Before Emei became an all-star songwriter she started developing an overwhelming stage presence through her experience competing on Chinese Idol at the young age of 15, where she would place third after long months of performing in front of packed crowds. Her music slowly started cropping up across Chinese music platforms, culminating with an appearance on Dancing with the Stars of China.
The pandemic didn’t put a halt to her plans, on the contrary, it brought new opportunities like it did many rising artists, especially after she started posting her work on American platforms and quickly gaining press notoriety right after.
Don’t you hate it when people try to take back the messed up things they’ve said? Emei does too.
Tell me I’m always like this
When everything gets a little quiet
You didn’t have to and then you said it
And now it’s out there and you can’t take it
Some things you can’t un-say, just as wounds can’t simply be undone. This is what Emei’s “Backtrack” so powerfully emblazoned to my ears the very moment I hit play. It is an anthem that speaks directly to those hurt as well as those who’ve done the hurting, but it doesn’t stop there, I think it goes way beyond and it takes a swing against toxicity and abuse as well in a way that you can only describe as righteous and badass.
Described at times as a “Viral Alt-Pop artist”, Emei seems able to move about and cross the genre borders with ease to bring back powerful sounds and just the right vibe to get her message across. Her millions of plays and streams across Instagram and TikTok testify to her great ability to tap into that instantaneous enthralling potential that many aspire to, but very few can muster naturally, especially so early into her career.
“Backtrack” is a very significative release for Emei, who marks the “end of an era” for the artist who is moving on from her pop-rock “period” with this song as a sendoff. What the future holds for Emei’s sound only a few are truly privy to, but there’s no doubt it’ll be a great step in the right direction for an artist packing so much talent and such a verifiably strong work ethic. With over a decade worth of stage presence and her viral-prone social media presence, Emei has set her sights on evolving as a musician and the diehard fans rallied behind her will follow.
