Umru

Umru Rothenberg was born on April 2, 1999 in New York City to a Jewish father,^[5] music and philosophy professor David Rothenberg,^[6] and an Estonian mother who is an artist.^[7] He was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he still lives today.^[2] He played the drums in middle school and took up music production after becoming a fan of various electronic music producers such as Mr. Carmack, Sam Gellaitry, and Cashmere Cat.^[8] He performed regularly in Brooklyn music clubs prior to being noticed by record labels.^[9]

Umru spent much of his teenage years connecting with other DJs and music producers via the Internet.^[2] His first remixes were uploaded via SoundCloud. In 2018, he was discovered by record executive A. G. Cook and recruited via email to work with his record label, PC Music. He later worked on British singer Charli XCX's then-upcoming mixtape Pop 2,^[10] from which he has a production credit on the song "I Got It", widely considered to be his breakthrough single.^[2] His production on that mixtape gained him many sponsorships and requests to work on more releases from the label. He shortly after appeared on a compilation album by the record label which featured many other alternative and experimental music artists such as Cook, Dorian Electra, Alice Longyu Gao, Shigecki, Himera, Riley the Musician and Cecile Believe.

In 2022, he released another collaborative single via PC Music along with artists from the label. In 2024, he released the collaborative single "Records" with fellow PC Music artist Chase Icon.

He is a frequent collaborator with various artists from the hyperpop scene, such as Gupi and Fraxiom from Food House, Alice Longyu Gao, Ninajirachi, Chase Icon and Petal Supply.^[2]

Although his sound is often labeled as hyperpop, Umru prefers not to be labelled with any specific music genres,^[2] or rather simply as a pop musician. Allison Harris from Ringtone Mag called his music "so fascinating", stating that a few of his songs portray "a sense of vulnerability" and that "[he’s] driven by creating something completely unique, although he does cite what he refers to as “obvious influences” to his music, one of them being the legendary SOPHIE".^[11]

Aside from his musical projects, Umru has also been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian liberation movement in the United States. In 2023 he, along with other musicians, pulled his music from German streaming platform HÖR after its apparent censorship of clothing and other depictions of support for Palestine in the midst of the resurging Israel-Palestine Conflict.^[12] He has also performed at several charity events supporting Palestinians, raising funds for mutual aid and a variety of other services.^[13] In 2025, he signed a pro-Palestine petition from Artists Against Apartheid after the cancellation of a Kehlani concert due to her vocal opposition to the Palestinian genocide.^[14][15][16]