Line #48 Music/RinaSawayama


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sawayama_copy.png]]
2	[floatboxright:Influences:
3	+ Music/JustinTimberlake, Music/DestinysChild, Music/KylieMinogue, Music/GirlsAloud, Music/{{Sugababes}}, Music/AtomicKitten, Music/LimpBizkit, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/ChristinaAguilera, Music/LadyGaga, Music/KatyPerry, Music/AvrilLavigne, Music/HikaruUtada, Music/{{Beyonce}}, Music/BritneySpears, Music/{{Evanescence}}, Music/{{NSYNC}}, Music/{{Pink}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/JanelleMonae...]
4
5	->''"Have you ever thought about taping your big mouth shut? 'Cause I have, many times."''
6	-->-- "[[ClusterFBomb STFU!]]"
7
8	Rina Sawayama (Japanese: リナサワヤマ; born 16 August 1990) is a Japanese-British [[SingerSongwriter singer-songwriter]], actress and model. Born in Niigata, Japan, she was raised from a young age in London, where she currently resides.
9
10	Sawayama's music, usually categorized as pop but known for its versatility (often delving into pop variants like art pop and electropop) and variety of influences (mainly rock and R&B), is widely influenced by [=1990s=] and [=2000s=] music and often features production from Music/ClarenceClarity. This lends itself to a sound that is simultaneously modern in presentation and centered around nostalgic pop conventions.
11
12	In addition to her music career, Sawayama has modeled in several fashion campaigns and made her film acting debut in 2023's ''Film/JohnWickChapter4''.
13
14	Sawayama came out in 2018, identifying as both bisexual and pansexual before stating in 2020 that she's more comfortable with the latter label.
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Discography]]
19
20	!!Albums/extended plays
21
22	* ''RINA'' (2017)
23	* ''SAWAYAMA'' (2020)
24	* ''Hold the Girl'' (2022)
25
26	!!Singles
27
28	* "Sleeping in Waking" (2013)
29	* "Where U Are" (2016)
30	* "This Time Last Year" (2016)
31	* "Cyber Stockholm Syndrome" (2017)
32	* "Alterlife" (2017)
33	* "Tunnel Vision" ft. Shamir (2017)
34	* "Valentine (What's It Gonna Be)" (2018)
35	* "Cherry" (2018)
36	* "Flicker" (2018)
37	* "STFU!" (2019)
38	* "Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" (2020)
39	* "XS" (2020)
40	* "Chosen Family" (2020)
41	* "Bad Friend" (2020)
42	* "Lucid" (2020)
43	* "This Hell" (2022)
44	* "Catch Me in the Air" (2022)
45	* "Hold the Girl" (2022)
46	* "Phantom" (2022)
47	* "Hurricanes" (2022)
48	* "Eye for an Eye" (2023)
49
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	!!Tropes:
53
54	[[folder:General tropes]]
55
56	* {{Camp}}: Much of her music/aesthetic is drenched in camp. {{Justified\|Trope}} by the fact that she's heavily inspired by early 2000s music, an era characterized by gaudiness.
57	* GenreThrowback: She's heavily inspired by 2000s music, which is prominent across both her songs and the music videos.
58	* ImprobableHairstyle: Her hair on the cover of ''SAWAYAMA''. {{Lampshaded}} by a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-fVt3M3uDs YouTube video]] where ''she'' couldn't even recreate it.
59
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Tropes that apply to her music]]
63
64	* BrokenRecord: The ClusterFBomb hook of "STFU!", which goes as follows:
65	-->Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up...
66	* CapitalismIsBad: The theme of "XS." Specifically, it mocks ConspicuousConsumption, though the video puts a genuine [[invoked]]NightmareFuel spin.
67	* ClosetKey: "Cherry" is about meeting a girl that made her realize she's pansexual.
68	* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''SAWAYAMA'' is a subtle one: on the surface it's a SelfTitledAlbum, but since it features a recurring theme of family and identity it could also be interpreted as being about her parentage -- the Sawayama family.
69	* GenreRoulette: Her songs can switch from smooth, honey-voiced pop to messy, angry metal.
70	* GenreThrowback: Mostly plucks inspiration from "diverse" 2000s music.
71	* HeelRealization: Realizing that she was the [[TitleDrop bad friend]] in a friendship that fell apart inspired "Bad Friend"
72	* JapanesePoliteness: "Tokyo Love Hotel" is about how she sees western tourists to Japan as being inconsiderate to the incredibly polite locals, treating them like one-night stands that happen at the titular hotels without ever getting to appreciate them for their kindness.
73	* LocationSong: "Tokyo Love Hotel" lampshades this phenomenon, calling itself "[[SelfDeprecation just another song about Tokyo]]".
74	* MetalScream: One features in her Nu-Metal song "STFU!"
