Ai

Ai Carina Uemura (植村 愛 カリーナ), known mononymously as Ai (, stylized as Ai or A.I. ), is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, spokeswoman, and actress.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Ai moved to Kagoshima, at age 4.

Motivated to become a singer, Ai returned to Los Angeles during her adolescence, attending the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

While in Los Angeles, Ai 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".

Its second single, "Kira Kira" was nominated for the Grand Prix award and won the Excellent Works Award at the 59th Japan Records Awards.

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.

She briefly joined the Asian girl group SX4 in 1999 until she graduated 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.

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).

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.

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).

Ai's fifth studio album, What's Goin' On Ai (2006), featured the top-ten singles "Believe" and "I Wanna Know", the latter 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 compilation 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 Gold certified 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 fourth compilation 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.

Her sixth compilation 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.

Ai released her thirteenth studio album, Respect All (2023), within the next year.