Minmi is a good example of how many Japanese musicians are confidently adapting and incorporating musical influences from all over the world into their music, which in her case is a blend of R&B and reggae. Another key influence in Minmi's music is hip-hop, which she says she's been listening since she was in middle school. Minmi got her start in the music business more or less accidentally. While she was grooving along to the music one evening a few years back at a reggae club in her native...

Minmi is a good example of how many Japanese musicians are confidently adapting and incorporating musical influences from all over the world into their music, which in her case is a blend of R&B and reggae. Another key influence in Minmi's music is hip-hop, which she says she's been listening since she was in middle school. Minmi got her start in the music business more or less accidentally. While she was grooving along to the music one evening a few years back at a reggae club in her native Osaka, the DJ suddenly thrust a mike into her hand and told her to get up on stage and sing. And sing she did. "After singing in the reggae club, I got more and more serious about being a singer," Minmi explains. "And I listened to more types of reggae when I eventually went to Jamaica - at first I only knew dancehall." In 2003 Minmi made her major-label debut with the album Miracle, and she immediately made a name for herself with her funky, in-your-face music and her vampish good looks. Besides writing her own songs, Minmi acts as her own producer, which is unusual for a female Japanese artist. Minmi is clearly a talent to watch.