Awich
Awich | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Akiko Urasaki |
| Born | December 16, 1986 Naha, Okinawa, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | awich |
Akiko Urasaki (浦崎 亜希子, born December 16, 1986), known professionally as Awich (エイウィッチ, Eiwitchi), is an Okinawa-born 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 "Kuchini Dashite," as well as the full-length album Queendom.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot Albums[A] |
JPN [6] | |||||||||||||
| Asian Wish Child |
|
— | — | |||||||||||
| 8 |
|
— | 184 | |||||||||||
| Peacock |
|
76 | 127 | |||||||||||
| Queendom |
|
44 | 76 | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Extended plays[]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot Albums[B] |
JPN [6] | |||||||||||||
| Inner Research |
|
— | — | |||||||||||
| Two |
|
— | — | |||||||||||
| Beat |
|
— | — | |||||||||||
| Heart |
|
— | — | |||||||||||
| Partition |
|
60 | 174 | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or items that were ineligible to chart because no physical edition was released. | ||||||||||||||
Singles[]
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot 100[C] | |||
| "Dedicate to You" | 2006 | — | Inner Research |
| "Radio" (with Manami) |
2015 | — | Non-album single |
| "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 |
| "Kuchini Dashite" (口に出して) | —[D] | ||
| "Doreni Shiyokana (I Got Options)" (どれにしようかな) | 2022 | —[E] | |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||
As a collaborating artist[]
| 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 |
Promotional singles[]
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Shook Shook"[11] | 2020 | Partition |
| "Bad Bad"[12] | ||
| "Queendom" | 2022 | Queendom |
Notes[]
- ^ Sources for chart positions:
- ^ Sources for chart positions: Partition [7]
- ^ Sources for chart positions are as follows: "Gila Gila [8]
- ^ "Kuchini Dashite" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, but peaked at number 4 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers songs chart.[9]
- ^ "Doreni Shiyokana (I Got Options)" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, but peaked at number 6 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers songs chart.[10]
References[]
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Awich". iFLYER. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "Japanese rapper Awich releases major-label debut EP "Partition"". CelebMix. 21 August 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ https://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=hot_albums&year=2020&month=01&day=27
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2022/03/09 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "AWICHの売上ランキング". Oricon. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ https://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=hot_albums&year=2020&month=08&day=31
- ^ "https://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=hot100&year=2021&month=08&day=16
- ^ "Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs Chart: 2022/2/23". Billboard Japan. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs Chart: 2022/2/23". Billboard Japan. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Shook Shook, 2020-07-15, retrieved 2021-12-04
- ^ Bad Bad, 2020-08-14, retrieved 2021-12-04
- Japanese women hip hop musicians
- Musicians from Okinawa Prefecture
- 1986 births
- Living people
- University of Indianapolis alumni