''2004 Ai'' (stylized as 2004 A.I.) is the third studio album by
Japanese-American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
singer-songwriter
Ai, released on June 16, 2004, by
Def Jam Japan and
Universal Sigma
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
.
''2004 Ai'' was Ai's first top 10 album, as well as her first album to be certified by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969.
The RIAJ's activities include pr ...
.
Background
Ai previously released her second studio album, ''
Original Ai'' in 2003. The album was a commercial success compared to her debut under RCA, ''
My Name Is Ai'', selling 20 times her debut album's amount and peaking at number 15 on
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
's albums chart.
Two singles were released prior to the album, "
After the Rain" and "
EO," both of which were top 30 hits.
"EO" was her highest charting single to date, reaching number 23.
Writing and production
The majority of the album was produced by R&B producers 813 (
DJ Yutaka
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
and Shingo. S), 2Soul,
Daisuke Imai,
T. Kura and Michico. Ai had worked with 813 and Michico on ''
Original Ai'', on the songs "Summer Time" and "Girls' Talk" respectively. "Dreaming of You" was a collaboration with
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
music production du
Great Dane i.e. Carsten Lindberg and Joachim Svare, with new Japanese lyrics written by Ai. Ai had previously worked with the pair on her single "
Thank U
"Thank U" is a song by Canadian-American recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette from her fourth studio album, ''Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' (1998). The song was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, who produced h ...
."
Ai collaborated with several musicians on the album, most notably beat-boxer
Afra and rapper Tucker on the single "
Watch Out!" She also collaborated with 1970s guitarist
Char, who arranged the song "Breathe." The collaboration occurred because Ai happened to be childhood friends with Char's son,
vocalist Jesse from the rock band
Rize
Rize (Greek: ρίζα, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian: რიზე,
, Ottoman Turkish: ريزه)
is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey.
Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital w ...
. The pair later collaborated vocally on Char's DVD single "No Generation Gap" (2004), which was featured on Ai's album ''
Feat. Ai''. Ai also collaborated with reggae artist
Boy-Ken on "Angel." Boy-Ken released an alternative version of "Angel" on his album ''Everythin' Is Everythin (2004). The interlude "L'Haleine des Cordes" is a classical piece arranged by game music composer
Shirō Sagisu
is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. With a career spanning over 40 years (beginning in the late 1970s), he is best known for his works as a record producer for acts including various choir members Mike Wyzgowski, Misia, Satosh ...
.
Promotion and concerts
The album received several minor commercial tie-ups. "After the Rain" was used as the
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
music show
Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ
''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'' was a Japanese music variety show on Fuji Television hosted by the comedy duo Downtown, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on the ...
's January to April 2004 ending theme song. "EO" was use as the
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
music show Japan Countdown's May 2004 ending theme song.
"Watch Out!" was used in TV commercials for the
PlayStation game ''
True Crime: Streets of LA''.
An English version of the song "Alive" was used as an insert song for the South Korean drama ''
Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang
''Sassy Girl Chun-hyang'' (; lit. Delightful Girl C''hun-hyang'') is a 2005 South Korean television series starring Han Chae-young, Jae Hee, Uhm Tae-woong and Park Si-eun (actress born 1980), Park Si-eun. It aired on KBS2 from January 3 to March ...
''.
Ai supported the album with two tours, the 15 date ''2004 Ai Club Tour'' between May and August 2004, and the 10 date ''2004 Ai Japan Tour'' in September and October 2004.
Ai also performed at the 2004 MTV Buzz Asia Concert in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, as well as the Taipei Music Festival to promote the album.
Footage from the Taiwan concert, the club tour and the concert tour were compiled to create Ai's first live DVD, ''Machigainai''.
Critical reception
The reviewers at CDJournal felt the album had a lot more personality than ''
Original Ai''. (2003) They felt the album's sound did not show the "frailty" of other popular R&B acts, and noted the album's "strong beats" and the lyrics from a female viewpoint. "After the Rain" was called "bewitching," and that the song's "sticky with emotion melody wraps the song in a mellow atmosphere." The reviewers felt that Ai's "pressingly questioning" rap in "Watch Out!" showed a high level of technique.
The music videos were well received at music awards shows. At the
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan
The MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2004 were hosted by entertainer and singer Tomomitsu Yamaguchi at Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Chiba.
Awards
Winners are in bold text.
Video of the Year
Missy Elliott — " Pass That Dutch"
* Mr. Children — ...
, "After the Rain" was nominated for the Best Buzz Asia - Japan award. Ai also received two nominations at the
2005 MTV Video Music Awards Japan
The MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005 were hosted by Takashi Fujii and Megumi at Tokyo Bay NK Hall, the awards included performances by Namie Amuro, Rain, Mariah Carey, Hoobastank, Jamiroquai and Ashanti.
