May J

Stage Name : May J
Birth name :May (Jamileh) Hashimoto
Born :June 20, 1988 (1988-06-20) (age 21)
Origin :Tokyo, Japan
Genres :R&B,Urban
Occupations :Singer, television host
Years active :2006-present
Labels : Neosite Discs (2006-2009)
Rhythm Zone (2009-present)

May Hashimoto (橋本芽生, Hashimoto Mei) better known by her stage name May J. is a Japanese R&B singer, who graduated from the American School in Japan in 2007. May J. made her major label debut under Sony Music Japan on July 12, 2006 with her first mini-album All My Girls.

Biography

May J. was born on June 20, 1988 to a Japanese father and an Iranian mother. At the age of 14, May J. was successful at a Sony Music Japan audition and soon signed onto Sony Music. Before making her major debut, May J. was a dancer for Aaron Carter's Japanese concert and was featured the track "Luyva: Another Episode" from Sphere of Influence's album Big Deal, credited simply as MAY.

Released July 12, 2006 under Neosite Discs, the hip-hop division of Sony's Ki/oon Records, the music of her debut mini-album All My Girls has been described as "Jennifer Lopez/Beyonce/Rihanna-type music which has never before existed in Japan."While she is yet to breakthrough to mainstream success, music critics have praised her vocal abilities.That said, some fans consider her voice to lack substance, while others believe her voice changes depending on the production of the song. To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Neosite Discs, the single "I Say Yeah!" was released on October 4, 2006 as a collaboration by all 5 of the label's signed artists.The single marked May J.'s first appearance in the Oricon top 10, although she has yet do so solo. May J. performed as the opening act for Cassie alongside Rōma Tanaka at her concert at Shibuya O-EAST on November 28, 2006.December 20 saw her first solo single release when "Here We Go feat.Verbal(M-Flo)" dropped and charted at #70 on the weekly charts.

Her follow-up single, "Dear…" was released on May 30, and was unlike most of her previous work. Despite the ballad being much more Japanese-friendly than "Here We Go", the single charted at just #90, her lowest ranking yet. May J. was then featured on Zeebra's new album World of Music on the track "Shinin' Like A Diamond". In October, it was announced that May J. will be releasing her 3rd single, "Do tha' Do tha'" on November 21, followed shortly by her first full-length studio album, Baby Girl on December 5. The album will feature all three singles released thus far, along with "My Girls", remixes of previously released tracks "Destination", "Baby Eyes" and "Love Blossom", along with 7 brand-new tracks, making it a total of 14 tracks. Both CD-only and CD+DVD versions will be released, with the latter being a limited release.

In October 2008, she became the co-host of the NHK music program, J-Melo, with Shanti.

On 6 March 2009, label Rhythm Zone openend a new official site for May J. and also announced that she switched labels. The website promoted a song named もし君と... featuring キマグレン On the 23rd of May the official website announced a new album named Family featuring the songs Garden (featuring DJ Kaori, Diggy-MO', クレンチ＆ブリスタ) as well as もし君と・・・ to be released on the 27th of May, 2009. The album charted at the #4 place on the Oricon weely chart.