Kana Nishino

Kana Nishino stands among the limited roster of J-pop artists who broke through major audition competitions, specifically the Miss Phoenix Audition that drew 40,000 entrants in 2005. Born in 1989, she began English lessons at a young age and made two childhood trips to the United States, where she developed a taste for hip-hop and R&B that later merged with her fascination for Japanese folk traditions. Without her parents’ knowledge she submitted a demo to the competition, yet they ultimately approved her 2006 contract with SME Records while she simultaneously enrolled at university to major in English literature. During her studies she encountered the Australian duo Nervo, who offered her the track “I Don’t Wanna Know.” Nishino rendered the song in Japanese, retitled it “I,” and issued it as her debut single in both digital and physical formats in 2008. Momentum built quickly: her third release, “Style” (2008), appeared in the anime series Soul Eater, while the follow-up “Make Up” (2009) soundtracked Chocolate Underground, the animated version of the BBC miniseries Bootleg. Her fifth single, the R&B-inflected “Tokutemo” featuring Wise, became her first entry in the Oricon Top 50, and “Kimi ni Aitaku Narukara” reached number 14. The 2009 debut album Love One collected every prior single, included a guest spot from Verbal of M-Flo, and peaked at number four.