Awards
Winners are in bold text.
Vid ...
, best R&B video for "EO," and best collaboration for "Watch Out." In 2005 at the
Space Shower Music Video Awards
Space Shower Music Awards (old name: SPACE SHOWER Music Video Awards, abbr. to SPACE SHOWER MVA) are an annual set of music awards sponsored by Japanese Space Shower TV. The prizes have been awarded since 1996.
Winners in main categories
Best ...
, she won the best female video award for "Watch Out."
Chart performance
The album debuted at number three in Japan, selling 36,000 copies.
It became a long charting album, selling three times its first week total (113,000) over 17 weeks.
At the time, this was Ai's most successful release, and it became her first release to receive a certification by the
RIAJ (gold).
As of 2012, it remains her fourth most commercially successful album in Japan.
Track listing
Personnel
Personnel details were sourced from ''2004 Ais liner notes booklet.
Managerial
*Ai – executive producer
*Yuki Arai – co-executive producer
*Kay Ichikawa – publisher
*Aiichiro Kiyohara –
A&R director
*Kaz Koike – co-executive producer
*Toshiharu Kojima – co-executive producer
*Shinki Miura – co-executive producer
*Atsushi Nakaue – publisher
*Kenya "Malu.k" Orita – executive producer (#15, #17)
*Koichi Sakakibara – artist management
*Tamotsu Suzuki – recording coordinator (#6, #16)
*Akira Terabayashi – co-executive producer
*Kumi Kawasumi Yoshida – publisher
Performance credits
*2Soul – instruments (#2, #9)
*
Afra – human beatbox, vocals (#12)
*Ai –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
,
background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
*Aaron Blackmon – bass (#4)
*
Boy-Ken – vocals (#10)
*Dave Burnett – bass (#2, #8)
*Char – acoustic guitar (#6)
*Kim Hanson – additional keyboard, string arrangement(#15, #17)
*Daisuke Imai – instruments (#7, #11)
*T. Kura – instruments (#3-#4)
*Carsten Lindsberg – instruments (#15, #17)
*Michico – background vocals (#3)
*Wilson Montuori – guitars (#2, #8)
*Royal Mirrorball Orchestra – strings (#5-#6)
*Royal Mirrorball Sextet – strings (#16)
*
Shirō Sagisu
is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. With a career spanning over 40 years (beginning in the late 1970s), he is best known for his works as a record producer for acts including various choir members Mike Wyzgowski, Misia, Satosh ...
– keyboards (#6, #16)
*James Spears – keyboard (#8)
*Joachim Svare – instruments (#15, #17)
*Tucker – bass, electone, guitar, keyboard, vocals (#12)
Visuals and imagery
*Eito Furukubo – hair, make-up
*Noriko Goto – stylist
*Misato Kumamoto – art direction, design
*Cassio Macambira – photographer
Technical and production
*2Soul – arrangement, production (#1-#2, #8-#9)
*813 – arrangement, production (#10, #13-#14)
*Afra – production (#12)
*Ai – production (#12)
*Junya Endo – mixing (#11)
*Akitomo Fukushima – recording assistance (#3-#4)
*Bruce Gowdy – mixing assistant (#10, #14)
*Daisuke Imai – arrangement, instrument recording, production (#7, #11)
*Masahiro Kawagucchi – mixing (#12), mixing engineer (#6, #16), Pro Tools digital editing (#6, #16), recording engineer (#6, #16)
*T. Kura – arrangement, mixing, production (#3-#4)
*Yukihiro Kusuru – co-engineering, co-mixing (#7)
*Carsten Lindsberg – arrangement, mixing, producer (#15, #17)
*Yasuji "Yasman" Maeda – mastering, mastering engineer (#16)
*Minako Nozue – assistant engineer (#6, #16)
*Tetsuya Ochiai – concert master (#6, #16)
*Taiji Okuda – vocal recording (#10-#12)
*Kenya "Malu.k" Orita – vocal recording (#15, #17)
*Shirō Sagisu – arrangement (#5-#6, #16), drum programming (#6, #16)
*Tatsuya Sato – editing (#2, #8-#9), engineering (#2, #8-#9), mixing (#2, #8-#9), vocal recording (#2, #9)
*Mitsuru "Boo" Shibamoto – assistant engineer (#2, #9), engineering (#15, #17), vocal recording (#8, #14)
*Troy Stanton – mixing (#10, #14)
*Joachim Svare – arrangement, mixing, producer (#15, #17)
*Tomotaka Takehara – engineering, mixing (#7)
*Tucker – production (#12)
*Mineo Watanabe – recording (#3)
*Haruo Yoda – production (#6, #16)
Charts and sales
Sales and certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2004 albums
Ai (singer) albums
Japanese-language albums
Universal Music Group albums
Def Jam Japan albums