Editing Ayumi Hamasaki (section)

===1998–1999: Musical beginnings, ''A Song for xx'', and ''Loveppears''===
Hamasaki made her debut on April 8, 1998 with the single "[[Poker Face (Ayumi Hamasaki song)|Poker Face]]". Almost a year later, the singer released her debut studio album ''[[A Song for ××]];'' it was an unprecedented success, topping the Oricon charts for five weeks and selling over a million copies.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p430329/biography | title=Ayumi Hamasaki | website=Allmusic | access-date=April 17, 2008 | first=Chris | last=True | archive-date=August 16, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816141758/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ayumi-hamasaki-mn0000758915/biographyAjax#biography | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="YCTT" /><ref name="SCMP">{{cite news | title = Siege Mentality | page =1 |work=South China Morning Post | publisher = [[SCMP Group]] | location = Hong Kong, China | date=May 13, 2002}}</ref> Later in 1999, she received the [[Japan Gold Disc Award]] for "Best New Artist of the Year".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/1999.html | title=The 14th Japan Gold Disc Award 1999 | access-date=April 17, 2008 | publisher=[[RIAJ]] | archive-date=December 20, 2003 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031220190720/http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/1999.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Time" /><ref name="VillageVoice" />

''[[Ayu-mi-x]]'' (March 1999), the first of a series of remix albums, signaled Hamasaki moving beyond the pop-rock sound of ''A Song for ××''.<ref name="VillageVoice">{{cite news | last =Walters | first =Barry | title =Turning (Japanese) Point | newspaper =[[The Village Voice]] | date =March 5, 2002 | url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0209,168697,32804,22.html | access-date =April 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805144109/http://www.villagevoice.com/2002-03-05/music/turning-japanese-point/ |archive-date=August 5, 2008}}</ref> She began to experiment with musical style in her singles, releasing remixes which spanned [[reggae]] and [[house music|house]]. Later singles became milestones: Hamasaki earned her first number-one single ("[[Love (Destiny)|Love: Destiny]]") and first million-selling single ("[[A (EP)|A]]").<ref name="fierce" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/million_list/1999.html | title=Million-Selling Singles of 1999 | publisher=RIAJ | access-date=April 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080417233128/http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/million_list/1999.html| archive-date= April 17, 2008 | url-status= live|language=ja}}</ref> Her second studio album, ''[[Loveppears]]'' (November 1999), topped the Oricon charts and sold nearly 3 million copies.<ref name="YCTT">{{Cite news| title =You Can't Top This |work = [[The Straits Times]] | publisher = [[Singapore Press Holdings]] |location=Singapore | date =November 25, 1999|agency=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> In support of ''Loveppears'', she held her first tour: ''Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A''. Two DVDs of the tour were released: ''Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol. 1'' on September 13, and ''Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol. 2'' on September 27, 2000.