, known mononymously as Ai (, stylized as AI or A.I. ), is a Japanese-American singer, songwriter, and rapper. Known in Japan as the "Queen of Hip-hop Soul", her 2005 single "Story" went on to become her breakthrough release, becoming one of the best-selling multi-format singles in Japan with over 5 million units sold. A multi-million record selling artist, Ai has released thirteen studio albums and has received various accolades, including two Billboard Japan Music Awards and three Space Shower Music Video Awards.
Born in Los Angeles, Ai moved to Kagoshima during her early childhood. Motivated to become a singer, she returned to Los Angeles during her adolescence, attending the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. While in Los Angeles, she performed as part of a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert and appeared as a backup dancer in Janet Jackson's music video, "Go Deep". She briefly joined the Asian girl group SX4 in 1999 until she graduated from high school. After being discovered by BMG in 2000, Ai relocated to Japan and released her debut album, My Name is Ai (2001), to very little commercial success.
Signing to Def Jam Japan in 2002, Ai became the first woman signed to the label. She released two studio albums under the label, Original Ai (2003) and 2004 Ai (2004). With the release of her third studio album, Ai rose to mainstream prominence in Japan. Transferring to Island Records, Ai released her fourth studio album, Mic-a-Holic Ai (2005). Its second single "Story" became one of the biggest singles of the 2000s in Japan, peaking at number 8 on the Japanese Oricon singles chart, and was the sixth single in history to receive a triple million digital certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
Ai's fifth studio album, What's Goin' On Ai (2006), featured the top-ten singles "Believe" and "I Wanna Know", the former receiving a gold certification from the RIAJ. Her sixth studio album, Don't Stop Ai (2007) saw similar success, which received a gold certification. In 2009, she released her seventh studio album, Viva Ai, which charted in the top ten of the Japanese Oricon albums chart. Ai's greatest hits album, Best Ai (2009), became her first number one album and was certified platinum. In 2010, she released her eighth studio album, The Last Ai, which marked her last release under Island Records.
In 2011, Ai left Universal Music Group and signed a global publishing deal with EMI. Her ninth studio album Independent (2012) served as her international debut and first release under EMI Music Japan. To promote the album, Ai toured in Japan and in Los Angeles. Her tenth studio album Moriagaro (2013) marked her first release under EMI Records Japan following EMI Music Japan's absorption into Universal Music Japan as a sublabel. Her second greatest hits album, The Best (2015) peaked at number 3 on the Oricon Albums chart and number 2 on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart, later being certified gold by the RIAJ. Its successor, The Feat. Best (2016) charted within the top 30 of both the Japan Hot Albums and Oricon Albums chart.
Ai's eleventh studio album, Wa to Yo (2017) experimented with traditional Japanese and electronic sounds. Its second single, "Kira Kira" was nominated for the Grand Prix award and won the Excellent Works Award at the 59th Japan Records Awards. Her fourth greatest hits album Kansha!!!!! – Thank You for 20 Years New and Best (2019) was issued to celebrate her twenty years in the music industry. Further celebrating her twenty-year anniversary, Ai released the extended plays It's All Me, Vol. 1 (2020) and It's All Me, Vol. 2 (2021). Ai's twelfth studio album, Dream (2022), included the single "Aldebaran", the theme song of the Japanese drama, Come Come Everybody. The song received critical acclaim and was Ai's first song in five years to appear on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. Her thirteenth studio album, Respect All (2023), included the singles "Life Goes On", the image song for the Japanese film Haru ni Chiru and "Start Again", which served as an insert song for Nestlé Japan's Kit Kats. Commemorating her 25th anniversary, Ai released 25th the Best – Alive (2025), her fifth greatest hits album.
Life and career
1981–1997: Early life and education Ai Carina Uemura was born in Los Angeles, California on November 2, 1981. Her father, Hisashi Uemura, is a former construction business owner and her mother, Barbara Uemura (née Endo) is a former real estate agent. She has one younger sister, Sachi Ueyama (née Uemura), and is of Italian and Native Okinawan descent.
When Ai was four, her family moved to Japan as her father found work at a construction business in Kagoshima. Her family had intentions of returning to Los Angeles within a year however decided to stay in Japan as her father took over business operations of the construction company. During her early childhood, Ai struggled to communicate with her family and peers at school, often blending English and Japanese phrases. Her mother only spoke English at the time while her father, who fluently spoke Japanese, was often away from home due to work.
During her early adolescence, Ai was motivated to become a singer after she sang at her cousin's wedding, having many people ask her if she wanted to be a professional singer, and hearing a gospel performance at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles in 1993. After graduating from junior high school in Japan, Ai returned to Los Angeles for high school, initially enrolling at Glendale High School, however found high school difficult due to never formally studying English. After a successful audition process, Ai enrolled at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, majoring in ballet. She became a member of the school's gospel choir.
