The lead single from Doja Cat’s 2021 Planet Her album — and one of many songs making Gen Zers uncover Olivia Newton-John’s “Bodily” — “Kiss Me Extra” was nominated for File and Tune of the yr on the Grammy Awards in April. The music is catchy, sure, however in Japan, it peaked when it reached quantity 97 on the Japan Sizzling 100. On July 22, although, the American rapper dropped a remix of the monitor that includes none apart from Japanese comic Naomi Watanabe.

It was truly fairly the manufacturing, with Kentaro Fujii credited as producer and Awich writing the Japanese lyrics that exchange the verses initially sung by SZA. In a latest Instagram submit, Watanabe stated, “[Awich] gave me a one-on-one rapping class. It is my first time rapping!”

Although the complete model of the music has not formally been uploaded on YouTube on the time of writing (do test your favourite streaming app for it although), Sony Music Japan did launch one thing like a teaser.

This twist on an American launch, not like Watanabe’s earlier tackle Girl Gaga’s “Rain on Me”, is devoid of parodic parts. As a substitute, it’d point out that she is prepared for the subsequent section of her profession. After a yr in New York, Watanabe is again in Japan and can star within the Japanese manufacturing of Hairspray: The Musical as Tracy Turnblad.

“Kiss Me Extra” isn’t the one of Doja Cat’s songs that incorporates a Japanese voice. In spring 2021, a remixed model of “Greatest Pal,” a duet she did with Saweetie, was launched that includes a couple of verses sung by South-Korean-Japanese rapper Chanmina.

“Kiss Me Extra” and “Say So” are two Doja Cat’s songs which have widespread unofficial Japanese variations by Indonesian singer Rainych on YouTube.

On TikTok, a number of creators have additionally been protecting songs in Japanese, with the newest titles together with Charlie Puth’s “Mild Change” and Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Operating Up That Hill (A Cope with God),” that just lately had a resurgence in charts around the globe after it featured prominently within the fourth season of Stranger Issues.

This latest pattern of protecting and remixing songs in international languages ​​generally is a advertising and marketing ploy, but it has introduced a welcomed appreciation of world music.

So, what worldwide tracks would you want to listen to remixed in Japanese?