Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances.

[15] Hamasaki attended Horikoshi Gakuen,[22] a high school for the arts, but dropped out in the tenth grade after struggling to adjust to student life.

Matsuura persisted, and Hamasaki eventually agreed to take voice lessons the following year, most of which she would end up skipping due to reminding her of school.

Due to difficulties voicing her thoughts, that correspondence was usually through letter; impressed by her writing style, the producer asked her to try her hand at lyrics while they prepared for her debut.

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.

It was later renamed to Power of Music and delayed until late May due to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, Hamasaki instead focusing on charity efforts in the immediate aftermath.

[85] Hamasaki's fifteenth studio album, entitled Colours, was released on July 2, 2014; recorded in Los Angeles, it was the sole project the singer worked on entirely in the United States.

Having trouble voicing her thoughts out loud, Hamasaki began writing as an outlet; she draws inspiration from her own experiences and emotions, as well as from the lives of those around her.

[135] In Hamasaki's debut years, Tetsu Misaki noted a large change in the lyrical style between A Song for ×× and her following albums Loveppears, and Duty.

Misaki believed that Hamasaki's meteoric rise to fame had impacted her perspective, signalled by her using the words bokura (僕ら, "we") and tsutaeru (伝える, "convey/tell") more often; it gave the impression that she was thinking more on her influence as a public figure.

[136] Hamasaki's awareness of her fame went on to shape the lyrical direction of her albums I Am... and Rainbow,[16] only returning to a more autobiographical style with My Story; in a 2004 interview, she stated that her goal was to make something "unmistakably human" instead of writing to specifically give people hope, or comfort.

[138][139] Steve McClure of The Japan Times noted that Hamasaki quickly developed a reputation as a "thoughtful, introspective lyricist";[140] Barry Walters of The Village Voice went further, complimenting her ability to sing of "the pain and happiness of millennial life".

[28] Subaru Tomioka, in regard to the singer's impact on the LGBTQ community, appreciated how she "replaced love songs between men and women with ones between people of the same sex, in a world where role models hadn't previously existed outside of your own imagination.

"[141] Tomioka also highlighted her ability to bring emotion into her work, specifically the enmity Hamasaki has conveyed through songs such as "My Name's Women", "Lady Dynamite", and "Vibees".

"[142]Hamasaki has released almost three hundred original songs; through them, she has covered a wide range of musical styles, such as dance, metal, R&B, progressive rock, pop, and classical.

Hamasaki has cited Madonna, Babyface, En Vogue, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple among her early influences, and has openly appreciated the works of Seiko Matsuda, Michelle Branch, Yumi Matsutoya, Rie Miyazawa, Utada Hikaru, Joan Osborne, Miyuki Nakajima, and Keiko Yamada.

[28] These remixes span a variety of genres such as Eurobeat, house, and trance, as well as acoustic mixes, classical and traditional Chinese music.

[152][153] Music critic Tetsu Misaki believed that the juxtaposition of her fashionable appearance and her personal lyrics was one of her most important selling points, helping shape the 2000s pop scene in Japan.

[136] Teresa Nieman of The Guardian wrote that Hamasaki's willingness to take on unusual subject matter is what made her noteworthy among her peers, naming her as the 'undisputed Queen of J-pop'.

[155][156] Lisa Takeuchi Cullen of Time magazine credits some of Hamasaki's early success to her "by-the-bootstraps climb to pop royalty" journey, her perspective resonating with the general public.

[24] Tomoyuki Hokari of OKMusic agrees, considering her lyricism as a "reaction against the customs and culture of the previous generation", and a "terrifyingly calm, objective view" on the social turmoil of turn-of-the-century Japan.

[157] In addition, her history of supporting LGBTQ rights has led to widespread recognition as a gay icon, and remains a defining element of her image.

[160] Described as a "chameleonic style icon",[154] Hamasaki was known for being fully involved in every aspect of her work, displaying an unprecedented degree of ownership over her image; the control she had over the market drove stores to buy black market paparazzi shots of magazine shoots pre-publication, hoping to get ahead of the next "Ayu-instigated trend".

[162][163][164] Hamasaki's career has become the subject of academic study, and is considered to have had a profound impact on how the Japanese music industry manages and promotes female artists.

[165][166] Zhan Hongzhi of Inter-Margins magazine named her success as a type of "identity economy", explaining: "Japan spends 33.3 billion yen a year on Hamasaki.

"[167] In the wider media industry, various artists have spoken of being influenced directly by Hamasaki; these include Itano Tomomi,[168] Mao Asado,[169] Maximum the Hormone, Tsubasa Masuwaka,[170] Sayaka Kanda,[171] Ken Hirai, Ayaki Sasaki,[172] Chiharu Niiyama, Riisa Naka,[173] Lin Yu-chun,[174] Rinka,[175] Asako Ito, Mana Sakura,[176] Misono, Rina (Scandal), Rie Tanaka,[177] and Rina Kawaei.

During her performance, the singer spoke about her friends in the Ni-chōme district and the need to stand up for change: "Japan is still a conservative country, so there is a part of us that cannot shake off the idea that those in minority groups are wrong.

[186] Throughout her early career under Avex, Hamasaki promoted products that ranged from electronics (Tu-Ka cell phones and Panasonic)[19] to various snack foods.

[193] In August 2019, author Narumi Komatsu released a novel about the early years of Hamasaki's career: M Aisubeki Hito ga Ite.

[210] In January 2008, Hamasaki announced on her blog that an inoperable condition, possibly tinnitus or Ménière's disease, had caused complete deafness in her left ear.