Checkmate! | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | April 27, 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2003–2011 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 58:04 | |||
Language |
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Label | Avex Trax | |||
Producer |
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Namie Amuro chronology | ||||
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Singles from Checkmate! | ||||
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Checkmate! is a collaboration album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro, featuring a collection of her collaborations with other musicians released between 2003 and 2011, as well as four new collaborations. [1] The album was released on April 27, 2011, about one month after its original release date, due to 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. [2] [3]
Two songs were released as digital downloads prior to the album, "Wonder Woman" in early March prior to the album's postponement, as well as "Make It Happen" on April 20, a week before the album's release.
The album was first conceived after Amuro had finished her tour for her 2009 album Past<Future. [4] Many of the collaborators on the album worked on multiple tracks. Amuro collaborated with Verbal on five songs: "Wet'N Wild" (producer), "Black Out", "Luvotomy" (rapper, songwriter), "Rock U" (lyricist) and on the hidden track, which is a remix of Amuro's single "Want Me, Want Me" (2005) with additional rapping by Verbal. Ai collaborated with Amuro "Do What U Gotta Do," "Fake" and one of the new songs, "Wonder Woman." Two songs are from Zeebra albums, "After Party" (2003) and "Do What U Gotta Do" (2006). Taku Takahashi contributed on "Luvotomy" (trackmaker) and "Rock U" (co-trackmaker). Double, other than the duet "Black Diamond," wrote the Japanese lyrics to "Make It Happen." [5]
For "Wonder Woman," Amuro asked Ai and Tsuchiya to collaborate with her, as she wanted to create a strong song with a chorus of female vocalists. [6] Amuro felt that she had worked with Ai so many times in the past that a collaboration with her could not go wrong. [4] "Make It Happen" is South Korean group After School's first Japanese release. [6] Amuro stated that she had taken notice of the K-pop scene for some time. [6] For the project, Amuro's staff gave her a list of possible Korean collaborators. Due to her enjoying After School member Uee's performance in the Korean drama You're Beautiful , she decided on the group. [4] The song was written by Swedish and North American writers Jörgen Elofsson, Erik Lidbom and Bonnie McKee, and was originally titled "Shallow." [5]
The collaboration with Kaname Kawabata of the R&B vocal duo Chemistry started when the two became friends after being introduced through a mutual friend. [6] For the album, Amuro wanted to create a dance/song music video with a male artist. While appearing on a music show in Summer 2010 to promote her single "Break It/Get Myself Back," Johnny & Associates idol Tomohisa Yamashita was featured on the same program, and Amuro was impressed with his performance of "One in a Million," which inspired the idea for the collaboration. [6]
"Rock U" was used in television commercials for the Activision game Call of Duty: Black Ops from November 2010 onwards, seven and a half months after its release. [7] The song was also one of two songs broadcast exclusively on MTV Japan to promote Amuro's DVD Namie Amuro Past<Future Tour 2010, and was broadcast solely on January 11 and 12, 2011. [8]
Two nationwide commercial campaigns featured Amuro at the time of release. "Wonder Woman" was used in the Coca-Cola Zero Wild Race commercial campaign in Japan, the fourth set of commercials to feature Amuro as the spokesperson for the brand, with commercials first airing on February 13. [9] During album promotions, Amuro was also featured as the first spokesperson for cosmetic firm Kosé's Esprique range. The commercials began airing in late March, and featured "Naked," a song on her first single to be released after the album. [10] "Make It Happen" was used as background music for two commercials: one for Sharp's au 1S05 cellphone, and another for Recochoku. [11]
Three of the four new songs on album were released as ringtones prior to the album's release: "Wonder Woman" on February 16, "Make It Happen" on February 23 and "Unusual" on March 9. [12] [13] [14] Amuro was featured in several fashion magazines during album promotions, including Gisele, Ray, S Cawaii, Sweet and Vivi . [15] On June 25, 2011, Amuro attended the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan award ceremony, performing "Wonder Woman" with Ai and Anna Tsuchiya. This was the first performance of the song, [16] as well as the first performance of any of the new songs from the album.
