JAMOSA

Marketed as Japan's answer to Mary J. Blige, R&B singer Jamosa has stacked up an impressive number of collaborations to date, without scoring the consistent chart success that her stateside soundalike has managed. Her exotic appearance cannot solely be put down to a bottle of red hair dye: she was born in Fukuoka, southern Japan, to a Japanese father and Taiwanese mother, and has lived in both Japan and Taiwan.

Jamosa charted an early course to pop stardom when, as a 10-year-old, she sang as a member of a children's choir backing Michael Jackson at a show in Fukuoka as part of the singer's Dangerous tour. She caught an even bigger break at age 17, when her self-penned track "Papa" was picked up for the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky (2000), although it never made it to the soundtrack. Jamosa divided her teens between the U.S. and Japan, where she collaborated with million-selling pop-rap duo Def Tech and rap supergroup Teriyaki Boyz, among others. She also turned up on The Red Album mixtape by DJ Whookid. In 2005, Jamosa's first Japanese-language release, the mini-album Standing Strong, spent nearly four weeks at the top of the iTunes R&B chart. The following year, Japanese reggae artist Corn Head guested on Jamosa's rap-flavored "Lenai-Yo" single, which reached number three in the Oricon indie chart. Jamosa's major-label debut, Dream (Virgin Japan) landed at number two in the iTunes R&B chart. For its follow-up, Jamosa again looked stateside for inspiration, enlisting the mixing talents of G-Unit producer Red Spyda. Her debut full-length album, One, entered Japan's Top 30 and she signed up to the Avex label, for whom she has recorded two albums, including 2009's Red.