What's Goin' On Ai

What's Goin' On Ai
To the left of the cover is half of the world seen from space, while on the right side is a close-up of Ai's face. She is smiling, eves closed, and wearing large bangle earrings. Written on her cheek in white is "What's Goin On A.I."
Studio album by Ai
Released September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27)
(see release history)
Recorded 2005–2006; Prime Sound Studio Form, Meguro, Tokyo; Real & Beats Studio, Tokyo; Dojo Studios, New York City; Very Cherry Studios, New York; TamStar Studio, Shibuya, Tokyo; Sony Studio, Tokyo; Bunkamura Studio, Tokyo (strings)
Genre R&B, hip hop, soul
Length 49:02
Language Japanese, English
Label Universal Sigma
Producer Yuki Arai, Kaz Koike, Shinki Miura
Ai chronology
Mic-a-holic Ai
(2005)		 What's Goin' On Ai
(2006)		 Live Ai
(2007)
Singles from What's Goin' On Ai
  1. "Believe"
    Released: April 19, 2006
  2. "I Wanna Know"
    Released: September 6, 2006

What's Goin' On Ai (stylized as What's goin' on A.I.) is the fifth studio album by Japanese R&B musician Ai, released on September 27, 2006.[1] It was released after the successful ballad single "Believe," and the upbeat R&B song "I Wanna Know."

Background and development

After Ai's 2005 ballad "Story," Ai reached national fame, receiving a three million ringtone certification and performing the song at the 56th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Years music competition.[2][3] Her first single after Mic-a-holic Ai was a ballad in a similar vein to "Story," called "Believe." The song was used as the drama Team Medical Dragon's theme song, her first song to be used as a drama theme song.[4] The single debuted at number two, her highest position to date.[5]

A month before the album's release date, Ai released a second single before from the album, the R&B dance song "I Wanna Know." It was used in a TV commercial for Pepsi Nex.

Writing and production

"Believe"
The first single from the album was a soulful ballad.
"I Wanna Know"
The preceding single was an up-beat dance single about world issues.
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What's Goin On Ai features a much wider variety of producers than Ai's previous albums. Previous album collaborators include T. Kura ("Music," "Love Is..."), who has worked with Ai since 2004, as well as DJ Yutaka ("Believe," "No Way") and Icedown ("Mirai"), who both worked on Mic-a-holic Ai (2005). Ai worked with DJ Watarai on the single "I Wanna Know," who had previously collaborated with her in 2004, on his song "Welcome 2 da Party," which featured both Ai and rapper Hi-D.

Ai collaborated with four international singers on the album: American singer Trey Songz, Jamaican rapper Shaggy, South Korean R&B singer, actor and idol Rain, and Turkish pop singer Yalın. Several songs were produced by overseas musicians. The Martin Kierszenbaum-produced "Famous" heavily samples Yalın's 2004 song "Değmez." "Ooh" was produced by American production team The Insomniax, and "Go Find Your Way" was produced by New York City brothers John "Papa Jube" Altino and Arden Altino. The original version on "Beautiful" was arranged by American D/R Period, and remixed by New York remixer Coptic. "Too Much" was originally produced by South Korean music mogul JYP, and was remixed by The Orange Factory.

The album's title was inspired by song "I Wanna Know," which Ai wrote about global affairs.[6] "Believe" was inspired by reading the manga for Team Medical Dragon. After reading the manga, Ai felt that every person should be treasured, which inspired the lyrics to the song.[4]

The interludes of the album feature Ai's mother, father, grandmother and her friends.[7]

The majority of songs were recorded at Prime Sound Studio Form in Meguro, Tokyo, with additional Tokyo recording at Real & Beats Studio, TamStar Studio, Sony Studio Tokyo and Bunkamura Studio. Ai recorded three songs in New York's Dojo Studios and Very Cherry Studios: "We Gonna," "Beautiful" and "Famous."[8]

Promotion and concerts

The pop ballad "Believe" received the greatest promotion on the album, being used as the primetime TV drama Team Medical Dragon's theme song. "Believe" was also used in music.jp commercials.[1][9]

