Kenichi Maeyamada | |
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Maeyamada at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards Japan
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Native name | 前山田 健一 |
Born | July 4, 1980 |
Nationality | Japanese |
Other names | Hyadain |
Occupation | composer, lyricist, musician |
Years active | 2007—present |
Home town | Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan |
Kenichi Maeyamada (前山田 健一 Maeyamada Ken'ichi?, born July 4, 1980), also known as Hyadain (ヒャダイン?), is a Japanese composer, lyricist, and musician. His primary work is composing anime theme songs and for J-pop musicians. He contracts through Supalove, a Japanese record label. He has released a number of anime and video game music remixes, as well as original songs. These remixes have received over 20 million hits on YouTube and Nico Nico Douga.
Maeyamada began playing the piano at age four and first composed with a synthesizer in middle school. After graduating from Kyoto University, he apprenticed under lyricist Gorō Matsui. He got his first big break in 2007 for writing the lyrics to "Don't Go Baby", a song featured in Initial D Fourth Stage. In December 2007, he posted his first work under the name "Hyadain" on Nico Nico Douga, a remix of Crash Man's theme from Mega Man 2 with added lyrics. He initially struggled with criticism and accusations regarding these remixes' faithfulness to the source material. However, his videos gradually gained in popularity, particularly "Four Fiends of the Elements" from Final Fantasy IV and "Western Show" from Super Mario World. In May 2010, Maeyamada revealed that Hyadain was his pseudonym.