Meg

Biography

Meg; born October 3, 1980), stylised in all caps, is a Japanese recording artist, record producer, model and fashion designer from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. She is signed with Starchild Records, a division of King Records. Between 2003 and 2013 she created over a dozen albums and two dozen singles. She started a fashion brand called "Cheryl" in 2004, and both a cosmetic brand, "baw," and a restaurant, café Maison de Ruban, in 2014.

Biography

Meg made her singing debut in July 2002 with the song "傘としずく (Kasa To Shizuku)", which she produced herself and arranged by CMJK. The single was an indie single released under Burger Inn Records.
She made her transition to a major label, Warner Music Japan, with the single "Scanty Blues", which was composed by Yasuyuki Okamura. During production Meg and Okamura disagreed on the arrangement of the song, which caused him to stop working on it, and Meg recruited techno producer Ubar Tmar to finish the song as she wanted it. The finished "Scanty Blues" took on an acid techno-influenced, house-like sound, while Okamura's own rock arrangement of the song was included as the B-side. Nevertheless, her next single was a cover of Okamura's song "Ikenai Koto Kai".
In 2003, Warner Music commissioned Third Ear Recordings to produce a remix album for Meg, "mgrmx×mgrmx12 March 2003 · Album · RemixSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1光露 (Theo Parrish mix)8:182光露 (R.D.R. mix)5:083スキャンティ ブルース (Denis DeSantis mix)5:074ルームガール (note native mix)5:405スキャンティ ブルース (DJ Assault mix: instrumental)2:366光露 (Hiroshi Watanabe mix)8:007イケナイコトカイ (Valou mix)9:028光露 (Cygnus Hero mix)6:599ルームガール (christ hyperactive mix)6:05", which featured artists such as Theo Parrish and Christ.; this album became Meg's first work to be released outside of Japan as it also received an LP release in Europe.
In the summer of 2004, Meg started a new fashion brand called "Cheryl", which followed on from the work she did on her previous brand, "mgcloset". Items by Cheryl were stocked in Klein-Mart Tokyo, a store launched and directed by Meg specifically for the purpose of selling Cheryl designs, but which also stocked homewares, accessories, and vintage and imported fashion.
In January 2006, she changed the official capitalization of her stage name from "meg" to "MEG". In the same year, Cheryl was rebranded as "Carolina Glaser by Cheryl", introducing men's designs. She opened another storefront to sell the new brand, the Carolina Glaser Boutique.
Her third studio album, Aquaberry×aquaberry11 April 2007 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Stars in the blue sky5:002And then...4:553Now released5:354Wave for the wave1:015Girl friend society3:286Moon light4:467Letter2:458Stars in the blue sky (club edit)6:42, reached number 1 on the pop albums chart on the Japanese upon its release and managed to sell higher than her previous album Dithyrambos×Dithyrambos22 November 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Intro-Esquina0:322Rockstar (Yasutaka Nakata 128 mix)4:133Dawn5:274Stereo04 (Sugiurumn mix)5:235Saigo no Kotoba5:016Loveline3:397Lovin' You5:238Carpool4:41. The album did not produce any singles.
Meg began working with producer Yasutaka Nakata in 2007 and released her ninth single, "Amai Zeitaku", in May 2007, switching to the electropop genre. She has since worked with other producers, including the new rave English band Hadouken! for her 14th single, "Freak×FREAK11 February 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11FREAK3:112TOXIC3:103TOXIC <THE LOWBROWS Gimme Five Remix>4:30Disc 21FREAK (MUSIC CLIP)", and the Shanghai Restoration Project for a mini album titled Journey×Journey26 August 2009 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Droplets3:522Questions3:173Rush3:384Dreamscape3:385Just like that3:596Journey4:497Dawn (remix)4:46.
Meg's 2008 album Step became her best-selling album in her career, peaking at number 8 in the Oricon chart, selling 29,048 units, making it the second technopop album to reach the Oricon Top Ten since Perfume's Game, which debuted at number one.
