Wa to Yo
Wa to Yo (Japanese: 和と洋, lit. Japanese and Western) is the eleventh studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai. It was released on June 7, 2017 through EMI Records and Universal Music Group. It consists of two discs, the Wa disc recorded in Japanese while the Yo disc was recorded in English. The album features guest appearances and collaborations from Kodō, Jinmenusagi, Himekami, Jamaican musician Junior Reid, American singer-songwriter Eric Bellinger, and American singer-songwriter Chris Brown. Wa to Yo is primarily a J-pop, R&B, soul and hip hop album.
| Wa to Yo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard cover[note 1] | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 7, 2017 | |||
| Recorded |
| |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
| |||
| Language | ||||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
| |||
| Ai chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Wa to Yo | ||||
| ||||
Two singles were released from Wa to Yo, "Justice Will Prevail at Last" and "Kira Kira" featuring Naomi Watanabe.
Background
After the release of Moriagaro in 2013, Ai was engaged to Hiro, the leader and vocalist of the rock band Kaikigesshoku. The pair had been dating for 10 years, and wed in January 2014.[2] In August 2015, Ai gave birth to her first child.[3]
The album was first teased on Ai's YouTube channel on April 20, 2017.[4][5]
Development
The logo of the album, designed by Aries Moross
Wanting to "convey the goodness of Japan" to the rest of the world and "the goodness of the overseas to Japanese people", Ai collaborated with several producers, artists and songwriters from both Japan and the west.[6] The album combines traditional Japanese instruments with modern western genres.[6]
In an interview with her label, Ai stated majority of the English songs from the Yo disc were recorded during her Atlantic City session, originally intended for her tenth studio album, Moriagaro.[7]
Track listing
All tracks written by Ai Uemura except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wa Interlude" (featuring Kodō & Jinmenusagi) |
| 2:46 |
| 2. | "Wonderful World" (featuring Himekami) |
| 3:55 |
| 3. | "From Zero" | 4:22 | |
| 4. | "Justice Will Prevail at Last" (最後は必ず正義が勝つ) | 4:05 | |
| 5. | "Feel it" | 3:11 | |
| 6. | "I Can Pretend" | 4:00 | |
| 7. | "Gui Gui" (グイグイ) | 3:02 | |
| 8. | "Home" | 3:59 | |
| 9. | "It's Gonna Be All Right" | 4:34 | |
| 10. | "Music Is My Life" | 6:07 | |
| Total length: | 38:41 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Yo Interlude" | 2:00 | |
| 12. | "Welcome To My City" (featuring Junior Reid & Eric Bellinger) |
| 3:22 |
| 13. | "Right Now" (featuring Chris Brown) |
| 2:56 |
| 14. | "What I Want" (featuring Jinmenusagi) |
| 3:00 |
| 15. | "Sweet Nothing's" |
| 4:03 |
| 16. | "The One You Need" |
| 4:14 |
| 17. | "Crazy Love" |
| 4:15 |
| Total length: | 23:10 | ||
Deluxe edition
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wa Interlude" (featuring Kodō & Jinmenusagi) |
| 2:46 |
| 2. | "Wonderful World" (featuring Himekami) |
| 3:55 |
| 3. | "From Zero" | 4:22 | |
| 4. | "Justice Will Prevail at Last" (最後は必ず正義が勝つ) | 4:05 | |
| 5. | "Feel it" | 3:11 | |
| 6. | "I Can Pretend" | 4:00 | |
| 7. | "Gui Gui" (グイグイ) | 3:02 | |
| 8. | "Home" | 3:59 | |
| 9. | "It's Gonna Be All Right" | 4:34 | |
| 10. | "Music Is My Life" | 6:07 | |
| 11. | "Heiwa" |
| 3:54 |
| 12. | "Miracle" (ミラクル) | 3:38 | |
| 13. | "I'm the Champion" | 4:08 | |
| 14. | "Run to the Sun" | 3:38 | |
| 15. | "Kira Kira" (キラキラ featuring Naomi Watanabe) | 3:39 | |
| 16. | "Happy Christmas" (ハッピークリスマス) | 5:24 | |
| Total length: | 61:42 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yo Interlude" | 2:00 | |
| 2. | "Welcome To My City" (featuring Junior Reid & Eric Bellinger) |
| 3:22 |
| 3. | "Right Now" (featuring Chris Brown) |
| 2:56 |
| 4. | "What I Want" (featuring Jinmenusagi) |
| 3:00 |
| 5. | "Sweet Nothing's" |
| 4:03 |
| 6. | "The One You Need" |
| 4:14 |
| 7. | "Crazy Love" |
| 4:15 |
| 8. | "Little Hero" |
| 3:47 |
| Total length: | 26:57 | ||
Notes
- The deluxe reissue of Wa to Yo is titled Wa to Yo to.
- "Wonderful World" samples "Kamigami no Uta" by Himekami.
- Tracks 4, 7, 12, 15, and 16 are titled in Japanese.
- Tracks 5, 8, 9 and 11 of disc two are stylized in all upper case lettering.
- Tracks 4 and 7 of disc two are stylized in all upper case lettering.