"Wonder Woman" featuring singer/rapper Ai and rock musician Anna Tsuchiya was the first song released in promotion of the album, released as full-length a cellphone download on March 9. [19] The song had earlier debuted on radio, during J-Wave's Groove Line Z program on February 17. [20] Before the album's release, the song has received mid-level radio play, allowing it to reach number 42 on Billboard 's Japan Hot 100 chart. [21] During the week of the album's release, however, increased airplay as well as downloads on iTunes Japan made the song peak at number five. [22]
The song received a larger response on adult alternative radio stations in Japan, as shown by the song reaching number 2 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Airplay chart, when in the same time period only reaching number 5 on the general airplay chart. [23] [24] The song debuted at number 5 on the Recording Industry Association of Japan's cellphone download chart in the special two-week postponed chart that was released due to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. [25] All three musicians billed in the song appeared on the cover of fashion magazine S Cawaii's April issue, in promotion of the single. [26] "Make It Happen" was released digitally to cellphones on April 20, a week before the album's release. [27] On RIAJ's digital track chart, the song debuted at number ten. [28] "#1" received a digital release simultaneous with the album's release date, however, "Unusual" was released a week after the album, on May 4. [29]
Four MVs for the new songs were filmed, which were released to music video channels in February and March. On MTV Japan, an hour's length episode of MTV A Class was dedicated to these, which was first aired on March 19. [15] "Wonder Woman" was the first video to be released, and was debuted on Space Shower on February 18. [30] "Make It Happen" was debuted on online streaming service GyaO! on February 17, and was debuted on TV on MTV Japan on February 21. [31] [32] "#1" was first aired on March 9 as a Space Shower exclusive video. [33] A Music video for unusual was made March 9, 2011. It begins with Yamashita Tomohisa in a white jacket then it disappears by its own fire affect. Throughout the music video, Namie and Yamashita Tomohisa dance together, there are affections what make new scenes, the video ends with namie in the white jacket. This video was reported that it was filmed February 28, 2011, to March 1, 2011.
The songs "Black Diamond," "Do What U Gotta Do" and "Fake" already had music videos filmed for their respective releases. The music videos for these songs were put on the CD+DVD edition of the album. A music video for "Black Out" was shot in mid February by Parisian direction team Division, but due to the aftermath of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the music video remains unaired. [34] [35]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Hot Express | (favorable) [36] |
Listen Japan | (favorable) [37] |
What's In? | (favorable) [38] |
Jun Watanabe of What's In? described the album as "...vividly transmitting artistic power and cool beauty." He believed that the work challenged forefronts in R&B, hip-hop, electropop and rock, without diminishing Amuro's personality. [38] Tetsuo Hiraga of Hot Express was extremely positive on the album, feeling that it "explodes massively with personality and talent." Hiraga felt that Amuro's music had the ability to make the listener forget Tomohisa Yamashita's idol status, and to express his "cool and sexy vocals." When listening to Kaname Kawabata's voice in "#1," he could have been fooled that he was listening to American R&B music. Hiraga quoted Amuro on her thoughts on the album, and how she simply said that she "wants to do cool things." He felt like with such pure and innocent sentiment, only the greatest music could be made. [36] Listen Japan's Morio Mori called the four new songs "perfect tunes," and called the album a "project that couldn't get any more wonderful." [37]
In Japan, the album debuted at number one on physical data provider Oricon 's daily album charts, selling 93,000 copies—85,000 more than her closest competitor, Hideaki Tokunaga with Vocalist & Ballade Best. [39] In its first week, the album debuted at number one, selling a total of 253,000 copies. [40] The album charted at number one for two consecutive weeks. [41] [42] Checkmate! debuted at number one on Oricon's monthly charts, despite only one week of charting counting to the April monthly chart. The album sold more than double the second place holder for the month, Kazumasa Oda's Dōmo. [43] Halfway through the 2011 Oricon year, the album was the third most sold. [44] On the Taiwanese G-Music charts, the album debuted at number six, the second highest debut of the week after Rachel Liang's third album, Soul Mate. [45] The album debuted at number one on the international sub-chart, as well as the East Asian sub-chart. [46] [47]
Many songs on the album have charted on Japanese music charts, due to their release in promotion for either their original works, or Checkmate!.