"I Wanna Know" was used in a high profile Pepsi Nex commercial, as well as commercials for digital music providers Dwango and M-Up.[9] Two other songs were used in TV commercial campaigns, "No Way!" in Lotte's Xylitol gum commercials, and the original version of "Beautiful" featured in beauty care center La Parler's commercials.[1] "Mirai" was used as the ending theme song for TV Tokyo's golfing show featuring female professional golfer Ai Miyazato, Miyazato Ai no Big Golf in USA.[1][9]

Ai performed "I Wanna Know" at the late night music show Bokura no Ongaku on September 1, 2006, as well as two other non-album songs.[10] On September 27, 2006, Ai performed a secret live to 2,000 people at a free event at Bunkamura in Shibuya, Tokyo.[11]

Ai followed the album with her What's Goin' On Ai Japan Tour, initially featuring 11 dates across the country in November and December 2006.[12] An extra date was added on December 13, where Ai performed at the Nippon Budokan stadium in Tokyo to 12,000 people.[13] The album was released as a live album in 2007, Live Ai, as well as being released to DVD on the same day, titled Nippon Budokan Ai.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CDJournal(favorable)[14]
Hot Express(favorable)[15]
Listen Japan(favorable)[16]
What's In?(favorable)[17]

Critics thought highly of the album. What's In? reiviewers called the album a "must item," noting the album's "rhythm, groove and overflowing cool."[17] Yosuke Motoi of Hot Express enjoyed the contrast between the album's issue-pressing title and the songs' lyrics, which instead of being confronting, are introspectively asking what (the songs' protagonists) should be doing.[15] Morio Mori of Listen Japan felt that the album was "scaled up" compared to her previous works, being impressed with the album's breath.[16] Ai's vocals were praised by many reviewers,[15] with CDJournal calling the vocals on "Love Is..." were "surely a thing to give you goosebumps."[14]

Ai won two awards for the videos on the album. "I Wanna Know" won the Best Female Video award at the 2007 Space Shower Music Video Awards, and "Believe" won Best R&B Video at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards Japan.

Chart performance

The album debuted at number two in Japan, losing to folk band Kobukuro's first greatest hits album All Singles Best.[18] In its first week, it sold 101,000 copies, which is currently Ai's best first week total to date.[18] Like many of her releases, What's Goin On Ai was a long-term seller, charting in the top 10 for four weeks, and spending a total of 17 weeks in the top 300.[18] The album was certified platinum in its month of release.[19]

In Taiwan, the album charted for five weeks in the Japanese/Korean subchart, peaking at number 11.[20] This was her best position in Taiwan to date, however it did not reach the combined chart's top 20.

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicArranger(s)Length
1."Intro"   T. Kura 0:22
2."Music"  AiT. Kura, AiT. Kura3:59
3."What's Goin' On Pt. 1"     0:54
4."I Wanna Know"  AiAi, DJ Watarai, JinDJ Watarai, Jin4:16
5."Go Find Your Way"  AiAi 3:53
6."We Gonna"  AiAi 3:07
7."What's Goin' On Pt. 2"     1:04
8."No Way"  AiAi, DJ YutakaDJ Yutaka, Shingo. S (keyboard arrangement)3:35
9."Believe"  AiAi, DJ Yutaka, JinDJ Yutaka, Kaori Sawada (keyboard arrangement)5:13
10."Ooh"  AiAiThe Insomniax4:10
11."Beautiful (Remix)" (featuring Trey Songz)Ai, T. SongzAi, T. SongzCoptic (mix)3:12
12."Too Much (Remix)" (featuring Rain)JYP, AiJYP, AiThe Orange Factory (mix)3:22
13."Famous" (featuring Shaggy and Yalın)Ai, Martin Kierszenbaum, YalınAi, M. Kierszenbaum, YalınM. Kierszenbaum3:13
14."Mirai" (未来 "Future")AiAi, IcedownIcedown4:35
15."Love Is..."  AiT. Kura, AiT. Kura4:05
Total length:49:02

