Interview] Ai Nakajima releases her first best album "30 pieces of love" tracing her 10-year career!

Ai Nakajima, celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut, will release a two-disc best-of album "30 pieces of love" on June 5, 2019, her 30th birthday. The album includes 29 songs that showcase her journey from her debut to songs from her latest album "Curiosity," as well as a new song "Love! For Your Love!" produced by Katsutoshi Kitagawa. In addition, an analog disc, "8 pieces of love," featuring 8 selected songs from the album, will be released at the same time.
Mamegu" overcame a rocky road and continues to deliver songs that are uniquely her own. We asked her about her thoughts on her best album.

I asked Ms. Kitagawa to write new songs that make me happy every day! I asked Ms. Kitagawa to write new songs that make me happy every day!

─ ─ The best album "30 pieces of love" was released on your birthday, so there was more of a sense of celebration.

Nakajima: We had already decided to release a two-disc best-of album early this year, and I was asked, "When do you want to release it? I was asked. Since the time I resumed my activities, I had realized that my 30th birthday was on a Wednesday, and I was hoping to release a CD, so I suggested, "How about June 5?

─ I feel that the timing couldn't have been better. The CD contains exactly 30 songs.

Nakajima: I am glad you were able to fulfill my wish to have 30 songs at the age of 30. When I thought about what exactly I wanted to do, I decided to arrange the singles in chronological order for DISC 1, since there were 15 A-side singles. For DISC2, I chose a good balance of album songs and B-side songs from singles. I thought it would be difficult to select the songs, but surprisingly, I was able to choose them easily.

─ ─ I was completely satisfied with the order of DISC1 for the reasons you just mentioned. The first few songs must have been nostalgic for you, too, since they are in chronological order.

Nakajima "Tenshi ni naritai" (I want to be an angel), my debut song as "Ai Nakajima", is a song I sang at a recent live performance, but it was still nostalgic for me to hear my voice from that time. Both DISC1 and DISC2, the songs before the 4th single "Melody" (November 24, 2010), reminded me of those days.

─ ─ My personal impression is that I want to draw a line between "Melody" and the 5th single "God's Mischief" (released on October 26, 2011). I feel like dividing your songs before and after "God's Mischief".

Nakajima I felt the same way and wondered why. I wondered why. From "Tenshi ni naritai" to "Melody," I had just made my debut and the staff and I were still in the process of trial and error. We were still trying to figure out what kind of creators and what kind of songs would fit, and the director changed for each single. After "Tamayura" became a TV animation and "God's Mischief" (the ending theme of "Tamayura~hitotose~"), my color was decided and the release of singles became more regular.

─ ─ So the early days were a period of trial and error.

Nakajima That was fun, but I changed my mind about what I wanted to do with each release, and I was going in many different directions for about two years after my debut.

─ ─ I feel a sense of history when I think that there was a time like that.

Nakajima: There was an option to arrange the songs according to their colors, but since this is the first bests album, I thought it would be better to have the history of the songs in hand. I am glad that I chose to put them in chronological order.

DISC1 ends with a new song "Love! For Your Love! This is also the 10th anniversary song, isn't it?

Nakajima Yes, it is. I often went to Negicco's live concerts during the hiatus, and I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Kitagawa in the audience since she also wrote a song for Negicco. At that time, he repeatedly told me that he had a song he wanted to write for me and that we should work together again someday. At the time, I thought that I might not have that opportunity again, but I was able to return to work for almost two years and solidify the groundwork for my activities. I thought that now was the time to realize what he said then, so I asked him to do it.

That's a good story. What kind of communication did you have with Mr. Kitagawa?

Nakajima: Mr. Kitagawa always listens carefully to our requests before creating a song. For this song, he didn't say something like "I'm sad but I'm trying hard," or "I had a setback but I'm looking forward to the future," but rather "I'm happy every day! I told her to make it a 100% positive song.


(Laughs) I told them to make a 100% positive song.

Nakajima: After making the album "Curiosity," I feel that I have put my feelings of frustration and such behind me. Now, being an adult is fun! Happy! I wanted to sing about how I feel now. Also, since it is an anniversary song, I wanted to sprinkle words from previous singles and albums, and Mr. Kitagawa fulfilled my request.

─ ─ I thought the melody and sound of the song had a ROUND TABLE feel.

Nakajima I thought so too. It has a pop disco style, with a bit of Shibuya-style flavor. The song is full of the feeling that I am enjoying the moment.