Soba ni Iru ne

"Soba ni Iru ne"
Single by Thelma Aoyama featuring SoulJa
from the album Diary
B-side
  • "My Dear Friends"
  • "This Day"
ReleasedJanuary 23, 2008
GenreR&B
LabelUniversal J
Songwriter(s)SoulJa
Producer(s)SoulJa
Thelma Aoyama singles chronology
"One Way"
(2007) 		"Soba ni Iru ne"
(2008) 		"Nando mo"
(2008)
Music video
"Soba ni Iru ne" on YouTube

Soba ni Iru ne (そばにいるね, I'm by Your Side) is a song recorded by Japanese singer Thelma Aoyama featuring Japanese rapper SoulJa, released on January 23, 2008, via Universal J. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo." The B-side of the single, "My Dear Friends", was used as the ending theme to anime Shion no Ō, and the opening theme to television show Ryuuha-R.

The single reached the number 1 position on Japan's Oricon charts in its second week and sold over 450,000 compact discs. In addition, it sold over 7 million downloads, including 2 million complete downloads, by July 2008.[1] In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified the song as "the best selling download single in Japan" for the number of full-track downloads.[2][3] On May 28, 2009, however, it was announced that the record was replaced by Greeeen's song "Kiseki".[4] It was later admitted by the Guinness World Records.[5]

It was also the best-selling download single on the iTunes Store 2008 yearly charts in Japan.[6]

Taiwanese band Da Mouth sang their cover version of "Koko ni Iru yo" on their album Wang Yuan Kou Li Kou.[7]

"Soba ni Iru ne" was also covered by Sly and Robbie on their album Amazing.[8]

  1. ^ "'Sobaniirune' hits 2 mil download mark". AllBusiness.com. July 2, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  2. ^ "Certificate". natalie. September 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  3. ^ 青山テルマ、ギネス認定…そばにいるね「日本で最も売れた着うたフル楽曲」 (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. September 12, 2008. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  4. ^ 「キセキ」着うたフルＤＬでギネス申請 (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  5. ^ "GReeeeN、「キセキ」がギネス認定" (in Japanese). Barks. July 2, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  6. ^ "2008年、「iTunes Store」で最もダウンロードされた楽曲が発表" (in Japanese). Barks. December 3, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  7. ^ 大嘴巴發新專輯 「王元口力口」耍神秘 (in Chinese). NOW news. December 3, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  8. ^ "Amazing American Version". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 12, 2008.[dead link]