Riri started singing at 4 years old, inspired by American R&B acts such as
Mariah Carey,
Beyoncé and
Whitney Houston. In 2011, she won the
Next Generation Star singing competition hosted by
David Foster. In 2012 she attended The Dream Support Project Award in New York City, making it her first performance in the US. In July 2016, she debuted officially as a singer under The Mic-a-holics Inc., which also manages singer-songwriter
Ai, who produced her first official single, "Gold" and her debut extended play,
I Love to Sing. In 2017, her second EP
Rush was released. In 2018, Riri signed with
Sony Music Japan sublabel Sony Music Associated Records and released her eponymous major label debut studio album. The album was produced by American producers
Brian Soko and
Damon Sharpe, who also worked with
Ariana Grande and Beyoncé. On November 28, 2018, RIRI released her second studio album
Neo. It includes the single "Maybe One Day" and a Japanese cover of
Zedd's song "
Stay". A collaboration song with Japanese R&B singer
Shimizu Shota and American rapper
Saweetie are included on the album as well. On May 22, 2019, Riri released the
Summertime EP which includes the singles, "Summertime" a collaboration with Japanese rappers Keiju and
Nariaki Obukuro, "Luv Luv" which features South Korean rapper
Junoflo and a cover of "
Dilemma" with Japanese rapper JP the Wavy. She also recorded a Japanese version of "
Circle of Life" for the local release of
The Lion King. She was featured in the Japanese dub of
Cats as the voice of
Bombalurina. By the end of 2019, Riri's contract with Sony Music expired, leading to her independently releasing the single "Episode 0" in 2020. On April 7, 2021, Riri released a single titled "Wheel of Fortune", which was composed by her and Uta. On May 26, an English version of the song was released with its own music video. In July 2021, Riri announced her next single, "Luv Déjà vu". It was released on July 21 together with Japanese version of the song. On February 11, 2023, Riri announced a new single, "I Need U”. == Discography ==