• Source: Hemlocke Springs

Isimeme "Naomi" Udu (born November 16, 1998), known professionally as Hemlocke Springs (stylized in all lowercase), is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first gained prominence for her self-produced song "Girlfriend" achieved viral popularity on video-sharing platform TikTok in 2022. Udu later released her debut extended play (EP), Going...Going...Gone!, on September 29, 2023.




Early life and education


Isimeme Udu was born to two Nigerian immigrant parents on November 16, 1998, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nicknamed "Naomi" by her parents, she grew up in Concord alongside her brother, a musician and SoundCloud producer. In her sophomore year of high school, Udu took a choir course and met a classmate who taught her to create music using GarageBand.
Udu graduated from Spelman College with a bachelor's degree in biology in 2021. Two years later, she graduated with a master's degree in medical informatics from Dartmouth College.




Career






= 2021–present: Career beginnings

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While studying at Darthmouth College in 2021, Udu released various unnamed songs on SoundCloud, only to quickly remove them. The next year, she "wanted to get rid of that feeling of embarrassment" and uploaded a demo called "Jacob" under the name Hemlocke Springs. Afterwards, the artist self-produced and independently released her debut song "Gimme All Ur Luv" on May 24, 2022. The song was later named as "the best bedroom pop" song by Complex and gained over a million streams through audio streaming service Spotify. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Udu says she wrote the song during a period of depression at the school, thought about deleting the song, and then woke up to see that Grimes had commented on the track.
While working as a librarian at her university, she shared snippets of her second song on TikTok, which achieved viral popularity. "Girlfriend" was shortly released on November 2 and surpassed one million streams on Spotify with music critics and fans calling it an "awkward Black girl anthem." Hemlocke Springs told People she felt "so honored" and yet "still confused" for the song's success.
In January 2023, the artist was named one of the "essential emerging artists" by New Musical Express (NME) for her "bright and breezy bangers". Later that month, Hemlocke Springs released her third song, "Stranger Danger!", a critique of capitalism. Throughout the months of May to August, she began working with English record producer Burns and released three more songs. Her first festival performance occurred on July 21 at the Adult Swim Festival for the annual entertainment event San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). "Enknee1" was released a month later with the artist announcing her debut extended play (EP) named Going...Going...Gone!, released on September 29, 2023. Pitchfork praised and described Hemlocke Springs' music aesthetics as "kitschy and yearning", where every song of the EP "can be imagined in a different scene" from a 1980s romantic comedy film.
While touring around in North America and Europe, the artist was invited to be an opening act for Muna's Life's So Fun Tour (2023) at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. In the wintertime, Hemlocke Springs was announced as an opening act for American rapper Ashnikko's Weedkiller Tour in Europe. She was later featured in the "Class of 2024: Gold Standard" issue with other artists, published by DIY.
On January 30, 2024, the singer announced she would be an opening act for the European leg of Doja Cat's second concert tour, The Scarlet Tour.




Artistry


Udu's style distinctly draws from lo-fi music and indie pop. With the release of "Girlfriend", Heven Haile from Pitchfork described the song as "an ideal rom-com song" that "channels the bratty bravado of Family Jewels-era Marina and the springy falsetto of Kate Bush". Many of Udu's fans compared her debut song to Canadian singer Grimes' style, with Grimes also commenting on it.




= Inspiration

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In her middle school years, Springs was influenced by many EDM artists, primarily Swedish artist Avicii and his 2011 song "Levels". Udu also draws inspiration from many K-pop artists and groups. In an interview with Alternative Press, she claimed she came up with her stage name from a random name generator and added the letter "e" to the end of "Hemlock" in honor of New Zealand singer Lorde.




Discography






= Extended plays

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= Singles

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= Music videos

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Tours






= Supporting

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Muna – Life's So Fun Tour (2023)
Ashnikko – Weedkiller Tour (2023)
Doja Cat – The Scarlet Tour (2024)




Filmography






= Podcasts

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Accolades






= Listicles

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See also


List of Dartmouth College alumni
List of people from North Carolina
List of Spelman College people




Footnotes






References






Further reading


Taylor, Henrietta (September 18, 2023). "One to Watch: Hemlocke Springs". The Guardian. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
Hess, Tobias (November 29, 2023). "Hemlocke Springs Isn't Daydreaming Anymore". Paper. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
Brown, August (April 10, 2024). "The U.S. might ban TikTok. Record labels are cutting ties. What's music's Plan B?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 22, 2024.




External links


Official website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Hemlocke Springs
• The Scarlet Tour
• Going...Going...Gone!
• 2020s in music
• Burns (musician)
• All Things Go Music Festival
• Scarlet (Doja Cat album)
• List of Lollapalooza lineups by year
• List of Spelman College people
• Life's So Fun Tour