''My Name Is Ai'' (stylized my name is AI) is the debut studio album by Japanese–American singer-songwriter Ai, released on November 2, 2001, by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and BMG Fun House. Three singles were released from ''My Name Is Ai'', "Cry, Just Cry", "U Can Do" and "Shining Star". Although the latter of the two did not chart, "Shining Star" charted and peaked at number 98 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

. Although not commercially successful, ''My Name Is Ai'' peaked at number 86 on the Oricon albums chart.

Background

Ai developed an interest to become a singer in her early adolescence. After graduating from junior high school in Japan, Ai returned to her hometown,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to attend high school. Initially attending Glendale High School, Ai later switched to Los Angeles Count High School for the Arts, majoring in ballet. In 1998, she appeared as a dancer in

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

's song " Go Deep". In 1999, Ai joined an Asian girl group called SX4. While on holiday in

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

, she performed Monica's " For You I Will", which led to her being scouted by BMG. Deciding to take the offer, Ai left SX4 and moved to Tokyo after graduating high school in 2000, signing to BMG Japan's

label.

Track listing

Notes

* Tracks 2–4, 6, 10, 12, and 15–16 are stylized in all capitals. * Track 14 is stylized as "Cry, just Cry"

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

.''My Name Is Ai'' (CD). Ai.

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

/ BMG. 2001. BVCR-11034.

Musicians

* Ai Carina Uemura – lead vocals, songwriting * Takuya Harada – songwriting * Shinnosukue – arrangement, songwriting, production * Junkoo – arrangement, songwriting, production, piano * Genki Hibino – songwriting * Yukiko Mitsui – songwriting * Ars Wizard C-VE – arrangement, songwriting, production * Diggy-Mo – songwriting, vocals * Takao Sugiyama – piano * Masahiko Rokukawa – bass * Ichiro Hada – guitar * Kazu Minamisawa – guitar * Kouyo Murakami – trombone * Kazuo Kamata – sax * Mikio Saito – trumpet * To-Go – guitar * Aogu – DJ * Dave Fromm – background vocals * Jun – background vocals * Tsuyoshi – background vocals * Peco – background vocals * Masaaki Iwami – songwriting

Technical

* Masaaki Iwami –mixing * T. Takizawaa – mixing * T. Kobayashi – mixing * Don Katsumoto – sound production * Ars Wizard CV-E – direction * Junkoo – assistant direction * Shinnosuke – assistant direction * Yukihiro Yahagi – mastering

Visuals and imagery

* Anthony Nishikawa – art direction * Yoshihiro Sugawara – design * Kazuya Morishima – photographer * Ai Carina Uemura – photographer * Rie Inada – hair, makeup * Shuhei Yomo – styling * Mika Itagaki – styling

Charts

Aftermath

Following BMG selling its 50% share of

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

in 2008 to the

Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA) is the American arm of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Headquartered in New York City, the company manages Sony's business in the United States. Sony's princ ...

, RCA's Japan division was rebranded as

Ariola Japan , is a Japanese record label that is part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It is the successor of BMG Japan. History *2008 – Ariola Japan becomes a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. *2009 – Ariola Japan becomes a full-on record labe ...

. Subsequently, the ownership of the masters of ''My Name Is Ai'' was transferred to

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

. Though physical copies are still manufactured by Sony Japan under their

label, the album was never formerly released to digital stores.

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2001 debut albums Ai (singer) albums 2000s Japanese-language albums RCA Records albums