Moriagaro


Moriagaro is the tenth studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released on July 17, 2013, by EMI Records Japan. Musically, Moriagaro expands on the dance-pop sound found on Ai's previous studio album, Independent, with R&B and hip hop sensibilities. Alongside long-time collaborator Uta, Ai worked with various American producers. On November 20, 2013, the album was reissued as Motto Moriagaro.

Writing and production

The album was written by Ai, collaborating with American and Japanese producers. Ai collaborated with four singers: American R&B singers Jeremih, Lloyd and Bridget Kelly, as well as Malaysian Australian R&B singer Che'Nelle, who has based her career in Japan since 2011. Five of the songs are sung in Japanese, and three entirely in English. "Moriagaro," "Don't Turn Me Off" and "Gotta Get Mine" are sung in a mix of English and Japanese.
Album recording took place mostly in Tokyo, as well as in West Hollywood, Atlanta and New York City.
Ai worked mostly with Japanese producer Uta on the songs "Hanabi," "My Place," "Sogood" and "Voice." This is the first time that Ai only worked with a single Japanese producer on an album. Ai worked with five American producers on the remaining songs. Fifty 1 Fifty produced three songs, "For You," "Top of the World" and "After the Storm." De-Capo Music Group worked on "Moriagaro," C3prod on "Dear Mama" and Wonda Music on "Gotta Get Mine." Ai worked together with producer D.Clax and The Exclusives on the song "My Baby."

Promotion and release

The first single released from the album was "Voice" in February 2013. The song was used as the theme song for the drama Yakō Kanransha, starring Kyōka Suzuki and Yuriko Ishida. The single became a big hit, being certified by the RIAJ as a gold single a month after release. It is currently her fourth most sold physical single since her debut. It is also her last release under the then-independent EMI Music Japan.
Ai followed up the single with two digital singles. The first was "Mama e," used in a Lotte chocolate commercial campaign for Mother's Day, and "After the Storm," used as the theme for the Japanese release of the Hong Kong martial arts film The Grandmaster. Three other songs were used for TV commercials. "Sogood" was used for KFC Japan commercials, "For You" for Kubota commercials, and "My Place" for Japan Rail in promotion of the Kyushu Shinkansen. "Gotta Get Mine" was also used as the July opening theme for the TV Tokyo R&B/dance program Chōryūha. "Top of the World" was later used as the opening theme for the TBS drama Higanjima in October 2013.
Music videos were produced for the album songs "Gotta Get Mine," "Hanabi," "My Place," and "Sogood."

Tours

Ai's Moriagaro Tour began in October in Kanagawa, Japan, and included 33 dates. The final concert was held on December 18, 2013, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Moriagaro and Tidal.Notes
  • Tracks 1, 3–4, 8, and 10–12 are stylized in all capitals.
  • Track 6 is titled in Japanese
  • Track 7 is stylized in all lower case.

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from Moriagaros liner notes booklet.
Performance credits
  • Ai – vocals, background vocals
  • Che'nelle – vocals
  • Jeremih – vocals
  • Bridget Kelly – vocals
  • Lloyd – vocals
  • Swiss Chris – drums
Visuals and imagery
  • Ambush – costume cooperation
  • Justin Davis – costume cooperation
  • Noriko Goto – stylist
  • Ayako Hishinuma – prop creator
  • Manabu Honchu – design
  • Justin & Valley – logo design
  • Akio Kawabata – package coordination
  • Yasunari Kikuma – photographer
  • Akemi Ono – hair, make-up
  • Toshiya Ono – art direction
  • Shuma Saito – package coordination
  • Silver Face – prop creator
  • Shigeaki Watanabe – prop creator
  • Wut Berlin – costume cooperation
  • X-Closet – costume cooperation
  • Eiji Yoshimura – design
Technical and production'
  • Ai – producer
  • Arden 'Keys' Altino – co-producer
  • Ben-E – producer
  • Jo Blaq – mixing, vocal recording
  • C3prod – producer
  • Tom Coyne – album mastering
  • D.Clax – producer
  • De-Capo Music Group – producer
  • DOI – mixing
  • Akene 'The Champ' Dunkley – co-producer
  • Jerry 'Wonda' Duplessis – producer
  • Fifty 1 Fifty – producer
  • Keisuke Fujimaki – vocal recording
  • Seiji Itabashi – assisting
  • Carlos 'Los' Jenkins – vocal recording
  • Neeraj Khajanchi – additional vocal recording, vocal recording
  • T. Kura – vocal editing
  • Sean 'Pen' McMillion – engineering, vocal producer for Lloyd
  • Michico – vocal producer
  • Yoshinori Morita – vocal recording
  • Taiji Okuda – Japanese production, recording
  • Mario Parra – Che'nelle's vocal recording
  • Lance Powell – assisting
  • Andrew Robertson – assisting
  • Mark Roger – vocal recording
  • Serge 'Sergical' Tsai – recording
  • Uta – producer
  • Satoshi Yoneda – vocal editing