Year | Title | Chart positions | Sales | Certifications | ||
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JPN [48] | JPN Hot [49] | JPN RIAJ [50] | ||||
2008 | "Black Diamond" | — | 30 | 6* | — | |
2009 | "Rock U" | — | 61 | 80 | — | |
2010 | "Fake" | 8 | 5 | 4 | 16,110 [48] |
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2011 | "Wonder Woman" | — | 5 | 5 | — |
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"Make It Happen" | — | 73 | 10 | — | ||
"Unusual" | — | — | 12 | — | ||
"#1" | — | — | 57 | — |
*Charted on monthly ringtone chart
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Featured Artist | Length |
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1. | "Wonder Woman" | Tiger, Marek Pompetzki, Paul NZA, Chantal Kreviazuk, Tanya Lacey | Tiger, M. Pompetzki, P. NZA, C. Kreviazuk, T. Lacey | Anna Tsuchiya | 3:10 |
2. | "Unusual" | Nao'ymt | Nao'ymt | Tomohisa Yamashita (from NEWS) | 4:25 |
3. | "Make It Happen" | Double, Jörgen Elofsson, Erik Lidbom, Bonnie McKee | Double, J. Elofsson, E. Lidbom, B. McKee | After School | 3:17 |
4. | "Rock U" (from Ravex's album Trax (2009)) | Verbal | Ravex | Ravex | 4:13 |
5. | "Do What U Gotta Do" (from Zeebra's album The New Beginning (2006)) | Zeebra, Ai, Mummy-D | Ai, Zeebra | Zeebra, Ai and Mummy-D | 5:04 |
6. | "Wet'N Wild" (from Heartsdales's album Sugar Shine (2003)) | Heartsdales | Daisuke Imai | Heartsdales and Suite Chic | 4:58 |
7. | "Do or Die" (from Jhett's album Jhett (2005)) | Michico | Jhett, Michico | Jhett | 4:07 |
8. | "Fake" (from Ai's album The Last Ai (2010)) | Ai | George Tashiro | Ai | 4:18 |
9. | "#1" | Tiger, Christopher Rojas, Curtis Richardson, Charlie Vox, Amos Winbush | Christopher Rojas (RMI) | Kaname Kawabata (from Chemistry) | 3:22 |
10. | "Black Out" (from Verbal's album Visionair (2011)) | Minami | Verbal, Minami, Major Dude, Jermaine Dupri | Verbal and Lil Wayne | 3:46 |
11. | "Black Diamond" (from Double's album The Best Collaboration (2008)) | Double | Double, Uta, Ryōsuke Imai | Double | 4:04 |
12. | "Luvotomy" (from M-Flo's album Cosmicolor (2007)) | M-Flo, Emi Hinouchi | M-Flo | M-Flo | 5:14 |
13. | "After Party" (from Zeebra's album Tokyo Finest (2003)) | Zeebra, R. Imai, DJ Ken-Bo | Firstklas (Zeebra, R. Imai) | Zeebra | 4:55 |
14. | "Want Me, Want Me" (hidden track) | Michico | Michico, Sugi-V | Verbal | 3:09 |
Total length: | 58:04 |
No. | Title | Director(s) | Length |
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1. | "Wonder Woman" | Hideaki Sunaga | |
2. | "Unusual" | Shigeaki Kubo | |
3. | "Make It Happen" | Kubo | |
4. | "#1" | Kensuke Kawamura | |
5. | "Fake" | Ugichin | |
6. | "Black Diamond" | Kubo | |
7. | "Do What U Gotta Do" | Kenji Sonoda |
Personnel details were sourced from Checkmate!'s liner notes booklet. [53]
Managerial
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Performance credits
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Visuals and imagery
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Technical and production
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Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Japan (RIAJ) [55] | 2× Platinum | 495,719 [56] |
Region | Date | Format | Distributing Label |
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Japan | April 27, 2011 [3] | CD, CD+DVD, digital download | Avex Trax |
Taiwan | April 29, 2011 [57] | CD, CD+DVD | Avex Taiwan |
South Korea | May 4, 2011 [58] | CD+DVD | S.M. Entertainment |
Hong Kong | May 6, 2011 [59] | CD, CD+DVD | Avex Asia |
Japan | May 14, 2011 [1] | Rental CD | Avex Trax |
Thailand | December 23, 2011 [60] | CD | GMM Grammy |
Japan | June 27, 2012 [61] | Playbutton | Avex Trax |
September 16, 2012 [62] | CD (low price edition) |
Namie Amuro is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.
