Tracks:

1. Queen Bee with BIGGA RAIJI

2. Lady-Rise

3. Candy

4. TEAR DROPS with KG

5. Mine with KEN THE 390

6. Fly away

7. Plastic Lover

8. with…

SWEET BLACK is Maki Goto’s 1st mini-album and debut mini-album under avex trax and it was released on September 16th, 2009. This mini-album reached #25 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 5,630 copies.

Most were surprised by Queen Bee. I mean, how can you not? It begins with an infectious beat and a really sleek reggaeton sound. But… BIGGA RAIJI comes in with his really hoarse and loud voice, completely throwing everything off. I love this song to death, but BIGGA RAIJI is so loud and annoying. The stoic beats and loud synth are great and Goto sounds really good.

Our 2nd digital single for Maki Goto’s avex career is the short but extremely sweet Lady-Rise. Gomaki’s never done anythign rockish (from what I’ve heard) so I liked that she made a really heavy, yet sexy song. It’s kinda short, but it’s good for what it is.

Candy follows a similar style as Lady-Rise, but it focuses more on the heavy beats more than the electric guitar. There’s also a little bit of heavy synth in there. This is another catchy song from Goto and I love her voice in this song, since it’s serious, but it has that sexyness to it, you know?

Things calm down as TEAR DROPS come in. This is more like her stuff when she was on H!P. It has a distant, almost ballad like sound, but is more like an R&B song than anything. Goto does a duet with KG, who I have no idea who he is, but he has a nice voice and him and Gomaki harmonize well. I like the progressive chorus when the beat becomes more consistent and the piano gets louder.

Mine collaborates with someone I’m quite familiar with. That’s right, KEN THE 390 is here this time for this really fierce dance number. What I really liked about this song was that the style suits Goto so well. She’s really good at slutty, fierce pop music, which is exactly what this song is. The clapping beats and the beeping synth really make this song stand out. As for KEN THE 390, he gets minimal spotlight, which is alright I guess since Maki really stole the show here.

Maki Goto really tortured her fans here. Fly away was her first song under avex and it just left me wanting more from her. Goto really turned some heads with this track, showing everyone that she’s not that one chick who was in Morning Musume, with a somewhat good solo career. This song is sexy, while still having some elegance, thanks to the piano chords throughout the song.

Plastic Lover was the biggest surprise on the album. Produced by HOUSE NATION, this track is club music at its best. I’m glad Goto decided to show some diversity on this album, and this was the perfect way to do it. This originally appeared on Aquamarine album by HOUSE NATION as a longer version, with really only extended synth lines.

with… ends us on a quiet note. I thought this song was really cute and it was a nice song to end with. This song uses more acoustics and some thumping beats, with the occasion of chimes and random string plucks. This was Goto’s last digital single before this album.

Maki Goto really proved to be a force to be reckoned with. SWEET BLACK is probably Goto’s best material to date, since it shows a lot of maturity and diversity than her Hello! Project music did. Her vocals have improved drastically and her songs are infinitly more catchy. This label switch proved to be for the better and hopefully things turn out well from here on out for Gocchin. PS: this album would’ve got a 4.5 if it wasn’t for Queen Bee with BIGGA FATASS. ;D

Favourites: Plastic Lover, Fly away, Mine with KEN THE 390
Least Favourite: Queen Bee with BIGGA RAIJI (I liked everything else lol)

Overall Grade: