# Emi Maria

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-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 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. 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 | Oricon Album charts |
| 2008 | A Ballad of My Own Released: 5 November 2008 Label: K.S.R. (KCCD-347) Formats: CD, digital download | 44 |
| 2010 | Contrast Released: 3 March 2010 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63538) Formats: CD, digital download | 50 |
| 2011 | Blue Bird Released: 9 March 2011 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63712) Formats: CD, digital download | 151 |
| 2014 | In My World Released: 5 February 2014 Label: Village Again (B00H7OBCMC) Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| 2015 | Euphoria Released: 20 May 2015 Label: Village Again, KSR Corp. (B00VHN9F9Q) Formats: CD, digital download | — |

### Extended plays

| Year | Album Information | Oricon Album charts |
| 2007 | Between the Music Released: 24 October 2007 Label: Freest Inc. (FRUR-001) Formats: CD, digital download | — |
| 2008 | iTunes Live from Tokyo Released: 8 October 2008 Formats: Digital download | — |
| 2010 | Cross Over Released: 17 November 2010 Label: Victor Entertainment (VICL-63685) Formats: CD, digital download | 166 |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Release | Title | Notes | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Release | Title | Notes | Oricon Singles Charts | Billboard Japan Hot 100 | RIAJ digital tracks* | Album |
| 2008 | "I Gotta (Summer Kiss)" | Appears as a remix on album | — | — | — | A Ballad of My Own |
| 2008 | "Ai to Yume no Aida de" (愛と夢のあいだで, "In Between Love and Dreams") | Radio single, music video filmed | — | 55 | — | A Ballad of My Own |
| 2009 | "One Way Love" | Digital download | — | 37 | — | Contrast |
| 2010 | "Show Me Your Love" | | 141 | 27 | 31 | Contrast |
| 2010 | "We Standing Strong" feat. Jay'ed | Digital download | — | — | — | Contrast |
| 2010 | "Summer Night Bxxxh / Change My Life (Red Spider Dub)" | Digital download | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | "Mr. Alien" | Digital download | — | — | — | Cross Over |
| 2010 | "Mirror" | Digital download | — | — | — | Cross Over/Blue Bird |
| 2010 | "Nobody Like You" | Digital download | — | — | — | Cross Over/Blue Bird |
| 2011 | "A.S.A.P. (Imasugu ni Kaketsukete)" (A.S.A.P.～今すぐに駆けつけて, "Run to Me A.S.A.P.") | Digital download | — | — | — | Blue Bird |
| 2011 | "Proud" | Digital download | — | — | — | Blue Bird |
| 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. | "—" 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. | "—" 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. | "—" 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. | "—" 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. | "—" 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. | "—" 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 | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Release | Title | Notes | Oricon Singles Charts | Billboard Japan Hot 100 | RIAJ digital tracks | Album |
| 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 |
| 2007 | "Free" I-Dea (performed by Emi Maria) | Deniece Williams cover | Re;cover |
| 2007 | "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 Japanese |
| 2008 | "Tropical" (トロピカル, Toropikaru) Wolf Pack feat. MC Moggy, Emi Maria | | Gold Experience |
| 2008 | "Yume no Konseki" (夢の痕, Dream Traces) Hannya | Background vocals. | Doctor Tokyo |
| 2008 | "Sky55" L-Vokal feat. Emi Maria | | Free |
| 2009 | "Luv Is..." Jay'ed feat. Emi Maria | | Musication |
| 2009 | "My Life Is One Way..." Urali feat. Emi Maria | | Departure |
| 2009 | "2 My Fans" (Live) 10forefdee feat. Kayzabro, Emi Maria | DVD release. | 10forefdee Release Tour Final |
| 2009 | "I Gotta (Winter Kiss)" (Live) Emi Maria | DVD release. | 10forefdee Release Tour Final |