Her sixth studio album, Beautiful×BEAUTIFUL27 May 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1DAYS1:502PRECIOUS4:293TELEPHONE5:314LIES5:445STAR4:376STAND4:457WHY5:558JOKER4:259SKIN4:5610BEAUTIFUL5:51, was released on May 27, 2009, and also has reached the Oricon Top Ten. Her seventh full studio album, Maverick×MAVERICK23 June 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1N07B0:152GRAY3:563DESTINATION4:314HANABI3:535MOSHIMO2:336GROOVY4:247YOU4:228SECRET ADVENTURE3:149OUR SPACE3:2510STORY4:0011MAVERICK4:30, was released on June 23, 2010, once again featuring production and songwriting work by Yasutaka Nakata.
In July 2010, Meg wrote in her blog informing fans that she would be leaving Universal Music Japan and travelling to Paris for a break. She would release the single "Passport/Paris" and a compilation album titled Best Flight×BEST FLIGHT29 September 2010 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 30 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11PASSPORT4:362TELEPHONE5:313GROOVY4:244KITTENISH5:145JUST LIKE THAT3:586FREAK3:107PRECIOUS4:318LOVE LETTER (AJAPAI REMIX 2010)4:299HEART3:4310JOKER4:2611OK4:1612MAGIC4:1213SECRET ADVENTURE3:1614MAVERICK4:3315甘い贅沢6:0116BEAUTIFUL5:5417MIRACLE4:22Disc 21IN YOUR EYES (Plan-B)5:012LOVE LETTER (Plan-B)3:443NATALIE (Plan-B)5:584IKENAIKOTOKAI (Plan-B)5:235YOU (Plan-B)4:446PARIS <T12X-MIX>4:037TOXIC <THE LOWBROWS Gimme Five Remix>4:318FREAK <yasutaka nakata remix>4:419GIRLY STEP <CLAZZIQUAI PROJECT remix>4:4310MAGIC <NEMESIS MIX>4:2511SECRET ADVENTURE <SL REMIX>3:4212PRECIOUS <end of summer mix>3:5213PRISM BOY <extended mix>8:41 with her label before going on indefinite hiatus. On a May 2012 interview with Natalie.mu, Meg revealed that some of the reasons of her going on hiatus was the quick production of Yasutaka Nakata on her album Maverick, completing the album for just three weeks, and that she realized that she did not take much time on the lyrical content of the songs and added that the album is leaning towards more "pop" than club music, in which she considered a "fast pace" on the album's production.
In 2011, she returned to Warner Music, under the management of the newly launched Unborde Records label. Starting June 20, 2011 Meg began releasing digital singles only available in the French iTunes Store. Her fourth digital single, "Rouge No Dengon", was originally supposed to be released on September 26, 2011, but due to issues getting it onto the iTunes France Store, it was delayed and released on September 27 instead.
Two singles, "Kiss or Bite×KISS OR BITE5 June 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1KISS OR BITE4:172グラジオラス -夢ならいいのに-4:103KISS OR BITE (off vocal ver.)4:164グラジオラス -夢ならいいのに- (off vocal ver.)4:08" and "Save", were announced in April 2013 and marked Meg's first dual single release. They were released together in a special package and as separate releases on June 5, 2013. The tracks from the two singles were created with a unified narrative involving a love story with post-apocalyptic and horror themes. The release was also accompanied by a set of seven trading cards and a browser game called "Meg the World." The browser game was designed with a pixel art style evocative of fourth generation video games and featured chiptune versions of songs from the two singles, while dialogue in the game elaborated upon the themes found in the songs' lyrics. These themes would later be used on the following studio album, Continue×CONTINUE4 December 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11prologue2:192旅立ちの歌3:073SAVE4:314ハナレタイノハ…4:075WE LIVE,WE LOVE3:276君が為4:007宇宙のMON DIEU4:248KISS OR BITE4:199くるみ割り4:1410clair de lune5:2811A BATTLE OF PARADOX6:1512CONTINUE4:49Disc 21KISS OR BITE (MUSIC CLIP)2SAVE (MUSIC CLIP)38bit RPG GAME「MEG THE WORLD FUTURE」, which was released on December 4, 2013.
Since 2014, she focused on business by her own cosmetic brand "baw", and also the café Maison de Ruban, a café she opened inspired by her time spent in London.. Both businesses have now closed.

Digital singles

"Discothèque / Banana no Namida" (June 20, 2011)
"Ma Mélissa (covered from Les Minikeums)" (July 25, 2011)
"Believe" (August 29, 2011)
"Rouge no Dengon" (September 27, 2011)
"Still Love Her (Ushinawareta Fuukei)" (October 31, 2011)
"Tough Boy" (November 28, 2011)