City Pop

City pop is a predominantly Japanese genre which originally became popular with the blooming economy of the country during the 1970s-1980s, mostly having a relation with the everyday urban and luxury life of Japanese metropolitan areas. It often aimed at a more adult audience than J-Pop and had a more contemporary and Western sound than Kayōkyoku and Enka. Notable precursors of the original city pop sound included New Music, a warm blend of Folk and Pop Rock pioneered by はっぴいえんど [Happy End], as well as the more Jazz-influenced end of kayōkyoku. These elements were taken in the mid-1970s for the genre's blueprint with Happy End's successor ティン・パン・アレー [Tin Pan Alley] and シュガー・ベイブ [Sugar Babe]. Adding to that was the presence of urban and romantic lyrical themes, clean production, longer structures, and more specifically, the upbeat grooves from Funk and Disco. This is when city pop began to develop itself, being diverse in nature by changing between upbeat and mellow styles. By the late 1970s there was also an increased influence of Jazz Fusion, Lounge and Exotica, with some tracks taking the form of instrumentals (occasionally taking up the length of an entire album, with one example being 角松敏生 [Toshiki Kadomatsu]'s Sea Is a Lady).