AI's official biography explains her success as follows: "Genuine singing skills derived from Gospel Choir, perfect bilingual ability from being born in Los Angeles, her dance technique was studied at an art school in LA", but in the end her capability to combine Soul, R&B, Hip-Hop and add a special flair to this mixture with her unique voice is the reason for her great career.
AI was born in LA on November 2, 1981 to a Japanese Father and 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 Italian-American mother. She moved to Kagoshima, Japan due to her father's business. Since then, she has been traveling back and forth between Japan and the United States. AI learned to sing in LA at the professional level and she also studied dance, which she had a great passion for. In 1999 she was featured on Janet Jackson's promotional video of GO DEEP as one of the backup dancers, and this was the beginning of her impressive development.
In 2000 AI went back to Japan and made a major label debut as a singer. From the very beginning, her name became known throughout Japan, but her comet-like impact wasn't realized until 2003, after she switched to DefJam Japan. In May the following year, she released her third album, 2004 A.I., which ranked number three on the album charts and received a Gold Record!
As her career went on, her ballad single Story was released in May 2005. The song ranked number eight on the single sales chart and sold a total of 300 thousand copies, had 3.5 million downloads, and became a song to represent 2005. MIC-A-HOLIC A.I., an album released that same year, was ranked number four on the first week and sold over 500 thousand copies; it was a huge success, as were her following releases.
2006 was a very successful year for AI with the release of her single Believe and her album What's goin' on A.I.. Her single ranked number two on the single charts; selling 200 thousand copies and reaching 1.2 million downloads. Her album ranked number two on the album charts the first week it was released! At the MTV JAPAN's VIDEO MUSIC AWARD JAPAN 2006, both her promotional videos, Story and Believe were nominated for the BEST R&B VIDEO award. After the release of her 2006 album, AI toured in eleven cities in Japan, and 50,000 people came to see her performances. All tickets of her first auditorium tour, including Nippon Budokan, were sold out on the day of the ticket sale release.
AI made appearances on stages at popular summer music festivals such as Rock In Japan Festival and Summer Sonic in August and September. Her November single ONE was used on the FUJI-TV drama series, "IRYU 2 Team Medical Dragon 2" as its theme song.
AI's DON'T STOP A.I. followed in December, and after that she toured through Japan. She performed 32 shows and gave a spontaneous concert in LA in January 2008. After her collaborations with artists such as Trey Songz and Shaggy it was just the right time to address the international audience.
Collaborations with artists such as m-flo, SUITE CHIC, Heartsdales, DOUBLE, MICHICO, BOY-KEN and others are an elementary part of AI's career and there's one thing for sure: working with this powerful woman is somehow a formula for success.
AI shines with originality and independence; you can't twist her and it's difficult to categorize her music. All these aspects make her something special. Maybe one day AI will get the attention she deserves from an overseas audience, but until that day hopefully she will remain true to herself and her music.
AI, who is also known as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul", elates with her talented and inimitable voice and her unique style. If you think of the collaborations she's done with artists such as m-flo and SUITE CHIC, you'll think of this powerful woman as the Japanese pendant to Missy Elliott. However, if you listen to her own albums you will also see her soft side, and this special variety represents AI and her original style.
AI's sound is a felicitous mixture of hip-hop, R&B and pop. Due to her numerous collaborations, she has made a name for herself. People who are interested in Japanese hip-hop should definitely listen to AI!
