Yaeji was born in Flushing, Queens and lived in New York with her parents till she was 5. They moved around a lot, but Yaeji’s family eventually moved back to South Korea when she entered the third grade. Yaeji made it back to the States when she enrolled in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University to study painting and conceptual art – Much of her visual art still makes an appearance in her music videos, live sets, and more.
Yaeji’s songwriting is funny and deeply introspective, tackling topics including Korean identity, mental health, therapy, and the tyranny of makeup and skincare culture. She sings in a mix of Korean and English, paying attention to how languages sound – creating rhythms with their cadence of consonants.
“What’s nice about being a DJ and an artist at the same time is that it’s pretty much a platform where I’m given an hour to showcase all my favorite songs, and I can play really different stuff without having to stick to type. That gives people an understanding of where I’m coming from that’s deeper than just my production. And it’s always changing.”
You’d probably recognize her hit “Raingurl”, but we at Life is Beautiful recommend you check out “WAKING UP DOWN” and “WHEN I GROW UP” from her latest album.