Biography
Jamosa, an R&B performer billed in Japan as the local equivalent of Mary J. Blige, has built an extensive catalog of joint projects without matching the sustained commercial consistency of her American counterpart. Her distinctive appearance derives from more than a bottle of crimson hair coloring, as she entered the world in Fukuoka in southern Japan to a Japanese father and Taiwanese mother and spent portions of her life in both nations.
An early step toward pop visibility came at age ten when she sang with a children’s choir that backed Michael Jackson during a Fukuoka concert on the Dangerous tour. At seventeen she received another opening when her self-written song “Papa” was chosen for the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky (2000), although the track never appeared on the released soundtrack. She spent her teenage years dividing time between the United States and Japan, where she worked with million-selling pop-rap duo Def Tech, rap supergroup Teriyaki Boyz, and other acts, and contributed to DJ Whookid’s The Red Album mixtape.
Her first Japanese-language project arrived in 2005 as the mini-album Standing Strong. The following year Japanese reggae artist Corn Head appeared on her rap-flavored single “Lenai-Yo,” which reached number three on the Oricon indie chart. Jamosa’s major-label debut Dream, issued by Virgin Japan, registered on the digital charts. For the next release she again drew on American expertise, bringing in G-Unit producer Red Spyda to handle mixing. The resulting debut full-length album One also charted on Japan’s digital listings, prompting her to sign with the Avex label, for which she has completed two albums, among them 2009’s Red.
An early step toward pop visibility came at age ten when she sang with a children’s choir that backed Michael Jackson during a Fukuoka concert on the Dangerous tour. At seventeen she received another opening when her self-written song “Papa” was chosen for the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky (2000), although the track never appeared on the released soundtrack. She spent her teenage years dividing time between the United States and Japan, where she worked with million-selling pop-rap duo Def Tech, rap supergroup Teriyaki Boyz, and other acts, and contributed to DJ Whookid’s The Red Album mixtape.
Her first Japanese-language project arrived in 2005 as the mini-album Standing Strong. The following year Japanese reggae artist Corn Head appeared on her rap-flavored single “Lenai-Yo,” which reached number three on the Oricon indie chart. Jamosa’s major-label debut Dream, issued by Virgin Japan, registered on the digital charts. For the next release she again drew on American expertise, bringing in G-Unit producer Red Spyda to handle mixing. The resulting debut full-length album One also charted on Japan’s digital listings, prompting her to sign with the Avex label, for which she has completed two albums, among them 2009’s Red.