Rachel Rhodes (born April 15, 1993), known professionally as Rei Yasuda (安田レイ, Yasuda Rei), is a Japanese singer and model. She portrayed and co-voiced the character Lumi, the fictional
lead vocalist of
Genki Rockets in 2006. She debuted as a solo singer in 2013.
Yasuda first began modeling in 2006,[12] and appeared in a promotional campaign for
Sony's CMOS Sensors.[13] At age 13, Yasuda auditioned to appear in
Genki Rockets' music video by dancing to
BoA's "
Valenti" and singing "
Happy Birthday to You." She passed the audition two days later and was not only asked to appear in the music video, but as a singer as well.[7][14] Yasuda became the image model for Lumi, the band's virtual vocalist, and providing vocals along with
Nami Miyahara.[15][16][17] The band's first single "Heavenly Star" and its music video were featured in
video gameLumines II and No More Heroes.[18] The song was nominated for Best Song by
Spike Video Game Awards in 2006[19] while the band won Best New Artist in Electronic category from iTunes in 2007.[20] As her junior high school didn't allow students to perform, Yasuda kept her work with
Genki Rockets a secret and later transferred schools to continue pursuing a singing career.[21]
Yasuda acted as Lumi in Child of Eden, where she was resurrected as a
persona in the
23rd century. The player is tasked with saving her from a malicious virus.[22] While in Genki Rockets, Yasuda gained no stage experience[23] because all of the band's events use
high tech pre-recorded video of her for
Live PA,[24] with the notable example of Lumi introducing the former U.S. Vice President
Al Gore using
Musion Eyeliner in
Live Earth concert, Tokyo 2007.[25] Yasuda noted that at first her voice and appearance are heavily processed but later the process effect became weaker and her identity became more clear.[1]
2013–present: Solo career
After graduating high school, Yasuda decided to pursue a full-time music career in spite of advice given to her to attend university instead.[14] In 2013, Yasuda changed agencies and debuted as a solo singer under Sony Records with her Japanese name, Rei Yasuda,[26] debuting with "Best of My Love", which served as the ending theme to Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Unlike Genki Rockets, the song's music video was shot on location instead of a
green screen. In its music video, the
UFO came to the world where the civilization hasn't been developed, which Yasuda found that that contrast is interesting.[1] Kenji Tamai, who Yasuda worked with in Genki Rockets, helped produce and prepare for her solo debut after her high school graduation.[27][28] In addition to singing, Yasuda also continued modeling, starting the
fashion blogNylonista for
Nylon Japan and performing for Nylon's special stage in
Girls Award 2013 Autumn/Winter.[29] In April 2014, she started shoe blog for
ABC-Mart, accompanied with the release of her single "Passcode 4854."[30] She participated in
Escada fashion event in April 2014[31] and
Tokyo Girls Collection festival once a year from 2013 to 2016, with the 2013 Autumn/Winter being her first live performance.[9] She was featured in Sendai Collection 2014 and her song "Inside Out" became the brand's promotional single for the brand's event in August 2014.[32]
Her first two albums, Will and Prism, both ranked first on the Japanese iTunes Store's J-Pop Top Album chart and second on the Overall Album chart.[33][34] She was selected as Japanese iTunes New Artist 2014[35] and nominated in
57th Japan Record Awards for Best New Artist in 2015.[36]
She had been appeared as a model for three consecutive years on Flags fashion building in Shinjuku for its 16th-18th anniversary[38][39] and was selected along with
Rihwa as campaign ambassadors for its 20th anniversary.[40] She was both the performer and model for Kansai Collection Autumn/Winter 2016.[41] She was the 60th Tokyo IT Girls model for Vogue Girl Japan.[4]
Her first live performance outside Japan was in November 2016 for the event "Japan Media Mix Festival in
Taipei 2016".[42] She was nominated for Best Teen Choice Award in
2016 MTV Video Music Awards Japan.[43]
In 2017, she became Lumine Est brand ambassador and her song "Up to Me" became its promotional theme for their summer collection[44] and "Not Enough" for winter collection.[45]
Rei was the NylonTV Japan's backstage reporter for Vantan Cutting Edge 2013
fashion show.[48] She was selected as
Yahoo! Japan smartphone guide for
iTunes Festival 2014 in London, interviewing
Foxes,
Jenny Lewis, and
Clean Bandit.[49][50] She wrote the lyrics for the Japanese version of
Charli XCX's song "
Boom Clap"[51] and later wrote the lyrics for some of her own songs.[52][53] She made a cameo appearance in TBS drama 100 days: Love, Marriage, Sickness and Mom that used her song "Ashitairo" as theme song.[54]
^"安田レイABC-MART店内放送"ABCリコメンズ"のMCに決定!". ソニーミュージック オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. April 16, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
^安田レイ、主題歌歌う「結婚式の前日に」でドラマデビュー [Rei Yasuda makes her drama debut with the theme song "The Day Before the Wedding"]. Music Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved August 10, 2018.
^"Will". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved February 21, 2019.