# Nariaki Obukuro

Nariaki Obukuro (小袋成彬, Nariaki Obukuro", born 30 April 1991) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, producer and CEO of Tokyo Recordings. He is responsible for producing songs for acts like Wednesday Campanella, Kou Shibasaki, and other famous acts. His music combines musical elements of the R&B, PBR&B, Electronic and experimental tones genres. In 2018, it was revealed that he would make his solo debut as a singer and songwriter under Sony Music's Epic Records label. The album is co-produced by famed Japanese American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada.

## History

Obukuro's musical career started in 2013, when he formed the duo N.O.R.K. with Ray Kunimoto while they were university students. In the next year, they released the EP ASDR, which consists of PBR&B and experimental electronica sounds. After the duo parted ways, Obukuro decided to launch his own indie label, Tokyo Recordings.
In September 2016, Obukuro gained fame when J-pop singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada released her sixth Japanese album, Fantôme. His vocals are featured in track 6, Tomodachi, an R&B song. He performed with Utada in NHK the song, making it his television debut.
In January 2018, Obukuro announced his major debut under Epic Records, with his debut single featuring Utada. The song, called "Lonely One", was released in streaming services on January 17th, 2018. His debut album, "Bunriha no Natsu", was released in April 2018. A music video for the song "Selfish" was released.
In 2019, Obukuro was featured alongside KEIJU, on the song "Summertime" by RIRI. In the same year, Obukuro was also featured on the song "Cold" by The fin.
On December 13th, 2019, Obukuro released a music video for a shorter version of the song "Gaie". On December 18th, Obukuro released his second studio album "Piercing" featuring artists Kenn Igbi, Tohji & 5lack.
Obukuro released his third studio album "Strides" on October 13th, 2021. On the same day, a music video for the song "Work" was released. Obukuro went on a tour in the following year supporting the album. A remix version of the album was released in November, 2022. On January 20th, 2023, Obukuro released a music video for the song "Butter"
In December 2024, Obukuro announced his fourth studio album Zatto and their first independent release, to be released on January 15th, 2025. This album features Rosetta Carr, who plays bass in Sampha’s support band, Ayo Sarawu, Kokoroko’s drummer, and the band, who visited Japan for the first time this November. Many musicians active in the London music scene are participating, including Lyle Barton, who is also a support pianist for Nala Sinephro. The mixing engineer was Russell Elevado, known as the Grammy-winning engineer who worked on D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun. It is said to be an ambitious work that combines multinational music such as jazz, reggae, dub, and Latin with the beauty of the Japanese language. Pre-orders were made available for the limited edition CD case, which will be released on February 26th.
In support of the new album Zatto, Obukuro announced a live tour for the first time in almost 3 years. Starting at Misono Universe in Osaka, the tour will tour five cities: Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, and Tokyo.

## Discography
### Albums
#### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Peak positions | Sales |
| Title | Album details | JPN Oricon | JPN Billboard | Sales |
| Bunriha no Natsu (分離派の夏) | Released: April 25, 2018 Label: Epic Records Formats: CD, digital download, Streaming | 38 | 22 | JPN: 3,300 |
| Piercing | Released: December 18, 2019 Label: Epic Records Formats: Streaming, digital download, Vinyl | - | - | |
| Strides | Released: October 13, 2021 Label: Epic Records Formats: Streaming, digital download, Vinyl | - | - |
| Zatto | Released: January 15, 2025 Label: Independent Formats: CD, Streaming, digital download, Vinyl | - | - | |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles :
| Title | Year | Album |
| "Lonely One" (featuring Hikaru Utada) | 2018 | Bunriha no Natsu |

#### Promotional singles

List of promotional singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | JPN Hot 100 | Album |
| "Selfish" | 2018 | 69 | Bunriha no Natsu |
| "Summer Reminds Me" | 2018 | — | Bunriha no Natsu |

### Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and directors :
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Ref. |
| "Selfish" | 2018 | Yusuke Ishida | |

### Other appearances

| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "ADD" | 2014 | XANAX, Jyodan | EP1 |
| "Confessions" | 2015 | Flammable, VITO | Cosmic Coma |
| "Doubt" | 2016 | 80KIDZ | 5 |
| "Vodka, Lime & Cranberry" | 2016 | YOSA | ORION |
| "Yume no Ato (ゆめのあと)" | 2016 | Tamaki Roy, Taquwami | Nagi (なぎ) |
| "Tomodachi (ともだち)" | 2016 | Hikaru Utada | Fantôme |
| "24" | 2017 | Mother Tereco | ORACLE |
| "Neyo (寝よう)" | 2018 | Giorgio Givvn | Go Outdoor Living: The Moment in the Outdoor Living |
| "Marunouchi Sadistic (丸の内サディスティック)" (Cover of Ringo Sheena) | 2018 | Hikaru Utada | Adam to Eve no Ringo (アダムとイヴの林檎) |
| Summertime | 2019 | RIRI, KEIJU | Summertime |

