Jessi revealed in a raw interview about feeling like a fish out of water when it comes to Korean culture as a Korean-American and how that feeling of being the new kid on the block has not faded away.
Lucky J’s Jessi is currently appearing on Mnet’s battle of the female MC’s on ‘Unpretty Rapstar’, Jessi gave a raw interview to Newsen about her struggle to adapt while living in Korea.
One of the questions during the interview was why did she leave Korea and revealed, “I took a long break. When I went to America after wrapping up promotions with Life is Good, I was on the verge of giving up because I was struggling so much.” Showcasing the other side of the spectrum about debuting and that’s the artist that struggle with gaining success. Jessi explained further, “Later, I returned to Korea with a firm determination and changed my name because I wanted to start fresh. I wanted to start again from the beginning. I wanted to change everything from head to toe, including music and rap. However, even though I wanted to go for the innocent look, I couldn’t change my intense appearance.”
Jessi first came on to the music scene in 2005 with her debut single album ‘Get Up.’ Jessi promoted under the name‘Jessica H.O,’ but after promoting ‘Life is Good’ from her album ‘The Rebirth,‘ which was released in January of 2009, she made her back home to the States, where she grew up. Since then, Jessi joined the rookie hip-hop group Lucky J in July 2014, and released the song ‘Can You Hear Me‘ resuming promotions in Korea with a new name but same persona.
Jessi showed a very relatable side of her, when she went more in depth about doing promotions Korea, she revealed that during that time she experienced intense turbulence that made her decide on whether or not she would go on as a singer.
“I struggled the most with the Korean culture. Since I lived in America for a long time, I frequently traveled back and forth. So I faced many misunderstanding and it was tough living in Korea alone without a family. I was lonely and missed my parents. I think that’s why I left Korea.”
Jessi humbly spoke about how ‘Unpretty Rapstar’ changed how she saw herself as an artist and you can sense that she is now feeling that she is reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, “At the time, people didn’t take my personality or my music very well. People didn’t listen to my music back then, but I was so surprised when people liked me on Unpretty Rapstar. The public’s response was not like this before. I think many things have changed.”
Jessi is finally getting the recognition that she never thought she’d see and overcoming that defeatist attitude when it comes to herself as an artist. Jessi’s next move is nothing like her intimidating image on the show, but a daughter any parent could hope for, “Although I grew up in America, I want to be successful in Korea because I’m Korean. And I would like to buy a really big house for my parents. Since my parents went through a lot, I would like to buy them a big house so they can live without having to work.”
Jessi is very inspiring, and I hope she does get the recognition she deserves. She is talented and female MCs are a rare breed, so I feel she is important. Her intense image reflects her outlook that she has to be tough and just go through life headfirst, it’s not an intimidating, but survival mindset.
Source: Mwave
Edited by: KareBare
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