Singing with power and purpose, J-pop artist Ado made a rapid ascent to the top of Japan's music charts with her 2020 debut single "Usseewa." Her full-length debut, Kyōgen, fared even better, topping three different Japanese charts ahead of her star turn in the 2022 anime film One Piece Film: Red. The movie's theme song, "New Genesis," was another major hit.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Ado got her start uploading cover songs to the popular video sharing site Niconico. By early 2020, she was featured on songs by artists like Jon-YAKITORY and Nagumo Yūki, then signed her own deal with Universal Music Japan. Ado's first solo single, "Usseewa," was released in October 2020, just one day before her 18th birthday. Produced and written by Syudou, known for his heavy use of the vocal synthesizing effect Vocaloid, "Usseewa" became her breakout song, reaching number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and notching 100 million views on YouTube by March of 2021. Throughout that year, Ado continued releasing popular singles including "Giera Giera," "Odo," and "Ashura-chan," all of which appeared on her chart-topping full-length debut, Kyougen, in January 2022. This coincided with her role as the singing voice of the animated character Uta in the hit film One Piece Film: Red. Ado sang all of the songs on its soundtrack and the film's theme song, "New Genesis," became her second chart-topping single. ~ Timothy Monger