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''.

Biography

Emi Maria was born in 1987 in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Her mother is Japanese-New Guinean, while her father is Papua New Guinean. She spent the first five years of her life in Papua New Guinea, before moving to

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

in Japan. She first started listening to R&B at 6 due to her sister, listening to such artists as

Janet Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, and

K-Ci & JoJo K-Ci & JoJo is an American R&B duo, consisting of brothers Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey (born September 2, 1969) and Joel "JoJo" Hailey (born June 10, 1971). Natives of Monroe, North Carolina, they are also the lead singers of the chart-topping R&B g ...

. 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 MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Star Tour, and started performing lives in the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

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 iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

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 , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

. 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 Jade Goto (born 16 September 1981), better known by his stage name Jay'ed (stylised as JAY'ED), is a Japanese R&B singer-songwriter who debuted under Toy's Factory in 2007 and is most known for his single with Juju, "Ashita ga Kuru Nara" which ...

, which features on his top 10 album

Musication ''Musication'' is the second album by the Japanese hip-hop group Home Made Kazoku, released in 2006. The album reached #3 on the Oricon weekly charts, making it the highest charted album of the group. Background After their previous successful al ...

. (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

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

References

External links

Official Victor Label Site

Official Blog

Official MySpace
on Myspace * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria, Emi 1987 births Japanese-language singers Japanese women singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters Japanese people of Papua New Guinean descent Japanese women pop singers Living people Musicians from Kobe Papua New Guinean singers Papua New Guinean people of Japanese descent Papua New Guinean emigrants to Japan 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers