Ai Carina Uemura (November 2, 1981), professionally known as AI, is a Japanese-American R&B singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in the city of Los Angeles, she spent most of her childhood in Japan but returned to the United States during her adolescence. After majoring in ballet at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, she made her first public performance with a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert in 1998, followed by an appearance in Janet Jackson's "Go Deep" music video later that year. Following a brief stint as a member of the Asian girl group SX4, AI was scouted by BMG Japan after a performance of Monica's "For You I Will" on a local radio station. In 2000, she graduated from high school, moved to Tokyo, and made her official debut for the label with the single "Cry, Just Cry." My Name is AI, her first studio album, arrived in 2001 and reached Number 86 on the Oricon charts. In 2002, AI became the first female artist to sign with Def Jam Japan, and the albums Original AI (2003) and 2004 AI (2004) peaked at Number 15 and Number 3, respectively. Preceded by the Top 10 hit single "Story," her third full-length Mic-a-holic AI appeared in 2005 and climbed to Number 4 in Japan, obtaining double-platinum certification. In the years that followed, her albums What's Goin' On AI (2006), Don't Stop AI (2007), and Viva AI (2009) cracked the Top 10 of the Oricon charts, while her 2010 LP The Last AI featured collaborations with Namie Amuro, Snoop Dogg, Kato Miliyah, AK-69, Judith Hill, Boyz II Men, K'naan, and Chaka Khan. A subsequent move to EMI Music Japan in 2011 helped AI revitalize her recording career as the albums Independent (2012), her first release outside of Japan, and Moriagaro (2013) landed on the Top 5 of the Oricon Albums Chart. Her musical evolution continued with the LPs Wa to You (2017) and Dream, which reached Number 11 on the Japanese charts in 2022.
