As one of the many millennials who joined TikTok during quarantine, I actually saw Emily’s videos on my for you page. I had no idea she was also singer-songwriter, but am so glad to have discovered her. In the mix of my favorite artists releasing new music, it’s been so refreshing to find other minority and female artists creating the upbeat pop music I crave. Her latest, “Weekend” is just that. It’s catchy and so relatable. So stoked to be able to interview Emily and talk about her Asian American influence and music.
Emily, tell me about the single, "Weekend.
Emily: My new single "WEEKEND" is about falling for someone and growing immense feelings as time goes by but in the end they don't feel as strongly as you did for them and it kind of seems like you made the "relationship" bigger than what it really was.
Your TikTok resume is very impressive - did you expect it to take off that quickly?
Emily: I never expected my TikTok to blow up like that. It didn't happen overnight though, I was always steadily growing more supporters but then I made a cover to J Boog's "Let's Do It Again" and that cover changed my life forever.
What's your songwriting process like?
Emily: My songwriting process differs based on who I'm working with. When I work by myself, I tend to sit on a piano grinding out really cool chords I hear and at the same time I’ll just start humming melodies and saying the first thing that comes to mind.
As an Asian American too, I want to know how do you navigate and find your own sound as an artist?
Emily: Trying to find my sound has been very difficult, not going to lie, but at this point in my career I've been experimenting with a lot of different genres to see what really sticks with me. I'm not trying to stay in one lane and hope that that's the type of music people expect me to make. I wanna be different and the best way to do that for me is to try everything out and see what I really like.
What are you most excited for this year?
Emily: Something I'm most excited about this year has definitely got to be releasing a full-length project. I don't have details yet about when exactly it will be happening, but I am hoping to believe an EP before the end of the year!
Follow Emily on Instagram and Spotify and of course Tik Tok.
Samantha Fong
"At 15 years old, I begged my mom to take me to Walmart to get Taylor Swift's debut deluxe album and I never turned back. This was my very first entry point to stan fandom. Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee I was exposed to a ton of music - from rapping 3 6 Mafia to bopping to Justin Timberlake's solo discography. Now, in LA have a day job working in nonprofit development, but by night, I'm a full-fledged fangirl. I'll listen to generally any genre, but I'm a sucker for a good pop song. If you ever need someone to scream sing Carly Rae Jepsen's E·MO·TION with, I'm your girl. No, I still have not gotten over the One Direction hiatus. Please continue to respect my privacy. Twitter : samfonggg, Instagram : samantha_fong"
