Deeps: The First Kogyaru Led Girl Group
November 1st, 2024
When we think of J-pop from the 90s, a few iconic names immediately come to mind—acts like SUPER MONKEYS, MAX, and SPEED have dominated the genre. But nestled in the vibrant late 90s era was a girl group that, despite their talent, flew under the radar: deeps.
In 1997, the group was formed by Chika Iwanuma and Akiko Matsushita who were reader models for Egg at the time, Hiroe Kabashima, who was formerly in a group called Stats, and Hiromasa Ijichi, who produced the group SPEED. The concept of the group was teenagers singing about teenage topics. Their music often featured high-energy beats with a playful yet rebellious vibe, blending traditional idol charm with a bit of grit. Their first single “Love is Real” released in November 1997. The music video features some notable faces from egg like Kenu Terui and Yoshiyuki Suenaga.
1998 would see the group gaining immense popularity. Although Hiro had left the group and was replaced by Eri Sakurai, their second single “Happiness” would sell over 100,000 copies. Eri also was a reader model for Cawaii!. Their third single “Loving You” wasn’t as popular as the last single but stayed on the Oricon charts for seven weeks. “Lovely!”, their debut album, was released July 1998 and was well received ending up charting at #7 on the Oricon weekly rankings. "Jealousy" and "Maybe Love" were released in the latter half of 1998. Deeps would continue to release a single every three months until early 2000. They would also release a Christmas album in November 1998 titled "Wish".
1999 would be the beginning of the group's decline in popularity. Deeps often found themselves overshadowed by these larger acts. Additionally, their style, while fresh and energetic, may have been too niche for mainstream audiences at the time, contributing to their limited commercial success. The first single of the year, "Brand-New Heaven", would actually chart high as well as their singles album "Teen’s Heaven～Single Collection～". The next single called "パ★ラ★ダ★イ★ス" would chart at #32 and would be the last single under the name deeps. The group's name would change to dps after parting ways with Hiromasa Ijichi. Their first album under their new name, "PARTY?", released in February, 2000. Their music sonically would change from a traditional j-pop sound to a Eurobeat sound. In early 2001, their contract with Pioneer LDC expired after releasing their best hits album "19 Pieces". Their final single, "Bloom'n Blue", would release on an indie label. "Best Selection" would be their last release as they would disband in 2002.
While researching about the group, I was quite saddened at the fact that there's so little info on them. deeps may not have been a household name, but their music lives on for those who are willing to dig a little deeper into the archives of gyaru musicians and J-pop. Their unique blend of style, sound, and energy made them stand out, even if only for a brief moment in time.