Ace Hashimoto - Play.Make.Believe. (Album)

Hailing from Chicago Ace Hashimoto is a contemporary R&B singer, songwriter, and producer with his debut album Play.Make.Believe. The album's title, ‘Play.Make.Believe.’, comes from Hashimoto's acknowledgement of the music he grew up on as child and his effort to recreate that nostalgia for the future generation.

The intro Zombie : The Entrail-Duction gave me nostalgia from the onset with playstation and Wii type game sounds. Which I am sure some of us will remember from our childhood.

‘GIRLS’ produced by Lophile (H.E.R) has smooth vocals with R&B and hip hop feel instrumentation. From the lyrics he is being honest and not vague that he is not ready to settle down yet ‘I got love for these girls, for these girls’. The track features features Korean American rapper pH-1 (of Jay Park's H1GHRMUSIC) and has a music video to go alongside it.

The next track in the album ‘O.M.W’ (One Man Woman) starts with bright acoustic guitar and vocals and builds beautifully as other instruments seep in. There is a juxtaposition from the song ‘GIRLS’ as he singing about the opposite. ‘I need a one man woman, You need a one main man, girl you don’t have to find another cos I’ll be your man plus your friend’. The call and response, the harmonies are stunning. I can envision plenty of cute love stories and duet of this song for sure make Tiktok might catch on soon.

The Chicago native has been active on the hip-hop scene, producing for Mac Miller, Chance the Rapper, Action Bronson, and SZA amongst others as brandUn DeShay, before moving to Tokyo in 2017 to hone his songwriting and singing capabilities, culminating in his new Ace Hashimoto persona. Whilst living in Japan, he wrote for two of the country's biggest acts in EXILE SHOKICHI and CrazyBoy, Elly of J-Soul Brothers and collaborated with fellow label-mate, Devin Morrison.

‘Play.Make.Believe’, an album recorded over a three month span after returning to the United States. He was able to enlist the talents to assist in crafting this beautiful nod to his influences.

We can’t wait to hear more from him

Be sure to follow Ace Hashimoto for the latest. His music - including ‘Play.Make.Believe’ available to stream now.