''sixxxxxx'' is the sixth
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. by Japanese recording artist and songwriter
Ayumi Hamasaki
is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...
. The EP was released on August 5, 2015 by
Avex Trax and was produced by long-time collaborator
Max Matsuura
, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...
. With all the tracks written by Hamasaki herself, the EP features five original tracks and one
hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...
to commemorate the "six" tracks. It was released as a stand-alone
CD, a CD and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
bundle and a CD and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
bundle.
Background
In April 2015, Hamasaki released her sixteenth studio album ''
A One
''A One'' is the sixteenth full-length studio album recorded by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on April 8, 2015 (exactly 17 years after her debut) by Avex Trax. It reached #4 on the Oricon charts.
Background and promotion
On D ...
''. Comprised with thirteen newly recorded tracks, Hamasaki stated in an interview that the album was her most personal and passionate album. Despite this, the album missed the top spot and reached number four on the Japanese
Oricon Albums Chart
The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...
and has sold over 52,000 units in Japan.
She promoted the album during her ''
Arena Tour 2015 A: Cirque de Minuit''.
In mid-April 2015 while she was on tour, Hamasaki confirmed work of a sixth extended play.
The EP's lead single, "
Step by Step," was announced in April. Eventually it was announced that the song would be used as the theme song for the
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestri ...
drama ''Bijo to Danshi'', starring
Yukie Nakama
is a Japanese actress, singer and former idol.
History Biography
She was born in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan, into a fisherman's family, the youngest of five siblings.
At the start of her career she was a gravure idol and singer (her debut single " ...
. The song was released as an exclusively digital single on July 1, 2015, with
July 1st serving as a digital B-side. It charted for three weeks and sold 28,432 units and in its first week it charted at number two.
The artwork for ''Sixxxxxx'' premiered in early July 2015. The photoshoot was created in conjunction with Numero Tokyo Magazine, with a theme of "Ayumi Hamasaki Moto." The three covers feature close-up black and white shots of Hamasaki's face. The title allegedly suggests that this is Hamasaki's sixth extended play and that it features six original tracks.
Promotion
To promote the album, Hamasaki conducted the ''Ayumi Hamasaki: Limited TA Live Tour'', a
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
that only members of her official fanclub, TeamAyu, were able to purchase and attend. This is her first TeamAyu member tour in twelve years. Hamasaki confirmed that stage production and costuming had begun and announced the tour throughout Japan, including the
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, and
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
.
Track list
Charts
References
{{Authority control
Ayumi Hamasaki EPs
2015 EPs
Avex Group EPs
Japanese-language EPs