Meet Eri Blossom | Singer, Rapper and Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eri Blossom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eri, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
One of my themes as an artist is feminism. I would like to share my honest thoughts and experiences as a Japanese woman through my music. I recently released a single called ” Breakthrough”. Will Smith’s incident at the Academy Awards inspired me to write this song. I saw some messages on Twitter (Current X) by Japanese people (including women) that supported Mr. Smith. I was shocked that feminism in Japan is way behind. People still treat women like children. The craziest part is women accept it. Through the song, I would like to present a new way of being a Japanese woman and break the stereotype of Japanese women. I hope to convey this message to Japanese women but also share with the world what’s going on with us.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The situation with COVID made me rethink how I can share my music and helped me to start creating my own music. Since then, creating music has allowed me to have a conversation with my artistic self.

I was born and raised in Japan and moved to NYC in 2014. When I lived in Japan, I always felt like an outsider because my assertive personality never met the ideal of a Japanese woman. I felt worthless, which made me think that I must conform. But after I moved to NYC, my personality became stronger which allowed me to increase my self-acceptance and enjoy myself. This experience made me confident in myself and encouraged me to make music to share my stories.
But recently I realized that this experience also made me deny the Japanese side in myself and tried to be someone else.

Actually, I wrote music only in English when I started. But when I wrote my recent single “Breakthrough”, I thought that I had to write the song in both Japanese and English and include Japanese sounds since I wanted to talk about Japan. This has allowed me to access Japanese side of myself which makes me feel authentic and unique as an artist. Also, it’s been helping me to accept who I really am and makes me feel grateful for my background.
So, I’m excited to see how this seed will grow and bloom in the future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Actually, when I moved to NYC, I visited LA to see my friends. My favorite spot in LA is Getty Center. I’m into Van Gogh and Monet which brought me to the museum. I remember that it was a quiet adventure for me. I asked people to make sure how I can get there and was impressed how nice people were in LA. They were super friendly! I took a bus in the states for the first time and learned that I had to pull the yellow string to make a stop. I had a great time in the museum and saw a beautiful sunset from the roof. Getty Center is the place that I want to visit again if I have a chance.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My recognition would be for an amazing singer, an inspiring artist. the sweetest human being and my vocal teacher Nicki Richards. She is like the sunshine in the spring and turned up the lights showing me how I can grow as an artist. Since I started working with her, I have been discovering my authenticity as an artist. I can’t wait to see how it’ll bloom! Also, I would like to say thank you for her support, love and encouragement especially when I had a hard time in my personal life. I feel so lucky to have her in my life.

Website: https://www.eriblossom.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eriblossomnyc/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eriblossomnyc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eriblossomnyc/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkGP4OkM2KTgm_0-J4rG1dg

Other: Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/4iZy7Pviur9jHrITOrC2UH?si=Wd7sGn7hQOidzJLP4QPdZA
Apple music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/eri-blossom/1574618789
Her 2nd single “Breakthrough” https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/eriblossom/breakthrough

Image Credits
Sophia Elizabeth, Jules Miranda