Rina Sawayama

Rina Sawayama is a singer, songwriter and model, who was born in Japan, and is based in London.

In 2016, she was included in The Fader's 13 Artists You Need To Know About In 2017, and Noisey's 25 Under 25 list for International Women's Day.

Sawayama began her solo career in 2013, with the single "Sleeping in Waking". In June 2015, she released a music video, directed by Arvida Bystr¦m, to her track "Tunnel Vision".

In 2016, she released the single "Where U Are", with an accompanying music video co-directed by Alessandra Kurr. The release was described as "nostalgic greatness... ultra-sweet and shimmering pop", and "90s R&B pop perfection. Very lounge. A little Solange. A smidge of peak-era Mariah". The single explored human interaction with digital media, with Sawayama explaining: "Online you can present your best edited self, and bypass lots of the messiness and awkwardness that comes with real human interactions. Your overheating phone substitutes human warmth. Weirdest of allyoure together, but also very alone."

In March 2017, Sawayama's single "Cyber Stockholm Syndrome" premiered on The Fader. Sawayma described the genesis of the themes of the track as follows: "I see embracing a positive relationship with our online selves as an act of self-preservation and defiance. In this age, the digital world can offer vital support networks, voices of solidarity, refuge, escape. Marginalized people, or socially anxious people like myself can, in fact, be freed. Thats what Cyber Stockholm Syndrome is about: pessimism, optimism, anxiety, and freedom. Erica Russell of V magazine called Sawayama a "digital-age pop pioneer" and praised the single as an "intoxicating [slice] of sleek, glossy dream-R&B and digi-pop [in which]...the artist confronts her digital addiction over a sparkling soundscape of midtempo Destinys Child-esque beats, tick-tocks and twinkling synths."

In 2016, Sawayama collaborated with artist John Yuyi on a visual series critiquing Asian, and Japanese, beauty standards. Subsequently, she was profiled in Vogue Magazine. In the interview, Sawayama described the genesis of the idea and collaboration: For a lot of women in Japan, these are the expectations people put on them, from anime culture, kawaii culture... that can really put women at a disadvantage, objectifying and infantilizing them. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.