How Emilia Went From Being a Local Favorite to Becoming An International Star
At 10, Emilia wrote her first song and made it her mission to earn some cash by performing the song for her friends and family.
The 24 year old Argentine artist says, “It was a silly song, as you can imagine. But every time there was a dinner or a gathering in our house, I would bring out my guitar and perform it. Then I’d pass around my little hat so people could pay up.”
Growing up in a small city in the province of Entre Ríos in Argentina, Emilia never imagined she would ever perform outside of her house, forget make a living off a career in music. “Back then, it was a hobby,” she told Billboard during an interview. “But I loved it regardless. It filled me.”
The artist gives majority of the credit to her grandfather, who taught her how to play the guitar at a young age and in addition to that having grown up in a household that listened to a wide range of music genres only fueled her passion for music. But even then, she took a different route. After high school, she pursued a career in literature, although she quickly realized that it wasn’t for her so she started thinking seriously about going into music. “I wanted a job in music, whatever that looked like. I just knew I wanted to be surrounded by it.”
Her first big break came when a producer discovered her cover songs on Instagram. “He invited me to join this band called Rombai and so I did, and that was my first industry job. Everything was new, going on tours, people asking for photos on the street. It was a new world for me.”
A world she’d stay in, next branching out as a solo artist after a two-year stint with cumbia-pop group Rombai form 2016 to 2018. Soon after, she went to Miami with the money she had saved from her time with the band to record some music that reached her now-manager, Walter Kolm, and Sony Music Latin — with whom she signed management and recording deals, respectively, in 2019.
“It was an incredible and beautiful moment in my career, because these two powerhouses were betting on me and my project,” she says. “I mean, Walter is a renowned manager and a great businessman, so for him to want to be my manager and to be the only woman on his roster was really special.”
While she has yet to drop her debut album, Emilia has released a handful of urban-leaning singles in collaboration with established artists. Talking about her collaborations Emilia said, “I love how we’ve embraced collaborations because they truly are magical when it comes to giving you exposure in places you thought you could never reach. For example, when I collaborated with Boza, many people didn’t know me in Panama, but they did after we sang together. And same thing happened with him getting new recognition in Argentina.”
For now, Emilia promises to release more singles in anticipation of her first album, which could drop before the year ends, according to the artist.
-Aditi
