2004 Ai

May 2025 2004 Ai studio Ai Ai - 2004 Ai Album.png yes A mid-shot of Ai against a white background, where she smiles, wearing long hair and blue tinted glasses. She is not noticeably wearing clothes, however the lower half of her body is covered by a boombox. "2004 A.I." is hand-written in front of the image in white, in a graffiti-style font. 2004 06 16 2004 Prime Sound Studio Form (Meguro, Tokyo) Studio Fine (Higashi-Azabu, Tokyo) Universoul (Shibuya, Tokyo) HiBrite Studio (Tokyo) On Air Azabu (Minato, Tokyo) Magnet Studio (Tokyo) Sony Music Studios (Minato, Tokyo) R&B hip hop 54:38 Japanese Def Jam Japan Universal Sigma 2Soul T. Kura 813 Daisuke Imai Shirō Sagisu Michico Great Dane Original Ai 2003 Flashback to Ai 2004 2004 Ai studio After the Rain March 3, 2004 E.O. May 12, 2004 Watch Out! August 4, 2004 2004 Ai (stylized as 2004 A.I.) is the third studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on June 16, 2004, by Def Jam Japan and Universal Sigma.https://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=UICJ-1020 [CD] 2004 A.I. / AI Neowing Japanese August 22, 2012 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. 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's albums chart. Two singles were released prior to the album, "After the Rain" and "E.O.," both of which were top 30 hits. "E.O." was her highest-charting single to date, reaching number 23. Writing and production left AI_-_After the Rain.ogg "After the Rain" Billed as Ai's first "love song," "After the Rain" was the first single from the album. Ogg AI (Ai Uemura) - EO.ogg "EO" The upbeat R&B track "EO" was the highest ranking single from the album, reaching number 23. Ogg Most of the album was produced by R&B producers 813 (DJ Yutaka 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 music production duo 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." 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,http://www.universal-music.co.jp/defjam/microsite/ai/official_interview.html Official Interview Universal Masaharu Yoshioka https://web.archive.org/web/20040923015751/http://www.universal-music.co.jp/defjam/microsite/ai/official_interview.html May 17, 2004 September 23, 2004 August 23, 2012 vocalist Jesse from the rock band Rize. 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. Promotion and concerts The album received several minor commercial tie-ups. "After the Rain" was used as the Fuji TV music show Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ's January to April 2004 ending theme song. "E.O." was use as the TV Tokyo music show Japan Countdown's May 2004 ending theme song.AI – タイアップ Ai – tie-ups https://artist.cdjournal.com/a/ai/146437/tieup/ CDJournal August 18, 2012 "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 Sassy Girl Chun-hyang. 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.http://www.universal-music.co.jp/defjam/microsite/ai/main.html News Universal https://web.archive.org/web/20040915025346/http://www.universal-music.co.jp/defjam/microsite/ai/main.html September 15, 2004 August 23, 2012 Ai also performed at the 2004 MTV Buzz Asia Concert in Seoul, South Korea, 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.https://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=UPBI-1004 [DVD] MACHIGAINAI / AI Neowing Japanese August 23, 2012 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.https://artist.cdjournal.com/d/2004-ai/3204031227 AI ／ 2004 A.I. CDJournal Japanese 2012 August 23, 2012https://artist.cdjournal.com/d/after-the-rain/3203121449 AI ／ After the Rain CDJournal Japanese 2012 August 23, 2012https://artist.cdjournal.com/d/watch-out-feat-afra--tucker/3204051379 AI ／ WATCH OUT! feat.AFRA+TUCKER [CD+DVD] [限定] CDJournal Japanese 2012 August 23, 2012 The music videos were well received at music awards shows. At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, "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, best R&B video for "E.O.," and best collaboration for "Watch Out." In 2005 at the Space Shower Music Video Awards, 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 54:38 Intro 2Soul 1:01 E.O. Ai 2Soul 4:00 After the Rain Ai T. Kura, Michico, Ai 5:01 100% Hyaku Pāsento Ai T. Kura, Michico, Ai 3:36 L'Haleine des Cordes (Interlude) [Fr]: "The Breath of the Strings" Shirō Sagisu 0:54 Breathe Ai Char 4:41 Mugen 無限 "Infinite" Ai, Daisuke Imai Ai, D. Imai 4:09 Say Yes, Say No Ai 2Soul 4:21 Alive Ai, Shoko Fujibayashi 2Soul 4:37 Angel featuring Boy-Ken), (エンジェル Enjeru Ai, Boy-Ken Ai, 813 4:28 I'm Sorry Ai, D. Imai Ai, D. Imai 4:21 Watch Out! featuring Afra, Tucker Ai Ai, Afra, Tucker 3:58 Ongaku Kiite オンガクキイテ "Listen to the Music" 813 0:59 Listen 2 da Music Ai Ai, 813 3:47 Dreaming of You Ai C. Lindberg, J. Svare 4:33 64:52 Overseas release bonus tracks Killing Me Softly with His Song Norman Gimbel Charles Fox 4:40 Silly of Me Channette Higgens, Channoah Higgens C. Lindberg, J. Svare 4:34 Personnel Personnel details were sourced from 2004 Ais liner notes booklet.2004 Ai Ai 2004 Japanese Universal Music Japan Tokyo, JapanManagerialAi – 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 – publisherPerformance credits2Soul – instruments (#2, #9) Afra – human beatbox, vocals (#12) Ai – vocals, background vocals 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 – keyboards (#6, #16) James Spears – keyboard (#8) Joachim Svare – instruments (#15, #17) Tucker – bass, electone, guitar, keyboard, vocals (#12)Visuals and imageryEito Furukubo – hair, make-up Noriko Goto – stylist Misato Kumamoto – art direction, design Cassio Macambira – photographerTechnical 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 + Chart performance for 2004 AiChart (2004)PeakpositionJapan Oricon weekly albumshttps://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/1374/products/music/545533/1/ 2004 A.I. AI Oricon 2004 Japanese August 22, 20123 Sales and certifications Chart AmountOricon physical salesオリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」 Oricon Ranking Information Service "You Big Tree" https://ranking.oricon.co.jp Oricon August 20, 2012 (subscription only)113,000RIAJ physical shipping certificationja:ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2004年07月 Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (July 2004) https://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200407.html RIAJ Japanese August 10, 2005 August 10, 2012 July 21, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120721232654/http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200407.html dead Gold (100,000+) Release history + Release history and formats for 2004 AiRegionDateFormat(s)LabelRef. ReferenceJapanJune 16, 2004CD digital download streamingDef Jam Japan Universal SigmaTaiwanJuly 3, 2004Universal TaiwanAI / 2004 A.I. (亞洲特典盤) https://www.books.com.tw/exep/cdfile.php?item=0020096920 books.com.tw Chinese August 20, 2012South KoreaJuly 21, 2004Universal KoreaAI (아이) – 2004 A.I. http://www.yes24.com/24/goods/1401501?scode=032&OzSrank=2 Yes24 Korean August 20, 2012VariousDecember 5, 2012USM Japan[CD] 2004 A.I. [SHM-CD] [期間限定生産] https://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=UPCY-9323 Neowing Japanese August 22, 2012 References Category:2004 albums Category:2000s Japanese-language albums Category:Ai (singer) albums Category:Def Jam Japan albums