To Love (Kana Nishino album)

To Love (stylized as to LOVE) is Japanese R&B singer-lyricist Kana Nishino's second studio album. It was released on June 23, 2010, by SME Records.[1] Beginning sometime in 2009, the album's production was handled by several music producers, such as Jeff Miyahara, Giorgio Cancemi, Daniel Sherman, Mats Lie Skåre, ViVi, Andreas Levander, among others. It also features a guest appearance from Japanese hip-hop and reggae musician Minmi. Nishino contributed towards the album as the executive songwriter. to LOVE is primarily a J-pop album with numerous elements of dance-pop, pop rock, R&B, electropop, adult contemporary, and pop ballads.

To Love
Studio album by
Kana Nishino
ReleasedJune 23, 2010 (2010-06-23)
Recorded2009-2010
GenreJ-pop, R&B
Length57:20
LabelSME Records
Kana Nishino chronology
Love One.
(2009)		 To Love
(2010)		 Thank You, Love
(2011)
Singles from To Love
  1. "Motto..."
    Released: October 21, 2009
  2. "Dear.../Maybe"
    Released: December 2, 2009
  3. "Best Friend"
    Released: February 24, 2010
  4. "Aitakute Aitakute"
    Released: May 19, 2010

The album spawned four Oricon Top 10 singles, "Motto...", "Dear.../Maybe", "Best Friend" and "Aitakute Aitakute".[2] All of the singles went on to be certified "million" for full song downloads of over 1 million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), establishing Nishino as a dominant force on music charts and digital platforms. "Aitakute Aitakute" in particular is one of the best-selling multi-format singles in Japan with total sales of excess 5,097,000 (5,000,000 downloads and 97,000 physical units).[3]

A commercial success, to LOVE became Nishino's first number-one album in Japan, premiring at the top spot with first week sales of 290,048 units. By the end of 2010, to LOVE sold 645,417 units and became the third best-selling album of the year in Japan behind Ikimonogakari's Ikimonobakari: Members Best Selection and Arashi's Boku no Miteiru Fūkei.[4] In its astonishing 104-week chart run, to LOVE went on to sell an additional 66,769 units in 2011, and 15,211 more in 2012. This is Nishino's best selling album, with 727,945 units sold in total.

Background

"To Love" is Nishino's first album released after she solidified her popularity in the digital market. Despite Nishino's initial singles for her first album, Love One., not seeing much success,[5] the songs promoted around the album's release ("Tōkutemo" feat. Wise, "Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara" and "Kimi no Koe o" feat. Verbal (M-Flo)) were gradual hits in the digital market.[6] Since then, all of her singles have hit No. 1 on RIAJ's Digital Track Chart, which tracks full-length song downloads to cellphones.[7][8][9][10] "Best Friend" stayed at No. 1 for three consecutive weeks,[10][11] while "Aitakute Aitakute" and "Motto..." reached No. 1 for two.[7][9][12]

Currently, "Aitakute Aitakute", "Best Friend," "Dear..." and "Motto..." are all certified for 750,000+ ringtone downloads and 500,000+ full-length cellphone downloads.[13][14][15][16] "Maybe" has been downloaded on cellphones more than 100,000 times, along with a B-side to "Best Friend" "One Way Love" that is not present on the album.[16][17]

Writing

Much like her first album, To Love is centred around a theme of love. As exactly one year had passed from her previous album, Nishino wanted to express the growth in her values and view on love.[18] In an interview with Yahoo! Japan, Nishino stated that for the lyrics on the album she "makes an image from the music, then creates a short film made of images in her head, and from there creates the basis for the scenario for the lyrics.[19]

Many of the songwriters from Nishino's first album worked with her again for To Love.[20][21] Sizk, who worked on the prologue/epilogues from her first album worked on the second albums, while the singles were created with Giorgio Cancemi (who worked with Nishino on 2/3 of the later promotional tracks from Love One., "Tōkutemo" and "Kimi no Koe o"). One song was written by Australian songwriters Nervo ("Hey Boy"), much like the songs "Girlfriend" and Nishino's debut single "I"). Jeff Miyahara also returned to work with Nishino once again (after producing the single "Kimi ni Aitaku Naru Kara"), with "Summer Girl" feat. Minmi.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 1 on Oricon's daily albums chart, selling 71,000 units on its first day.[19] It stayed at No. 1 for the first week, selling 290,000 units.[22] The album's first week sales are currently the highest for a solo artist in 2010. The album was certified triple platinum selling over 750,000 physical units[22]

