Ever since I saw her music video "The Perfect Vision" a few years ago, one of my favorite Japanese singers has been the Osaka-born MINMI. She can sing, she can dance, and she's beautiful. She has fans not only in Japan, but also in the Caribbean island nations of Jamaica - the homeland of ska, dancehall and reggae - and Trinidad & Tobago - the homeland of calypso, steelbands and soca (
soul +
calypso).
Unlike fellow Japanese R&B singer Aoyama Thelma who has a grandfather from Trinidad and Tobago, MINMI is full Japanese.
Here are a couple of MINMI music videos which have got stuck in my head, "STEP" and the soca number "Summertime!!"