#7 from the women

[independentartistbuzz]

7 From the Women with Eri Blossom

Eri Blossom is a NYC based singer, rapper, and songwriter. Her music is strongly influenced by Japanese and American culture, which shows listeners a view they’ve never seen. Growing up in Japan with parents who loved American and British culture, it wasn’t difficult for her to get into classic R&B and Hip-Hop such as Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, TLC, Tupac, Janet Jackson, and more.

After she moved to Tokyo from her hometown to continue her music study, she had opportunities to sing at night clubs and was able to visit NYC to take the class by the daughter of Ray Charles, Sheila Raye Charles. 

During the trip, she had some opportunities to do street performances and interact with the audience. This experience convinced her to move to NYC. Since her move, she has earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz studies from the City College of New York where she expanded her influence to Jazz music. She has also performed in open mics at well-known music venues in New York City, such as Village Underground, Ashford and Simpson’s Sugar Bar, Harlem Nights, The Groove and Negril BK.

We had the honor of speaking with Eri Blossom about her new music, her musical career, what's next, and so much more!

What Have You Been Working To Promote Lately?

I recently released my 2nd single “Breakthrough” The song is about one of my themes as an  artist; women’s rights. I want to present a new way of being a Japanese woman and break the stereotype of Japanese women. The song is a mix of Japanese Koto instrument and some 2000’s  hiphop vibes. It’s a very energetic song. 

I was born and raised in Japan. When I lived in Japan, I always felt that I was an outsider  because my personality never met the ideal Japanese woman; conservative, elegant and quiet.  I’m naturally assertive and was the type that always spoke up in school. It became a liability in  Japan. I felt worthless and this pressure made me think that I have to be like them. After I  moved to NYC, my personality became stronger, which allows me to increase my self acceptance and enjoy myself.  

And I thought that I would like to support women through my music by verbalizing the pressure  that we feel subconsciously. 

There are stories that I believe I only can tell. This song is the beginning of it.

Please tell us about your favorite song written, recorded or produced by another woman and why it’s meaningful to you 

My Life by Mary J. Blige. As an artist, I was looking for perfection in myself. I wanted to sound perfect and tried to be someone else. But this song made me realize rawness and imperfection  is what speaks to people. In this song, she just expresses herself instead of singing perfectly,  which makes her message stronger. Also, we tend to hide the negative side of ourselves.  Because we don’t want to be hurt or be criticized. But she shows her vulnerability in this song which means she faced her pain as an artist. I personally think she is brave doing it because it’s  not that easy. That realization has been helping to build up the core of my artistry.  

What does it mean to you to be a woman making music/in the music business today and do you feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes in your music? 

To me, it’s a battleground. I wish it were not. But unfortunately, it is. There are many traps and  people who try to take an advantage of you. My case is the worst because I’m a foreigner from  Japan. Because English is my second language and many people assume that I’m quiet due to  my nationality, which is a big mistake! haha 

I’ve worked with a music engineer who didn’t listen to me at all and imposed his ideas for  mixing. He also neglected to reply to my messages for several weeks. I eventually figured out a  way to convey what I expected him to do, because I talked to other experienced female artists  who shared their wisdom with me. It’s also unfortunate to hear from them that it’s the culture.  This experience made me aware of this issue and made me want to support other woman  artists. Actually this experience also inspired me to write my second single.  

What is the most personal thing you have shared in your music or in your artist brand as it relates to being female? 

Japanese girls are given traditional Japanese dolls which are called Hina Dolls. We wish health  for girls at Girl’s festival on March 3. There is a saying that the girl will get married late if you  don’t put away the doll right after the festival. I grew up hearing message and it pressured me  subconsciously. I decided to include it in my second single. 

Who was the first female artist that made you want to create music / be in the business?

There is a famous Japanese R&B singer called MISIA. I still remember the excitement when I listened to her album for the first time. I just wanted to become a singer like her and practiced her songs all the time.  

Who's Your Favorite Female Icon (dead or alive) and why? 

