Ami Suzuki

Ami Suzuki (鈴木亜美, Suzuki Ami; born 9 February 1982) is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Following her late 90s fame as a popular teen idol, Suzuki went on to become known for her self-penned lyrics and music production.

In 2000, Suzuki entered a legal battle with her management company, which resulted her being blacklisted from the entertainment industry. Suzuki independently released two singles before signing to Avex Trax in 2005. Suzuki has also made a name for herself in the acting field, starring in various movies, television series, and musicals.

While attending high school, Suzuki auditioned for Japanese talent show Asayan, which was searching for a young vocalist under the direct guidance of Tetsuya Komuro. She preferred athletics at the time and was reluctant to travel from her home in Kanagawa, but was convinced by a friend. From 13,500 contestants, only five girls were chosen to be in the final round, and 15-year-old Suzuki was voted as the finalist winner.

Her debut single, "Love the Island", was released on July 1, 1998. The song was used to promote Japanese tourism in the island of Guam. The single debuted at number five on the Oricon charts. On 17 September 1998, her second single "Alone in My Room" was released, which debuted at number three.

In October 1998, Suzuki started her own radio show on Nippon Hōsō called Run! Run! Ami-Go!, and signed a deal with Kissmark for advertisements and promotion all around Asia. Sony then began promoting her third single, "All Night Long". Later that year, Suzuki won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist.

In 1999, Suzuki released her first photo book, titled Ami-Go, which sold around 200,000 copies. In March, her debut album SA was released, becoming one of the top ten best selling albums of 1999. During the release of her seventh single "Be Together", Suzuki competed with later chart rival Ayumi Hamasaki for the first time, who had just released her ninth single "Boys & Girls". Suzuki's next single, titled "Our Days", ranked number one in the charts later that year. At the end of the year, Suzuki released her eighth single: "Happy New Millennium".

In January 2000, Suzuki released "Don't Need to Say Good Bye" which debuted at number 5. A week later, the singer released her second studio album, Infinity Eighteen Vol. 1, which debuted at number one. Suzuki has said of this first period of her career that she was not free to do what she wanted and only followed what she was told, leaving her feeling "pretty disheartened and down, like there was no future". Suzuki had been writing lyrics from an early age, and continued to pass these on to her manager and producers. The first song to feature them was her tenth Sony single: "Don't Need to Say Goodbye". The lyrics were influenced by events occurring in her personal life at that time, Suzuki commenting: "Putting my thoughts and feelings into my singing is more important to me than sales, and chart rankings."

Three months after Infinity Eighteen Vol.1, Suzuki released "Thank You 4 Every Day Every Body" in the beginning of April, and her third studio album, Infinity Eighteen Vol.2, later that same month. "Reality/Dancin' in Hip-Hop" was later released as Suzuki's 12th single in September 2000.