75	* MultilingualSong: "Akasaka Sad" includes a verse in Japanese.
76	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Hold the Girl'' showcases Rina extinguishing the metallic influences off her last album in favor of much stronger pop rock, dance and adult contemporary styles. Downplayed, though, because the aesthetic remains a love letter to the noughties.
77	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: "Fuck this world" which expresses her frustration about environmental devastation.
78	* SelfTitledAlbum: Two. Her first EP ''[[FirstNameBasis RINA]]'', followed by her first album ''[[LastNameBasis SAWAYAMA]]''.
79	* ShoutOut:
80	** From "Bad Friend":
81	--->Singing our hearts out to [[Music/CarlyRaeJepsen Carly]]
82	* TakeThat:
83	** Parts of "XS" reference Calabasas, famous residence of [[Series/KeepingUpWithTheKardashians the Kardashians]]. Clearer in the Genius notes to the song.
84	--->''"Given that we all know global climate change is accelerating and [we might go extinct,] it seemed hilarious to me that [...] public figures were doing a gigantic house tour of their gated property in Calabasas in the same week as doing a ‘sad about Australian wildfires’ Instagram post.''"
85	** "Tokyo Love Hotel" to [[OccidentalOtaku Occidental Otakus]] and to her frustration of feeling like Japanese culture [[ItsBeenDone had been done to death]] by artists like Music/ArianaGrande and Music/ShawnMendes.
86	--->I guess this is just another song 'bout Tokyo
87	* TelephoneSong: Heavily {{subverted}} with "Cyber Stockholm Syndrome", where the protagonist is addicted to her phone rather than real life.
88	-->And she said "I'm not here for love tonight\
89	The way you touch just don't feel right\
90	Used to feeling things so cold\
91	Minimizing windows"
92	* TestosteronePoisoning: "Commes des Garçons" lampoons toxic masculine confidence. The music video reflects the theme.
93	* XtremeKoolLetterz: "XS" [[note]]Excess[[/note]]
94
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Tropes that apply to her music videos]]
98
99	* CallBack: The opening of "XS" plays bits of the "STFU!" chorus.
100	* CrossCastRole: She plays a businessman in "Bad Friend."
101	* DancingRoyalty: The final third of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekauErew4Bs music video]] of "This Hell" has Rina and her wife and husband put the dance floor on fire by dancing a combination of Country Music, Pop, and Rock. [[{{Pun}} Hell]], they even make their guests act as their backstage dancers and cause a couple of their detractors to change their minds and join the party.
102	* FanDisservice: Played with in "STFU!" She has scenes in an attractive, revealing black outfit, but the date is absent for those. Instead, he's present for scenes in which Sawayama plays a ''The Ring''-inspired StringyHairedGhostGirl crawling towards him. Fitting for a song about how racist white men should shut the fuck up.
103	* {{Homage}}: The moody, black-and-white music video for "Bad Friend" is a clear homage to the works of Creator/AkiraKurosawa.
104	* PeopleFarms: [[spoiler: The wonder drink from "XS" is revealed to be forcibly milked from captive women.]]
105	* PhenotypeStereotype: The white guy in "STFU!" asks her if she's mixed, because her eyes don't look so... (and then he proceeds to mock "stereotypical Asian eyes").
106	* RacialFaceBlindness: The white date in "STFU" says she looks like "literally, either" Creator/LucyLiu or Creator/SandraOh.
107	* RaceFetish: The white guy in "STFU!" evidently has one for Asian women. This leads to a disastrous date with Sawayama, who seethes at his piling microaggressions -- e.g. thinking that [[InterchangeableAsianCultures all (East) Asians are the same]].
108	* RoboticReveal: After the back-up dancers from "XS" pour the drink on her, Rina starts to spark and malfunction until she's dumped in the trash at the end.
109	* {{Salaryman}}: [[DisguisedInDrag Portrays]] an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] variant in the music video for "Bad Friend"
110	* SciFiHorror: Of the CapitalismIsBad variety. Nearly three minutes into "XS," the viewers are treated to horrific scenes of [[spoiler:Sawayama being experimented upon by scientists.]] We also have her TV presenter character, a [[RobotGirl malfunctioning robot]] addicted to ConspicuousConsumption.
111	* ShoutOut:
112	** "STFU!" features the ''Film/KillBill'' siren and scenes where Sawayama acts and is styled like Sadako from ''Film/{{Ringu}}'', among other references.
113	** In a case of FreezeFrameBonus, the subtitles in "XS" include the memetic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd1rdXF_X74 talented, brilliant, incredible]]" speech by Music/LadyGaga.
114	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Cross-dresses in the music videos for "Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" and "Bad Friend."
115
116	[[/folder]]
117

Context Music / RinaSawayama