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Awich

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Awich
Awich at press event in three-quarter profile
Awich in 2022
Background information
Birth nameAkiko Urasaki
Born (1986-12-16) December 16, 1986 (age 37)
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Years active2000–present
Labels

Akiko Urasaki (浦崎 亜希子, born December 16, 1986), known professionally as Awich (エイウィッチ, Eiwitchi), is a Japanese hip hop artist. She made her major label debut with Universal Music Japan in 2020. Her stage name is short for "Asian wish child," which is the literal meaning of the Japanese characters in her given name.

Early life and education

Awich was born in Naha, Okinawa on December 16, 1986. Because Okinawa is home to many U.S. military bases, Awich was exposed to American culture at an early age.[1] As a young girl, she idolized Tupac and credits Tupac songs with helping her learn English.[1] She wrote her first lyrics at age 13, and gave her first public hip hop performance at age 14.[2] 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 in 2011.[2] However, her husband was incarcerated and later was murdered after his release from prison, at which point Awich returned to Japan with her daughter.[3]

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.[1] 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.[3] 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 Universal Music Japan 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)" 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.[4]

Awich headlined at Budokan in 2022 after the release of her fourth studio album.[5] With five studio albums (produced primarily by music producer Chaki Zulu),[6] Awich appeared at Japan's only outdoor rock music festival Fuji Rock in 2022, often compared to Coachella in the U.S.[7] 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. Period. With that comes responsibility. It’s about owning your own words and not being afraid to be bashed for them.[5]

With a body of work often viewed as "the epitome of female empowerment" in Japanese hip-hop, she is also part of a field of Asian women in rap.[8]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Details Peak chart positions
JPN
Hot
[A] 		JPN
[12]
Asian Wish Child
  • Release date: December 11, 2007
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Living, Dining & Kitchen
 — —
8
  • Release date: August 8, 2018
  • Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming
  • Label: BPM Tokyo, Yentown
 — 184
Peacock
  • Release date: January 11, 2020
  • Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming
  • Label: BPM Tokyo, Yentown
 76 127
Queendom
  • Release date: March 4, 2022
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Universal J
 44 76
The Union
  • Release date: October 25, 2023
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: And Music, Empire, Kioon
 22 25
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected chart positions
Title Details Peak chart positions
JPN
[12] 		JPN
Hot
[B]
Inner Research
  • Release date: December 6, 2006
  • Formats: CD
  • Label: Cipher City
 — —
Two
  • Release date: April 8, 2014
  • Formats: Digital download
  • Label: Village Again/Siesta
 — —
Beat
  • Release date: September 27, 2018
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: BPM Tokyo, Yentown
 —[C] —
Heart
  • Release date: September 27, 2018
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: BPM Tokyo, Yentown
 —[D] —
Partition
  • Release date: August 21, 2020
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Universal J
 174 60
United Queens
  • Release date: August 9, 2023
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming
  • Label: And Music
 —[E] 69
"—" denotes items that did not chart or items that were ineligible to chart because no physical edition was released.

