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Biography
Fujii Kaze (藤井 風, born June 14, 1997) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician under Universal Music Japan. Raised in Satoshō, Okayama in Japan, he began uploading covers to YouTube since the age of 12. He released his first studio album, Help Ever Hurt Never in 2020, which reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart and number two on the Oricon Albums Chart. His second album, Love All Serve All, released in 2022 topped both the Japanese Billboard charts and the Oricon Albums Chart and has since been certified platinum in March 2022 by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), beating his debut's gold certification in January 2021. Fujii was the first Asian act in history to debut a song in all 73 available countries and regions of the Spotify Daily Viral charts.
Biography
Early musical beginnings
Fujii Kaze was born in 1997 in Satoshō in Okayama, Japan, and has one older brother and two older sisters. As a child, he listened to all kinds of music such as jazz, classical music, pop, and enka. Starting at 12 years old, Kaze uploaded various piano and vocal cover videos on his personal YouTube channel, amassing more than 30 million views. During his high school years, he stopped uploading to focus on his musical studies; he returned to YouTube after he graduated. In early 2019, he moved to Tokyo.
2019–2020: Major label debut, Help Ever Hurt Never
Kaze released his debut single, "何なんw" on November 18, 2019, and his second single, "もうええわ (Mo-Eh-Wa)" on December 24. Each single was re-released digitally with its own extended play, with each EP including cover songs that can only be downloaded on Apple Music.
In January 2020, he was named as one of Spotify's Early Noise 2020 Top 10 Breaking Artists. One-man live performances in the form of Nan-Nan Show 2020 were scheduled for April 4 and 26 at Zepp Namba and Zepp Tokyo respectively, but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaze released his first studio album Help Ever Hurt Never on May 20, 2020, and reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. He also announced his first national hall tour, which consists of 12 performances in 11 cities from December 25, 2020, to January 31, 2021.
In August 2020, he became the first Japanese person to be a YouTube's Artist on the Rise. Immediately after Fujii Kaze "Nan-Nan Show 2020" Help Ever Hurt Never at Nippon Budokan, Kaze released two new singles: "Hedemo Ne-Yo" and "Seishun Sick" on October 30. Each single was released digitally with its own extended play and selection of cover songs.
2021: Two tie-ins, Nissan stadium "Free" live and 1st NHK Kohaku appearance
In January 2021, "Tabiji" started airing on TV Asahi as the theme song for the TV drama series "Nijiiro Carte “ (にじいろカルテ/ Niji Village Clinic). This was the first time Kaze's song was used as a tie-in. The song was digitally released as his 7th single on March 1, and on the same day, Kaze performed the song live with piano during the TV news program "Houdo Station" (TV Asahi), which was his first live TV appearance. The song won first place in the Oricon Weekly Digital Single Ranking which was announced on March 10.
On March 8 , Kaze won the Best Breakthrough Artist award at Space Shower Music Awards 2021. In addition to that, the music video for "Seishun Sick" won the Best Conceptual Video award. Kaze gave a live performance of "Seishun Sick" with piano and was broadcast on Space Shower TV.
On March 10 , Kaze won the "Popular New Artist" Award at the 33rd Music Pen Club Music Awards. Furthermore, on March 23 , Help Ever Hurt Never won the Grand Prize <Blue> of 13th CD Shop Awards.
On April 22, "Kirari" started airing in the new Honda Vezel TV ad. "Kirari" was later released as Kaze's 8th single on May 3. The song led to an explosion of his popularity both domestically and internationally, debuting at number one on the Billboard Japan Download Songs chart. The music video of "Kirari" was released on the official YouTube channel on May 21, which incorporated dance and motorcycle scenes that Kaze requested by himself for the first time, according to Kaze's 'After Talk' live streaming. "Kirari" surpassed 100 million streamings in August 2021 and 300 million streamings in June 2022. On January 14 of the following year, Kaze digitally released a remix EP Kirari Remixes (Asia Edition) .
On May 20, 2021, in commemoration of the 1st anniversary of Help Ever Hurt Never, Help Ever Hurt Cover which was originally came with the 1st edition of Help Ever Hurt Never as a bonus disc, was reprinted and also digitally released. Help Ever Hurt Cover contains 11 English cover songs. Along with this, the analog record of Help Ever Hurt Never was also resold (limited quantity production by lottery) .
