The eighties. Home to such celebrities and unforgettable characters like Mr. T, He-man, and Rainbow Brite. But admist the chaos, insanity, and gold chains of this tight-jeaned era, a child emerged, one with type A blood, who would rise to international stardom in a mere 16 years.
Hikki may have grown up in a musical family, but it wasn't until she moved back to Japan from America when she was still just 10 years old that she really started listening to music. Before her thirteenth birthday, she was already releasing singles in the U.S. and Europe (what aboot CANADA?!) under the name Cubic U (yes, cubic U is completely different from Cubic U).
Then, in 1998, the world would forever be changed. In January, the singles that Hikki had done as Cubic U were compiled into a single album, Precious. Ten months after that, a month before her official debut stunned the world, Time will Tell was already airing on FM bands across Japan. But all that was just a prelude leading up to the amazing, absolute, alleluia inducing Automatic.
December 9, 1998. The single heard around the world (okay, maybe not exactly then). Automatic smashed through charts, delighting listeners and quickly rising to the top. It was still going strong in March 1999, which is how I was introduced to it. I immediately went to the nearest store and bought the 12 cm disc single.
First Love, her debut album, release date March 10, 1999, sold out before it was officially in stores. And the rest, they say, is history...
For Hikki's profile, blatantly stolen from the official site (before they changed it), and with comments inserted by yours truly, scroll down a bit.
Date of birth: January 19, 1983
Place of birth: New York, USA (The Big Apple, also home to other celebrities, such as the Ninja Turtles, the Ghostbusters, and the New York Rangers)
Blood type: A
Height: 158 cm (umm... 5'5? Don't ask me. I don't do imperial unless I'm flying)[*cough* she apparently hasn't grown since the height was originally posted, way back when First Love was released]
Hobbies: Painting (she designed Chuichi, and the cover for For You), eating (just like me ^_^), and emailing (her addy remains mysteriously unknown)
Specialties: (say talents) Basketball (Everyone loves bball. How's the big 'M' Grizzlies? Change the city, they still suck), cutting corners without being noticed (as Sherry Bobbins said, 'It's the American way'), and of course music. Favorite movies: Titanic (She saw it twice and cried both times. That's a black mark on her Respect Meter. The saddest part was when the senile old lady threw the jewel into the ocean), Godfather part 2 (who doesn't love the mafia? or, in Hikki's case, Robert De Niro), and Good Will Hunting (IMHO, this movie was WAY over rated. What happened to the days of action, action, and mindnumbing action?)
Favorite authors: Ryunosuke Akutagawa -- "Rashomon," "Kappa" (never read them), Ogai Mori -- "Takasebune" (never read it), Soseki Natsume -- "Kokoro" (for some reason,i haven't read this either...), Ronald Dahl -- "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "The Twits," "Tales of the Unexpected" (now we're moving into familiar territory. I thought thought that the Witches was actually better than the Twits), Shel Silverstein -- "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (Hey, I own that book!) Favorite Artists: Babyface, Black Street, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, Minnie Ripperton, Freddie Mercury (Queen), Joe, Mary J. Blige, Aaliyah, Yutaka Ozaki Places she'd like to visit: Italy (mamma mia, pizza pizza!), Mexico (Yo quiro Taco Bell!)
Things Hooked on Recently: Black Jack (say 21), gehsen (game centres! say arcade.. mmm Marvel vs Capcom..), black coffee (ACK! she's in Japan! She should be drinking suntory c.c. lemon!), evian (is that that bottled water? what a gyp!), baoding balls (??? dunno. don't ask)
School:
Columbia (She's apparently taking a year off to work on her music career. Just as a side note, I guess it doesn't really fit in here, but she plans to retire after age 28)