The foundation of modern J-pop is built on Vocaloid. The producers creating the sounds defining the country’s hits today and many of the singers central to them came up in the 2010s online community centered around the singing-synthesizer software. It’s an era for the nation’s music scene featuring greater attention from global listeners, and it all owes a debt to the Hatsune-Miku-powered world thriving on Nico Nico Douga and beyond.
Given this, Reol stands as a genuine pop pioneer in Japanese music history. The artist got her start in the early 2010s as an utaite, a human singer offering covers of Vocaloid songs. She started composing her own originals, and gradually built up her reputation as one of the strongest voices in this online space. Rather than stay tethered to the digital, she pivoted to the mainstream, eventually with major label Victor Entertainment. From there, she made inroads to pop both as a solo act and as part of the trio REOL, which saw her reveal herself for the first time.
At the time, this could have just been read as someone from the online space chasing J-pop glory. Time has shown, though, that Reol was setting the pace for creators to come. Alongside Kenshi Yonezu, she brought the artistic ethos of Vocaloid with her into traditional pop places, showing the two sides could blur together. Today, that’s common via big names like Ado or YOASOBI. Yet a decade earlier, it was anything but, with Reol helping build space for the Vocaloid-indebted stars to shine.
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Like a lot of young Japanese in the latter part of the Aughts, Reol found herself drawn to the world of Vocaloid. Her entry point into the community came as an utaite starting in 2012, covering established songs with her own voice. She quickly gained a following on Japanese video site on Nico Nico Douga, and was able to work directly with a variety of producers working in the Vocaloid space, most frequently with early pioneer Giga. They formed an artistic partnership, with many of Giga’s creations featuring synthesized singing being released alongside a version sporting Reol’s take.
Eventually, Reol started sharing more original works, revealing her own artistic version. Alongside a steady stream of covers, she released her debut album Gokusaishiki in 2015. That set offered a snapshot of her stepping into the limelight with her own work — heavier EDM-influenced dance-pop just as inspired by the sounds of Western mainstream hits as they were Japanese online smashes, with a smattering of rock worked in for good measure.
The next step was one that felt ahead of where the scene she came from would be going in just a few years. Reol linked up with Giga and visual artist Okiku to form REOL, a group project still very much centering her (in all caps, even). This outfit took a greater step into the mainstream light than anything Reol had done before, down to actually going against Vocaloid culture and showing herself in promotional materials and music videos. The sound offered a slightly more pop-leaning take on the aggro sound she and Giga had played with before, complete with extra snarl on numbers such as “Give me a break Stop Now.”
REOL released one full-length album and an EP before the project disbanded in 2017. Despite a short time together, the project offered a peak of the future, when groups featuring producers and vocalists from the Vocaloid world would come together to create J-pop-defining hits. REOL was just a little early, but offered a blueprint.
Hype Mode
Despite REOL ending, Reol kept on and didn’t shy away from the mainstream, while still frequently working with Giga and Okiku. Now with Victor Entertainment, she released solo effort Jijitsujo in 2018, building on the club-pop sound of REOL while adding in new sonic wrinkles and flexing greater confidence in her rap delivery.
She only built from there on follow-up Kinjitou, going into more musical directions over the course of its 11 tracks while getting a touch wonkier in the details of songs such as “HYPE MODE.” After embracing a pop sound shaped by Western and K-pop developments, Reol found how to make it her own without losing the emotional edge that had defined her for nearly a decade to that point.
By this point, the story of J-pop as a whole was changing — Kenshi Yonezu had already established himself as the dominant force for a new era, while groups such as YOASOBI and Yorushika were starting to rise to the vanguard of the nation’s music scene. Reol had, to some degree, predicted the direction it was all heading, though she also offered up a hit for this moment in July 2020’s anthemic “THE SIXTH SENSE.” Her biggest original hit and one capturing her artistry just right, it stood as a J-pop highlight that year and helped land Reol love from YouTube, who named her an “Artist on the Rise.”
Ms. Control
While Reol was ahead of the times, that’s not to imply she hasn’t thrived in the 2020s J-pop period. Really, since “THE SIXTH SENSE,” she’s hit her stride both creatively and commercially, continuing to expand her sound while exploring new corners too. Her 2023 album BLACK BOX, her first after joining with Sony Music, saw her continue to turn to long-time creative pal Giga, but also welcoming in new production minds into the fold such as Tokyo club collective Trekkie Trax’s Masayoshi Iimori and Wednesday Campanella’s Kenmochi Hidefumi. Echoes of Vocaloid past reverberated through it, yet throughout Reol focused on moving forward and finding ways to mutate that style so important to her.
She’s stayed busy, too. Reol’s number of tie-up songs has increased, as she’s provided tunes for various games, anime and McDonald’s anime-themed ad campaigns. She’s reunited with old pals Giga and TeddyLoid for the rollicking “ULTRA C,” while also exploring a more driving rock sound in recent single “Shinobi.” She’s played Budokan in Tokyo, toured Asia and started playing more shows in North America too. Reol previewed J-pop’s current era a decade earlier…but she’s every bit as active in it too.
Five Essential Songs
“Gokusaishiki”
An early example of the Reol-Giga partnership and its high-energy output. Besides setting the sonic foundation for what the two would explore together in the years after, “Gokusaishiki” establishes Reol’s guiding outlook on life — face and accept hardships, but push through with utmost confidence.
“RE:”
Created during the REOL days, this song offers a sound slightly less aggro than what the trio leaned towards while together. Rather than fest-ready EDM, they borrow lithe touches and twinkly melodies from SoundCloud communities to create one of the brightest tunes in Reol’s catalog.
“HYPE MODE”
The Reol sound gets trippy. Musically, it’s the long-running Giga sound turned into a fever dream, while vocally Reol delivers more attitude than ever to this point, practically hissing at perceived haters at time.
“THE SIXTH SENSE”
Her biggest pop moment to date and one delivered with full-throated confidence. It’s also a perfect merger between the hip-hop-inspired sound of Western music Reol loved and the nervy online stylings of Vocaloid, making this a sonic snapshot of her two biggest influences working in unison.
“Glitter”
A great example of Reol’s continued musical evolution. She linked up with Kenmochi Hidefumi, who provides her a nervy club beat for her to pogo over, flexing her vocals over a springier sound without losing a step.