In August 2021, Kaze was named one of the most exciting musicians around the world by GQ.
On September 4, "Fujii Kaze "Free" Live 2021 at Nissan Stadium" was held at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa, Japan. This performance was live-streamed on Fujii's official YouTube channel for free, and about 180,000 people watched it simultaneously, recording the world's No.1 trending word. On the same day, Fujii performed " Mo-E-Yo" for the first time and the song was released as a digital single.
From October to November, "Fujii Kaze "Help Ever Arena Tour"" was held. The concert movie (Blu-ray) of the final performance at Yoyogi National Gymnasium was released on June 14,2022 and ranked No. 1 for the second consecutive year, which made Fujii Kaze the first solo artist in the history to have two consecutive No. 1 for its concert movies.
On December 31, 2021, Kaze performed on the prestigious year-end music program, NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, for the first time. Kaze performed "Kirari" first, which was said to be pre-recorded at his parents' home in Okayama, Japan, then he made a surprise appearance at Kohaku venue at the Tokyo International Forum. Kaze performed "Mo-E-Yo" live with piano on stage. Moreover, in the grand finale, Kaze accompanied Misia, who sang "Higher Love", which was the first song Kaze had ever provided to another artist. Kaze took part in piano and the chorus.
2022: Second album Love All Serve All
On January 14, 2022, Kaze released the EP Kirari Remixes (Asia Edition).
On January 21, 2022, Kaze announced that the release of his second studio album, Love All Serve All, will be on March 23, 2022.
On March 15, Kaze was awarded a very prestigious Art Encouragement Prize for New Artist (popular entertainment category) by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. On the same day, Kaze also received three awards at the Space Shower Music Awards 2022: Best Solo Artist, Best Conceptual Live, and People's Choice which was chosen by the public vote of music fans.
On March 20, lead single of Love All Serve All, "Matsuri", was pre-released at the same time as its music video. On the following day, March 21, live-streaming of the album's advance viewing "'Love All Serve All' Listening Party" was held on Kaze's official YouTube channel followed by 'LASA Listening YouTube Premium Afterparty' on YouTube Premium. On March 23, Love All Serve All was released both in physical and digital format. The album reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Album chart and got numerous prestigious awards.
Since July 2022, Kaze was brought to the attention of a global audience thanks to one of his songs from Help Ever Hurt Never, "Shinunoga E-Wa", going viral on TikTok. With that, the song reached #4 on Spotify’s Global Viral chart, and also reached #1 on the platform’s local viral charts in 23 countries. On Spotify’s Global Song chart, it reached #57, and also the #118th position on the US Billboard Global 200 chart, despite the song being originally released in 2020. On YouTube’s Global Top Songs chart, the song spent 12 weeks, reaching as high as #33.
On October 10, 2022, Kaze released the digital single "Grace". The song served as the theme song for his collaboration with NTT Docomo, Japan's largest telecommunications company's "Kaze Films Docomo Future Project". The project films were broadcast as TV commercials throughout Japan for few months. Kaze shot "Grace"'s music video in Uttarakhand, India.
In October 2022, Kaze held a stadium show called “Love All Serve All Stadium Live” at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka, Japan, attracting 70,000 people in two days. On March 10, 2023, this performance has started to broadcast on Netflix globally as Fujii Kaze Love All Serve All Stadium Live.
On December 17, 2022, Kaze kicked off the nationwide arena tour "Fujii Kaze Love All Arena Tour" of 16 shows in 8 cities throughout Japan until February 2023, attracting a total of 210,000 people.
2023: First international tour 'Fujii Kaze and the Piano Asia Tour 2023'
Kaze held an Asian tour, Fujii Kaze and the Piano Asia Tour 2023, from June to July 2023. The tour, which was Kaze's first overseas tour, consisted of a total of eight performances in seven cities (Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong), with Kaze performing with just a piano.
It was also announced that vinyl editions of Kaze's first album and second set Love All Serve All would be released in the touring markets and re-released in Japan in conjunction with the tour.
On April 21, Kaze released a remix of Jvke's song "Golden Hour".
