Few recent developments showcase the globalization of pop culture like an Indonesian artist covering an American pop hit in Japanese.
Singer Rainych Ran began uploading her covers of J-pop and anime songs to YouTube about five years ago, and while she received some attention over the years, nothing prepared her for the frenzy she experienced in 2020 after she tackled American singer Doja Cat’s chart-topping “Say So” in Japanese. Ran's take became a viral hit, racking up millions of views on her YouTube channel and getting Doja Cat herself to geek out over the rendition on Instagram. (Ran’s video has over 22 million views at the time of writing.)
“When it happened, I thought it was doctored at first, like someone added a Doja Cat video with my cover,” Ran, 28, tells The Japan Times over Zoom from her home in Sumatra. “But that day a bunch of people on Twitter tagged me and congratulated me. So yeah, I guess it’s real! It was like, boom, that’s freaking awesome.”
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