Yezi

This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Yezi

Yezi in 2015
Background information
Birth name Lee Ye-ji
Born (1994-08-26) August 26, 1994
Gangneung, South Korea
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • dancer
Instruments Vocals, Rapping
Years active 2012–present
Labels LOEN Entertainment
Associated acts Fiestar
Korean name
Hangul 이예지
Hanja 利礼智
Revised Romanization I Ye-ji
McCune–Reischauer Yi Ye-chi
Stage name
Hangul 예지
Revised Romanization Ye-ji
McCune–Reischauer Ye-chi

Lee Ye-ji (born August 26, 1994),[1][2] better known by her stage name Yezi, is a South Korean idol rapper, singer and dancer. She debuted as a member of girl group Fiestar in 2012. Yezi was a semi-finalist on Unpretty Rapstar 2 in 2015, during which she released several singles. Her debut solo maxi single, Foresight Dream, was released on January 28, 2016.

Early life and career

Yezi was born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province and grew up there. She was a student at Kang Won-rae Dance School and learned dancing from Clon.[3] She traveled four hours to Seoul every weekend to perform as a backup dancer for singers such as Park Mi-kyung and Hong Kyung-min.[4] Her parents were originally against her working in the entertainment industry, but changed their minds when they saw how much Yezi was advancing, and she moved to Seoul in her second year of middle school.[5]

Yezi auditioned at LOEN Entertainment after one of their trainees saw her videos posted on Cyworld. The videos were the two most popular on the social network at the time, and showed Yezi singing and dancing.[6] Yezi became interested in rap while listening to female rapper Yoon Mi-rae.[6] After training at LOEN for three years, she debuted in the new girl group Fiestar in August 2012.[7][8]

Solo career

In September 2015, it was announced that Yezi was part of the lineup of Mnet's Unpretty Rapstar 2. The show is the second season of the television series, Unpretty Rapstar, a competition for female rappers.[9] She was initially disliked by viewers because she kept asking others to repeat themselves; it was later revealed she told Mnet staff her hearing is "not that good".[10] She then criticized the show's producers in her freestyle rap,[11] which was edited out and not broadcast. Yezi became popular with viewers after her bold performance of "Crazy Dog" in the third episode.[12][13] She was eliminated in episode eight, but returned for the semi-final after winning a revival round.

Two of Yezi's performances were released as singles during the show: "Solo (Remix)" (featuring Jay Park and Loco) and "Listen Up" (featuring Hanhae). Both songs charted on the Gaon Digital Chart, at numbers 16 and 27, respectively.[14][15] Yezi was not well-known as a member of Fiestar, and had significantly more public recognition after Unpretty Rapstar.[13][16] She stated: "Before the show, people were like 'I think I saw her somewhere', but now people recognize me immediately, even if I'm not wearing my performance clothes."[13] Her fans appreciated her "fierce" rapping style and "bad girl" image.[17][18]

Yezi pre-released a new version of "Crazy Dog" on December 11, 2015. It was produced by Rhymer of Brand New Music and features San E, one of the judges on Unpretty Rapstar.[17] Her debut maxi single, Foresight Dream, was released on January 28, 2016. It was produced by Rhymer and has four songs, including "Cider", which was promoted on various music shows.[19] Another song, "Sse Sse Sse", features fellow contestants Gilme, KittiB and Ahn Soo-min.[16]

In 2016, Yezi released a promotional single titled "Z-Noid" for the game Counter-Strike Online and also filmed a music video.

Yezi also featured on the soundtrack for Wanted (South Korean TV series) in a song titled "Shadow" alongside Jung Chae-yeon.

Discography

Maxi single

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[20]
Foresight Dream 19
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
KOR
[22]
"Such a Woman"
(Zia featuring Yezi)		 2014 — After 11 Days
"Don't Stop"
(Unpretty Rapstar 2 contestants)		 2015 17 Unpretty Rapstar 2 Compilation
"Solo (Remix)"
(featuring Jay Park and Loco)		 16
"Listen Up"
(featuring Hanhae)		 27
"Crazy Dog"
(featuring San E)		 45 Foresight Dream
"Cider" 2016 50
"Chase"
(featuring Babylon)		 108 Non-album single
"Shadow" (collaboration with Jung Chaeyeon) Wanted OST Part 3
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

References

  1. ↑ Kim Ji-yeon (January 18, 2016). "[인터뷰] 예지 "갓예지? 미친개예지로 불러달라"". enews24 (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "피에스타 – My name is 차오루, 예지" [Fiestar – My name is Cao Lu, Yezi]. TenAsia (in Korean). September 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Seo Byeong-gi (December 15, 2015). "'언프리티 랩스타2'참가 '피에스타' 예지…"나 자신에 막말…솔직해서 시원하대요"". Herald Business (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ Jang Mi-ran (March 9, 2016). "'주간아이돌' 예지 "과거 홍경민 박미경 댄서출신"" ['Weekly Idol' Yezi "In the past, backup dancer for Hong Kyung-min and Park Mi-kyung"]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  5. ↑ "A Reversal of Six Personalities. Let's play, FIESTAR!". HIM (in Korean). Seoul, South Korea. November 2012 – via Daily Kpop News.
  6. 1 2 Lee Min-ji (January 2, 2016). "Yezi Says She Hopes 2016 Will Be Fiestar′s Year". Newsen. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  7. ↑ Gil Hye-jeong (December 7, 2015). "예지 "'언프리티랩스타2', 후회없이 해보고 싶었다"(인터뷰①)" [Yezi, "I wanted to go all out with no regrets in 'Unpretty Rapstar 2'"]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ Ho, Stewart (August 31, 2012). "[Video] Fiestar Drops Debut MV for 'Vista' Featuring JYJ's Kim Junsu". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Won Ho-jung (September 8, 2015). "'Unpretty Rapstar' presents Vol. 2 with 11 rappers". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ Jo Eun-mi (October 3, 2015). "'악마의 편집' 셀프 인증한 엠넷 '언프리티 랩스타'" [Mnet acknowledges 'Devil's editing' on 'Unpretty Rapstar']. Insight (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  11. ↑ Lee, Madeleine (December 1, 2015). "2015 Was Korean Rap's Breakthrough Year". Noisey. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  12. ↑ Yi, Yoonjung (December 4, 2015). "FIESTAR Yezi to Release New Track 'Crazy Dog' Before Official Solo Debut". BNT News. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Kim Yena (December 17, 2015). "[bnt interview] 'Crazy Dog' Yezi, "No Regrets"". BNT News. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ "2015년 42주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. October 15, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  15. ↑ "2015년 48주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. November 26, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Won Ho-jung (January 29, 2016). "[Album Review] Yezi goes hard on solo debut". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  17. 1 2 "'Unpretty Rapstar' Yezi to drop 'Crazy Dog' featuring SanE". K-Pop Herald. December 9, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  18. ↑ Yi, Yoonjung (December 11, 2015). "Fiestar Yezi to Release 'Crazy Dog' Prior to Her Solo Debut!". BNT News. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  19. ↑ Lee, JinHo (January 28, 2016). "Super Junior′s Ryeowook and Fiestar′s Yezi to Fly Solo on ′M COUNTDOWN′ Today (1-28)". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  20. ↑ "2016년 05주차 Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. February 11, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ "2016년 02월 Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. March 2016. p. 2. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Gaon Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2016.
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