IN THE FORM OF THE NEW SINGLE ‘TSUBASA,’ AWICH SENDS A LOVE LETTER TO OKINAWA.
On May 15th, the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan from the United States, Japan’s newest rap sensation Awich released her new track TSUBASA.
The new track, which was produced by BIGYUKI and orchestrated by Chaki Zulu, has a guest appearance by Awich’s daughter Yomi Jah.
The Okinawa-born artist described the circumstances behind the single’s production in an Instagram post.
“The elementary school my daughter, Yomi Jah, attended is next to the runway of the Futenma US military base. One day, a helicopter’s “window” fell from the sky into her school playground. This song started from there.“
“The song is for the strong children of Okinawa with big dreams while living in such a complicated environment. Telling them that they too someday fly like those planes, and be great. “
Because of its unique combination of cultures, Okinawa, which was under American rule until 1972, is unlike the rest of Japan. This has created its own set of problems, and the US military still controls a substantial portion of the island today.
Link Up, Queendom, and 44 Bars are the tracks in particular. Queendom is my life story. What happened in my life to what I’m doing right now and my determination for the future. That’s me paying and showing respect to this genre of music. Being true to what hip-hop is. Also Link Up is a literal thank you letter to hip-hop. Showing our appreciation to hip-hop for traveling around the world, saving our lives. 44 Bars is a love letter to myself through hip-hop.
AWICH