On July 4, it was announced that Kaze's single "Workin' Hard" had been chosen to be the theme song for "FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023", which was broadcast on Nippon TV and TV Asahi from August 25. In preparation for the production of this song, Kaze visited and watched the B-League and Japan's national team matches, as well as NBA games in the US. Kaze then stayed in Los Angeles to create a demo of the song. After returning to Japan, Kaze continued working on the song. In his busy schedule with his Asian tour and video production, he went back to Los Angeles to record the song. The song's sound producer is DJ Dahi; the mix engineer is Jeff Ellis; and the mastering engineer is Dale Becker. On August 8, Kaze announced on X (previously Twitter) that "Workin' Hard" had been pre-released exclusively on TikTok in four parts, while the full song would be released on August 25.
Kaze's song "Garden" from Love All Serve All was used in a TV ad for fabric softener Laundrin, which depicts the life of a single girl in tune with the song. Kaze took part in the narration of the ad as well.
On October 10, it was announced that Kaze's song "Hana" would be the theme song for TV drama series Ichiban Sukina Hana (いちばんすきな花), scheduled to air from October 12. The song was released on October 13 as his 14th single.
On March 12, 2024, Kaze announced that he would go on tour in the United States, and released a new single, "Michi Teyu Ku", on March 15.
On July 26, it was announced that Kaze had signed to Republic Records, and released his first single for the label, "Feelin’ Go(o)d", the same day.
Artistry
Fujii Kaze writes/composes all of his songs. Kaze's music has been described as "fresh yet familiar", with clear influence stemming from the western music he grew up with. His vocals are "reminiscent of Japan's kayōkyoku pop standards", making his music also distinctly Japanese.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | JPNComb. | JPN Hot | ||||
| Help Ever Hurt Never |
| 2 | 2 | 1 |
|
|
| Love All Serve All |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Best of Fujii Kaze 2020–2024 |
|
Cover albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | JPNComb. | JPN Hot | ||
| Help Ever Hurt Cover |
| 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Love All Cover All |
| — | — | 10 |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Comb. | JPN Hot | ||||
| Nan-Nan (何なんw) |
Track listing
| — | — | ||
| Mo-Eh-Wa (もうええわ) |
Track listing
| — | 10 | ||
| Hedemo Ne-Yo (へでもねーよ) |
Track listing
| 27 | — |
| |
| Seishun Sick (青春病) |
Track listing
| 31 | — |
| |
| Kirari Remixes (Asia Edition) |
Track listing
| — | 15 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPNComb. | JPN Hot | VIE | WW | ||||
| "Nan-Nan" (何なんw) | 2019 | — | 99 | — | — |
| Help Ever Hurt Never |
| "Mo-Eh-Wa" (もうええわ) | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Yasashisa" (優しさ) | 2020 | — | 34 | — | — |
| |
| "Cause It's Endless" (キリがないから) | — | 86 | — | — | |||
| "Hedemo Ne-Yo" (へでもねーよ) | — | — | — | — | Love All Serve All | ||
| "Seishun Sick" (青春病) | — | 68 | — | — | |||
| "Tabiji" (旅路) | 2021 | 15 | 10 | — | — |
| |
| "Kirari" (きらり) | 5 | 2 | — | 135 |
| ||
| "Ignite" (燃えよ) | — | 19 | — | — | |||
| "Matsuri" (まつり) | 2022 | 24 | 10 | 48 | — |
| |
| "Damn" | — | 42 | — | — | |||
| "Grace" | 8 | 4 | — | — |
| Non-album singles | |
| "Workin' Hard" | 2023 | 32 | 13 | — | — | ||
| "Hana" (花) | 6 | 6 | — | — |
| ||
| "Michiteyuku" (満ちてゆく) | 2024 | 5 | 4 | — | 139 |
| |
| "Feelin' Go(o)d" | 41 | 19 | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart. | |||||||
Other charted and certified songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPNComb. | JPNHot | SGP | VIE | WW | ||||
| "Shinunoga E-Wa" (死ぬのがいいわ) | 2020 | 33 | 31 | 8 | 39 | 118 |
