Chinese-American singer Emei has signed with Atlantic in partnership with Nice Life Records, which is also home to the Marias and Lizzo, the companies announced on Thursday. She will release the title track from her forthcoming EP “Night at the Opera” tonight at 9 p.m. PT, with the full EP to follow on June 12.
The singer, who grew up in New Jersey but visited China every summer with her grandmother, placed third on “Chinese Idol” as a 15-year-old and later appeared on China’s “Dancing With the Stars.” She first made a splash on TikTok in 2022 with the song “Late to the Party” and followed with her independently released “End of an Era” EP. After graduating from Yale University and meeting Nice Life CEO and co-founder Ricky Reed (Lizzo, Leon Bridges, Camila Cabello), Emei — pronounced “Em-ay” — recently signed with the label, collaborating on the music with him and hitmaker Justin Tranter, among others.
“I’ve been independent this whole time and when Ricky reached out, we were initially pretty skeptical about signing, to be completely honest!,” Emei says. “But then, he and the Nice Life team came to multiple shows on tour and through multiple conversations, it became apparent how thorough and thoughtful and serious they were. They had so much to contribute not only on the front of my business but also musical. Working with Ricky in and out of the studio has been such a learning experience for me. In the short time we’ve been working together, I already feel I’ve grown so much as an artist and as a businesswoman. I’ve always thought of my team as a lunch table of genuine, thoughtful, hardworking people passionate about my project and especially my fans. Nice Life and Atlantic fit right in and I’m excited for the next chapter with them!!!”
Reed says, “After the first time I saw Emei perform to a sold out, sweaty club in San Francisco, I went to introduce myself and her first words were, ‘Do you have any notes on the show?’ Now, a year later, her ambition to execute at the highest level continues. That, paired with a deep vulnerability in her art, a scrappy DIY ethos, and a limitless love for her army of outsiders, is why we’re so excited to welcome her into the family that is Nice Life and Atlantic Records.”
Of “Night at the Opera,” Emei adds, “Ricky and I wrote this banger the week of Halloween. I went to the Met Opera with my family a few weeks before the session and I just wanted to make something with strings that was as fun and as grand and would hit as hard live in a big theater. The song is a homecoming of sorts to my theater kid roots.”
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