Risa Kumon shares music video

Originally hailing from Sasebo City in Japan, now based in the capital of Tokyo, Risa Kumon is a radio personality and singer-songwriter specialising in R&B, jazz, soul and pop styles. Risa was first exposed to R&B music after watching Sister Act 2 as a child, quickly discovering artists such as Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, inspiring her to make her own music.

As a bilingual artist, she uses her voice to convey powerful messages in her music to fans in both English and Japanese. Her story is made more profound by the fact that she lost her eyesight after contracting measles as a child and although she recovered her sight she had an intractable disease called retinitis pigmentosa as a result.

Making her musical introduction, she released her debut EP of jazz style Christmas covers in 2016 which included a collaboration with American artist and producer RORO. After performing at some of the leading music festivals in Japan and landing her music in the charts on multiple occasions, she’s now working on her first full-length record and brings us her latest single and music video for “FREE”.

Opening with a dreamy e-piano arrangement and the artist’s silky smooth vocal delivery, the song develops into a glittering R&B jam. Full of snapping rhythm and vibrant instrumentation, with “FREE”, Risa Kumon lays down a bright and memorable hit.

Produced and arranged by RORO in Tokyo and mixed by Irko, fresh off a Grammy-win for his work on Kanye West’s Donda, the single has climbed to the top of various music charts in Japan, the USA and other places around the world. Paired with the single comes the music video directed by Iulia Puica, capturing picturesque landscape shots with Risa’s performance scenes to perfectly reflect the elegant sound of the track.

Watch the video for FREE below