Queen of Hip-Pop is the seventh studio album by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. It was released on July 13, 2005, by Avex Trax. The album's lyrical content, composing and arrangement was handled by multiple music collaborators, such as Nao'ymt, SUGI-V, Michico, Tricky Stewart, T.Kura, among many others. It is her second full length urban contemporary record, and is made up of hip-hop and R&B songs as well as one power ballad. The term "Hip-Pop" has been coined to the describe the music on the album because of her image as a pop music icon and her transition to R&B and hip-hop music. Three different formats were released to promote the album: a standalone CD, a limited edition Playbutton, and digital download.
"Girl Talk/The Speed Star" is a double a-side by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro from her seventh studio album Queen of Hip-Pop (2005). The a-side, which consists of the tracks "Girl Talk" and "The Speed Star", was released as the album's third single on October 14, 2004. "Girl Talk" was written and produced by T.Kura and Michico while "The Speed Star" was written and produced by Akira and Monk. The songs are R&B-dance tracks, which features instrumentation from synthesizers, violins, keyboards and bass guitars. Both "Girl Talk" and "The Speed Star" were used as the commercial songs for cosmetic company Lucido-L.
"You're My Sunshine" is the sixth single by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on June 5, 1996, by Avex Trax and was produced by Tetsuya Komuro. The song was the image song for the Bristol-Myers Squibb "Sea Breeze '96" commercial in which she appeared. The version used in the initial commercial had a different tempo and tune from the CD package version. The following year, 1997, she was used for the second consecutive year in a "Sea Breeze" commercial, this time using her hit song "How to Be a Girl".
"Baby Don't Cry" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro for her eighth studio album, Play (2007). It was written, composed, arranged, and produced by Japanese musician Naoaki Yamato, under the alias Nao'ymt. The single also included the B-side track "Nobody", a re-recorded version of her single "White Light". It premiered on January 24, 2007 as the third single from the album in Japan. It was also released worldwide on February 21, 2007 through Avex Entertainment Inc. Musically, "Baby Don't Cry" is a pop ballad, influenced by R&B music.
Play is the eighth studio album by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. It was released on June 27, 2007, by Avex Trax and was available in physical and digital formats. Following the success of her previous album, Queen of Hip-Pop (2005), Amuro enlisted long-time collaborators Nao'ymt and T. Kura to produce the album. Play, like its predecessor, is a R&B-influenced record with elements of pop music, rock, dance-pop, and hip-hop. Lyrically, the record explore themes of love, frustration, and relationships.
60s 70s 80s is a triple A-side single by Japanese singer Namie Amuro from her third greatest hits album, Best Fiction (2008). It was released on March 12, 2008, through Avex Trax and consists of the songs "New Look", "Rock Steady", and "What a Feeling", each sampling from a specific decade in music, hence the title.
Best Fiction is the greatest hits album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. Avex Trax released it in a variety of formats on July 30, 2008, and it has since been distributed in several Asian countries. It is Amuro's third compilation album, and features seventeen singles released in the 2000s. The compilation also included five new songs, three of which were released as a triple A-side single called "60s 70s 80s". Furthermore, the album tracks "Do Me More" and "Sexy Girl" experienced success in the Japanese market.
Past<Future is the ninth studio album by Japanese pop singer Namie Amuro, released on December 16, 2009. This was her first original album in two and a half years since Play (2007). It was released in two versions: a CD+DVD edition and a CD only edition. The first press of both versions came housed in a digipak, and pre-orders came with an original poster. The record came after the release of her third best-of album Best Fiction, which sold over a million copies.
"Fast Car" is a song by Namie Amuro. It was released as the main promotional track from her 9th album, Past<Future, in November 2009. Amuro finds the song indicative of her sound on Past<Future. The album puts more emphasis on songs with "bright melodies/coolness," instead of the R&B/hip-hop beats of Play and previous albums.
"Fake" is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai. It was released on March 31, 2010, by Island Records and Universal Sigma. The song served as the lead single for Ai's eighth studio album, The Last Ai.
"Break It/Get Myself Back" is a double A-side single released by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. It was released on July 28, 2010, through Avex Trax. Break It was used in a Coca-Cola Zero commercial. The song reached number three on Oricon's weekly chart. The single has been certified Gold for shipment of 100,000 copies, as well as "Get Myself Back" being certified as a gold download to cellphones., it serves two lead singles for her tenth studio album Uncontrolled.
"Wonder Woman" is a song by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro, featuring R&B singer and rapper Ai as well as rock musician Anna Tsuchiya. The song was the lead promotional single for Amuro's collaboration-compilation album, Checkmate!, released in April 2011.
"Sit! Stay! Wait! Down! / Love Story" is an extended play by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro from her tenth studio album and debut bilingual album Uncontrolled (2012). The EP contains the songs "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!" and "Love Story" from the parent album and two new tracks "Higher" and "Arigatou". The EP was produced by Michico, T. Kura, Miriam Nervo, Olivia Nervo, T-SK, Tesung Kim, and Nao'ymt, and is divided into two dance-pop songs and two pop ballads.
Uncontrolled is the 10th studio album by Japanese pop and R&B musician Namie Amuro, released on June 27, 2012. The album was released before her 20th anniversary concerts — one in Okinawa in September, and seven across Japan in November and December 2012. The album consists mostly of songs sung in Japanese, however this was the first album of Amuro's to feature several songs sung entirely in English. The album met favorable reception by music critics, and was nominated the Album of the Year by the Asia Association Music Awards.
Ballada is the sixth compilation by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro. It was released by Dimension Point on June 4, 2014 in three physical formats, and for digital consumption. It works as a concept album that compiles ballads released during her time with Avex Trax, including three re-worked tracks. Additionally, the album features its only single "Tsuki". Upon its release, Ballada received positive reviews from music critics, most whom praised Amuro's maturity and vocals, alongside the re-worked tracks.
"Go Round" is a song by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro from her tenth studio album Uncontrolled (2012). It was released as a double a-side single with another album track "Yeah-Oh" and was served as the fourth single on March 21, 2012 by Avex Trax. "Go Round" was written by Aili, produced by T-Sk and co-composed by Tesung Kim and Australian duo Nervo. With a cover sleeve, photographed by Takaki Kumada, showing Amuro in front of a blurry window pane, "Go Round" was recorded both in English and Japanese language and is a dance-pop song.
Finally is the seventh and final compilation album by Japanese singer Namie Amuro. It was released on November 8, 2017, by Dimension Point in three physical formats, alongside limited edition goods. Additionally, Finally is also Amuro's final musical release before she retired from the music industry on September 16, 2018.
"Dr." is a song by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro, taken as the only A-side single from her ninth studio album Past<Future (2009). The track was written, composed, arranged and produced entirely by long-time collaborator Nao'ymt, and recorded at Azabu-O Studios in Minato, Tokyo. Musically, "Dr." is a dance number that is influenced by modern club music, and also samples an orchestral section from the musical piece "Boléro", composed by French conductor Maurice Ravel. Lyrically, it is a love song that uses the titular term to metaphorically describe Amuro's lover.
Namie Amuro 5 Major Domes Tour was a concert tour by Japanese recording artist Namie Amuro, held in celebration of her 20th anniversary of debut with the Super Monkey's. It spanned eight shows at five domes across Japan from November to December 2012, and attracted around 340,000 people.
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