## Writing and/or produced credits

| Year | Artist | Title | Album |
| 2013 | N.O.R.K. | "The Fall" | ADSR |
| 2013 | N.O.R.K. | "Yell Out" | ADSR |
| 2013 | N.O.R.K. | "Offense" | ADSR |
| 2013 | N.O.R.K. | "Umbrella" | ADSR |
| 2013 | N.O.R.K. | "White Space" | Non-album single |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Wakannai" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Sainan Dawa" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Tokyo no Sora wa Kumori" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Tokai" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Gohan" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Mother" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Wakatta" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Tanomuzo Kakumeika, Watashi wa Oyogu" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Monkey George" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2014 | Megumi Wata | "Yamanotesen" | Sainan Dawa |
| 2015 | Wednesday Campanella | "Napoleon" | Triathlon |
| 2015 | Capeson | "Leave You Alone" | Portrait 1 Hiraeth |
| 2015 | Capeson | "Latent" | Portrait 1 Hiraeth |
| 2015 | Capeson | "Walk Away" | Portrait 1 Hiraeth |
| 2015 | Capeson | "Back in the Day" | Portrait 1 Hiraeth |
| 2015 | Megumi Wata | "Koi ga Aimai" | Sainan Dawa (Repackaged) |
| 2016 | Keishi Tanaka | "Hello, New Kicks" | What's A Trunk? |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Blind Man wa Shitteiru" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Kono Machi no Yoru wa Akarui Hoshi Dake ga Kirari" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Blind Man" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Kesshin" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Run! Run! Run!" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Tsuioku" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Invisible Man" | Blind Man |
| 2016 | Megumi Wata | "Fluff" | Sainann Dawa (Repackaged) |
| 2016 | Kuuchuu Metro | "Δ" | Δ/Boku no Uta |
| 2016 | Kuuchuu Metro | "Boku no Uta" | Δ/Boku no Uta |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Believe My Eyes" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Ko Shibasaki | "Soshite Boku wa Toho ni Kureru" | Zoku Ko Utau |
| 2016 | Ko Shibasaki | "Tasogare no Begin" | Zoku Ko Utau |
| 2016 | Okamoto's | "Rocky" | Non-album single |
| 2016 | Capeson | "The Video, It's Not That Old" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "A Tear into the River" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Bow And Arrow" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Sunshine | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Track 4, Noisy But" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Steerman" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "Cry Like a Bird" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Capeson | "The Ending" | Hiraeth |
| 2016 | Awesome City Club | "Cold & Dry" | Awesome City Tracks 4 |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Hello the World" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "A_B" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Kioku" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Super Girl" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Good Night!!" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Lonely Lonely" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Hatsukoi" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "They Don't Know" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Hutatsu no Machi" | A_B |
| 2016 | BŌMI | "Sora wo Tadoreba" | A_B |
| 2017 | Seiko Omori | "Pocky wo Tabenagara" | Non-album single |
| 2017 | adieu | "Narratage" | Non-album single |
| 2017 | adieu | "Hana wa Yureru" | Non-album single |
| 2017 | Thylacine | "Yume" | Non-album single |
| 2017 | SIRUP | "Synapse" | SIRUP EP |
| 2017 | Yaffle | "Backlight" (featuring Linnéa Lundgren) | Go Outdoor Living: The Moment in the Outdoor Living |
| 2017 | Keiichi Sokabe | "Kaze to Itawari" | Go Outdoor Living: The Moment in the Outdoor Living |
| 2018 | iri | "Corner" | Juice |
| 2018 | iri | "Slowly Drive" | Juice |
| 2018 | Loza Reena | "Tarareba Ryūseigun" | TBA |
| 2018 | Hikaru Utada | "Phakchi no Uta" | Hatsukoi |
| 2018 | Hikaru Utada | "Too Proud" (featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)) | Non-album single |
| 2020 | Hikaru Utada | "Time" | Bad Mode |
| 2020 | Hikaru Utada | "Darenimo Iwanai" | Bad Mode |
| 2021 | Hikaru Utada | "Beautiful World - Da Capo Version" | One Last Kiss |
| 2021 | Hikaru Utada | "Find Love" | Bad Mode |

## Tours

* Nariaki Obukuro Oneman Live Fall (2018)

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2018 | Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2018 | Spotlight Award | "Selfish" | Won |
| 2019 | CD Shop Awards 2019 | Grand Prix | Bunriha no Natsu | Pending |
| 2019 | Best Alternative Artist | Space Shower Music Awards 2019 | Himself | Pending |