 TBA xx

Albums

Studio albums
No. Information Release
date
 Oricon Charts
Weekly
Albums
Charts		 Sales
1st album Umbrella
  • RIAJ Certification: Gold
 26.11.2008 2 124,000
2nd album Journey
  • RIAJ Certification: Gold
 03.03.2010 1[6] 117,000
3rd album Colors
  • RIAJ Certification: Gold
 09.03.2011 7 69,000
4th album Naturally 21.03.2012 6 29,000
5th album Encore 14.03.2014 11
6th album Proud 30.03.2016 10 9,676

Cover albums
# Information Release
date
 Oricon Charts
Weekly
Albums
Charts		 Sales
1 MELODY 28.11.2012 5 66,000

Collaborations
No. Information Release
date
 Oricon Charts
Weekly
Single
Charts		 Sales
Single Love Forever 13.05.2009 5 90,000
"Oyasumi no Kisu Wo～Good Night my love～" (おやすみのキスを～Good Night My Love～) 11.11.2009 19 14,000
Forever Love
  • Shota Shimizu x Miliyah Kato
 03.02.2010 4 60,000
Believe
  • Kato Miliyah x Shimizu Shota
 13.07.2011 9 16,000
gollark: No idea.
gollark: Also gecken and other lizards/
gollark: Cats are nice.
gollark: Heresy.
gollark: For some reason I taste minty stuff as "hot" and very unpleasant, which is quite problematic since most toothpaste has mint in it.

References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20080409214501/http://www.shimizushota.com/prof.html. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 清水 翔太 | プロフィール (in Japanese). Shimizushota.com. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  3. "清水翔太アポロシアター凱旋！日本語「上を-」熱唱 ― スポニチ Sponichi Annex 大阪". Sponichi.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  4. "加藤ミリヤ×清水翔太『同年代のふたりが共通して言える"LOVE"とは？！』-ORICON STYLE ミュージック". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  5. "清水翔太のCD・DVDリリース一覧 │ オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  6. "清水翔太、"平成生まれ初"のアルバム首位獲得 | ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. 2010-03-09. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
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