1998–2000: Career beginnings, SX4 While attending Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Ai began her musical career by performing in a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert at the Universal Amphitheatre, performing of "A Dream". In the same year, she appeared as a dancer in the music video for Janet Jackson's song "Go Deep". In 1999, Ai joined an Asian girl group called SX4, who were produced by George Brown of Kool & the Gang. Later in 1999, the group was offered a record label deal.
2000–2004: Relocation to Japan, My Name Is Ai, Original Ai, and 2004 Ai While on a summer holiday in Kagoshima, Ai performed Monica's "For You I Will" on a local radio station, which led to her being scouted by BMG. She decided to take the offer, and after leaving SX4 and graduating from high school in June 2000, moved to Tokyo and debuted as a musician later in 2000.
Ai debuted under BMG Japan sublabel RCA Records with the single "Cry, Just Cry" in November 2000. Two additional singles were released, "U Can Do" and "Shining Star". While the first two failed to chart, "Shining Star" charted and peaked at number 98 on the Oricon singles chart. Eventually, her debut studio album, My Name Is Ai was released in November 2001. Although not commercially successful, the album peaked at number 86 on the Oricon albums chart.
In 2002 Ai moved to Def Jam Japan and became the first female artist signed to the label. Ai claimed that she felt more at home under Def Jam, as many of her co-workers shared her musical tastes. Her first album under the label in 2003, Original Ai,debuted at 15 on Oricon's album charts, and her second, 2004 Ai, debuted at number three. In 2004, she won the Space Shower Music Video Awards' award for Best R&B Video, with her song "Thank U".
After moving to Def Jam, Ai increasingly began collaborating with musicians, especially Japanese hip-hop and rap artists (though under BMG, Ai had collaborated with Mao Denda, and Soul'd Out rapper Diggy-Mo'). She was featured as a rapper on the Suite Chic single "Uh Uh,,,,,", a collaboration between Namie Amuro, Verbal of M-Flo, and music producer Ryōsuke Imai in 2003. Other musicians Ai collaborated with in this period were Afra, Boy-Ken, Joe Budden, Dabo, Deli, Double, Heartsdales, Ken Hirai, M-Flo, Sphere of Influence and Zeebra. Towards the end of 2004, Ai's former label BMG released a compilation album titled Flashback to Ai. The compilation featured songs originally recorded for her debut studio album. Shortly after its release, Universal Japan released Feat. Ai, a compilation album of songs that feature Ai.
2004–2011: Transfer to Island Records, "Story", rise in fame
In late 2004, Def Jam Japan was folded into Universal Sigma, leading to Ai signing a new recording contract with its imprint label Island Records. In May 2005, Ai released the ballad single "Story", which became the biggest hit of her career. A sleeper hit, the song charted for 20 weeks in the top 30 in 2005 and 2006 and went on to sell over three million ringtones, one million cellphone downloads, and 270,000 physical copies. (subscription only) Ai later performed "Story" at the prestigious 56th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Years music concert. Her fourth studio album, Mic-a-holic Ai, was the best selling album of her career, being certified double platinum by the RIAJ.
Ai's first single of 2006, the ballad "Believe", was also a success: it debuted at number two, and sold more than one million ringtones. The song was used as the theme song of the Kenji Sakaguchi starring medical drama, Team Medical Dragon. Her fifth and sixth studio albums, What's Goin' On Ai (2006) and Don't Stop Ai (2007) were also greatly commercially successful, being certified platinum and gold respectively. In 2007, Ai made her debut performance in the United States at the El Rey Theatre with an audience around 800. In 2008, Ai returned to Los Angeles for her Ai Loves LA concert at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. The performance was a benefit concert for the Go for Broke National Education Center, an organization that commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the United States Army during World War II.
In 2009, Ai released her seventh studio album Viva Ai, which charted in the top ten of the Japanese Oricon albums chart. Her greatest hits album, Best Ai was released the same year. Best Ai later became Ai's first album to top the Oricon Albums chart. Ai debuted as a film director in August 2009 with her short film, Take Action, which was recorded in Los Angeles. Alongside Anna Tsuchiya and Micro, Ai also directed the drama film, Blue Pacific Stories. Later that year, Ai performed "Okuribito" and "Story" at the 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards which was held in Gold Coast, Australia.
In 2010, Ai collaborated with many artists such as Namie Amuro, Miliyah Kato, Chaka Khan and Boyz II Men on her 10th anniversary album, The Last Ai. Both Ai and Khan won the International Collaboration Artists of the Year at the 2010 Billboard Japan Music Awards for the song "One More Try" and a cover of Khan's "Through the Fire".
2011–2017: Foray into international market, Independent, Moriagaro and The Best