With rock star good looks and a clutch of international music awards, pop singer Emin's star continues to rise both at home and overseas.
His new album, MORE AMOR, is set for a March 2015 release, and will combine the best of Emin's current music, hits from his past CD's, and a few new tracks.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Emin moved with his family to Russia at the age of four. "We moved from a small apartment in Baku to an even smaller one in Moscow," says the singer. Once settled in their new country, Emin’s father began to make a name for himself in business which would lead to one of Russia's most impressive business empires, Crocus Group.
As a young boy Emin was sent to study in Europe which was later followed by a move to the America's East Coast. It was around this time that Emin began to discover his passion for music. At the age of 11, his mother bought him a cassette of early Elvis recordings, not realizing how it would change her son's life.
"I basically learned English from Elvis," Emin recalls. "Even at the time I knew it was old fashioned for someone my age to listen to Elvis, but there was something in his music that spoke to me. I translated all his songs – "Hound Dog," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Love Me Tender"– into Russian and began to get a feel for how songs were built."
Emin continued to hone and perfect his music throughout high school and recorded a full Russian album when he was 17. "It was a great learning experience, but I hope no one ever hears it," he laughs now.
Following university, Emin joined his family business, yet never lost his desire to pursue music. In 2006, he recorded his first English language album, STILL. The debut effort was well received and gave him the confidence to release three more albums over the next three years: INCREDIBLE (2007), OBSESSION (2008) and DEVOTION (2009).
In 2010, Emin relocated to London to work with Brian Rawling, an internationally acclaimed producer, who has worked with superstars David Bowie, Cher, Kylie Minogue and Lionel Ritchie. Rawling immediately recognized Emin's talent as a vocalist and songwriter.
Their first collaboration was the album WONDER (2010) which became a Radio 2 Album of the Week.
The follow up to WONDER was the album AFTER THE THUNDER which produced two Radio 2 Singles of the Week,"Obvious" and "Any Time You Fall." Two further singles, "Walk Through Walls" and "Baby Get Higher," received significant air play on Heart FM and Magic FM along with top 40 UK radio play.
Rawling also helped Emin realize his songwriting opportunities."It was Brian who suggested I write with other artists and that opened the doors to some really exciting collaborations," says Emin, who would go onto co-write with such notable as Rob Davies (Kylie Minogue's "Can’t Get You Out of My Head"), Jamie Scott (One Direction’s "Story of My Life") and Paul Barry "Cher's "Believe," Enrique Iglesias's "Bailamos" and "Hero").
In 2014 Emin spent much of his time in the US recording his album, AMOR, and signed a worldwide publishing contract with Sony ATV. At the same time he signed a worldwide deal with Warner Music.
Like other artists working in two languages, Emin has developed parallel careers, racking up hits and picking up awards in Russia. Recently Emin won a Golden Gramophone, the Russian Grammy, for his single which translates in English as "Live Better Than Anyone," from his debut Russian language album, NA KRAU. Emin also scored his first #1 in Ukraine with his duet featuring Svetlana Loboda, "Smortrish v Nebo."
"It’s like having a double career," Emin explains. "My Russian songs are very different from my English songs. And that’s cool because it gives me the ability to have more angles to my music."
Emin's new album, MORE AMOR has the singer exploring yet new avenues: from a Maroon 5 style vibe on "Boomerang" to the more organic sound of""Woman" to the lush ballad of Jamie Scott's ballad,"Footsteps."
In June 2014, Emin flew to Monte Carlo to perform and receive a World Music Award for Best Artist Azerbaijan. Emin appeared on stage that night alongside Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Flo Rida and Ricky Martin.
Also in 2014 Emin performed internationally with shows and promo visits as diverse as the Philippines, Brazil, Germany, Spain and France. He ended the year with his biggest ever live concerts, playing to more than 25,000 fans in Moscow, Baku and St. Petersburg.
In November 2013, EMIN performed to nearly a billion TV viewers, in 160 countries, during the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Surrounded by some of the world’s most beautiful women, he wowed the audience with "In Another Life" and "Amor." The music video for "Amor" was shot in Los Angeles and co-stars Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo, and has received to date five and a half million YouTube views!
In 2012 Emin was asked to be guest performer at the Eurovision Song Contest, Europe’s best known and largest singing competition – with a TV audience of over 200 million.
A few months later he opened for Jennifer Lopez at her sell-out concert in Baku’s Crystal Hall. The event was attended by 25,000 fans. "I was thrilled to share the stage with one of the most talented and successful performers in the world," says Emin.
Emin's media appearances include BBC Breakfast, Extra, ITV's Daybreak, Fox, Entertainment Tonight, Pro 7, The Today Show, E!, among others. He's been featured in The Sunday Times, The Sun, Bilt, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, GQ, Esquire, Ok!, among others.
As 2015, begins Emin is preparing for a major European tour this spring, which will see him visit Spain, France, England, Germany, Holland, and Ireland promoting his new album, MORE AMOR. |