Ken Hirai, born on January 17, 1972, in Osaka, Japan, is a Japanese artist known for his versatility in J-pop, R&B, and jazz genres. Hirai made his debut as a musician under Sony Music Records in 1995 with the release of the single "Precious Junk." However, it was five years later that he achieved significant success with the single "Lakuen" and his third album, The Changing Same which flew to the top of the Oricon charts. Other notable releases include Gaining Through Losing (2001), Life Is… (2003) and Sentimentalovers (2004), which landed at Number 1 on the Oricon charts, as well as Fakin' Pop (2008), Japanese Singer (2011) and The Still Life (2016). His singles "Boku wa Kimi ni Koi o Suru" (2009), “Candy” (2009) and “Grotesque” (2014) also did well on the Billboard Hot 100, coming in at Number 1, 2 and 4, respectively. In 2018, Hirai commemorated his 20th anniversary as a performer with concerts in Tokyo and New York. His single "Itemo Tatteno" was released in 2019 and featured on his tenth studio album album Anata ni Naritakatta (I Wish I Were You) (2021), alongside tracks "#302" and "Kaibutsusan" (featuring Aimyon). Both singles achieved top 20 positions on the Billboard charts, while the album itself reached number 2 on the Oricon charts.