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from What's Goin' On Ai's liner notes booklet.[8]

Managerial

  • Yuki Arai – co-executive producer
  • Naoshi Fujikura – head publicity and promotion
  • Nobuhiko Kakihara – promotion planning
  • Justin Kalifowitz – production coordination (#6, #10-#12)
  • Aiichiro Kiyohara – A&R director
  • Kaz Koike – co-executive producer
  • Shinki Miura – co-executive producer
  • Hitomi Miyamoto – artwork coordination
  • Keiko Ohashi – Altino Music production management (#5)
  • Koichi Sakakibara – artist management
  • Sakie Sekiya – production coordination (#12)
  • Ellie Shibata – production coordination (#12)
  • Yuko Yasumoto – production coordination (#6, #10-#12)

Performance credits

  • Ai – vocals, background vocals
  • Robbie Danzie – introduction monologue (#1)
  • Icedown – all instruments (#14)
  • The Insomniax – all instruments (#10)
  • Shigeki Ippon – viola (#4)
  • Hiroki Kashiwagi – cello (#4)
  • Kazunori Kumagai – tap (#4)
  • Shoko Miki – viola (#4)
  • Koichiro Muroya – violin (#4)
  • Naoto – violin (#4)
  • Yuichi Ohno – additional keyboards (#6)
  • Rain – vocals (#12)
  • Shaggy – vocals (#13)
  • Trey Songz – vocals (#11)
  • Yalın – vocals (#13)

Visuals and imagery

  • Noriko Goto – stylist
  • Akihisa Inoue – design
  • Nicci Keller – photographer
  • Misato Kumamoto – art direction, design
  • Maki Morita – live stage "paparazzi" photographer
  • Akemi Ono – hair, make-up

Technical and production

  • Filthy Rich Ahee – recording (#6, #11)
  • John "Papa Jube" Altino – arrangement, production (#5)
  • Arden Altino – arrangement, production (#5)
  • C-murder – pre-production recording (#8-#9)
  • Coptic – remixing (#11)
  • Tom Coyne – mastering
  • Digga – additional remix production (#12)
  • DJ Watarai – arrangement, production (#4)
  • DJ Yutaka – arrangement, production (#8-#9)
  • D.O.I – mixing (#4-6, #8-#12, #14)
  • D/R Period – production (#6), original version arrangement (#11), original version production (#11)
  • Icedown – production (#14)
  • The Insomniax – arrangement, production (#10)
  • Jin – arrangement, production, strings arrangement (#4)
  • JYP – original version arrangement, original version production (#12)
  • Hiroki Kashiwagi – head strings arrangement (#4)
  • Futoshi Kawashima – strings arrangement (#4)
  • Martin Kierszenbaum – arrangement, production (#13)
  • T. Kura – arrangement, mixing, production (#1-#2, #15)
  • Kwon Tae Eun – original version arrangement, original version production (#12)
  • OQD – recording (#1-#6, #8-#10, #12, #14-#15)
  • The Orange Factory – remixing (#12)
  • Dave "Hard-Drive" Pensato – mixing (#13)
  • Shingo S. – keyboard arrangement (#8)
  • Kaori Sawada – keyboard arrangement (#9)
  • Brian Stanley – mixing (#12)
  • Tony Ugval – recording (#13)

Chart rankings

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Japan Oricon weekly albums[21] 2
Japan Oricon yearly albums[18] 60
Taiwan G-Music J-Pop Chart[20] 11

Sales and certifications

Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[18] 218,000
RIAJ physical shipping certification[19] Platinum (250,000+)

Release history

Region Date Format Distributing Label Catalogue codes
Japan September 27, 2006[1] CD, digital download Universal Music Japan UPCI-1049
Taiwan October 5, 2006[22] CD Universal Music Taiwan 4504375
South Korea October 24, 2006[23] CD Universal Music Korea 2337856
Japan February 6, 2007[24] Rental CD Universal Music Japan UPCI-1049
December 5, 2012[25] SHM-CD UPCY-9325

