译英国乐评媒体Playlouder评安室奈美惠2005年原创专辑《Queen Of Hip-Pop》（4星）

原文链接：https://web.archive.org/web/20060321162741/http://www.playlouder.com/review/+queen-of-hip-pop/

作者：Daniel Robson

翻译：Nomanlandever

发布时间：2005.12.16

Christmas: a time for bemoaning the dearth of album releases while record labels grow fat on hashed-together packages of '80s pop hits or the best of Jimmy Nail. One advantage, mind, is that we get to mention some personal faves that slipped under the radar over the past few months. Import-only 'Queen Of Hip-Pop' is one such gem.

圣诞节：一个新专辑上市少的时节，厂牌会在彼时滥发80年代热单合集或Jimmy Nail的精选专辑。但好处是，我们可以借机提及一些私心最爱却在过去几个月鲜有关注的遗珠专辑。只有进口版本的《Queen Of Hip-Pop》便是这样的宝藏佳作。

Hip hop and R&B; are massive in Japan, which, if you find girls with ridiculous orange tans and fellas who stick “Word” into their vocabulary as amusing as we do, can only be a good thing. We'd especially like to thank Namie Amuro for two things: introducing the trend of having one's black bra poking out of one's top, and making this super-fine collection of poptastic grooves.

Hip-pop和R&B曲风在日本大受欢迎，在那里，如果你发现染着夸张橘黑发色的女孩和男孩们像我们一样滑稽地在日常谈话中引用歌词，这只有利无弊。我们应该特别感谢安室奈美惠两件事：一是开创了黑色bra肩带露出上衣的时尚潮流，二是做出这张无与伦比的流行舞曲专辑。

I've always found Destiny's Child agonisingly awful - one minute they're asking you to pay their bills, the next they bleat about independent women. Well, Namie's like Destiny's child with fewer warbling arpeggios and mostly unintelligible lyrics, which is all good.

我发现Destiny's Child（真命天女组合）总是惹人憎恶——前一分钟还让你支付账单（“Bills，Bills，Bills”），下一分钟又叫嚷着做独立女性（“Independent Women”Pt.1）。好吧，安室奈美惠是用更少颤音花招，唱着不知所云的歌词的“真命天女”，这很棒。

Over dramatic string-laden beats, Namie proclaims herself the queen of hip-pop, her voice smooth, breathy, sometimes cracked and characterful. In case you're thick, hip-pop is Namie's brand of infectious urban grit, and it's no wonder she tops the charts in Japan - she's taken the best of 'black music' (as they call it over there) and pulled it apart like Lego, putting it back together in new and exciting ways that weren't in the instructions.

在夸张的弦乐节奏下，安室奈美惠宣告自己是嘻哈女王，她的嗓音平滑，有空气感，时沙哑又个性。如果你有点后知后觉，Hip-pop焕发着安室奈美惠Urban勇毅的人格魅力，也难怪她在日本榜单中名列前茅——她汲取“黑人音乐”的精髓（那里的人是这样称呼的），像乐高积木一样解构音乐，再以空前绝后令人眼前一亮的方式糅合起来。

'Want Me, Want Me' is pure sex, its bhangra strings recapturing the vibe of 'Get Ur Freak On' and throwing in lines like “I can do you/You can do me/Up and down, in and out” - unabashed filth that fits perfectly with the grinding bass and stabbing beats. The fact that half the rapid-fire lyrics are in foreign only heightens the raunch factor.

“Want Me, Want Me”是纯碎的“Sex歌曲”，歌曲的邦格拉弦乐器重拾（Missy Elliot歌曲）“Get Ur Freak On”的特质，再加入歌词“I can do you/You can do me/Up and down, in and out”，不加掩饰的污言秽语 与刺耳bass和犀利节奏完美契合。实际上，歌曲一半的歌词都是日文的，更增添了下流的气息。

'WoWa' is the other instant classic. It's a call to arms, a popping, bumping stomper of a track with military snares and whistles to get your pom-poms shaking. 'I Wanna Show You My Love' is a minimal synth'n'vocal mash that other artists would pay Pharrell a few ingots for; 'Girl Talk' is straight, smooth R&B;, while 'Free' belches with squelching synth bass and dissonant vocal harmonies.

“Wowa”也是一首经典歌曲，是战斗的号令，歌曲的碰撞节拍伴随着军队响弦和哨声令你欲罢不能。“'I Wanna Show You My Love”是一首极简的合成器人声歌曲，一首其他歌手都想找Pharrel Williams做出来的歌曲。“Girl Talk”是干爽丝滑的R&B歌曲，而“Free”充斥着压抑的合成器低音和不协调的和声。

Even ballad-tastic 'Ups And Downs' is good: tender, warm and sweet, with rich, luxurious harmonies 'twixt Namie and Nao'ymt, a chap who warbles a bit like Craig David. Mind you, we could live without the crushingly dull 'All For You', which drags cheesy ballads to brand new lows.

就连民谣风的“Ups And Downs”也不错：温情、暖心、甜蜜，伴随着安室奈美惠和Nao’ymt层层叠加的和声，Nao’ymt的颤音有点像Craig David（英国R&B男歌手）。需注意的是，专辑完全可以删掉沉闷至极的“All For You”，它把俗气的民谣拉到新的低点。

Oh, but then there are bouncy beats, apocalyptic dance-me-ups and crazy stop-starts sprinkled all over the record, as well as a few Engrish lyrics to laugh at. And who could ever ask for more?

哦，不过还有迸发活力的节奏、末世舞曲和疯狂的停顿，以及一些让人发笑的英文歌词。谁还能要求什么呢?

So, now you've heard of Namie Amuro, and you really have no excuse not have a whisper in Santa's ear. Surely it's got to beat the nostalgic 3CD Stock, Aitken and Waterman collection...

所以，现在你已经听闻过安室奈美惠，你真的毫无理由不对圣诞老人耳语袒露心扉。当然，它必须打败怀旧的3CD存货、艾特肯和沃特曼系列……