A Song for ×× (the "××" is silent) is the debut studio album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, released on January 1, 1999, by Avex Trax. Written by Hamasaki, it was produced by Japanese musician Max Matsuura. Primarily a pop rock album, it features musical composition and arrangements by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Mitsuru Igarashi of Every Little Thing fame, and others. In this album, Hamasaki wrote about the loneliness, confusion and uncertainty about life, expressed her hopes and expectations for the future, and her gratitude to the fans who love her.
Upon its release, A Song for ×× garnered mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics, with some praising Hamasaki's commercial appeal but others deeming the record cautious and childish. The album became a commercial success, debuting atop the Oricon Albums Chart with first-week sales of over half a million copies; it topped the chart for five weeks. The album was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments exceeding one million copies in the country. To date, the album is one of the best-selling LPs in Japanese music history and remains one of Hamasaki's highest-selling works.
To promote the album, Hamasaki released five singles, beginning with "Poker Face" as the album's lead single on April 8, 1998. Entering the Oricon Singles Chart at number twenty, it became her first charting single ever. Four further singles were released: "You," "Trust," "For My Dear...," and "Depend on You." All of them were top-20 hits in Japan, with the latter three reaching the top 10. Hamasaki promoted the album with several public appearances throughout 1998 and 1999.
Background and development
In 1995, under Nippon Columbia, Hamasaki became part of a hip hop unit called Ayumi featuring Dohzi-T and DJ Bass. Magazines touted Hamasaki as "the youngest female Japanese hip-hop rapper ever." The group released a mini-album called Nothing from Nothing in December of the same year, and did not chart at all, which led to Nippon Columbia ultimately dropping the group. After starring in a handful of poorly-reviewed films and doramas, Hamasaki then resigned herself to shopping in Tokyo with her friends. Her mother moved up to Tokyo around that time, and Hamasaki was once again living with her mother. In the summer of 1997, Hamasaki was sent to New York City for vocal lessons under Mayumi Harada, a voice coach who had also trained superstars Namie Amuro, Hitomi, and Kaori Mochida before. Hamasaki enjoyed the freedom she experienced in New York; during her time there, Hamasaki wrote letters back to Matsuura in Japan, which convinced him to tell her to try writing songs for herself. Hamasaki herself wrote the lyrics for her debut song, and Matsuura was surprised at how well-written they were when she showed the lyrics to him.
Writing and composition
Release history
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region
! Date
! Format
! Catalogue number
|-
| Japan
|
| CD
| AVCD-11691
|-
| Taiwan
|
| CD
| AVJCD-10008
|-
| Hong Kong
|
| CD
| AVTCD-95224
|-
| China
|
| CD
| AVTCD-95224CB
- <small>SCD-822</small>
|}