Emi Maria

Emi Maria (stylized as EMI MARIA; born 9 June 1987) is a Japanese Papua New Guinean R&B singer-songwriter who debuted in 2007 with the EP Between the Music.

Emi Maria
Emi Maria performing at the Hibiki Music Festival 2009.
Emi Maria performing at the Hibiki Music Festival 2009.
Background information
Born (1987-06-09) 9 June 1987
Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea
OriginKobe, Japan
GenresPop, R&B
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Years active2006–present
LabelsFreest Inc. (2007)
K.S.R. (2008)
Victor Entertainment (2009–present)

Biography

Emi Maria was born in 1987 in Papua New Guinea.[1] Her mother is Japanese-New Guinean, while her father is Papua New Guinean.[1] She spent the first five years of her life in Papua New Guinea, before moving to Kobe in Japan.[1]

She first started listening to R&B at 6 due to her sister, listening to such artists as Janet and Michael Jackson, and K-Ci & JoJo.[2] She began writing lyrics in junior high school.[1] By high school, she had started writing music and producing her own tracks.[1] She participated in the MTV Star Tour, and started performing lives in the Kansai area from 2006 onwards.[3] In 2007, she started appearing on many different Japanese urban artists' albums as a guest artist, such as Seeda and MC Moggy.[4]

In 2007, Emi Maria released her first EP, Between the Music on Freest Inc., a label she had created for herself.[1] Her debut single "I Gotta (Summer Kiss)" was picked as the iTunes Japan single of the week in August 2008.[5]

She debuted as a major label artist in 2009, with the release of a digital single "One Way Love" under Victor Entertainment.[1] During this time, she had some of her highest profile collaborations. "Luv Is..." was a song Emi Maria performed with R&B singer Jay'ed, which features on his top 10 album Musication.[6] In December, she had her first top 10 hit, as a featured artist on Seeda's single "Wisdom", which reached number 8 on the Oricon singles charts.[6] After the release of her first physical single in 2010, "Show Me Your Love", Emi Maria released her first major label album, Contrast.[1]

Discography

Albums

Year Album information Oricon
Album
charts
2008 A Ballad of My Own
  • Released: 5 November 2008
  • Label: K.S.R. (KCCD-347)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
44
2010 Contrast
  • Released: 3 March 2010
  • Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63538)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
50
2011 Blue Bird
  • Released: 9 March 2011
  • Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63712)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
151
2014 In My World
  • Released: 5 February 2014
  • Label: Village Again (B00H7OBCMC)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
2015 Euphoria
  • Released: 20 May 2015
  • Label: Village Again, KSR Corp. (B00VHN9F9Q)
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Extended plays

Year Album Information Oricon
Album
charts
2007 Between the Music
  • Released: 24 October 2007
  • Label: Freest Inc. (FRUR-001)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
2008 iTunes Live from Tokyo
  • Released: 8 October 2008
  • Formats: Digital download
2010 Cross Over
  • Released: 17 November 2010
  • Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63685)
  • Formats: CD, digital download
166

As lead artist

Release Title Notes Chart positions Album
Oricon Singles Charts Billboard Japan Hot 100 RIAJ digital tracks*
2008 "I Gotta (Summer Kiss)" Appears as a remix on album A Ballad of My Own
"Ai to Yume no Aida de" (愛と夢のあいだで, "In Between Love and Dreams") Radio single, music video filmed 55
2009 "One Way Love" Digital download 37 Contrast
2010 "Show Me Your Love" 141 27 31
"We Standing Strong" feat. Jay'ed Digital download
"Summer Night Bxxxh / Change My Life (Red Spider Dub)"
"Mr. Alien" Cross Over
"Mirror" Cross Over/Blue Bird
"Nobody Like You"
2011 "A.S.A.P. (Imasugu ni Kaketsukete)" (A.S.A.P.~今すぐに駆けつけて, "Run to Me A.S.A.P.") Blue Bird
"Proud"
2017 "Lost in Tokyo" "—" denotes that the song was not released in that format, or it did not chart.
*Japan Hot 100 established February 2008, RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009.
Release Title Notes Chart positions Album
Oricon Singles Charts Billboard Japan Hot 100 RIAJ digital tracks
2008 "Flash"
DJ Komori feat. Chie (Foxxi Misq), Emi Maria
Digital download What's R&B?
2009 "Wisdom"
Seeda feat. Ill-Bosstino, Emi Maria
8 Seeda Best

Other appearances

Release Title Notes Album
2007 "In da Club"
Tomogen feat. Emi Maria, GS (Doberman Inc.), Yūgi (Infumiaikumiai)
06 Out Side
"Free"
I-Dea (performed by Emi Maria)
Deniece Williams cover Re;cover
"Tropical" (トロピカル, Toropikaru)
MC Moggy feat. Wolf Pack, Emi Maria
Katrina
2008 "2 My Fans"
10forefdee feat. Kayzabro, Emi Maria
104: 4 Japanese
"Tropical" (トロピカル, Toropikaru)
Wolf Pack feat. MC Moggy, Emi Maria
Gold Experience
"Yume no Konseki" (夢の痕, Dream Traces)
Hannya
Background vocals. Doctor Tokyo
"Sky55"
L-Vokal feat. Emi Maria
Free
2009 "Luv Is..."
Jay'ed feat. Emi Maria
Musication
"My Life Is One Way..."
Urali feat. Emi Maria
Departure
"2 My Fans" (Live)
10forefdee feat. Kayzabro, Emi Maria
DVD release. 10forefdee Release Tour Final
"I Gotta (Winter Kiss)" (Live)
Emi Maria

References

  1. "EMI MARIA / エミ マリア" (in Japanese). EmiMaria.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  2. "EMI MARIA インタビュー" (in Japanese). Hotxpress. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  3. "EMI MARIA – アーティスト情報" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  4. "JBOOK:商品検索 EMI MARIA" (in Japanese). JBook. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  5. "iTunes presents LIVE from Tokyo EMI MARIA" (in Japanese). iTunes. 1 September 2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  6. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved 27 February 2010. (subscription only)
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