Black Artist of The Week: UMI

Seattle native Tierra Umi Wilson, known as UMI is making waves with her new re-released album, Introspection Reimagined. The L.A.-based musician is known for how tranquil her music comes across. UMI’s sound is very reminiscent of Groove Theory’s Amel Larrieux, very soulful with quaint lyricism. She radiates on this new album, making sure every listener feels the intense soul she pacts within every song on this album. The album infuses a live band aligning with her feathery-like vocals. Some singers cannot duplicate the same magic out of the studio when it comes to live music. UMI does not disappoint, in fact, she exceeds well. In the jazz-influenced track, “Pretty Girl Hi Reimagined,” her light tone bleeds into each piano note, becoming one. 

UMI is not afraid of vulnerability. The polish of the studio gone. What’s left is raw, undying talent that UMI possesses. You can hear the authenticity of her voice, regardless if it is perfect. The emotion that pours into this already existed piece of work adds more depth that was never seen before. Revision is a process, and a process that can sometimes equate to failure, but UMI’s revision led to her reimagining a project with more grit. 

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“The process of working on [Introspection] has brought me deeper within myself,” she shares. “A lot of the fine tuning of the project happened during quarantine, so I had a lot more time to be like, what do I even want to say with my music, what do I want people to feel?” UMI told I-D. 

UMI has always been a musically sound individual. “I feel like it’s always been an extension of me. I’ve been singing since I was super little. But I always had really bad stage fright, so no one knew I sang but my family. I’ve been writing songs since I was 4 and I have journals from back then. In high school, I wanted to do music, but started a YouTube channel because I was scared to sing in front of people,” she told COMPLEX.

“I started putting those covers on SoundCloud and eventually I started getting flagged for copyright. I was at two strikes and I was like, “You know what? This is the universe telling me to start putting out original music.” Then I just took some songs from all my journals and started producing my own stuff and playing guitar and putting that on SoundCloud and YouTube, and over time it’s grown. It’s always been in my family because my mom’s a pianist and my dad’s a drummer,” she continued. 

UMI has also used her music to be in tune with spirituality. Self-awareness and spirituality are consistent themes in her music. In a Pigeons and Planes interview in 2020, she expressed the more self-aware she becomes, the more authentic her music is. She states, to be more in touch with herself with each project creation. 

 

 

 

 

 

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In a Bright Life UMI said, “To me, being a musician is the most fulfilling passion in the entire world. Making music enhances my self-awareness because it allows me to better understand my own feelings and express those emotions/thoughts to those around me in a very authentic way. I also feel so connected to people when I make music because I can shift people’s moods, feelings, thoughts through my songs. It’s powerful!.”