A little drama never hurt anybody…
Emei knows how to bring it too. She’s an unabashed “theater kid” who grew up into an Ivy League-educated pop femme fatale at the helm of a crazy, candy-coated, and colorful world of her own making. With a bold voice that’s as vibrant as her personality, the New Jersey-born Chinese-American songstress delivers clever and catchy anthems meant to be blasted out loud.
After gathering over a quarter-of-a-billion streams, selling out shows, and attracting multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning mega-producer Ricky Reed [Lizzo, Leon Bridges, Camila Cabello, Phantogram, Jon Batiste] to her corner, she embraces her theatricality on her Night At The Opera EP [Atlantic Records / Nice Life].
“I grew up doing theater, but the vibe changed when my pop music career started,” she states. “I wanted to lean into being a theater kid again. This project is definitely a homecoming. My subconscious bullied teenage brain is always like, ‘You don’t want to try so hard. Just be cool’. But fuck that! I like trying hard. It’s part of who I am. I care about every little detail. So, you’re going to get all of the pain, emotion, and drama from me!”
Growing up in New Jersey, she shared a room with her grandmother, and they developed a once-in-a-lifetime bond. Together, they visited China each summer. This cultural influence gave Emei an edge. She primarily spoke Chinese at home and studied under her vocal coach, Sally Gu, from the Chinese school she attended on weekends. Beyond listening to Chinese pop, she immersed herself in musicals, spinning her parents’ West Side Story CD on repeat. Soaring on stage, the budding talent placed third on Chinese Idol at 15-years-old and later appeared on China’s Dancing with the Stars.
Upon achieving a degree in cognitive science from Yale University, she uploaded original music online. Emei made major waves with 2022’s “Late to the Party,” surging on TikTok and igniting her End of an Era EP. However, she reached critical mass with the release of her single, Scatterbrain. Touted as one of Spotify’s “Best Pop Songs of 2023,” The title track eclipsed 71 million Spotify streams followed by “Irresponsible” with 31 million Spotify streams. Earmilk hailed her “smooth vocals singing charming tongue-in-cheek lyrics,” and Atwood Magazine marveled at how “her audience connects to that palpable electricity.” OnesToWatch christened her, “one of the most promising alt-pop artists to watch.” Plus, she has incited the applause of Billboard, People, Wonderland., and Lyrical Lemonade in addition to BBC Radio 1 in the UK and Triple J in Australia. Spotify handpicked her as one of Pop Rising’s “Artists To Watch” for 2024. She notably sold out a series of dates across Australia. Throughout 2025, she headlined her biggest tour to date and performed to sold-out crowds coast-to-coast in the US and in the EU.
Following the passing of her grandma, Emei threw herself into what would become Night At The Opera. Collaborating with Reed, Justin Tranter, and more, she held nothing back, processing this particular loss, various friendship breakups, a loss of herself amidst it all, and a “massive quarter-life crisis.”
“It was one of the toughest years of my life,” she admits. “The project was born from grief. It’s a big elevation from my past music, because it was written during a season of intense and extreme emotions.”
The lead single “Night at the Opera” spotlights her enigmatic and animated delivery front-and-center accented by ominous organ, cinematic strings, and bewitching beat-craft. The drums kick into high gear, and she swoons, “The pain, the gag, the drama.” Later, she teases, “Have you never seen revenge looking cute in an A-line dress?”
She’s center stage, she’s unapologetically in her feelings, and she’s sharing them aloud with no fucks given—and it’s glorious…
“I saw an opera for my birthday, and I was inspired to make a production that was just as dramatic,” she notes. “I put pressure on myself to put who I am on display and show everyone the worst of what was going on in my life. This song is about how everything was falling apart, but I’m acknowledging it must be great to watch from the outside,” she grins. “It’s my invitation, ‘Welcome to a night at the opera, take a seat, watch this fuckery. If I’m going to be up here dancing and showing you everything about me, you’d better dance too and sing along.’”
On “What’s the Point,” she lets it all out. A frenetic beat brushes up against her breathy delivery during verses laced with a punchy riff. Cranking the emotion up to eleven, the cathartic hook hits like a car crash you can’t turn away from. She wonders, “What’s the point of love? I don’t fucking need this. What’s the point of us? If I know you’re gonna leave me.”
“It represents the anger in the grief cycle,” she sighs. “It was my immediate reaction to losing my grandma as well as some of my closest friends.”
Then, there’s “Noah.” Bass-y and bubbly keys boost scathing lines a la, “he’s a psycho undercover, he memorized The Notebook just to get under your covers” Chances are, you won’t ever think of Ryan Gosling’s character in The Notebook the same way either. “It’s a diss track,” she laughs. “It’s a letter to my past self and to any girl who comes across an LA performative man who I’m just going to name ‘Noah.’ No offense to any nice Noahs out there, but it’s dangerous! There are men out there memorizing dialogue from The Notebook. I had this realization: the character of Noah isn’t actually this awesome, good dude—he’s kind of bad.”
Meanwhile, “Simple Request” came to life during a session with Nate Mercereau. On the track, you’ll hear an ethereal “Eastern harp” plucked by Emei and looped over gentle production. Her words echo in a mantra-style cadence, and she states, “I just want the simple things.” She fittingly describes it as “a magical musical egg we hatched unlike anything either of us have done.”
Night At The Opera is unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Allow Emei to personally welcome you to the show.
“Right now, I’m the most truthful version of myself,” she leaves off. “The music is fun, ridiculous, and honest. I’m doing exactly what I want to do. During a dark time, I held onto this music for hope. My mental health was at an all-time low this year and I had a hard time seeing when I’d get out of that headspace; 'Bloom' was written during one of those days, and it’s the most desperate and vulnerable version of me so far. I hope you know there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Even when you’re struggling, there’s always something to dance to.”