Many album tracks were popular enough to chart digitally after the album's release. "Love & Smile", released a week before the album, was the most successful, peaking at No. 3.[23] Others included "Summer Girl" feat. Minmi (No. 8), "Kono Mama de" (No. 14) and "You Are the One" (No. 64).[24]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Kana Nishino except noted

CD
No.TitleLyricsMusicArranger(s)Length
1."＊Prologue＊〜What a nice〜" ViViSizk1:33
2."Best Friend" Giorgio CancemiCancemi5:19
3."Summer Girl feat. Minmi"co-written with MinmiJeff Miyahara, Minmi, Kenji "Jino" Hino, Masa KohamaMiyahara, Hino, Kohama3:49
4."Hey Boy" Andreas Levander, Miriam Nervo, Olivia Nervo, Jonas NordeliusVivid Neon*3:17
5."Motto... (もっと…)" CancemiCancemi5:29
6."love & smile" Toiza71Toiza715:04
7."Kono Mama de (このままで, Stay Like This)" Saeki YouthKKotaro Egami4:15
8."MAYBE"co-written with Giorgio CancemiCancemiCancemi4:04
9."WRONG" Bachlogic, Winston Sela, Daniel ShermanBachlogic3:28
10."Come On Yes Yes Oh Yeah!!"co-written with DJ Mass and Yuki KeityDJ Mass, ExxitVivid Neon*, Exxit5:05
11."Dear..." Shinquo Ogura, CancemiCancemi5:28
12."Aitakute Aitakute (会いたくて 会いたくて)"co-written with Giorgio CancemiCancemiCancemi4:42
13."You are the one" Mats Lie Skare, ZettonZetton4:34
14."＊Epilogue＊〜to LOVE〜" ViViSizk1:13
Total length:57:20
DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Kimi no Koe wo (君の声を) feat.VERBAL(m-flo)" (Music video) 
2."Making of Kimi no Koe wo feat.VERBAL(m-flo)" 
3."Motto..." (Music video) 
4."Making of Motto..." 
5."Dear..." (Music video) 
6."Making of Dear..." 
7."Best Friend" (Music video) 
8."Making of Best Friend" 
9."Aitakute Aitakute" (Music video) 
10."Making of Aitakute Aitakute" 

Charts and certifications

Personnel

References
  1. "Sony Music Shop" (in Japanese). Sony Music Japan. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  2. "西野カナ、2ndアルバム6/23発売決定 ニュース-ORICON STYLE-". Oricon Style. Oricon. 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  3. "BIOGRAPHY｜西野カナ オフィシャルサイト". nishinokana.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  4. "アルバム 年間ランキング-ORICON STYLE ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  5. "アーティスト： 西野カナ". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  6. レコード協会調べ　4月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：4月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  7. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue October 20, 2009" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  8. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue December 1, 2009" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  9. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue May 25, 2010" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  10. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue March 2, 2010" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  11. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue March 9, 2010" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  12. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue November 3, 2009" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  13. レコード協会調べ　2月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：2月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  14. レコード協会調べ　11月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：11月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2009-12-20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  15. レコード協会調べ　4月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：4月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  16. レコード協会調べ　5月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：5月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  17. レコード協会調べ　3月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：3月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  18. "西野カナ 『to LOVE』 インタビュー". Hot Express. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  19. "西野カナ、デイリー1位のアルバム制作秘話語る「作詞はストイックに」". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  20. "ｔｏ　ＬＯＶＥ/西野カナ 音楽/CD - TSUTAYA online". Tsutaya (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  21. "ＬＯＶＥ　ｏｎｅ．／西野カナ/CD - TSUTAYA online". Tsutaya (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  22. "西野カナ、2010年ソロNo.1初動＆平成生まれ女性歌手初のアルバム首位". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  23. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue June 22, 2010" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  24. "RIAJ Digital Track Chart: Chart issue June 29, 2010" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  25. "アルバム 年間ランキング-ORICON STYLE ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  26. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-07-04. (subscription only)
  27. ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2010年08月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
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