What is an Utaite?
Utaite (歌い手) refers to people who post covers of songs onto ニコニコ動画 (Nico Nico Douga - a Japanese video-sharing site) under the 歌ってみた (utatte mita - tried to sing) category, but some have added YouTube as another platform to post their covers. This category became popular in the late 2000s to early 2011 when these platforms became widely used and have grown since then.
Utaite usually cover original VOCALOID songs, anime and game songs, and popular J-POP. These covers usually include elements of the utaite, creating something unique and different from the original song. It can be acoustic, sad, cute, aggressive, dark, or even creepy. Utaite also collaborate with each other to combine different styles of utaite, making the songs really unique, like these songs featuring many utaite: Blessing and World Domination.
The uniqueness makes utaite so charming and enjoyable to listen to. Although they are most often unprofessional singers, their passion for singing and music can be heard through their covers.
Some utaite have made their own original songs or have become popular enough to make a career out of it and have concerts and tours in Japan. Some popular utaite who have done this include Mafumafu, Amatsuki, 96neko, Eve, Reol, and Soraru.
Some Summaries of Popular Utaite
Mafumafu started his utaite journey on Nico Nico Douga in 2010. He has since then he has grown in popularity on YouTube (3.5 million subscribers), especially after his most popular cover 『命に嫌われている』(inochi ni kirawarete iru - “Hated By Life Itself”) (138 million views). He is known for his high-pitched voice and occasional screaming in his songs. He is also able to sing in lower ranges, making him 両声類 (ryouseirui - someone who can sing in the typical female and male ranges or high and low voices). His mascot is a teru teru bozu with a drooling face and is known to have white hair and often hides his face. He also makes many collaboration songs with the utaite, Soraru, and has made a duo group together, After the Rain. He also collaborated with others including Uratanuki, Aho no Sakata, and nqrse. Mafumafu has made some opening songs for anime (like Takt Op. Destiny and Detective Conan) and many original songs, including the popular original songs I Wanna Be a Girl, Reincarnation, and A Dream Within a Dream.
Eve started his utaite journey in 2009 on Nico Nico Douga and now has 4.49 million subscribers on YouTube. He is known for his thin, boyish voice with a nasal tone. He has done covers of famous indie and rock bands: RADWIMPS and Galileo Galilei. But he is mostly known for his original songs which are distinctive and eye-catching, especially Dramaturgy and Last Dance. His popularity rose after the release of We’re Still Underground which featured an animation video made by the anime studio WIT Studio which has animated popular anime like Attack on Titan and Spy x Family. Eve has also made songs that were featured in anime like 『廻廻奇譚』(kaikai kitan) in Jujutsu Kaisen and 『ぼくらの』 (bokurano - Ours) in My Hero Academia. Eve also is known for his enthralling and mysterious animated music videos. He also collaborated many times with utaite, Sou.
96neko debuted in 2009 on Nico Nico Douga and soon on YouTube. She is known for her low, husky voice as well as her high-pitched voice, making her a ryouseirui, similar to Mafumafu. Her name 96neko is also a pun using the sound of 9 (く - ku) and 6 (ろ - ro) to make the word 黒 (kuro - black) and adding it to 猫 (neko - cat) to mean “black cat.” Some of her cover songs highlighting her voice include 『変わらないも』(kawaranai mono - Unchanging Things) from the movie The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and 『消せない罪』(kesenai tsumi - Unfading Sin) from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist. She has also featured in anime songs like 『嘘の火花』(Uso no Hibana - Spark of Lies) from Kuzu no Honkai and “I’m Still Alive Today” in Paripi Koumei.
