SW 2019: Yaeji

Kathy Yaeji Lee, better known mononymously as Yaeji, is a Korean-American singer, producer, director, and visual artist who will be performing on Friday of Spring Weekend 2019. While she was born in Queens (as referenced by her first single "New York '93"), her family relocated to Atlanta and then South Korea by third grade. For most of her young life, Yaeji found herself moving on an almost-annual basis, leading her to develop long term friendships and relationships over the internet where they would be unaffected by her changing schools. This is also where she first discovered music.Yaeji graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University in 2015 after studying conceptual art, graphic design, and East Asian Studies, though her college experience also involved two years of being a DJ for house parties and the undergraduate radio station. The interplay between music and visual art is a major part of her overall process, as Yaeji frequently creates, produces, and directs her own music videos, and she cites much the inspiration for her music being "anything visual that [she] saw growing up".Yaeji's music career first reached notoriety after releasing her debut EP (aptly named EP) with the label GODMODE in early 2017. This was then followed by a Boiler Room session in which her remix of Drake's "Passionfruit" achieved general acclaim. Later in 2017, her second EP (again, aptly named EP2) was met with widespread positive reviews. After releasing music videos for the main singles, Yaeji was placed on BBC's Sounds of 2018 list and performed at Coachella 2018.Her music tends to be somewhat inter-genre, playing with house beats and bass with hip-hop hooks and lyrics. Her unconventional lyricisms serve as excellent framing for her production, frequently using multiple languages, gentle speaking, and poetic descriptions of the liminal headspace of party culture. The words of the songs counterbalance her frequently-infectious baselines and pounding drums, though both easily underscore her excellent usage of electronic music techniques (through synthesizers and autotune) to create complex and compelling musical narratives.Yaeji is best known for the club smash "raingurl", a song which she describes as dealing with "inner dialogue vs outer attitude" that happens when someone (especially an introvert) is in a loud, thumping nightclub. The music video is also visually exciting and, as with a large number of her music videos, DIY self-directed using her friends and personal artistic skills.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3T8KznhThQ[/embed] From the same album, Yaeji also released "Passionfruit", a low-key ambient remix of Drake's song by the same name. Less of a "party anthem" than "raingurl", this chill vibe could easily be your favorite version of the two. Drake wishes he could![embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45fsJdjN4M[/embed] Finally, Yaeji most recent release since EP2 (which contained "raingurl" and "passionfruit") is "One More", another house jam that strongly showcases Yaeji's love for the usage of both Korean and English lyrics. Driven by murmured words and a thumping beat, "One More" has a lot of thematic and musical consistency with her other work about the dualities of party culture.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIDDfl5nUiM[/embed]Yaeji is second in the lineup for Friday (tonight), so make sure you see her performance and show some love for her art!Images via