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Toshinobu "Toshi" Kubota (born July 24, 1962) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He is known as the "Japanese King of R&B", "King of J-Pop", and "Funky Kubota". He is also known for his signature songs "La La La Love Song", "Love Rain (Koi no Ame)", and "Dance If You Want It".
Kubota got his start in 1981 when he met Haneda Ichiro at Komazawa University where they started the band "Hottentots". Then a year later, he entered the contest Eastwest'82 and won the Best Vocalist award. By winning the contest, Kubota earned a record deal for his band to release their own music. He also started to appear as a guest vocalist for various albums for artists like Matsuoka Naoya.
By the 1980s, Kubota began to compose for various artists like Iwasaki Hiromi, Koizumi Kyoko, and Tahara Toshihiko. Then in 1986, he finally debuted as a singer with the single "Shitsui no Downtown". Kubota cracked the top ten after the release of his fourth single "Cry On Your Smile". Before the decade was over, he would release his first best album, entitled The Baddest, which sold over a million copies.
In 1993, Kubota went to New York to work on his music. Two years later, he debuted in America under the name Toshi Kubota. That same year, he released the single "La La La Love Song", a duet with model Naomi Campbell, which became his best selling single as it sold over a million copies.
Kubota later appeared as on the American television show Soul Train in 2004, becoming one of the few Japanese to appear on the show. He released "For Real?" in 2006. After a four year hiatus, he returned to the music industry to release "Timeless Fly" in 2010. In 2011, he released the album "Gold Skool", and "Kubossa: Parallel World II" in 2013.
For over 25 years, Toshi stays true to his music and he is called the pioneer of Japanese R&B. His self-produced live show is also dazzling and so much fun. His 25 year anniversary tour drew 150,000 audiences in 32 sold out dates.
As a songwriter and producer, Toshi has written number of hit theme songs for movies and TV dramas as well as commercials, sporting events and animations. Toshi understands what songs need to deliver for the different occasions and he is the master of these balancing acts. Up to now, Toshi released 15x original Japanese albums, 3x US (English) albums and 5x best hit compilation albums.
