Umi (singer)

Tierra Umi Wilson[2][3] (born February 9, 1999)[1] is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Seattle, Washington, she attended the University of Southern California, but dropped out in 2019 in order to pursue music.[4] She is best known for her 2018 song "Remember Me", which has over 140 million streams on Spotify.[5] She also accompanied Conan Gray as an opening act on his Comfort Crowd Tour in 2019.[6]

UMI
Birth nameTierra Umi Wilson
Born (1999-02-09) February 9, 1999[1]
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres
Years active2017–present
Labels
Websitewhoisumi.com

Early life

Wilson was born in Seattle in 1999 to an African-American father and a Japanese mother.[7][8] Her mother taught her how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Wilson's mother plays piano and her father plays the drums.[7] UMI started writing music when she was 4 or 5, with a songwriting journal.[9] Throughout high school, she was involved in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) and her track team at Tahoma High School in Maple Valley.[10] In high school, she discovered YouTube beats and started writing to tracks.[11] She would record the songs with a USB mic and upload them to SoundCloud and YouTube.[12] She soon started to get copyrighted on SoundCloud by posting covers of other songs.[13] This made her start writing and posting her own originals.[7]

Career

2017–2018: Happy Again and debut EP

In 2017, UMI released five singles before their four-track debut EP, Interlude. This led to making it onto Spotify’s Fresh Finds Best of 2017 playlist. She opened for rapper ODIE in Los Angeles.

UMI's most popular release to date is "Remember Me". She has over 33 million views on YouTube and 117 million plays on Spotify. UMI debuted "Remember Me" with a music video, highlighting universalism by portraying couples of different race, class, and sexual orientation. She said, "the message in the video, for me, is that no matter who you love or how you love, we all hurt the same in the end."[14]

2019–2021: Balance, Love Language, Introspection EP, and Introspection Reimagined

She released the Balance EP on May 17, 2019, which included the songs "Ordinary" and "Down To Earth." On October 30, 2019, they released their EP, Love Language[15] On June 21, 2020, she released her EP, Introspection.[16] Following the release of her EP, Introspection, UMI released a follow-up EP entitled Introspection Reimagined on March 26, 2021, featuring new versions of the songs on the Introspection EP as well as two new interludes.[17]

2022–present: Forest in the City debut album and tour

On May 26, 2022, Umi released her debut album, Forest in the City, which featured the singles "Moonlit Room", "Whatever U Like", and "Sorry", and was the focus of her first headlining tour.[18]

Artistry

UMI has cited her biggest musical influences as Frank Ocean, D'Angelo, Jhené Aiko, Erykah Badu and SZA.[19] She grew up listening to R&B, soul, gospel and Japanese pop/rock. UMI has been described by Vogue as having a "lo-fi, alternative, laid back, R&B style".[12]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details
Forest in the City

Extended plays
List of extended plays
Title Details
Interlude
  • Released: January 25, 2018
  • Label: 408
  • Format: Streaming, digital download
Balance
  • Released: May 17, 2019
  • Label: UMI
  • Format: Streaming, digital download
Love Language
  • Released: October 30, 2019
  • Label: UMI
  • Format: Streaming, digital download
Introspection
  • Released: June 21, 2020
  • Label: RCA, Keep Cool
  • Format: Streaming, digital download
Introspection Reimagined
  • Released: March 26, 2021
  • Label: RCA, Keep Cool
  • Format: Streaming, digital download

As a lead artist
Title Year Album
"Friendzone" 2017 Non-album single
"Midnight Blues" 2018 Interlude
"River" Non-album single
"Remember Me"
"Lullaby"
(featuring Yeek)
"High School" 2019
"Down to Earth" Balance
"Sonshine"
(with Deaton Chris Anthony)		 BO Y
"Love Affair" Love Language
"Mother" 2020 Non-album single
"Introspection" Introspection
"Open Up"
"Sorry"[20] 2022 Forest in the City
"Whatever U Like"
"Say Im Ur Luv"
"Wish That I Could"
"Happy Im" 2023 TBA
Title Year Album
"Play Too Much"
(Kyle Dion featuring UMI & Duckwrth)		 2020 Suga

Promotional singles
Title Year Album
"Happy Again" 2017 Non-album single
"Butterfly" 2018
"Sukidakara" 2019 Love Language
"Runnin'"
(featuring Yeek)
"Picture Perfect" 2020 Non-album single
"Pretty Girl hi!" Introspection
"Moonlit Room" 2022 Forest in the City

References
  1. "About". Facebook. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  2. Yu, Eda (June 22, 2020). "Rising R&B star UMI makes soulful songs to help us heal". i-D. ISSN 0894-5373. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  3. Sanchez, Omar (January 12, 2020). "Musician and artist UMI manifested community through a charity yard sale event". The Daily Titan. OCLC 15193278. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  4. Chang, Joyce (2022-11-21). "With Peace and Love, UMI". Character Media. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  5. "UMI". Spotify. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. "REVIEW: Conan Gray, Umi @ House of Blues 11/13 | WTBU Radio". sites.bu.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  7. Yu, Eda (September 12, 2019). "UMI Is a Neo-Soul and R&B-Inspired Artist Creating Space for Healing". Complex. ISSN 1538-6848. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  8. Saunders, Luke (November 14, 2019). "Introducing UMI: delivering neo-soul magic that's out of this world". Happy Mag. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  9. "Interview with Singer and Songwriter UMI". Bright Lite Magazine. February 22, 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  10. Cotterill, TJ (April 21, 2016). "Tahoma's 4x100 relay team, Olympic-hopeful Princess Joy Griffey are fast company". The News Tribune. ISSN 1073-5860. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  11. Chan, Justin (February 19, 2020). "UMI's soulfulness is hard to miss in her lo-fi music". In The Know. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  12. Soey Kim, Soey (December 2, 2018). "Here Come The Youth – The Young Breakthrough Musicians Making Noise In The Music Industry". British Vogue. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  13. Little, Heartleigh (May 13, 2019). "Meet UMI, The R&B Songstress Who Swears By Her Morning Meditation". Cools.com. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  14. Robinson, Kristin (October 17, 2018). "Meet UMI, the Lo-fi R&B Songstress Capturing the Human Experience". Ones to Watch. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  15. del Rosario, Michael (November 1, 2019). "Love Language EP- [UMI]". Lyrical Lemonade. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  16. Folk, Antwane (June 22, 2020). "Stream UMI's New EP Introspection". Rated R&B. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  17. Umi [@whoisumi] (March 22, 2021). "Introspection Reimagined • out this Friday

    This project is an art piece channeled from my spirit. Inspired by artists like D'angelo and Erykah Badu - and recorded live at Shangri-La , I hope this project brings you peace.

    Welcome to the next evolution of Introspection"     (Tweet). Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. "UMI | Forestin the city".
  19. Heifner, Makaila (March 7, 2018). "UMI Talks Activism, Frank Ocean, and Remaining Authentic". Berkeley B-Side.
  20. "UMI Announces Her Debut Album, 'Forest In The City' With The Release Of New Single + Video "Sorry"". RCA Records. March 11, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
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