Emi Maria
Emi Maria |
|---|
Emi Maria (エミ・マリア, born June 9, 1987, stylised as EMI MARIA) is a Japanese R&B singer songwriter. She debuted in 2007 with the EP "Between the Music."
Biography
Emi Maria was born in 1987 in Papua New Guinea.[1] Her father is Papua New Guinean, while her mother is Japanese.[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," under Freest Inc., a label Emi Maria 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 dingle "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 reaached #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 Albums Charts |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "A Ballad of My Own"
|
44 |
| 2010 | "Contrast"
|
50 |
EPs
| Year | Album Information | Oricon Albums Charts |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Between the Music"
|
— |
| 2008 | "iTunes Live from Tokyo"
|
— |
Singles
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 the Middle of 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. | — | — | — | ||
| "—" 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 Jpanese | |
| "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
- ^ a b c d e f g h "EMI MARIA / エミ マリア" (in Japanese). EmiMaria.com. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "EMI MARIA インタビュー" (in Japanese). Hotxpress. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "EMI MARIA - アーティスト情報" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "JBOOK：商品検索 EMI MARIA" (in Japanese). JBook. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "iTunes presents LIVE from Tokyo EMI MARIA" (in Japanese). iTunes. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ a b "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved 2010-02-27. (subscription only)