Maps of Music

Valenti (2003)

Where the lyrics of Valenti take you, and where it was really made.

BoA's second Japanese album debuted at number one with over 615,000 first-week copies and went on to become her best-selling album, passing 1.249 million copies.

Key places

Recorded at Bunkamura Studio (2003)

Recording site Bunkamura Studios — The album was recorded at Bunkamura Studio in Tokyo. The source gives no recording dates, so no date is listed for this point. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Valenti: second Japanese studio album by South Korean recording artist BoA
• Fourth album overall; released through Avex Trax on 29 January 2003
• Pop record with influences from R&B and dance music
• Mainly sung in Japanese, with minor English phrases interspersed
• Gathers the songs from her 2002 singles and adds new tracks, 13 songs in total
• Lyrics by several writers, including Natsumi Watanabe and Kenn Kato
• Composition by Kazuhiro Hara, Bounceback, Kosuke Morimoto, Ken Harada and Akira

Background

• Released about ten months after her first Japanese album, Listen to My Heart (2002)
• Promoted with three 2002 singles: the title track, the double A-side Kiseki / No. 1, and the double A-side Jewel Song / Beside You
• All three singles peaked in the top three of the Oricon Singles Chart
• Most songs were first translated into Korean and included on the special album Shine We Are!
• Korean release under licence followed on 25 February 2004, after South Korea's fourth opening to Japanese culture
• Her first concert tour in support of the album, the Valenti Live Tour, spanned nine concerts in three Japanese cities

Recording

• The album was recorded at Bunkamura Studio in Tokyo
• The source gives no recording dates, so none are listed here

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kwon Bo-ah, born November 5, 1986 in Gyeonggi Province, was discovered by SM Entertainment talent scouts at a 1998 talent search while accompanying her older brother.
• After two years of training in vocals, dance, English, and Japanese, she debuted in South Korea in 2000 with the album ID; Peace B.
• Her Korean label arranged with Avex Trax to launch her career in Japan, and she quit school to prepare.

Career

• Her debut Japanese album Listen to My Heart (2002) became the first album by a Korean artist to debut at number one on the Oricon chart.
• Valenti (2003) sold over 1,249,000 copies, and Best of Soul (2005) sold over a million copies in Japan.
• Her self-titled English album (2009) was the first record by a K-pop artist to appear on the Billboard 200.
• She has sold over ten million albums and has been called the "Queen of K-pop" for helping open the Japanese market to Korean pop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Oricon Albums Chart: debuted at number one with first-week sales of 615,218 copies
• Her second consecutive number-one studio album in Japan, after her debut album Listen to My Heart (2002)
• Stayed at number one for a second week, selling 20,000 copies more than the runner-up, Glay's Rare Collectives Vol. 1
• Ranked first on the Oricon monthly chart in February 2003

Records

• Sales: sold over 1.249 million copies, her highest-selling album to date
• RIAJ: her second album certified million, after her debut album
• Combined with sales of its three physical singles, sold over 1.7 million copies during 2003
• Ranked fifth best-selling album in Japan for 2003
• Second-highest-selling album by a female artist in Japan in 2003, behind Ayumi Hamasaki's Rainbow
• Japan Gold Disc Awards: Best Rock & Pop Album of the Year, her second consecutive win in the category after Listen to My Heart
• 2003 MTV Video Music Awards Japan: the single 'Valenti' was nominated for Best Pop Video but lost to Blue's 'One Love'
• South Korea: topped the international monthly album chart compiled by MIAK in February 2004, her first record to top that chart
• South Korea: sold 17,958 copies in 2004, the 26th best-selling international album there

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's Discogs entry notes that the first press included a DVD.
• The first-run DVD contained video clips for 'Listen to My Heart' and 'Valenti', with the 'Information Clip'.
• 'NO.1' on the album is the Japanese version of the title track of BoA's second Korean album, NO.1·늘.., released in April 2002.
• 'Winding Road' features rapper DABO, and its composer Miyake Mitsuyuki later debuted in the duo mihimaru GT.
• The single 'flower' was used as the background music for a Japanese Lotte Macadamia chocolate advertisement.

Sources: ko.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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