Flashback Friday: Nocchi – Girl U Love

Back in the Beehive days of Perfume—pre-Game—Perfume use to do these videos promoting their upcoming performances and music releases, which were basically livestreams before livestreaming was a thing. Even back then Perfume were in the future. They wouldn’t really do anything scripted on these livestreams. They would just hang out and do what girls at that age would do. Very often they’d sing some of their favourite songs and—get this—work on harmonies. And on one occasion when Nocchi was doing one of these videos by herself, she started singing “Girl U Love” by Crystal Kay.

Anybody who knows Kay and J-R&B knows that this song is a CLASSIC. And Nocchi clearly knows. But of course she would. Because Nocchi is a bad bitch with taste. Real ones such as Sheena Ringo have always known and seen it.

What an oddly full circle moment for Nocchi to have sung a song by Kay—who already had a major record deal by this point—to then be a judge on the season of Masked Singer that Kay participated in. It’s a reminder of just how long both Perfume and Kay have been in the game. Which is why it annoys me that both Perfume and Kay’s music isn’t where it should be. Especially when they once had that shit so figured out.

Videos such as this is why I roll my eyes and get frustrated at Perfume just doing the same old thing. I’m not saying that Perfume should do J-R&B—although I think they absolutely could). But so many of these videos of Perfume singing other people’s songs show how much more they could be doing on their own songs. There is so much that their producer Yasutaka Nakata could be tapping into with Perfume, and he just isn’t doing it. And I think this is a shitty thing for him to do as a producer, because he isn’t doing the job that he should be doing AS a producer. His vision for Perfume’s music is just what is a preference for him. There’s no consideration of Perfume’s own preferences, pushing their sound forward or their own desires at artists. It’s selfish. So I really hope Perfume start saying ‘Fuck it’ and doing more solo shit and getting a taste of what they should be doing. And then MAYBE they will start asking questions and force Nakata out of his old habits. Because them singing their songs in their natural voices would do SO much more for their music.

And as we can see from this video and also the song Nocchi featured on with Ringo, there is no reason for Nocchi to be side-lined and sounding like a foghorn on Perfume songs.