Young singer RAAI releases debut album for 9th birthday

Almost-nine-year-old musician RAAI at Nikoubuchi waterfall in Japan's Shikoku / Courtesy of TENGGER

By Jon Dunbar

2020 was a hard year for RAAI, the eight-year-old son of Korean-Japanese couple, Itta and Marqido, who make up the transnational ambient band TENGGER. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted his family, his education and almost every aspect of life. But as his ninth birthday approaches on May 10, RAAI is getting ready to release his first album.

The seven-song album contains four original songs with lyrics and melodies composed by RAAI, real name Matsumoto Raai, with a little assistance from his mom in arranging and producing the songs and his dad who designed the cover art.

The album, titled "Beautiful Moment," starts off with "Beautiful Ocean" which expresses his longing for his family to be whole again, as his dad was stranded in Japan following travel bans. His mom provides the chorus.

"Because of COVID-19, I had to be separated from Dad, and Mom was sick, so I couldn't travel," RAAI said in an interview facilitated by his mom. "I really miss the scene where we three people are watching the beautiful ocean, so I wrote the lyrics, and created the melody, then did the recording."

RAAI at Studio Kyurt in Japan / Courtesy of Extra Noir

Track 2 is an instrumental titled "Treetree," created using the sounds of wooden objects like dominos, a wood xylophone and paper.

The next song is "Little Stone," which he crafted by playing around with the sounds of little stones and marbles in front of a microphone.

And the third song is "World of Love," which he originally crafted in 2018 about things he loves. He started by writing about things he loves with his mom, then he made a melody to go with it and his mom added piano accompaniment. He practiced the piano part until he could play it on a toy synthesizer and sing along. After his mom uploaded a video of him performing the song solo, they started receiving positive feedback.

"His sense of choosing words and melodies is pure," his parents said in a previous Korea Times interview. "One Korean fan said they wanted to listen to RAAI's solo songs on Apple Music or Melon, so we decided to make an album."

The other three tracks filling out the album are remixes, provided by three musicians RAAI met last year who he liked ― HWI, The Blue Lady and Y2K92.

The album cover for RAAI's "Beautiful Moment," designed by Marqido / Courtesy of Extra Noir

As well as facing family separation and traveling to Japan a few months ago to reunite with his dad, RAAI has also endured separation from his classmates, as his school in Seoul moved classes online.

"Nowadays I go to school three days a week and attend online classes for two days at home," RAAI said. "School time is a special present for me."

Even prior to the pandemic, he has had his own struggles with education here as a Korean-Japanese boy.

"I think my classmates think of me differently," he said. "There were times when my classmates mistook me for a girl and kept teasing me, and I was offended. And since my father is Japanese, they thought I was born in Japan, and they made fun of it. It hurts me. I was born on Jeju Island, and I speak in Korean here, and I'm living in Korea with them. But they just saw me for my name, which is only a small difference. I don't want to be a person who makes other people hurt."

RAAI dances at Shuki Beach in Japan's Shikoku, December 2020. / Courtesy of TENGGER

But RAAI can't deny that he is at least a little different ― not for his family background, but for his musical talents.

"When I had a school talent show, I sang my own song while playing a toy synthesizer," he said. "But other friends were singing songs that other people made, or dancing to K-pop. They didn't seem to think of creating. But I can create my own music, and perform my songs in front of people."

RAAI has performed not only for his elementary school, but also with his parents' band. He even made an appearance in TENGGER's recent spot at South By Southwest (SXSW), a major music showcase festival held in Austin, Texas. According to one review of daily highlights, RAAI's "adorable interpretive dancing nearly stole the show." He also performed last August alongside his mother at Ilmin Museum of Art in downtown Seoul.

"First of all, I hope that my classmates and friendly people hear my music. But I would like to invite preschoolers and adults who don't know about me to my music, also," RAAI said. "If possible, I hope many people like my music. If someone hates my songs, I think it will hurt my heart."

RAAI, center, with his parents itta (left) and Marqido / Courtesy of Extra Noir

RAAI's own music tastes are widespread. "There is so much music I like to listen to. I like to listen to music that makes me feel like traveling, and feel nature," he said.

As the son of musicians, RAAI has been exposed to music not just of various types, but also various formats, from digital devices to older mediums like vinyl, CDs and cassettes, without an idea of what's old-fashioned and what's new. A few years ago, his parents created a device called a DOCASSETTE, a transparent cube-shaped cassette player with only play and stop buttons and volume control, giving him strong impressions of the tape format. His album is being released in cassette format, as well as digitally online.

He hopes to someday have a career as a YouTuber, and to be a person who searches for something. In the meantime, he will continue creating music along his life journey.

"For my next album, I want to make music in the mountains," he said. "I want to go up to the mountain, and record when I feel the mountain, and I want to express my mood with many sounds on the mountain. I want to make more melodies with mountains, together!"

"Beautiful Moment" is being released by the local label Extra Noir, with presales beginning on Bandcamp April 2. It is licensed through Flipped Coin Music which will place it on domestic music markets like Melon, Bugs and Naver Music.

RAAI hopes to have a release concert at Seendosi in Euljiro on May 7. There are also plans to have a related exhibition titled TENGGER X RAAI at Seoul Community Culture Center Nakwon, running from May 11 to 28. It will provide workshops run by RAAI on Saturdays for making sounds using natural objects. "It's open to everyone, especially for children," itta said.

Visit raai.bandcamp.com for more information.