TLC! I started taking hip-hop dance classes at age 9 before I started taking vocal classes. I was  told to dance choreographies with TLC songs. Classmates dressed up like TLC or Janet Jackosn,  which I really love. This experience introduced me to the street culture and became the  foundation of my music.  

What do you hope to share with other women in the industry with your music? 

Empowerment. Encouragement. I understand that sometimes it’s hard to make music as a woman artist, but I’m here for you. Don’t be afraid of being you and raising your voice!

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

so this is why you dressed up nice today like fuck off

[min-xie]

help i cant stop drawing fem neuvillette

[ophanstears]

🍀

I know that Clover's gender is up to interpretation (the devs DID say so themselves) but I still feel weird when people make them exclusively male or female LOL Like it's TECHNICALLY fine??? but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

more in tags as usual because I am a yapper. i am so sorry for having strong opinions about gender and representation. i am usually more fun than this 🥲🥲🥲🥲

[flurry-of-beaus-pop-pop]

The overwhelming enthusiasm for episode 7 from all of us lesbians shows that maybe our issues with episode 6 was never about the lack of Agathario, but moreso with the focus on a dude in a show that should be centered on the women.

[kataracy]

Kataang Week 2024 DAY 1 // Cultural Sharing

“I’m nervous. Am I doing okay?”

“You’re doing amazing Sweetie.”

[seethesound]

One year ago, Hamas animals attacked innocent Israeli teenagers and children. They were doing nothing more than dancing and singing at a music festival, like teenagers all over the world. This attack was sinister and unprovoked. Hamas terrorists followed with more kidnapping, rape, torture and executions in the days October 7th. Know the truth.

[backpackingspace]

I am once again thinking about how odysseus who witnessed the horrors that the captured women went through (one of his main duties in the iliad was taking the women back home and making sure they were as comfortable as possible and safe because he was the only one trusted not to violate them further due to his devotion to penelope. And in the odyssey part of the reason circe sent him to the underworld was so that he'd have to listen to all these women's stories (before he could talk to the prophet) ). Who was one of the few that saw women as people and respected their space and opinions. And was then put in those exact same situations. I don't have the motivation right now to do a full literary analysis of this (I'll site the sources too) but oh man one day I'm going to write a full essay on this.

[harrowscore]

can't believe a show based on a videogame (usually games adaptations are notoriously bad, which isn't the case here tho) gave me the beauty and the beast/twisted mirrors/enemies to traveling companions/ruthless antihero+optmistic but still badass heroine who takes none of his shit/age gap but make it sexy dynamic of my dreams. as much as i love maximus and i think he deserves the best writing ever because 1. he's a clever deconstruction of the aspiring Knight bro who's actually a bit of a loser and, as much as lucy, sees the world in black&white at first and then doesn't get what he thought he wanted but what he needs (or at least i hope he'll eventually get it), and 2. he's a cutie and i want an epic love story for him too, it's very funny how they tried to give us a puppy kind of romance and the tumblr girlies still fixated on the "toxic ~she bites his finger off and he cuts hers off and sews it on his hand in what we'll pretend it's a symbolic marriage rings exchange or whatever~ asshole who used to be a nice guy/good girl™ with a lot of spunk and hidden anger but unshakeable morals" kind of relationship.

[kingkatsuki]

The thought of Bakugou listening to those terrible Cosmopolitan articles about dating to try and court you.

[artfilmfan]

Corinne Marchand in "Cleo From 5 to 7" (Agnès Varda, 1962)

[thesupernaturalhouse]

Okay, I can't be the only one, who thinks it's kinda ridiculous how people hate Lilith right?

