Umi (singer) facts for kids

Tierra Umi Wilson (born February 9, 1999), known as Umi, is an American singer and songwriter. She was born in Seattle, Washington. Umi went to the University of Southern California, but she left in 2019 to focus on her music career.

She is well-known for her 2018 song "Remember Me". This song has been streamed over 160 million times on Spotify. In 2019, Umi opened for Conan Gray on his Comfort Crowd Tour. That same year, she released her second EP, Love Language.

In 2020, Umi released the EP Introspection. A short film also came out with the music. The next year, she released Introspection Reimagined. This version had live, jazz, and neo-soul styles for the songs. On May 26, 2022, Umi released her first album, Forest in the City. She then went on her first main tour, the Forest in the City Tour. In 2023, she released "Wherever u r", a song with Korean singer V from BTS. In January 2024, she released an EP called Talking to the Wind. Later that year, she opened for singer Jhene Aiko on the Magic Hour Tour.

Umi's Early Life

Umi was born in Seattle in 1999. Her father is African-American, and her mother is Japanese. Her mother taught her to read, write, and speak Japanese. Umi's mother plays the piano, and her father plays the drums.

Umi started writing music when she was only 4 or 5 years old. She kept a special journal for her songs. In high school, she was part of DECA and her track team at Tahoma High School in Maple Valley.

During high school, she found beats on YouTube. She started writing songs to these beats. She would record her songs with a simple USB microphone. Then, she uploaded them to SoundCloud and YouTube. At first, she posted covers of other songs. But she started getting copyright notices. This made her decide to write and share her own original music instead.

Umi's Music Career

2017–2018: First Songs and Remember Me

In 2017, Umi released five songs. After that, she released her first EP, Interlude, which had four songs. This EP helped her get on Spotify’s "Fresh Finds Best of 2017" playlist. She also performed as an opening act for rapper ODIE in Los Angeles.

Umi's song "Remember Me" is her most popular one so far. It has over 33 million views on YouTube and 117 million plays on Spotify. Umi released a music video for "Remember Me." The video showed different couples of various backgrounds. Umi said the video's message was that "no matter who you love or how you love, we all hurt the same in the end."

2019–2021: New EPs and Introspection

Umi released the Balance EP on May 17, 2019. This EP included songs like "Ordinary" and "Down To Earth." On October 30, 2019, she released her EP, Love Language.

On June 21, 2020, Umi released her EP, Introspection. After that, she released a follow-up EP called Introspection Reimagined on March 26, 2021. This EP had new versions of the songs from Introspection. It also included two new short musical pieces.

2022–Present: First Album and Tours

On May 26, 2022, Umi released her first full album, Forest in the City. This album featured songs like "Moonlit Room," "Whatever U Like," and "Sorry." The album was the main focus of her first tour where she was the headliner.

Umi's Musical Style

Umi has shared that her biggest music inspirations are artists like Frank Ocean, D'Angelo, Jhené Aiko, Erykah Badu, and SZA. When she was growing up, she listened to R&B, soul, gospel, and Japanese pop/rock music. The magazine Vogue has described Umi's music style as "lo-fi, alternative, laid back, R&B."

Umi's Music Releases

Here are some of Umi's main music releases:

Studio Albums

• Forest in the City (Released: May 26, 2022)

Extended Plays (EPs)

• Interlude (Released: January 25, 2018)
• Balance (Released: May 17, 2019)
• Love Language (Released: October 30, 2019)
• Introspection (Released: June 21, 2020)
• Introspection Reimagined (Released: March 26, 2021)
• Talking to the Wind (Released: January 19, 2024)

Popular Singles

• "Remember Me" (2018)
• "Wherever U R" (2023) - featuring V