Qualicum Beach hip-hop and pop artist Martin Rupprecht, known by his stage name 'Amarii', is looking forward to the release of his debut single later this month.
'Play Me Again' was one of five songs written and recorded while Rupprecht was in Montreal for a recording session and it is a personal song, he said.
"It’s about heartbreak, at the same time as about empowerment," he said. "Like a relationship I had with a girl where everything was going so well and all of a sudden, she just wasn’t into it anymore and I felt like I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rupprecht noticed the song was gaining more and more traction on social media, so it made sense to select it as the first single for his upcoming EP.
“I’m building a fan base with it, people are wanting the song," he said.
Once in the studio in Montreal with producers, 'Play Me Again' came together fairly quickly, with the chorus being written in around 45 minutes, Rupprecht said.
“I remember from the moment we made it, the chorus was just so special and we knew it was like something right off the bat," he said. "I think it’s honestly my favourite song off the album."
He wrote a further seven songs during a second week of sessions in Toronto in May.
“When I’m feeling inspired and something real happens in my life, my creativity boost goes like through the roof and I’m able to produce like a madman,” Rupprecht said with laugh.
He signed with the new record label Kolossal Records, founded by Kayla Diamond, in 2024, and as one of the first artists to sign with Kolossal, he received a mention in an article by Billboard Magazine Canada.
For Rupprecht, writing music is like therapy and he takes a lot of inspiration from his past experiences. He chose the name Amarii because liked the sound of it and appreciated that it means “eternal.”
Before joining Kolossal, he released three singles, including ‘Bad Guy’. That song was featured on a YouTube channel called Promoting Sounds, where it has racked up more than 50,000 views. After that track got approximately 300,000 plays on Spotify, Rupprecht was introduced to his now-manager.
It has been a while since he's performed live, but that will change soon as he plans to play some shows in 2025. He will head back to Toronto for rehearsals and to get a set list prepared.
His advice for anyone interested in pursuing a music career is “just do it, and "practise, practise, practise."
"Put the stuff out there and put it on social media and see what people think,” Rupprecht said. “Creatively, just use your surroundings. Use what’s going on in your life to inspire you.”
'Play Me Again' will be out on Jan. 24 on all streaming services. Rupprecht has completed recording for his first EP, which is being finalized with mixing engineers. Its release date is to be determined.
“It’s the introduction of Amarii," Rupprecht said. "I feel very proud and I feel very excited. I feel anxious, but I believe in this song so much and so does Kayla and so does the whole team.”