And I think it's even more hypocritical of people to hate Lilith but love Lucifer/Alastor/Adam

Now- I'm not saying you can't dislike a character, no....but we've seen this women ONCE, not counting the story/flashback

And frankly, I don't think she's done anything worthy of, you know, being hated as much as she is

"She took Charlie form lucifer" the fuck she did, im 90% sure that Charlie snuck out of bed and went to find Luci and Lilith(if it was Lilith) jsut went 'no- no. You're supposed to be asleep'

There was no clear context that Charlie was being taken away form Lucifer- not to mention even-

Okay, let's say that they did divorce, which I'm not even sure if they did, and Lilith took Charlie to live with her

She CLEARLY did not keep Charlie AWAY from Luci, we see portraits/pictures of Charlie as a kid young adult, teenager, etc, in her dad's office/home

We even see family portraits with her as a kid and teen/young adult, so the divorce was also probably not until she was already fully grown

Keep in mind, Chalrie is canonically 200 years old, or older, this divorce could've been when she was, like, 180 she probably wasn't a kid when the separated

So even if she was taking Charlie away in that scene, it clearly was not forever and honestly doesn't seem possible with the timeline

"She abandoned charlie" so did....Lucifer??

Like, she mentions him not contacting her for a long time, the one phone call she DOES get from him is about a meeting, not exactly a meaningful conversation

And if he became like this after the 'divorce', then unless lilith divorced him and then left. That probably means Charlie hasn't had a meaningful talk with her dad for longer than 7 years

Or even seen him, I forget if Charlie says that 'this is the first time I'm seeing him in years' or smth

Not to mention Charlie clearly still loves her and views her in a positive light

"Shes in heaven" Okay....we don't know why tho??

I mean, personally, I like to think she's planning war crimes against heaven and is using whatever deal she and Adam had as a cover up

But we don't know the reason, it could be a good one! it could be a shitty one! We don't know!!

We know, like, 4 things about this women and people are already hating her, and I just don't get it

Like why?? What's the reason??

And maybe im overreacting or yall havnt seen the same fans/thing I have

But I've seen people say they hate Lilith but love Lucifer, I've seen people paint her in a bad light to either have a villian/antagonist or to show Adam in a better light, or to victomize/pity Alastor

And I just don't get it, how is she worse then Alastor or Lucifer here?

Which, even if she does own Al's soul, I don't think it'd be a big deal?? Like....Alastor owns souls to, and Lilith isn't abusing her power over him(unlike Al with Husk), I think if she did own his soul, she would've stoped him from suggesting a deal/favor to Charlie

I can't be the only one who thinks like this either right?

i also personally dont want her to be a villian and i also dont want sera to be a villian either; Lute is a good enough villian

Sera ALSO gets hate, which I don't really get. Like this women is trying her best to run heaven by herself and make sure nobody dies under her care

Like this, women clearly has truama/ptsd, just as lucifer does about his falling. And for the exterminations to be fair, if I was told a bunch of rapists and serial killers were coming to my house, I'd grab the gun too!!

Doesn't mean all sinners are like that, I'm sure a lot are in hell for minor crimes, but heaven doesn't know that!

Cut her some slack man, I doubt she's had a nap in 4+ billion years

Also this isn't hate on any of the characters, I absolutely love lucifer, I just think that people needa stop painting lilith and/or sera to be the bad guy

[todayisafridaynight]

whatever //blasts your old man with the butch beam//

[epickiya722]

Burnin without sleeves is just something I think we all should admire. ❤️‍🔥

[cielrouge]

tagged by @piyo-13 to make a poll of my top 5 characters and see who comes out on top and well....

Honorable Mentions: Mishil from Queen Seondeok (the OG baddie bitch antiheroine!!! Watching this sageuk as a kid literally alternated my brain chemistry hahaha), Emily Throne from Revenge (another OG antiheroine girlie I was frothing at the mouth over!!!) and Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices (the stranglehold this boi had on me during the heyday of the YA paranormal romance era LMAOOO)

Tagging @gyuseulogy, @selkiestars, @skadren, @whenquietthunders, @yukipri, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[ncytiri]

fave female characters poll!

make a poll of your favourite female characters (no limits - as many or as little as you want) and see which your followers like the most!

tagged by: @ruvviks and @deadrlngers (not explicitly but i wanted to do this anyways :D)

tagging: @hollytanaka, @esmecarmona, @skapediem, @mojaves, and anyone else who wants to do this! (no pressure ofc if i tagged you and you don't wanna do it <3)