Maryanne Ito is an American

soul singer In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, songwriter, and performer based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Blending genres such as neo soul, soul, hip hop, jazz, and R&B, she has been writing and performing since 2006 and collaborating with musicians such as Slapp Symphony and DJ Bennie James. In 2014 she released her debut album '' Waking Up,'' which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Soul Chart. The album incorporates diverse styles, with ''

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'' calling her voice "distinctive, sweet and sexy." She has toured Hawaii with The Astatine Collective as support, and in the summer of 2015 she toured Europe, performing at venues such as Radio6 in Amsterdam, Band on the Wall in Manchester, the

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in London, and Hare & Hounds in Birmingham. In May 2015, ''Waking Up'' was named the Best R&B Album of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, and the following month Ito was named Best Pacific/ International Artist at the Pacific Music Awards.

Biography

Early life and career

Maryanne Ito was born in 1983 in Fort Riley, Kansas. Of Japanese and Samoan descent, she was raised in California, American Samoa, and Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2006 Ito served as a backup singer on a track for her elder brother Bless'd Chil', which attracted the attention of James Westbrook and led to Ito collaborating with the production duo called Slapp Symphony. They released the track "With You," with later became the lead single on Slapp Symphony's album ''Lands of the Lost,'' which won a

Hawaii Music Award The Hawaii Music Awards were an annual people's-choice awards program established in 1996. The awards were organized and managed by the Music Foundation of Hawaii, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the diversity of music in Hawaii and ...

. In 2009 she performed at the Hawaii Music Awards, and also had a television appearance on ''Living Local With The Baraquios''. She continued writing songs that blended styles such as neo soul, jazz, R&B, hip hop, and neo-reggae, also performing about Hawaii. In 2011 she wrote "Waking Up," again produced by Slapp Sympphony, and also released the non-album single "Compare 2 U," a collaboration with Dyvon and Fool's Scholarship. Among other performances, in 2011 she opened for Blackstar at the

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a historic 1922 theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. History ...

. She opened for hip hop artist Jean Grae in 2012, and also performed at Queen Supreme, Poly Girls Rock, and The Hawaii Food Bank's Annual Hunger Walk. Ito performed at events such as Nesian Fest, Nesian Winter Groove, and the High Chief XL Memorial Salute in 2013, and by that time she was touring with a backup band. The group, dubbed The Astatine Collective, consists of Freeze as DJ, Sub Z on

MPC MPC, Mpc or mpc may refer to: Astronomy * Megaparsec (Mpc), unit of length used in astronomy * Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ** ''Minor Planet Circulars'' (MPC, M.P.C. or MPCs), astronomical publication from the Minor ...

and audio engineering, Deesarono as a contributing vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (drums, keyboards, and guitar), JT on bass, and King David on drums. The group continued to tour with Ito into 2014, and as of May 16, 2014, she had toured the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

2014: ''Waking Up''

Throughout the beginning of 2014 Ito continued to write for other artists, while also working on her debut album. Engineered at Primaphonix Studio by DJ Sub-Zero, a number of producers and sound engineers were brought in to help on her debut, with several guest artists such as guitarist David Yamasaki contributing as well. Titled '' Waking Up,'' an official release party for the album was held in April 2014, hosted by her long-term collaborator DJ Bennie James. The official release took place in June, and the album peaked at No. 4 on the UK Soul Chart six weeks after being released. On October 13, 2014, the album was still holding its position on the UK Soul Chart at No. 30. John Berger of the ''

'' gave the album a positive review, explaining that some of the tracks have "slow rhythms, introspective lyrics and heavy, solid bass lines." Berger also praised the timbre of her voice, calling it "distinctive, sweet and sexy." She toured Hawaii in support of the album, and in October 2014 she and local group The Astatine Collective performed at Hallowbaloo. She was also a performer at the Great Chefs Fight Hunger Gala put on as a charity event by the Hawaii Food Bank on March 21, 2015. On May 23, 2015, ''Waking Up'' was named the Best R&B Album of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. On June 6, 2015, she performed live with a backing band for

Hawaii Public Radio Hawaiʻi Public Radio (HPR), is a network of commercial and listener-supported stations broadcasting two streams on fifteen frequencies across the state of Hawaii. It is the statewide member of National Public Radio (NPR). The stations originate ...

and a private audience at Atherton Studio. Afterwards she took part in the Musicconnex tour of Europe, with the Dutch acid-jazz band Tristan, performing throughout June at venues such as Bizz'Art in Paris, Radio6 and Sugar Factory in Amsterdam, Band on the Wall in Manchester, the

in London, and Hare & Hounds in Birmingham. On June 13, 2015, Ito was named Best Pacific/International Artist at the Pacific Music Awards.

Personal life

As of 2014 Ito is based in her hometown of Honolulu.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Albums

Collaborative mixtapes

Singles

References

External links

MaryanneIto.com

Maryanne Ito
on SoundCloud {{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Maryanne American women musicians of Japanese descent American people of Samoan descent Living people Musicians from Honolulu American musicians of Japanese descent Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners American soul singers 1983 births