For many years, Asian music has been in the background of the American music scene. Not many people can name more than one or two Asian music stars, regardless of what backgrounds they come from. That’s because there are virtually no Asian music stars on the scene! The most mentioned include Coco Lee who did “Reflections” on Disney’s Mulan soundtrack and BoA, but neither of these stars are ever interviewed or appear on the covers of newspapers in the United States. Very few people can actually say that they know much about Asian music aside from knowing the names of these two artists.

Though this might be the case, when music from overseas begins to be aired during prime time viewing hours, it becomes hard to ignore. The groundbreaking music of Utada Hikaru has arrived in the United States and struck a chord with both loyal fans and new devotees. Her much-anticipated English album, “Exodus,” was released on October 5th.

Don’t be expecting broken and forged English on this one! Utada is actually a native New Yorker. From a young age, she traveled from New York City and Japan, learning to speak English before starting her recording career in Japan at the age of 12. Some of her favorite artists include Bjork, Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Craig David, Garbage, No Doubt, Enigma, Blink182, Miles Davis, Mozart, Blue Man Group, Erykah Badu, and Jimi Hendrix. These American influences are present in her album. At age 16, she became the best-selling artist of all time in Japan and her second album, “Distance” became the fastest-selling CD in its first week of release. Utada has also contributed to the gaming world with songs like “Simple and Clean” and “Hikari” to the game Kingdom Hearts 2. She is worth a listen.

Slowly, but surely, this artist is getting a second look from the industry. Many would describe Exodus as “experimental” and “taking some time to get used to.” It has a different feel to it than American records do. Even though she has been compared to Britney Spears she humbly states, “I'm not like a gorgeous bombshell or anything like that. It was just always my music at the front.”

As if that isn’t enough to pique interest, her new album has collaborations with the Neptunes, one of the industry’s hottest producer teams, and Darkchild. She also worked with Foxy Brown on the single “Blow My Whistle,” for the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack.

In Japan, she is known as Hikaru Utada. (In Japanese culture, the surname of any individual is always listed first). In America, however, she wants to be referred to as “Utada”. “I just figured it's a good way to separate my English and Japanese personas."

Remember it, because Utada will be a name that will be hitting the airwaves soon. She currently attends Columbia University. “I can never really enjoy being famous. So when I can just take a walk and go grocery shopping in New York, it takes a huge load off my back and I feel great. I feel human again, almost.” With the release of Exodus however, this might change soon for this twenty-one-year-old artist!