MEET UMI
Seattle-born R&B songwriter and vocalist UMI seems to be on her way to becoming the next great female R&B musician of her time. She is best known for her hit song “Remember Me”, which she released in 2018. The song has tens of millions of YouTube views and streams on Spotify.
Although she has released multiple EP’s since then, the musical style, lyrics, and conception portrayed in “Remember Me” defined her trajectory as an artist. The song features slow calming rhythmic drum and bass under subtle and jazzy synth harmonies. While the music video portrays couples of different ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations, the lyrics speak of lost love and memory. The song is a self-aware reflection on universalism, with the message that while we all may love differently, in the end, we all hurt in the same way.
The idea is clearly close to UMI’s heart. She was born by the name of Tierra Umi Wilson, to an African American father and Japanese Mother. As her parents were musical, UMI was introduced to the world of songwriting at a very early age.
When she was in high school, Tierra would use YouTube beats to write lyrics to. She would record the tracks and upload them onto SoundCloud and YouTube. Naturally, she eventually got copyrighted and this was when she decided to start writing her own original tracks.
In 2017, the young artist released her debut EP titled Interlude. The album made unprecedented progress and soon it landed on Spotify’s 2017 Fresh Finds playlist. The next year saw the release of “Remember Me” and UMI emerged into the limelight.
Since then she has released four more EPs. These are Balance (2019), Love Language (2019), Introspection (2020), and Introspection Reimagined (2021).
In an interview with 1883 Magazine, UMI said she has gone deeper into herself than ever before with her 2020 release Introspection. The various songs on the album were written at different times in the past few years, but UMI says they all seem to be about connection and opening up, as that is the result of any proper introspection.
UMI told 1883 magazine that to her, music was a form of healing. Hence, when people listen to her music, she would like it to help them heal their traumas. She reflected on the current situation in the world, with the Covid pandemic, saying that we are all entering an era where people are opening up despite being so controlled by society.
Her latest EP “Introspection Reimagined” is a retake on her previous EP Introspection, through the lens of some of her favorite R&B artists like Erykah Badu and D’Angelo. With regards to this, UMI commented on how the music industry is always about constantly producing new material. Her attempts to reimagine the music of her previous album act as a reflection on this attitude. The EP is a reminder that it is important to sit with something valuable for a longer time, allowing her listeners to do the same.
With this in mind, UMI’s new release features the songs of her previous album reimagined through a different sonic perspective. It is through such creative approaches to songwriting that the young R&B artist is defining herself within the music industry as a truly innovative force to be reckoned with.
