The winner of the "Rakuten Music 1st Next Generation Major Singer Discovery Audition" Grand Prize winner Apollo's major debut single "Now, I'm Like Myself" is available for download starting today

Apollo, who won the grand prize in the “Rakuten Music 1st Next Generation Major Singer Discovery Audition,” has begun streaming his major debut single, “Now I Can Love Myself.”

Apollo won the audition held by Rakuten Music from October 2022 to become Rakuten Music’s first artist, earning the right to distribute original songs and receive general support for his artistic activities. In August 2023, he released his original songs as a pre-debut on various music distribution services.

The debut single “Now, I Can Love Myself” features professional basketball player King Kai, who is supported by Rakuten Sports in his management activities, as a chorus member. You can feel the charm of King’s singing voice in both the original version of M1 and the “feat. King Kai ver.” version of M2, which features King’s chorus more prominently. “Now, I Can Love Myself” has also been chosen as the ending theme for the September episode of “Kannai Devil,” a music information variety show broadcast on tvk (TV Kanagawa).

In addition, to commemorate this major debut release, a record release concert will be held at Penny Lane in Harajuku on Saturday, September 14th, and it has also been announced that Apollo will be hosting “Apollo “Premium” Station vol.1″ on Saturday, November 2nd.

[Apollo x King Kai’s comment on participating in the chorus]

Apollo Comment

King’s voice has a beautiful low-pitched sound and a soft high-tone that is pleasant to the ear. I vividly remember being impressed the moment I received the recording: “Such a beautiful harmony between male and female vocals!”

The chorus of the featured version is like a twin vocal, so I think you can enjoy it with a different flavor from the original. I hope you will listen to it a lot and that it will help you connect your nostalgic past with your current self.

Comment from King Kai

I am very happy to have the opportunity to participate as a special chorus member in Apollo’s debut single. I am also happy to be able to show everyone a side of me other than basketball, and I hope everyone will learn about the greatness of music.

I had a lot of fun recording this time, and the song is a great one that reminds me of my youth, so please be sure to listen to it.

■New release information

“Now I can love myself” / Apollo

August 30, 2024 Digital Release