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. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 9 June 1987 Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea |
| Origin | Kobe, Japan |
| Genres | Pop, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Freest 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
|
44 |
| 2010 | Contrast
|
50 |
| 2011 | Blue Bird
|
151 |
| 2014 | In My World
|
— |
| 2015 | Euphoria
|
— |
Extended plays
| Year | Album Information | Oricon Album charts |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Between the Music
|
— |
| 2008 | iTunes Live from Tokyo
|
— |
| 2010 | Cross Over
|
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. | |||||||
As featured artist
| 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
- "EMI MARIA / エミ マリア" (in Japanese). EmiMaria.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- "EMI MARIA インタビュー" (in Japanese). Hotxpress. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- "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.
- "JBOOK：商品検索 EMI MARIA" (in Japanese). JBook. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- "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.
- "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)
External links
- Official Victor Label Site (in Japanese)
- Official Blog (in Japanese)
- Official MySpace on Myspace (in Japanese)
- Emi Maria on Twitter
- Emi Maria on Instagram
- Emi Maria's channel on YouTube