Rina Sawyama -- The Voice of a Genre-Spanning Pop Star

Rina Sawayama has burst into the consciousness of queer music listeners in recent years. My first time listening to her work was Cherry, a track that is bubbly and an upfront exploration of her pansexuality. With the intro of a singable hook and stellar vocals, I was hooked. The vulnerability and vivacity of the track led me to explore her work and feel queer comradery from this single track. From there, I explored her debut album “Sawayama”. It is an exemplary album that explores family dynamics and genres like pop-punk, anthem, and ballad. Her honest and powerful songs on “Sawayama” took notice of many established artists, from Charlie XCX to Elton John. In 2021, John released a collaborative version of her heartfelt ballad, “Chosen Family” from her debut album,which exposed his audience to the eclectic and energetic sounds of Sawayama. Charlie XCX followed this in 2022 by collaborating on “Beg For You”, a “cry in the club” song about reminiscing about a past lover and dancing through the pain.

Sawayama’s release of “Hold the Girl” in 2022 has captivated listeners with writing introspective yet energetic music. Her most recent album speaks to her (and the listener’s) inner child in literal and poetic ways throughout the album from “Hold the Girl” to “Phantom”.

Throughout her career, Sawayama has captured audiences worldwide by speaking her mind on important issues while allowing herself to be vulnerable.

Sawayama has always held her point of view and identity strongly through her artistic career, and hasn’t wavered in her art. Like she said in an interview with Broadly, “I’ve always written about girls”. Rina’s unyielding viewpoint and artistic vision has made audiences connect authentically to her music, and helped her soar to the top of the pop charts. Her work incorporating camp and hyper-pop tropes has helped draw an enthusiastic queer crowd. Sawayama has also extended her artistic vision into other mediums while developing her musical brand. She has done so by collaborating in visual art, where she speaks against societal pressures placed upon women in Japan. She also regularly walks the runway for fashion designers and has made tracks for some runways she has walked. Her experience in fashion and modeling has made Sawayama endlessly reach for new ideas and themes, while highly influencing her stylistic choices on the visuals for music videos and album visuals in all of her work. She has experienced music to hold some artists within thematic “boxes” whereas fashion is constantly striving for something new, bold and out of the box. This has truly helped Sawayama speak fully through her own voice in a way that is exciting and truly her own. With a powerful perspective and ability to write of specific life experiences in a way that all audiences can relate to, Rina Sawayama is poised to be a major pop icon. In recent months, Sawayama has begun posting footage from behind the scenes on Youtube under the name RINA TV. These videos are of photo shoots and her days leading up to and during concerts, amongst much more. This lets her connect with her audience and show them a side of herself and also the industry that many do not see. Sawayama is making her film acting debut for John Wick 4: Chapter 4 and I’m hoping for much more in the future.

Sawayama is an exemplary artist who generates experimental yet relevant art that can reach and captivate many young audiences through emotion and compelling finesse. From acting, to modeling, to collaborating with Elton John and other artists; Rina Sawayama is an artist who tells it like it is, and we want to listen. If you want to hear a genre-mashing artist inspired by Lady Gaga and Avril Lavigne, who can jump from cheeky 2000’s pop-inspired tracks to theatrical yet introspective dance hits, listen to Rina Sawayama. Maybe start with “Cherry” *wink*.