| Help Ever Hurt Never |
| "Kaerou" (帰ろう) | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||
| "Garden" (ガーデン) | 2022 | 25 | 28 | — | — | — |
| Love All Serve All |
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart. | ||||||||
Music videos
| Year | Date | Song | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | January 23 | "何なんw" (Nan-Nan) | Chris Rudz | Also known as "WTF" / "WTF lol" |
| February 20 | "もうええわ" (I'm Over It) | Spikey John (スパイキージョン) | ||
| April 16 | "優しさ" (Yasashisa) | Kento Yamada (山田健人) | ||
| May 14 | "キリがないから" (Cause It's Endless) | |||
| September 4 | "帰ろう" (Go Home) | Kodama Yuichi (児玉裕一) | ||
| December 4 | "へでもねーよ" (Hedemo Ne-Yo) | Kento Yamada (山田健人) | ||
| December 11 | "青春病" (Seishun Sick) | Tomokazu Yamada (山田智和) | ||
| 2021 | March 10 | "旅路" (Tabiji) | Kento Yamada (山田健人) | |
| May 21 | "きらり" (Kirari) | Spikey John (スパイキージョン) | ||
| October 24 | "燃えよ" (Mo-Eh-Yo) | Kazuaki Seki (関和亮) | Music video shot on Google Pixel 6 | |
| 2022 | March 20 | "まつり" (Matsuri) | MESS | |
| September 30 | "Damn" | Kento Yamada (山田健人) | ||
| October 10 | "Grace" | QQQ | ||
| 2023 | August 25 | "Workin' Hard" | MESS | |
| November 24 | "花”（Hana） | MESS | ||
| 2024 | March 15 | "満ちてゆく (Overflowing)" | Tomokazu Yamada (山田智和) |
Concert tours
Headlining
- Fujii Kaze "Nan-Nan Show 2020" Help Ever Hurt Never (2020)
- Fujii Kaze "Help Ever Hall Tour" (2020–21)
- Fujii Kaze "Free" Live 2021 at Nissan Stadium (2021)
- Fujii Kaze "Help Ever Arena Tour" (2021)
- Fujii Kaze alone at home Tour 2022 (2022)
- Fujii Kaze "Love All Serve All" Stadium Live (2022)
- Fujii Kaze "Love All Arena Tour" (2022–23)
- “Fujii Kaze and the piano Asia Tour” (2023)
Others
- Live Di:ga Judgement (2018)
- Sanuki Rock Colosseum Monster Bash × I Radio786- (2019)
- Hiroshima Music Stadium -Haruban '19- (2019)
- Viva la Rock 2019 (2019)
- Sakar Sp-Ring (2019)
- Treasure05X 2019 -Heading for Tomorrow- (2019)
- Ohara☆brreak '19 summer (2019)
- Monster Bash 2019 (2019)
- Space Shower Sweet Love Shower (2019)
- FM802 Heavy Rotation Night supported by Spotify Early Noise (2020)
- Viva la Rock 2021 (2021)
- Viva la Rock 2021 Viva la J-Rock Anthems guest vocal (2021)
- Rising Sun Rock Festival 2022 in Ezo (In place of Vaundy) (2022)
Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s) / Work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD Shop Awards | 2021 | Blue Prize | Help Ever Hurt Never | Won | |
| China Block Award | Won | ||||
| 2022 | Best Live Video Works | Nan-Nan Show 2020 | Won | ||
| 2023 | Red Prize | Love All Serve All | Won | ||
| MAMA Awards | 2020 | Best New Asian Artist Japan | Won | ||
| MEXT Awards | 2022 | Art Encouragement Prize for New Artist | Fujii Kaze | Won | |
| MTV Video Music Awards Japan | 2020 | Best R&B Video | "Nan-Nan" | Won | |
| 2022 | Best Visual Effects | "Damn" | Won | ||
| Music Pen Club Awards | 2021 | Best New Artist (Popular Music) | Fujii Kaze | Won | |
| Space Shower Music Awards | 2021 | Best Breakthrough Artist | Won | ||
| Best Conceptual Video | "Seishun-Sick" | Won | |||
| 2022 | Best Solo Artist | Fujii Kaze | Won | ||
| Best Conceptual Live | Won | ||||
| People's Choice | Won |
Tie-ins
2021
- 'Tabiji' for a TV drama series "Nijiiro Carte “ (にじいろカルテ/ Niji Village Clinic)
- 'Kirari' for new Honda Vezel TV ad
- 'Moeyo' for mobile phone Google Pixel TV ad
2022
- 'The sun and the moon' for a documentary movie 'Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Side A'
- 'grace' for TV ad of NTT docomo's 'docomo future project'
2023
- 'Beat It' (Cover of Michael Jackson) for a TV program 'まつも to なかい (Matsumo to Nakai)'
- 'Workin' Hard' for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 (Limited to broadcasting on TV Asahi /Nippon TV)
- ''Garden' for TV ad of Nature Lab's 'Laundrin'