Yaeji

Kathy Yaeji Lee (Korean: 이예지; RR: I Ye-ji;, born August 6, 1993),^[1] known professionally as Yaeji, is a Korean-American singer, DJ, and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her style blends elements of house music and hip hop with mellow, quiet vocals sung in both English and Korean.^[2]

Early life[]

Kathy Yaeji Lee was born August 6, 1993, in Flushing, Queens, as a single child in a Korean family.^[3] She moved from New York to Atlanta when she was 5, and then to South Korea in the third grade.^[2] While living in South Korea, Yaeji switched between different international schools on a yearly basis, leading her to find friends on the Internet, where she would first discover music.^[3] She also briefly attended school in Japan before moving back to Korea.^[4]

Yaeji eventually moved back to the United States to study conceptual art, East Asian studies, and graphic design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.^[5] She embraced DJing as a hobby while attending Carnegie Mellon, crediting the afterhours electronic music dance party Hot Mass with her "indoctrination into nightlife."^[6][7] Yaeji learned how to use Traktor and began DJing at house parties. She DJed for two years before learning Ableton, making her own music^[8] and debuting on Carnegie Mellon's college radio station WRCT.^[9] Yaeji graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2015.^[4]

Career[]

After graduation, Yaeji moved back to New York City to get involved in the music scene and to DJ.^[8] Her first single, "New York '93", referring to her year of birth, was issued on the New York City label Godmode on February 29, 2016,^[10][11][12] followed by a cover of "Guap" by Australian DJ that May.^[13] She had previously uploaded songs to SoundCloud, although they were removed; this included "Areyouami", which was released when she was at college.^[3]

Her debut eponymous EP, including both prior singles, was released by Godmode on March 31, 2017.^[14]

She began to gain attention following her first Boiler Room session in May 2017, which involved a remix of Drake's single "Passionfruit".^{[15][16][17][3]} The song was later released officially on Godmode's Soundcloud page.^[18]

The first of several stand-alone singles, "Therapy" was issued in July 2017,^[19] followed by a two-track digital single, Remixes, Vol. 1, on August 1^[20] and the "Last Breath" single on August 28.^[21]

The music video for the single "Drink I'm Sippin On" was released on 88rising's YouTube channel in October 2017, quickly gaining over 1 million views in two weeks.^[22]

On November 3, 2017, Yaeji released her second EP, EP2, to positive reviews^[23][24] and moderate commercial success.^[25] The video for "Raingurl" was released on November 16.^[26]

Yaeji was named to the BBC's Sound of 2018 longlist in November 2017.^[27][28] She also performed at the 2018 Coachella Festival.^[29]

In 2021, "Raingurl" made it into New York Times's T magazine Spotify playlist, "Right Here: Asian Women Artists in the West."^[30] She also performed at BRIC's Celebrate Brooklyn! music festival, where she was rushed by fans.^[31]

Personal life[]

Yaeji currently lives in Brooklyn.^[1]

Discography[]

Mixtapes[]

Extended plays[]

Singles[]

As featured artist[]

Remixes[]

Videos[]

• "New York '93" (2016)
• "Guap" (2016)
• "Noonside" (2017)
• "Feel It Out" (2017)
• "Therapy" (2017)
• "Last Breath" (2017)
• "Drink I'm Sippin On" (2017)
• "Raingurl" (2017)
• "One More" (2018)
• "Waking Up Down" (2020)
• "What We Drew 우리가 그려왔던" (2020)

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]

• Official website