Emi Maria (stylized as EMI MARIA; born 9 June 1987) is a Japanese and Papua New Guinean R&B singer-songwriter who debuted in 2007 with the EP Between the Music.
Biography Emi Maria was born in 1987 in Papua New Guinea. Her mother is Japanese, while her father is Papua New Guinean. She spent the first five years of her life in Papua New Guinea, before moving to Kobe in Japan.
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. She began writing lyrics in junior high school. By high school, she had started writing music and producing her own tracks. She participated in the MTV Star Tour, and started performing lives in the Kansai area from 2006 onwards. In 2007, she started appearing on many different Japanese urban artists' albums as a guest artist, such as Seeda and MC Moggy.
In 2007, Emi Maria released her first EP, Between the Music on Freest Inc., a label she had created for herself. Her debut single "I Gotta (Summer Kiss)" was picked as the iTunes Japan single of the week in August 2008.
She debuted as a major label artist in 2009, with the release of a digital single "One Way Love" under Victor Entertainment. 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. (subscription only) 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. After the release of her first physical single in 2010, "Show Me Your Love", Emi Maria released her first major label album, Contrast.
Discography
Albums
Year Album information OriconAlbumcharts2008A Ballad of My Own
Released: 5 November 2008 Label: K.S.R. (KCCD-347) Formats: CD, digital download442010Contrast
Released: 3 March 2010 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63538) Formats: CD, digital download502011Blue Bird
Released: 9 March 2011 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63712) Formats: CD, digital download1512014In My World Released: 5 February 2014 Label: Village Again (B00H7OBCMC) Formats: CD, digital download—2015Euphoria Released: 20 May 2015 Label: Village Again, KSR Corp. (B00VHN9F9Q) Formats: CD, digital download—
Extended plays
Year Album Information OriconAlbumcharts2007Between the Music
Released: 24 October 2007 Label: Freest Inc. (FRUR-001) Formats: CD, digital download—2008iTunes Live from Tokyo
Released: 8 October 2008 Formats: Digital download—2010Cross Over
Released: 17 November 2010 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63685) Formats: CD, digital download166
Singles
As lead artist Release Title Notes Chart positions AlbumOricon Singles ChartsBillboard Japan Hot 100RIAJ digital tracks*2008"I Gotta (Summer Kiss)"Appears as a remix on album — — —A Ballad of My OwnRadio single, music video filmed — 55 —2009"One Way Love"Digital download — 37 —Contrast2010"Show Me Your Love" 141 27 31"We Standing Strong" feat. Jay'edDigital download — — —"Summer Night Bxxxh / Change My Life (Red Spider Dub)" — — ——"Mr. Alien" — — —Cross Over"Mirror" — — —Cross Over/Blue Bird"Nobody Like You" — — —2011 — — —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 AlbumOricon Singles ChartsBillboard Japan Hot 100RIAJ digital tracks2008"Flash"DJ Komori feat. Chie (Foxxi Misq), Emi MariaDigital download — — —What's R&B?2009"Wisdom"Seeda feat. Ill-Bosstino, Emi Maria 8 — —Seeda Best
Other appearances
Release Title Notes Album2007"In da Club"Tomogen feat. Emi Maria, GS (Doberman Inc.), Yūgi (Infumiaikumiai)06 Out Side"Free"I-Dea (performed by Emi Maria)Deniece Williams coverRe;coverMC Moggy feat. Wolf Pack, Emi MariaKatrina2008"2 My Fans"10forefdee feat. Kayzabro, Emi Maria104: 4 JapaneseWolf Pack feat. MC Moggy, Emi MariaGold ExperienceHannyaBackground vocals.Doctor Tokyo"Sky55"L-Vokal feat. Emi MariaFree2009"Luv Is..."Jay'ed feat. Emi MariaMusication"My Life Is One Way..."Urali feat. Emi MariaDeparture"2 My Fans" (Live)10forefdee feat. Kayzabro, Emi MariaDVD release.10forefdee Release Tour Final"I Gotta (Winter Kiss)" (Live)Emi Maria
References
External links Official Victor Label Site Official Blog Official MySpace on Myspace