4 Hot Wave

"4 Hot Wave" (stylized as 4 hot wave) is Japanese singer Koda Kumi's 32nd single on the Rhythm Zone label. It charted at No. 2 on Oricon and stayed on the charts for seventeen weeks. The sales for the single became her highest selling single, even surpassing the total sales of real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba in less than three weeks. It became her highest debut single and reclaimed the title of Highest Debut Sales Female Artists, previously held by Ayumi Hamasaki's Blue Bird.

"4 Hot Wave"
Single by Koda Kumi
from the album Black Cherry
Released	July 26, 2006
Recorded	2006
Genre	J-pop, R&B, rock, house
Label	Rhythm Zone
Koda Kumi singles chronology
"'Koi no Tsubomi'" (2006) "4 Hot Wave" (2006) "'Yume no Uta/Futari de...'" (2006)

Information

4 hot wave is singer-songwriter Koda Kumi's thirty-second single and is her first quadruple a-side, with each song containing a corresponding music video. It hit No. 2 on the Oricon Singles Charts and remained on the charts for seventeen consecutive weeks.[1]

The sales for 4 hot wave made it her highest selling single, even surpassing the total sales of real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba in less than three weeks.[2] Within its first week, the single sold 207,484 copies, with 489,000 in total. Despite losing the number-one spot to KinKi Kids' Natu Moyou, 4 hot wave outsold them by over 80,000 copies.[3] At the end of the year, the single ranked No. 2 on Highest Selling Single Female Artist, losing out to Naoru Amane's Taiyou no Uta, which was used in her film Midnight Sun.

Due to the single's success, it reclaimed the title of Highest Debut Sales Female Artists, from Ayumi Hamasaki's Blue Bird, which had originally taken the title from Koda Kumi's previous single, Koi no Tsubomi.[4]

The single was Kumi's first quadruple a-side, with each song's music video tying together into one story. The single's artwork was shot in Morocco while Kumi was in the country shooting for her new photo-book Maroc.[5] The videos for "With your smile" and "I'll be there" were shot in Australia, with "I'll be there" shot on Fraser Island.

"Ningyo-hime" was certified gold for full-length cellphone downloads.

Television advertisements

Each song from the single was used for a promotional campaign during the single's release.

"I'll be there" was featured in a television advertisement for Sea Breeze, a sun-tan lotion company.[6] "Juicy" was featured as a television advertisement for jewelry company GemCerey's Binary Face necklace, which was designed by Koda Kumi.[7]

"With Your Smile" was the image song for NTV's Pride & Spirit 2006 Nippon Professional Baseball and featured in a Dwango commercial.[8] "Ningyo-hime" (人魚姫 / Mermaid Princess) was featured in a Vodafone 705T television advertisement.[9]

Music videos

The music videos tie-in together to show a story about rival treasure hunters attempting to gain a triad treasure.

• "Juicy" is the first video in the story, showing Kumi with her crew seducing a group of men in a bar, who have a treasure map. In the end of the video, the men realize the women stole the map.
• "With your smile" is the second video, in which Kumi is shown trying to outrun the men. The music video shows a race through the desert.
• "I'll be there" is the video showing where the map led. In the video, Kumi is seen on a beach in Morocco, relaxing while enjoying the weather. The video ends with her finding the treasure.
• "Ningyo-hime" shows what the treasure led to. Its theme is of Kumi being controlled by a doctor, who is notorious for fusing parts of dolls together. While "ningyo hime" can translate to "mermaid princess," it can also translate to "doll princess," which is what the music video depicts.

While "Ningyo-hime" was shown to be a doll in the music video, she would perform it as a mermaid princess in her tour for the corresponding album, Black Cherry. This was most likely due to the term "ningyo hime" being able to be translated as either "doll princess" or "mermaid princess".

Live performances

During the single's promotion, Koda Kumi performed the songs at several events, including:

•  July 3, 2006 – Popjam DX – medley – I'll be there / Ningyo-hime~
• July 21, 2006 – Music Station – I'll be there
• July 22, 2006 – MelodiX! – I'll be there
• July 28, 2006 – Music Station – Ningyo-hime
• July 29, 2006 – Music Fair 21 – I'll Be There feat. TRF, Koi no Tsubomi feat. TRF, Joy feat. TRF, Ningyo-hime
• July 29, 2006 – CDTV – Ningyo-hime
• July 30, 2006 – Cable Awards
• August 3, 2006 – Utaban – I'll be there

Track listing

(Official track list[10])

CD

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Introduction – I'll be there"				0:30
2.	"Ningyo-Hime" (人魚姫 /Mermaid Princess)	Koda Kumi	Miki Watanabe	Miki Watanabe	4:25
3.	"I'll be there"	Koda Kumi	Shintaro Hagiwara	tasuku	4:12
4.	"Interlude – Juicy • Ningyo-hime"				0:43
5.	"Juicy"	Taira Yo	STY	STY	4:27
6.	"With your smile"	Koda Kumi	Toru Watanabe	h-wonder	4:16
7.	"Outroduction – With your smile"				0:47

DVD

No.	Title	Director(s)	Length
1.	"Juicy" (Music Video)	Kubo Shigeaki	5:26
2.	"With your smile" (Music Video)	Kubo Shigeaki	4:22
3.	"I'll be there" (Music Video)	Kubo Shigeaki	4:53
4.	"Ningyo-hime" (Music Video)	Tadakoro Takashi	4:40
5.	"making of "MAROC"" (found on limited editions)		2:05

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	First week sales	Sales total
July 26, 2006	Oricon Daily Charts	1
	Oricon Weekly Charts	2	207,484	390,685
	Oricon Monthly Charts	1
	Oricon Yearly Charts	14

Alternate versions

Juicy

1. "Juicy": found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
2. "Juicy (Pink Chameleons remix)": found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 4 (2012)

Ningyo-Hime

1. "Ningyo-Hime": found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
2. "Ningyo-Hime (N15H vs. Heavens Wire D'n'B remix)": found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 5 (2013)

With your smile

1. "With your smile": found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
2. "With your smile (Groovehacker$ remix)": found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 3 (2011)

I'll be there

1. "I'll be there": found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
2. "I'll be there (JOE IRON Remix)": Found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 9 -Special Edition- (2019)

References

1. "4 hot wave / Koda Kumi / Oricon Style". Oricon. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
2. "Single Sales Chart". HBR3 Sakura. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
3. "Billboard Single Sales". Billboard. September 2, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
4. "Koda Kumi: Two Girls with Two Golds '06!". Oricon. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
5. MAROC Koda Kumi by Leslie Kee. ISBN 4847029429.
6. "SEA BREEZE Official". SEA BREEZE. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
7. "GemCerey (Binary Face)". Pideo. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
8. "With your smile (Koda Kumi) Music Downloads". Dwango. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
9. Oricon Style: 4 hot wave Featured in CM Retrieved August 31, 2012
10. "Discography". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2016.

External links

• Koda Kumi Official Site