UMI is back at Genius, this time to discuss her new song “wherever u r.” The VRon, sagun, Anoop D’Souza & T.Y. Jake produced song also features V from BTS. The comforting and heartfelt song is about loving someone from a distance whether it is a loved one, significant other or a friend. On today’s episode of Verified, find out how the amazing collaboration came about and the special message V for has for his fans while he is in the army.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 V had tagged me on a post 'cause he was sharing my music.
00:03 I reached out and I was like, "Yo, thanks for sharing my music."
00:05 And then I was hanging out with my mom and my mom was like, "You should ask him to make
00:07 a song with you."
00:08 I was like, "What?"
00:09 So I DM him, I'm like, "Yo, I'm a fan of yours.
00:12 We should make a song together."
00:13 I throw my phone across the room 'cause I'm nervous.
00:14 And then a couple hours later, he responds and he's like, "Yeah, let's make music together."
00:19 And "Wherever You Are" was born.
00:27 This song started on June 13th in LA.
00:30 Like a week before the session, I was looking through old family photos.
00:33 I mean, my grandma from Japan, Loki, my grandma raised me.
00:36 So I was thinking about how I hadn't called her in a minute and how I missed her and I
00:41 hope she knows that I love her.
00:42 So I had those lingering feelings going into the studio and I made this song.
00:46 "Looking back on a Sunday, pictures from the past now, sitting all in the basement.
00:54 We should have a conversation.
00:56 I'll call you one, but time moves so fast."
01:02 The songs that hit my heart the most are the ones where I'm brought into the location of
01:07 the song and I'm a very imaginative person.
01:10 So I really just wanted to paint the exact picture of what inspired the song, which was
01:13 me looking through old photos of me and my family from Japan and just feeling like I
01:18 miss them.
01:19 You don't even have to be super specific about it, but I feel like a location allows someone
01:23 to feel it for themselves and take themselves back to a similar memory.
01:40 When I think of "Lessons," I think about just the idea that love is this frequency that
01:44 can be felt no matter the distance, no matter who you are, no matter where you are.
01:48 The love is there, the perfect timing is there, and the connection is there.
01:51 I'm a be wherever you are.
01:59 I'm a be, I'm a be, I'm a be wherever you are.
02:06 Here in your heart, wherever you are.
02:14 I'm a be, I'm a be, I'm a be wherever you are.
02:21 Wherever you are.
02:25 Wherever you are.
02:28 I think I realized how intuitively connected we all are.
02:32 Honestly, when I made this song, because first of all, I could have never predicted that
02:36 V was going to be on the song, but when I made it, I just instantly knew, "Don't finish
02:39 the song.
02:40 Stop with the first verse."
02:41 And he reached out, and then I reached out back.
02:44 Everything's so perfectly aligned that it made me think back at all the other friendships
02:48 and relationships that were just this invisible thread connecting us.
02:52 This timeline I could have never logically figured out that just feels like it's all
02:57 meant to be.
02:58 I think when you let go of control and you just allow people to find you when they're
03:02 meant to find you is when the best moments and creations happen.
03:06 When you're not here, there's some days I feel blue.
03:12 Space in my bed, I still leave for you.
03:16 I overthink real fast now about it.
03:20 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
03:23 What keeps me from overthinking, connecting back to my senses, I'll just start rubbing
03:28 my legs and be like, "Oh yes, I have legs."
03:30 I'll be like, "Okay, my pants are soft."
03:32 Or I'll breathe and I'll feel the air.
03:34 Think about the temperature of the air.
03:36 Think your senses allow you to come back to right now and realize, "Oh, my thoughts
03:39 are just things that are passing.
03:41 I don't have to focus on them."
03:42 Before V left for the Army, I just reached out to him and I was like, "Is there anything
04:02 you want me to share with your fans and with the world on your behalf since you'll be gone?"
04:06 And he sent me this message about how through this song, he wants to remind people that
04:09 I'm always with you through my voice and through my message.
04:12 My love is there.
04:13 And as you listen, know that I'm still right here with you.
04:16 And I just thought that was so perfect.
04:18 And that made me think maybe that's why he picked this song.
04:20 Maybe he knew that's the message he wanted from the beginning.
04:22 When I think about chorus writing, when I think about songwriting, for me, it's not
04:28 a logical process.
04:29 It's a complete feeling-based process.
04:31 If it feels right, it's the right thing.
04:33 I feel like that's the feminine frequency of music making.
04:37 It's from the heart.
04:38 It's heart-centered.
04:39 And so when I was making this hook, I freestyled the whole hook on the mic and I was playing
04:42 around and I was like, "Oh, that note right there, I don't know what about it, but it's
04:46 right."
04:47 And that's what the whole song unfolded was all just, "Does it feel right?
04:50 Does it not feel right?
04:51 If it feels right, go for it."