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "[CD] What's going on A.I. / AI". Neowing (in Japanese). Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ "ゲーム『リズム怪盗R 皇帝ナポレオンの遺産』のED曲を担当するAI" [Ai, in charge with game Rhythm Thief R: Emperor Napoleon's Legacy's ending song]. Oricon (in Japanese). October 20, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ レコード協会調べ　2月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: February Digital Music Download Certifications]. RIAJ (in Japanese). March 25, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "AIがフジ『医龍』で初のドラマ主題歌に" [Ai, first drama theme song with Fuji's Iryu]. Oricon (in Japanese). April 27, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ "AI「Believe」、前作「Story」を上回る勢いで好発進!" [Ai "Believe", first drama theme song with Fuji's Iryu]. Oricon (in Japanese). April 19, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  6. ↑ Yukai Ishizumi (September 21, 2006). "AI　真剣なまなざしで問う、「今、世界ってどうなの？」" [Ai, asks with a serious look, "Now, what do we do with the world?"] (in Japanese). Yahoo Music. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ Yukai Ishizumi (September 21, 2006). "AI　真剣なまなざしで問う、「今、世界ってどうなの？」" [Ai, asks with a serious look, "Now, what do we do with the world?"] (in Japanese). Yahoo Music. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  8. 1 2 What's Goin' On Ai (Media notes) (in Japanese). Ai. Tokyo, Japan: Universal Music Japan. 2006.
  9. 1 2 3 "AI - タイアップ" [Ai - tie-ups]. CDJournal. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  10. ↑ "AI　5ヶ月ぶりのニュー・シングルをテレビ初パフォーマンス決定！" [Ai first single in 5 months performed on TV!]. Vibe-Net (in Japanese). August 29, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  11. ↑ "AI「ケガしないで」、渋谷サプライズライブに2000人！" [Ai "Don't get hurt!", Shibuya surprise live to 2,000 people]. Oricon (in Japanese). April 27, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  12. ↑ "AI　ニュー・シングルのリリースが決定！" [Ai will release a new single!]. Vibe-Net (in Japanese). July 25, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  13. ↑ "AI、初の武道館で10メートルの舞台から舞い降りた！" [Ai, swooping down 10 meters at first Budokan performance]. Oricon (in Japanese). December 14, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  14. 1 2 "AI ／ What's goin' on A.I." (in Japanese). CDJournal. 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  15. 1 2 3 Yosuke Motoi. "What's goin'on A.I." (in Japanese). Hot Express. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  16. 1 2 Morio Mori. 新譜レビュー > ＡＩ／Ｗｈａｔ’ｓ ｇｏｉｎ’ｏｎ Ａ．Ｉ． [Listening Review: Ai/What's Goin' On Ai] (in Japanese). Listen Japan. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  17. 1 2 "DISC REVIEW What's goin' on A.I. by Ai" (in Japanese). What's In?. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "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"]. Oricon. Retrieved August 20, 2012. (subscription only)
  19. 1 2 ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2006年10月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (October 2006)]. RIAJ (in Japanese). November 10, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Weekly Top 20: J-Pop Chart 第40週計算時間： 2006/10/06 - 2006/10/12" (in Chinese). G-Music. Retrieved August 5, 2012. Note: navigate button to 2006, week 40
  21. ↑ "What's goin' on A.I. AI" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  22. ↑ "AI/ 今天AI了沒 AI- What's Goin' On AI" [AI/ What's Up Today Ai] (in Chinese). G-Music. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  23. ↑ "AI(아이) - WHAT`S GOIN` ON A.I." (in Korean). Hot Tracks. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Ｗｈａｔ'ｓ　ｇｏｉｎ'　ｏｎ　Ａ．Ｉ．/Ai" (in Japanese). Tsutaya. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  25. ↑ "[CD] What's goin' on A.I. [SHM-CD] [期間限定生産]". Neowing (in Japanese). Retrieved March 17, 2013.
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