Ryukyuan music

Ryukyuan music (琉球音楽, Ryūkyū ongaku), sometimes called Nanto music (南島歌謡, Nantō kayō) is an umbrella term that encompasses diverse musical traditions of the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama Islands of southwestern Japan. The term of "Southern Islands" (南島, Nantō) is preferred by scholars in this field. In Japanese, the notion of "Ryūkyū" is associated with the highly centralized Ryūkyū Kingdom based on Okinawa Island and its high culture practiced by the pechin class in its capital Shuri. By contrast, scholars who cover a much broader region lay emphasis on folk culture.

Research history

Comprehensive studies on diverse musical traditions of the Southern Islands was done by Hokama Shuzen and his colleagues. Prior to that, the scopes of research were limited to each island group (Amami, Okinawa, Miyako or Yaeyama), or even narrower areas. These studies were done under the heavy influence of folklorists Yanagita Kunio and Orikuchi Shinobu, who searched for the origin of Japanese culture in the Southern Islands.

Jin Jin (musician)

Janée Bennett, known professionally as Jin Jin (previously Jin Jin and the Ragdolls), is an English singer and songwriter from Stockport.

Career

Bennett enrolled at Manchester College and began a Higher National Diploma in Music and New Media Management in 2001, at the age of 18.

Bennett was signed to the music publisher Windswept Music UK in 2003. She auditioned for the second series of the BBC televised music competition Fame Academy, but was rejected. Subsequently, Bennett completed an undergraduate degree in music industry management and marketing, and modelled for fashion brands including Agent Provocateur and DKNY.

In September 2008, Bennett was featured on the Roll Deep single "Do Me Wrong", from their album Return of the Big Money Sound. In October 2009, Bennett released her debut single, "Sex in the City" (with producer Bless Beats), via Moshi Moshi Records; NME magazine described the track as "rude, fresh and kinda brilliant". A version of the single features rapper Tinchy Stryder. Bennett was profiled in The Guardian's "New band of the week" feature the same month, with Paul Lester describing her as "a rougher, cruder version of glossy American R&B" and "a new urban female who is edgier than Pixie, who comes from a more authentic place than Alexandra Burke, halfway between Alesha Dixon and Lady Sovereign, like a Moss Side Pink if she'd worked with Tinchy instead of Linda Perry".