Azu
Encyclopedia
Azu is a Japanese R&B singer. She is well known for her collaborations with rapper Seamo, such as her first major release, the leading track from Seamo's second album Live Goes On, "Kokoro no Koe."
She began work with rapper Seamo
in 2005, and worked as a background vocalist for a few of his tracks. In 2006, she featured as a fully fledged billed artist in the lead radio single from his second album, Live Goes On. The song, "Kokoro no Koe," was certified by the RIAJ for 100,000 cellphone downloads.
She debuted as an artist in her own right in 2007, with the single "Cherish." She continued to work with Seamo (for example, her first top 30 hit, "Jikan yo Tomare", featured him). To date, the pair have worked together on six songs together.
Her songs generally do better in the digital market (her biggest single in physical sales only sold 11,000 copies). Since November 2009, five of her songs have been certified gold by the RIAJ for cellphone downloads.
Azu released her second album in March 2010, Two of Us.
* Japan Hot 100 established February 2008, RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009.
AZU's Single "Jikan yo Tomare" is used as the second ending in Itazura na Kiss.
Biography
Azu first began working in the Tokyo club scene, at the age of 2. She explains the meaning behind her stage name as "Putting memories to all the words from A to Z and conveying them to you (U)."She began work with rapper Seamo
SEAMO
is a Japanese rapper and hip-hop artist better known under his alias Seamo . He made his debut in 2004 using the alias , but later changed his name to Seamo. He made his solo debut in 2005 with the Japanese record label BMG Japan with the single...
in 2005, and worked as a background vocalist for a few of his tracks. In 2006, she featured as a fully fledged billed artist in the lead radio single from his second album, Live Goes On. The song, "Kokoro no Koe," was certified by the RIAJ for 100,000 cellphone downloads.
She debuted as an artist in her own right in 2007, with the single "Cherish." She continued to work with Seamo (for example, her first top 30 hit, "Jikan yo Tomare", featured him). To date, the pair have worked together on six songs together.
Her songs generally do better in the digital market (her biggest single in physical sales only sold 11,000 copies). Since November 2009, five of her songs have been certified gold by the RIAJ for cellphone downloads.
Azu released her second album in March 2010, Two of Us.
Albums
| Year | Album Information | Chart positions | Total sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | As One
|
35 | 18,036 |
| 2010 | Two of Us
|
13 | 21,994 |
| 2011 | AZyoU
|
TBA | TBA |
Singles
| Release | Title | Chart positions | Oricon sales total |
Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Singles Charts |
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... * |
RIAJ Digital Track Chart RIAJ Digital Track Chart The is chart ranks the best selling digital singles in Japan, provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan since April 2009. The chart measures cellphone downloads .... * |
||||
| 2007 | "Cherish" | 49 | – | – | 5,135 | As One |
| "Jewel Sky" | 84 | – | – | 1,525 | ||
| 2008 | 118 | 18 | – | 1,055 | ||
| 27 | – | – | 11,157 | |||
| 2009 | 23 | – | – | 11,270 | Two of Us | |
| "I Will" | 23 | – | 11 | 6,284 | ||
(Spontania Spontania is a Japanese hip-hop/reggae group. The name "Spontania" comes from the English word "spontaneous".In 2010, singer Kaori Natori became the permanent vocalist for the band.-Members:*Massattack... feat. Azu) |
31 | — | 4 | 5,326 | Collaborations Best!! | |
| 2010 | "You & I" feat. Love Love Love | 55 | 38 | 3 | 3,247 | Two of Us |
| "For You" | 38 | 53 | 9 | 2,933 | ||
| TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | ||
Other appearances
| Release | Artist | Title | Notes | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Seamo SEAMO is a Japanese rapper and hip-hop artist better known under his alias Seamo . He made his debut in 2004 using the alias , but later changed his name to Seamo. He made his solo debut in 2005 with the Japanese record label BMG Japan with the single... |
Honey Honey | Background vocals. | Drive (single) |
| "Intro: Here Comes the Seamo" | Get Back on Stage | |||
| 2006 | Seamo feat. Azu | Lead track from album. PV filmed. | Live Goes On | |
| 2008 | Karutetto feat. Azu | Haikei, Boku no Mirai e. (single) | ||
| Makai feat. Azu & L-Vokal | "Baby Star" | Stars | ||
| Seamo feat. Azu & Yukako | "Kiss Kiss Kiss" | Scrap & Build | ||
| 2010 | Makai feat. Azu | Lead track from album. #40 RIAJ. | Love Lite | |
| 2010 | S'capade feat. Azu | "Every 4 U"}} | ' |
Anime
AZU's Single "For you" can be heard on the ending credits for Naruto Shippuden (Ending theme 12).AZU's Single "Jikan yo Tomare" is used as the second ending in Itazura na Kiss.