The musician-slash-DJ is known for introspective dance music that brings the house down.
On her debut, she went searching for herself.
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InYaejis home, everything has its place.
(Shes pretty straight edge, though.)
Yaeji comes from a family of collectors and believes in the mysticism of objects.
She keeps it with her because her grandfather gave it to her as a safety charm.
It literally functions as nothing, but I carry it around with me, she says.
I have a hard time letting go.
I gave birth to it.
It was a way to focus her intentions as a musician.
Why are we the ones to always apologize?
she asks on a new track, Fever.
Now Ill just say everything Ive wanted to say.
The lyrical storminess accompanies synth soundscapes that are familiar but have gotten bigger, warmer, and more atmospheric.
Hammer is a manifestation of her anger transmuted into something mythical, adorable, and powerful.
When Yaeji would have been going out to promoteWhat We Drewthat spring, she had to withdraw.
When she finally sat with them, she felt angry.
Althoughangermay not be completely accurate.
I feel like my whole life I didnt understand myself, she says.
Some mean-girls-in-training had devised a game in which they each had their own imaginary fairy.
Yaeji wanted to play too, but they said she couldnt have one.
They were controlling my imagination!
But I followed their rules.
Kids make their own society.
They slut-shamed my fairy!
Music became a place of connection.
The transcendent experience of communion on the dance floor was something Yaeji decided to build her life around.
Shes reluctant to talk much about either, even though theyre her most-streamed songs to date.
Honestly, Im like,Why did I do it?Im not sure, she says of Passionfruit.
It took off, and its still mentioned to this day and then I dont know how to react.
Its slightly cringe of younger self.
I dont really like Drake.
She says she doesnt feel proud of Raingurl, either, exactly.
She looks back and sees a version of herself who couldnt fully articulate her own vision.
Its a nice record of time and record of me at that age, she adds.
She stopped working with Godmode soon after (shes now with XL).
A cozy, friends-are-family vibe became a defining marker of her ethos.
Yaejis writing process is abstract, diaristic, nonlinear, and collaborative messy is how she describes it.
She keeps four journals.
Her handwriting in this book is as neat and small as a line of ants.
One is a schedule book with appointments and meeting times that she also uses to record her meals.
The last is her !
journal, which she bound herself.
These she fills in with a mix of English and Korean, sometimes in the same phrase.
And even if you did, the lyrics retained that quality of a secret softly murmured to oneself.
It turned out he was a fan of hers, too.
He feels like her little brother; she even thinks they look similar.
Yaeji had an idea for a synesthetic collaboration.
Wizard Dog claims the store has anything you could possibly want.
She asks if theres an hourglass nope, it doesnt have that, but anything else!
She then asks, Do you have something that can tame anger?
That is exactly the kind of thing the shop specializes in, replies Wizard Dog.
Animation has always been a source of comfort for Yaeji.
I cant watch real humans.
Thats me being honest.
She doesnt like anything too gory or too sad or too scary.
What she loves are slice-of-life shows likeNichijou literallyEveryday Life which may be one of the sliciest out there.
The emotions are huge, cosmic.
The stakes are life or death!
Much as an adolescent heart might experience them.
The gentle rhythms of this style of anime also allowed her to be kinder to herself.
So thats the power of anger in this album its actually not about smashing things.
She says the line is directed toward her younger self.
And this is the moment I lock eyes with her, and Im like,Youre there.
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