Emei

A little drama never hurt anyone. And Emei knows how to deliver it. This proudly unapologetic theatre enthusiast has become a pop femme fatale, an Ivy League graduate who has built, from scratch, a wild, bubblegum-bright and colourful universe all her own. With a voice as assertive and vibrant as her personality, the Chinese-American singer, born in New Jersey, delivers clever, catchy anthems made to be played at full volume. At home, she mostly spoke Chinese and took singing lessons with Sally Gu, a teacher at the Chinese school she attended at weekends. She listened to Chinese pop but was also passionate about musicals, playing her parents' CD of West Side Story on repeat. Already at ease on stage, she came third on Chinese Idol at fifteen, before taking part in the Chinese version of Dancing with the Stars. After graduating in cognitive science from Yale University, she began posting her own songs online. In 2022, Emei made a name for herself with "Late to the Party", which took off on TikTok and launched the momentum behind her EP End of an Era. But it was the single "Scatterbrain" that took her to another level. Selected by Spotify as one of the "best pop songs of 2023", the track surpassed 71 million streams on the platform, followed by "Irresponsible", which has 31 million.

Earmilk praised "her smooth voice serving lyrics full of charm and irony", while Atwood Magazine was enthused by "this palpable electricity that her audience connects with". OnesToWatch named her "one of the most promising alt-pop artists to watch". Billboard, People, Wonderland. and Lyrical Lemonade have also lauded her work, as have BBC Radio 1 in the UK and Triple J in Australia. Spotify included her among the "artists to watch" for Pop Rising in 2024.