Cubic U

Cubic U (now known as 宇多田ヒカル, Utada, and nicknamed Hikki) is one of Japan's most successful artists. Under the pseudonym Cubic U, she got a contract and went to work recording her first album, Precious, when she was 13. The album was released two years later, and sold 698,000 copies. Even though the album was completely in English, that didn't stop people from buying it. This album led to her career overseas. In a recent MTV interview (October 2004), Utada said: "Someone in Japan heard it, at a Japanese record company, and he said, 'Oh, can't you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese.' And I didn't want to say no, so I had to try it." Causing her career to boost even more as her first Japanese written album was released only one year later under the name, 宇多田ヒカル, selling almost 10 million copies world wide.