Rina Sawayama
Rina Sawayama is the pop star you probably haven’t heard of. In the ever-growing world of music, it is hard to keep track of all the new acts that pop up every day, especially when you can’t tell them apart because of their generic and bland sounds. Not Rina Sawayama, though. The 29-year-old model/singer/songwriter was born in Niigata, Japan; she moved to London, England, with her family when she was 5. She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in political sciences, which undoubtedly spills over into her genre-defying music. She’s also modeled for Versus x Versace. The confessed gamer released her mini-album RINA in 2017 and explored themes of the digital world and how our digital personas substitute many parts of our waking, “real” lives. The 8-track mini-album was critically-acclaimed with heavy influences of 90’s R&B.
The album cover for “SAWAYAMA”
SAWAYAMA, released on April 17, 2020, treats themes such as identity, family, and belonging fueled by Rina’s own experiences as a Japanese-born immigrant in Britain. The 13-track album embraces all elements of Rina’s upbringing, a departure from her struggles as an immigrant to have to conform and choose one culture over another, a frustration shared by many immigrants, especially in today’s globalized and interconnected world (both physically and digitally). She’s described her music as an onion, having layers to it both sonically and lyrically. When describing her latest project, she uses the words “honest”, “bold”, and “drama”, and she is right. The album delivers on these promises. Tracks like “Akasaka Sad” expand Rina’s experiences across generations, deal with the sadness she felt as an immigrant in London, connecting and trying to understand if this how her parents felt all along while raising her in a new country. “Paradisin’”, talks about experiences during her teenage years over arcade-like sounds. “Bad Friend” is a vulnerable confession of how she wasn’t there for a close friend when she needed her the most. On “Chosen Family”, she sings about the hardships that unite strangers and turns them into members of our chosen families. Rina wanted to create a safe space for her and her LGBTQ+ friends (she identifies as pansexual, as stated in numerous interviews). Albeit the track is slow in comparison to other songs on the record, the lyrics are also the most personal and straightforward (“let’s open a bottle and celebrate who you are”).
The album is a cohesive piece of work, but here are some of the stand-out tracks that deserve more attention. “XS” (a play on the word “excess”) is a critique of consumerism and capitalism, and our desire with always wanting more despite its unsustainability. The track is heavily inspired by the sounds of the pop music artists of the late ’90s, like Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child, that Rina confessed she grew up listening to.
On “STFU!” (Shut the Fuck Up!), Rina uses the album’s first single to address microaggressions and everyday racism lived by people of color and minorities everywhere, specifically anti-Japanese comments she has experienced. Starting with eerily hypnotic sound effects, like those in martial arts movies, the rambunctious track’s sound is reminiscent of early 2000s rock (think Evanescence) to accompany its equally loud message. Rina urges her aggressor to think before they speak or to simply STFU. If you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all. (In a similar vein, “why be racist, sexists, homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet”?)
“Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)” is a funky 2000’s disco banger with an infectious bassline on which Rina embodies cockiness and unconstrained confidence. It also served as the album’s second single. The idea behind the song was to question patriarchal standards of how a confident woman should act, on how it is acceptable for a woman to exude confidence when it mirrors male stereotypes. Sexist double standards punish women for being too confident in ways that intimidate men, using the justification that it makes them bossy or bitches. Yup, we’ve all heard this.
“Fuck This World (Interlude)” addresses capitalism, neoliberalism, and the effects that these practices have on the environment, specifically on climate change. The interlude begins as helpless, almost nihilistic, but slowly evolves into a much more hopeful, almost inspiring song. She is embarrassed by the world that we are currently leaving for future generations. The song’s beats are hypnotic, with Rina’s voice floating throughout as if observing Earth from above. “This is our mission impossible, may not be solvable, may not be viable, but it’s worth trying”, quickly shift the energy of the song, advising that there are still things we can all do to help solve the enormous problem that is climate change and how it affects us all. Who said pop music had to be shallow to be catchy? (Answer: no one did.)
“Tokyo Love Hotel” is an homage to Japan and the obsession/fetishization the West has with it. The track also references cultural appropriation, using Japan and its culture as a metaphor for a love hotel (hotel rooms people can rent for short periods, mostly for sexual activities) where guests drop by and leave. Sawayama is now an outsider and wonders if this fascination and longing she has for Japan make her no different from Westerners that visit and don’t care about Japan, its people, or to get to know and respect its culture outside of the idealized image presented in the media.
With the minimal amount of Japanese pop music that made its way to the West while I was growing up in Puerto Rico (pre-streaming), I can't help but make some connections to an album that I feel SAWAYAMA speaks to. Utada’s 2004 album Exodus immediately comes to mind with its experimental sounds that don’t feel like it fits anywhere at all; the different sounds on the album tap into a place of mind, body, and soul, just as SAWAYAMA does. It’s impossible not to mention tracks like “Exodus ’04” where Utada sings about globalization and the displacement of communities across the globe, herself included (this was her first album released in America, and she wrote it when she left Japan for the first time). On Animato, she asks, “Why are you trying to classify it? This is music for all of humanity, from me”, concerning her music. Other tracks like “Crossover Interlude”, “Devil Inside”, or “Kremlin Dusk” break the paradigms of what experimental electronic music could sound like in the early 2000s. Check out this gem of an album if you haven’t already.
The album is a sonic delight from beginning to end. As a listener, it keeps you on your toes, your mind racing, identifying the numerous sources of inspiration, or trying to decipher what genre each track belongs to (if at all). SAWAYAMA is a testament to what happens when we know who we are, embrace all of our identities, and pour our heart and soul into a body of work. I can’t wait to hear more of what Rina has up her sleeve for future projects and what other important issues she’ll sing about, especially after going through a global health pandemic like the one we are currently living.
Get to know Rina Sawayama more with these short interviews from i-D and British Vogue.
Listen to SAWAYAMA on Spotify