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
JPN
Hot 100
[F]
"Dedicate to You" 2006 — Inner Research
"Radio"
(with Manami) 		2015 — Non-album singles
"Remember"
(featuring Young Juju) 		2017 —
"What You Want"
(featuring Io) 		2018 —
"Happy X-mas (War Is Over)" 2020 —
"Present" —
"Gila Gila"
(featuring JP The Wavy and Yzerr) 		2021 92 Queendom
"Kuchi ni Dashite" (口に出して) —[G]
"Dore ni Shiyokana (I Got Options)" (どれにしようかな) 2022 —[H]
"Tsubasa"[4]
(featuring Yomi Jah) 		— Non-album singles
"Longiness (remix)"
(with Suglawd Familiar and Chico Carlito) 		72
"Bad Bitch Bigaku" (Bad Bitch 美学)
(with Nene, Lana and Mari or remix featuring Ai and Yuriyan Retriever) 		2023 87 United Queens & The Union
"Pendulum" — The Union
"Kakurembo" (かくれんぼ) —
"—" denotes items that did not chart.
List of singles as featured artist, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Foo Fool Boy"
(Mighty Crown featuring Awich) 		2017 Non-album single
"Loca"
(Anarchy featuring Awich) 		2019 The King
"Money Shot"
(Run the Floor featuring Awich and Kzm) 		Non-album single
"I'm on Fire"
(Garena Free Fire & Trap featuring Awich, Krawk and Farus Feet)
"Promise"
(Anarchy featuring Awich) 		2020
"Calma Bro"
(Kraw featuring Awich & Blakbone)
"Aligator / FND Airlines"
(Tymek featuring Awich and Fresh N Dope) 		Airlines
"Not So Different"
(Ai featuring Awich) 		It's All Me, Vol. 2
"Hazeru Shinzo"
(Kirinji featuring Awich) 		2021 Crepuscular
"098"
(KM featuring Awich) 		Non-album single
"Neon"
(Vigorman featuring Awich) 		2023 Non-album single

Promotional singles

List of promotional singles, showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Shook Shook"[20] 2020 Partition
"Bad Bad"[21]
"Queendom" 2022 Queendom

Notes

  1. ^ Sources for chart positions:
  2. ^ Sources for chart positions: Partition,[13] United Queens[14]
  3. ^ Beat did not enter the Oricon Albums chart, but peaked at number 14 on the Oricon Digital Albums chart.[15]
  4. ^ Heart did not enter the Oricon Albums chart, but peaked at number 17 on the Oricon Digital Albums chart.[15]
  5. ^ United Queens did not enter the Oricon Albums chart, but peaked at number 25 on the Oricon Digital Albums chart.[15]
  6. ^ Sources for chart positions are as follows: "Gila Gila",[16] "Longiness Remix",[17] "Bad Bitch Bigaku"[18]
  7. ^ "Kuchini Dashite" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, but peaked at number 4 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers songs chart.[19]
  8. ^ "Doreni Shiyokana (I Got Options)" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, but peaked at number 6 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers songs chart.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Frank, Alex (September 30, 2014). "Meet the Okinawan Rapper Who Learned English From Tupac Songs—and Hear Her Favorite New Track". Vogue. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Awich". iFLYER. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Japanese rapper Awich releases major-label debut EP "Partition"". CelebMix. August 21, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Awichが愛娘とのコラボ曲を沖縄返還50周年記念日に配信、プロデュースはBIGYUKI（音楽ナタリー）". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Awich: "I'm aiming to be the queen of Japan"". Tokyo Weekender. March 31, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  6. ^ "Chaki Zulu", Wikipedia (in Japanese), July 28, 2022, retrieved August 11, 2022
  7. ^ "The Coachella of Japan: Fuji Rock Festival". sabukaru. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  8. ^ FUJIROCKERS.ORG. "Awich: The Queen of Japanese Hip Hop". FUJIROCK EXPRESS '22 ENG Ver. | STRAIGHT OUTTA NAEBA!. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "Hot Albums | Charts". Billboard JAPAN. January 22, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  10. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2022/03/09 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  11. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: Week of March 13, 2024". Billboard Japan. March 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Awichのアルバム作品" [Awich's Album Works]. Oricon. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  13. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: Week of August 17, 2022". Billboard Japan. August 26, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  14. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: Week of August 21, 2023". August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "Awich's Digital Album Top Sales". Oricon. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  16. ^ https://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=hot100&year=2021&month=08&day=16
  17. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100: Week of May 27, 2023". Billboard. May 27, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 – Week of August 2, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs Chart: 2022/2/23". Billboard Japan. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  20. ^ Shook Shook, July 15, 2020, retrieved December 4, 2021
  21. ^ Bad Bad, August 14, 2020, retrieved December 4, 2021
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