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naoto

Naoto Nakamura (中村 直人, Nakamura Naoto), known professionally as Naoto Inti Raymi (ナオト・インティライミ, Naoto Intiraymi), is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer who has been known to sweeten his J-pop delicacies with a palette of Latin and funk flavours. Born in Mie Prefecture on 15 August 1979, and later raised in Chiba Prefecture, he learned to play the guitar and started writing songs when he was 14, self-producing his own material which he began testing out at street performances. A fortuitous trip to New York as a student in 1999 provided the catalyst he needed to start taking music seriously. When he was randomly called up to sing onstage at Harlem's Apollo Theater, the experience whet his appetite for stardom and he signed to Sony two years later. His debut album, Funk Renaissance, landed in 2003. Next up was a trip around the world, including a stay in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia where he found inspiration for his stage name; in Quechuan language, one of the indigenous languages of the Inca Empire, "Inti" means the sun and "Raymi" means festival. It was also in Bolivia that he first crossed paths with Kazutoshi Sakurai—the vocalist of famed Japanese pop-rock group Mr. Children—and scored his first big break. In 2007, he joined the group as a touring guitarist and vocalist, while still continuing to develop his solo career. His second album, the aptly titled Shall We Travel?? (stylised as Shall we travel??), was released in 2010 through Universal Music Japan and cracked the Oricon chart top 20. His third album Adventure followed in 2011 and went to number three. He topped the charts with 2012's electro-pop feat Kazauta Caravan and has continued to put out albums consistently ever since, including 2014's Viva the World and 2018's 7. In 2022, he released a colourful new album titled Nijiiro Octave.


©Copyright Music Story April Clare Welsh 2023
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