AI American Dream - L.A Times Article about AI

[Alessia_Tateno]

Ai Carina Uemura, known as Ai, made her U.S. singing debut at the El Rey Theatre recently. The R&B singer is often compared to Beyoncé and Alicia Keys in Japan.
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A pop star in Japan, the bilingual R & B singer is looking for U.S. fans
By Charlie Amter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 19, 2008
"So today I was thinking: 'Should I speak Japanese, or English tonight?' " Universal Japan recording artist Ai said from the El Rey Theatre stage recently. The near-sellout crowd, mostly Japanese expatriates and Asian Americans living in Los Angeles, screamed replies, some in English, some in Japanese. "I'll just speak music," she said with a laugh, before launching into an up-tempo R&B jam -- in Japanese with an English chorus.

And so it goes for Ai Carina Uemura, a biracial, bilingual rising R&B star in Japan, whose El Rey show was her formal U.S. debut. The singer was actually born in L.A., graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (along with classmate Josh Groban) and played her most important local show to date just 12 miles away at the El Rey, in what at first looks like a classic case of local girl makes good.

Yet the road from her alma mater to the El Rey stage actually stretched about 12,000 miles: She first became a bona fide Japanese pop star in the land of her ancestors.

And now, she's bringing the music of her native land to Japan in a way most J-pop acts can't -- with an American-bred affinity for soul and R&B music.

"Ai and Crystal Kay are the best R&B singers in Japan today," says Sherman Oaks-based J-pop producer Joey Carbone.

Uemura has been described by some as the Japanese answer to Beyoncé for her sultry vocals and hip-hop attitude. More "fierce" than cute, Uemura evokes comparisons to Beyoncé and Alicia Keys on tracks like "Butterfly" -- where she effortlessly switches between Japanese and English.

The 26-year-old singer is navigating a career with feet in two worlds: in one, trying to please traditional J-pop fans with ballads; in the other, hoping to court American urban-music fans.

J-pop is typified these days by artists such as Namie Amuro, singers with reed-thin voices and a predilection for pop songs that sound forever stuck in the 1990s.

In contrast, Uemura's music sounds fresher -- a track such as "Move" off her latest release, "Don't Stop A.I.," wouldn't sound out of place on local hip-hop station Power 106 (KPWR-FM 105.9). Atlantic Records' rising urban artist Trey Songz even flew in from Virginia to take the stage with Uemura at the end of her El Rey show in a surprise appearance.

But Uemura, for now, is focused on the land of the rising sun, where she is a fast-rising diva with authentic American-sounding R&B tracks that advertisers are keen to license (her songs appear in ads for Japan Air Lines and Pepsi in Japan). Her L.A. gig was a warm-up for her impending multicity Japanese tour that opens Sunday and includes a stop at Tokyo's famed Budokan theater.

Back in L.A., however, Uemura was more than happy to face down a rapt audience of around 800. "This is really special for me," she said from the small El Rey stage, where she all but owned the female-heavy crowd, most of whom were hungry for a taste of Nippon via R&B ballads such as her 2005 smash "Story." The ballad sold 300,000 copies as a single in Japan and has been downloaded over 3.5 million times, according to her label.

"Don't Stop A.I.," released Dec. 5, mostly shies away from ballads and hints at the hip-hop-centric sound Uemura fell in love with when she lived in Los Angeles.

"Given Ai's English skills and American background, she stands a better chance than most Japanese artists of breaking overseas," says Billboard's Asia bureau chief Steve McClure.

But will American record labels, or fans, listen to rap in a language other than English?

While her Japanese contemporaries might insert a few English phrases into their songs, it can ring false to increasingly sophisticated Japanese music consumers.

"When the singer who isn't native sings any English lyrics, we feel as if it weren't true," says 31-year-old R&B fan Teru Okamoto via e-mail from Tokyo. "But in her case, she can speak English and Japanese fluently and also has good sense of R&B."

This is Uemura's edge in Japan; and now possibly in the U.S. in a reverse-twist -- where all things Japanese are increasingly appealing to YouTube savvy tweens raised on anime and PlayStation.

But breaking into the American market will be anything but easy; breaking Japan was difficult enough.

For now, Uemura seems content to satiate her Japanese audience while slowly building an American fan base. "If it wasn't for L.A.," she says, "I would have been a different person."

Source:
Joey Carbone
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...ck=1&cset=true

P.S = If you read the article from the link I posted you will see that it says:

"Ai and Crystal Kay are the best singers in Japan today," says Sherman Oaks-based J-pop producer Joey Carbone.

But actually he meant R&B so I corrected the article on the post ^__^

P.S 2 = Carina means cute...lol

[AyuGAME]

nice article...so she already debut at US or just performing there?

[Alessia_Tateno]

I think they consider her performing in America as debut =)

[Super Ichiban]

I was at that show. It was absolutely fantastic.

[sexysaucestar]

Originally Posted by Super Ichiban

I was at that show. It was absolutely fantastic.

Oh wow, that's awesome! You're lucky...I know I've said that before

Well, sounds like AI had a great debut! Thanks for the article.

[Halla]

lol there's a diss @ namie in the article. I've always thought vocal-wise namie is the worst singer in jpop, but her music is pretty up-to-date IMO.

I haven't heard much of AI's music, I've only heard her super hit ballad "Believe" and some collabs.

[truehappiness]

Isn't there a diss on all of non-J-R&B in the article? XD

[Kobayashiwoof]

Great article on AI , it would be cool if she would debut OS. Thanks for the article

[Alessia_Tateno]

Namie the worst singer of Jpop? Actually maybe the best one =P Who else can sing and dance at the same time without sound crap? And yeah her music is up-to-date but the article is american you know? I mean I don't think they get all the up to date info, maybe they are stuck on the Namie Amuro Queen of Jpop era without even know that Namie and Ai collaborated together with the song UH UH

[fanmail]

AI would so be a hit if she debuted in the US. <3

[TITANIC]

great if she want debut in USA

[Nanako]

Great article! I think AI could be a hit in America. She has the voice, look and style. I have to disagree about the Namie Amuro statement though. Namie's music is very up-to-date and even though she's not the strongest singer vocally, she's a great performer. Like Alessia said, AI and Namie collaborated so if she wasn't up-to-date than I wouldn't think she'd collaborate with AI. Most of Namie's music nowdays is urban anyways. On another note, glad to see a mention of Kuri's name^^ But DOUBLE should have been up there too!

[fanmail]

Totally. DOUBLE is the real queen of J-R&B

[Calico]

^Ironically, DOUBLE is one of the very few J-urban acts I just can't get into. XD

I think this was a great article, minus the jabs at Namie (she's not even REALLY an R&B singer I think...just influenced) and basically implying that the only people who would care about AI are Asian and "anime tweens". I kept waiting for the word "Wapanese" to make its way in there.

[ohsixthirty]

awesome article. i'm somewhat familiar with Ai, but does anyone have any youtube (or whatever) links to her current music?