, known professionally as , is a Japanese

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artist. She made her

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

debut with

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in Japan regarding music distribution. The company is responsible ...

in 2020. Her stage name is short for "Asian wish child," which is the literal meaning of the

Japanese characters The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana. Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalized Japanese w ...

in her given name.

Early life and education

Awich was born in

Naha, Okinawa is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

on December 16, 1986. Because Okinawa is home to many U.S. military bases, Awich was exposed to American culture at an early age. As a young girl, she idolized

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

and credits Tupac songs with helping her learn English. She wrote her first lyrics at age 13, and gave her first public hip hop performance at age 14. At age 19, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she met and married an American husband and gave birth to a daughter. She also earned a bachelor's degree in business and marketing from the

University of Indianapolis The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University an ...

in 2011. However, her husband was incarcerated and later was murdered after his release from prison, at which point Awich returned to Japan with her daughter.

Career

Awich made her musical debut in Japan prior to her move to the United States. In 2006, she independently released an album titled ''Asian Wish Child''. Following her return to Japan from the United States, Awich initially focused on building up her self-founded branding company Cypher City, which works to market Okinawan products overseas. However, she soon returned to the world of hip hop music. In 2017, Awich joined the Japanese hip hop collective Yentown as its only female member, and began building her mainstream career. With the label, she released two studio albums, ''8'' and ''Peacock'', as well as two extended plays, ''Beat'' and ''Heart''. In 2020, Awich signed with

sublabel Universal J. Her first release under the label was ''Partition'', her fifth extended play. Two promotional singles, "Shook Shook" and "Bad Bad" were released from the EP. Later that year, she released a cover of "

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single released by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached numb ...

" and an original song titled "Present". In 2021, Awich released two singles, "Gila Gila" and "Kuchi ni Dashite". Her 2007 debut album was re-released digitally by LD&K Inc in September. In March 2022, her major label debut album, '' Queendom'' was released. In May, Awich released the single "Tsubasa" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. The song features vocals from her daughter, Yomi. Awich headlined at

Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

in 2022 after the release of her fourth studio album. With five studio albums (produced primarily by music producer ), Awich also performed at

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual music festival, rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash (Music promoters), Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it th ...

in 2022. Her aim has been to become the "Queen of Japanese hiphop":

Before I knew I had the potential to be big and famous, but I didn’t have the guts to be at the center of everything. Now, I’m aiming to be the queen of
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. Period. With that comes responsibility. It’s about owning your own words and not being afraid to be bashed for them.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As a featured artist

Promotional singles

Notes

References

{{reflist Japanese women hip-hop musicians 1986 births Living people Singers from Naha University of Indianapolis alumni Universal Music Japan artists Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Japanese women rappers