Charts
| Chart (2017) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] | 11 |
| Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon)[9] | 21 |
| Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[10] | 19 |
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[11]
- Ai Carina Uemura – lead vocals, songwriting, producer
- Uta – producer, songwriting
- Julian Le – producer, songwriting
- Gakushi – producer, songwriting
- Da Beatfreakz – producer
- Tha Gutbangaz – co–producer
- Taji Okuda – vocal editing
- Chris Brown – featured artist, songwriting
- Eric Bellinger – featured artist, songwriting
- Junior Reid – featured artist, songwriting
- Jinmenusagi – featured artist, songwriting
- Himekami – featured artist, sound production, songwriting
- Victoria Emily Hogan Marshal – songwriting
- Matthew "Damario" Quinney – songwriting
- Carlos "Los" Jenkins – songwriting
- Uche Ben Eble – songwriting
- Obi Fred Eble – songwriting
- Keisuke Fujimaki – vocal editing
- Yoshinori Morita – vocal editing
- Satoshi Yoneda – vocal editing
- Sayaka Ogoshi – vocal editing
- Tomoe Nishikawa – vocal editing
- Black the Beast – producer, vocal editing, mixing
- Don City – producer, vocal editor, mixing
- Neeraj Khajanchi – vocal editing
- Hitoshi Sato – vocal editing
- D.O.I – mixing
- Tyrone Wright – songwriting
- Victoria Kimani – songwriting
- Issa – songwriting
- Derrick D. Beck – songwriting, producer
- Arin Ray – songwriting
- Vincent Berry – songwriting
- Joshua Berry – songwriting
- Jamal Gaines – songwriting
- Anthony Charles Williams II – songwriting
- Ty Steez – songwriting
- Vakseen – songwriting, producer
- Alex Geringas – songwriting, producer
- Samantha Nelson – songwriting
- Latisha Hyman – songwriting
- David Claxton – songwriting
- Lynne Hobday – songwriting
- Donameche Jackson – songwriting
- Seiichi Watanabe – A&R (EMI Records)
- Daisuke Fujikawa – marketing
- Yoko Tsunashima – marketing
- Kimiko Kato – sales promotion (Universal)
- Kotaro Suzuki – media promotion
- Norio Eguchi – media promotion
- Mika Mitsumochi – media promotion
- Masayoshi Abe – media promotion
- Mitsuru Sekiya – media promotion
- Rie Deguchi – media promotion
- Sae Yamamoto – media promotion
- Takeshi Okada – digital & web promotion
- Sayaka Abe – digital & web promotion
- Yoshiaki Ando – digital & web promotion
- Mina Hosojima – digital & web promotion
- Runa Hayasaka – digital & web promotion
- Takeshi Okada – digital & web promotion
- Yuka Tsukada – digital production
- Yuka Sato – digital production
- Masao Eto – area promotion
- Shintaro Ishihara – area promotion
- Sayoko Okuno – legal
- Yukari Kuwahara – legal
- Aiichiro Kiyohara – UM & brands
- Nobuo Kobayashi – UM & brands
- Akihito Watanabe – master localization
- Taku Nakamura – project producer
- Naoshi Fujikura – supervisor
- Koichi Sakakibara – manager
- Yuki Arai – executive producer
- Kate Moross – art director
- Ina Jang – photographer
- Akemi Ono – makeup artist, hair artist
- Noriko Goto – stylist
- Risa Nakazawa – visual coordinator
- Shuma Saito – package coordinator
- Akio Kawabata – package coordinator
- Randy Merrill – mastering
- Tom Coyne – mastering
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Version | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | June 7, 2017 | Standard | [12] | ||
| Japan | CD | [13] | |||
| Various | October 25, 2017 |
|
Deluxe |
|
[14] |
| Japan | CD |
|
[15] |
Notes
- On the deluxe edition cover, the background is purple instead of red.
References
- "和と洋[CD] - AI - UNIVERSAL MUSIC JAPAN". AI (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- Inc, Natasha. "AI、カイキゲッショクHIROと年内に結婚". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-06-24.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - Inc, Natasha. "AI、第1子を出産「自分が産んだこと信じられない」". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-06-24.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - AI NEW Album「和と洋(WAtoYO)」Teaser Part1, retrieved 2020-06-24
- AI NEW Album「和と洋(WAtoYO)」Teaser Part2, retrieved 2020-06-24
- "AI、「最後は必ず正義が勝つ」をMステ披露 新作『和と洋』に表れた"横断する"アーティスト性". Real Sound｜リアルサウンド (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- "AI「和と洋」スペシャルサイト". sp.universal-music.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- "和と洋と。DELUXE EDITION | AI". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- "AIのデジタルアルバム売上TOP7作品". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2017/06/14". Billboard Japan. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Wa to Yo (CD). Ai. EMI Records/Universal/Def Jam Recordings. 2017. UPCH-20451/2.
- Inc, Natasha. "AIニューアルバムは和洋折衷の2枚組、ライブBD/DVDも同時発売決定". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-07-06.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - "和と洋 | AI". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- Inc, Natasha. "AI、最新アルバム曲で構成したメドレーMV（動画あり）". 音楽ナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-07-06.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - "和と洋と。DELUXE EDITION | AI". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.