Yusa Mimori is a Japanese singer-songwriter who spent years making music without much mainstream attention before finally breaking through in a big way.

She's been incredibly productive throughout her career, but honestly didn't gain real traction until her song "Kuro" got picked up by the popular NHK program Minna no Uta in late 2005. Before that, she had a reputation for writing stuff with pretty unconventional lyrics and melodies—the kind of thing that didn't necessarily appeal to the general public. Once "Kuro" hit that TV show though, everything changed. Her popularity jumped considerably and she picked up a lot of new listeners who got what she was doing.