City pop
Musical styleWikipedia
47
MENTIONS
12
EPISODES
9
PODCASTS
Search complete. 47 mentions across 12 episodes found for "City pop".
Oct 4, 2026
Jack ManifoldHOST
But, yeah, the album's called City Girl.
Jack ManifoldHOST
You said it was a City Pop-inspired album.
Jack ManifoldHOST
I remember that from when you told me about it.
Jack ManifoldHOST
Tell us more.
Gabi BelleGUEST
I
Jack ManifoldHOST
remember some stuff.
Gabi BelleGUEST
Yes, City Pop.
Gabi BelleGUEST
Ever heard of it?
RubenHOST
It's not the, one of the albums you want me to go look for when I'm in Japan, huh? [laughs] Is it?
Wulf-Man DaveHOST
No. No. I'm gonna, I was gonna ask you to look for some City Pop stuff.
RubenHOST
Okay, 'cause right now I'm looking for some bags to make sure that the, that, uh, LPs can fit in there.
Wulf-Man DaveHOST
12 by 12.
MELONiiGUEST
I came to Japan for a trip and I went to karaoke for the first time with my Japanese friend.
MELONiiGUEST
And she sang a lot of Showa and Heisei songs, especially City Pop.
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
How do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years? I
MELONiiGUEST
want to become an artist with no limits.
15 MINS LATER
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
That
MELONiiGUEST
was Kikkake.
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
I feel like the city pop and, you know, Those are very popular in Asia, it seems
MELONiiGUEST
like.
MELONiiGUEST
I came to Japan for a trip and I went to karaoke for the first time with my Japanese friend.
MELONiiGUEST
And she sang a lot of Showa and Heisei songs, especially City Pop.
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
How do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years? I
MELONiiGUEST
want to become an artist with no limits.
15 MINS LATER
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
That
MELONiiGUEST
was Kikkake.
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
I feel like the city pop and, you know, Those are very popular in Asia, it seems like.
Isaac Y. TakeuHOST
What do you think made it so popular? What do you think is the reason people love it from your perspective?
JoshHOST
Right.
PaulHOST
It's, it's not Japanese, uh, hyper popper, uh, or city pop enough to, to crack 4.0, I guess.
PaulHOST
So.
JoshHOST
So you said you think Van Halen is the 25th highest rated rock album from 1984? I mean, now I got to
JoshHOST
I'm familiar with them.
JoshHOST
I just think it was funny you talked about Japanese.
JoshHOST
They're not City Pop, but
PaulHOST
they are a Japanese metal band.
Steve HueyHOST
Classic Canadian accent.
JD RyznarHOST
"It's yet another City Pop song, but this one has-a the most amazing Japanese just doing English words title yet.
JD RyznarHOST
Much love, Matteo." Uh, yeah, Matteo, from what I can tell, this is a single with her, with, uh, Junko's group, Minoya Central Station.
JD RyznarHOST
And I was like, why does this sound familiar? Did we Yatsky this before? No, we Yatsked another Japanese artist named Yasuko Ogawa, who did a song called Canadian Star, which was written by the Steely Dan guys.
JD RyznarHOST
But this is totally-
Hunter StairHOST
We also Yatsked a Junko Ohashi song in the, uh, City Pop spectacular episode.
JD RyznarHOST
Yes.
Steve HueyHOST
We've done two Junko songs.
speaker_0HOST
It is an environment of total pristine technological saturation.
speaker_0HOST
And in the 1970s and 80s, during Japan's massive, unprecedented economic bubble boom, this specific environment produces a genre known as city pop.
speaker_1HOST
City pop.
speaker_0HOST
Now, City Pop is fascinating because musically it is this incredibly polished, pristine, high budget blend of American funk, soul, jazz fusion and what they call AOR.
speaker_1HOST
AOR standing for album oriented rock, which is characterized by slick, highly produced studio perfected sounds.
speaker_1HOST
Think Steely Dan or Fleetwood Mac.
speaker_0HOST
Yacht rock vibes, but injected with this Japanese electronic sheen.
speaker_0HOST
But the text makes a really crucial point about the psychology of this music.
speaker_1HOST
Because the text shifts gears here and dives deeply into a very specific musical and cultural phenomenon.
speaker_0HOST
Which is the massive global resurgence of Japanese 1980s city pop.
speaker_1HOST
This is where the column from MMR really flexes its cultural observation skills, moving from hardware to software, so to speak.
speaker_0HOST
It focuses on how an incredibly niche genre from 40 years ago suddenly conquered the modern global internet.
speaker_1HOST
For those who might not be deep into algorithmic music recommendations, the text lists some of the heavy hitters of this city pop genre.
speaker_0HOST
Yeah, artists like Tatsuro Yamashita, Taiko Onuki, Maria Takuchi, Minako Yoshida.
speaker_1HOST
And it specifically calls out the explosive global popularity of Miki Matsubara's track, Mayonaka No Door Stay With Me.
speaker_1HOST
And the text asks a crucial question.
speaker_1HOST
Exactly.
speaker_1HOST
And he also touched on the fact that hits can come from unexpected places, like how City Pop has gained traction in the West.
speaker_0HOST
Wait, City Pop, that's such a cool genre, it's amazing how trends can resurface and connect across cultures, but is it sustainable?
speaker_1HOST
That's the million-dollar question.
speaker_1HOST
Trends can be fleeting, but if artists can build a genuine connection, it might lead to lasting success.
Patrick McCarthyGUEST
I mean, there will be, we'll be like, that's not, that's not blah, blah, blah, because they know.
Patrick McCarthyGUEST
Same with City Pop.
Yosuke KitazawaGUEST
We did a series of compilations of Japanese City Pop.
Yosuke KitazawaGUEST
And when we started that series, we had a discussion about like, what is City Pop? Like, is it a style of music or is it a lifestyle? Is it just a vibe? Yeah.
Yosuke KitazawaGUEST
Or was it an era?
Scott OrrHOST
Yeah.
18 MINS LATER
Patrick McCarthyGUEST
And there's nothing
Yosuke KitazawaGUEST
else,
2 more episodes mention City pop.
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