Jessi

Biography

Jessica Hyunju Ho (Korean: 제시 현주 호; born December 17, 1988), known mononymously as Jessi (Korean: 제시), is an American rapper and singer based in South Korea. She was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey. She moved to Seoul, South Korea, at the age of 15.
Jessi originally debuted in South Korea in 2005 and briefly joined the Korean hip-hop group Uptown in 2006. After a hiatus, she returned to music as part of the hip-hop trio Lucky J and as a soloist under YMC Entertainment, until the group's disbandment in 2016. She then signed with Psy's record label P Nation in 2019 as its first artist, where she continued her solo career until her departure from the label in 2022. Several of her solo and collaborative singles have been commercially successful, with five Top 10 entries in the Gaon Digital Chart, including her highest-charting solo single "Nunu Nana" and the chart-topping single "Don't Touch Me" as part of the Refund Sisters.
Jessi is a prominent presence in Korean variety programs. She achieved mainstream popularity as part of the first season of Mnet hip hop competition show Unpretty Rapstar, where she placed second. She also served as a judge in competition shows High School Rapper and Cap-teen, as well as a host in her own YouTube talk show with SBS, Jessi's Showterview. She is also notable for her regular appearances in programs with comedian Yoo Jae-suk, such as guest appearances in Running Man and Hangout with Yoo, as well as being a series regular in Sixth Sense.

2005–2014: Early career and Lucky J

Jessi made her debut with single album Get Up×Get Up1 December 2005 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1W.T.H1:292Missin' U (Korean version)3:523Get Up3:4141-2 Step (Korean version)3:505Give It All3:446Missin' U (English version)3:527All I Need... (1-2 Step English version)4:008The Christmas Song4:16 in 2005. In 2006, the hip hop group Uptown featured her in their album Testimony, replacing their original vocalist Yoon Mi-rae. Jessi's second single album, entitled "The Rebirth×The Rebirth15 January 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1인생은 즐거워3:42", was released in January 2009. After the release, she took a break from music, and left Korea to return to America.
In 2014, after a 5-year hiatus, Jessi returned as a member of hip-hop trio Lucky J with rapper J'Kyun and vocalist J-Yo. Lucky J debuted with the digital single "Can You Hear Me" under YMC Entertainment in July of that year.

2015–2018: Television roles and Un2verse

From January to March 2015, Jessi was part of the first season of Unpretty Rapstar, a spin-off of the program Show Me the Money. Unpretty Rapstar is a female rapper survival program, where contestants compete for the chance to be featured on tracks in a compilation album. Jessi was chosen as the second-place winner of the show by audience vote. After her appearance on Unpretty Rapstar, Jessi was featured in JYP's single "Who's Your Mama?" and its music video, which were both released in April 2015. The track topped all nine major music charts in Korea as soon as it was released. She released her first ever solo rap single, "Ssenunni×SSENUNNI15 September 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1쎈언니2:53", on September 15. On October 16, 2015, Jessi performed in the United States for the first time at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles with hip-hop duo Mighty Mouth.

In 2016, Jessi was cast in Sister's Slam Dunk. In 2017, Jessi released another rap single, "Gucci" from her first mini-album, entitled Un2verse×UN2VERSE13 July 2017 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Gucci2:552Boing3:073걸음걸이3:374Spirit Animal3:005Arrived4:04, both of which released on July 13. On July 6, 2018, she released a single titled "Down".

2019–2022: P Nation and Nuna

Jessi's contract with YMC Entertainment ended in October 2018, and in January 2019, she signed a contract with Psy's record label P Nation. Her first single under the label, "Who Dat B×Who Dat B23 September 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Who Dat B3:17," was released on September 23, 2019. "Who Dat B" peaked at number eight on the World Digital Songs Sales chart and 68 on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100. She released another rap single, "Drip" featuring Jay Park, on November 2. The collaboration reached number 16 on the World Songs chart.
On June 4, 2020, Jessi premiered her new variety show, Jessi's Showterview, on SBS's Mobidic YouTube channel.
The singer released her second extended play, Nuna, on July 30. The single "Nunu Nana" was released in conjunction with the EP. "Nunu Nana" peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart, becoming her first top-ten single as a solo artist and her highest-charting solo single. On August 14, the music video for "Numb" was released.
Jessi joined the cast of MBC reality-variety show Hangout with Yoo in August 2020 as a member of four-member supergroup Refund Sisters (환불 원정대). The group consists of Jessi along with Korean singers Lee Hyo-ri, Uhm Jung-hwa, and Hwasa; they made their debut on October 10, releasing their debut single, "Don't Touch Me." "Don't Touch Me" peaked atop the Gaon Digital Chart for two consecutive weeks.
She also became part of the main cast of tvN variety show Sixth Sense, which reunited her with Yoo Jae-suk and premiered in September 2020. She returned for the series' second season, which began airing in June 2021.
On March 17, 2021, Jessi released a new digital single titled "What Type of X" (어떤X). On October 12, Jessi released the single "Cold Blooded×Cold Blooded12 October 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Cold Blooded2:30," which was served as a collaborative track with the Mnet dance crew competition show Street Woman Fighter; the dance crews were tasked to choreograph for the song, with YGX winning the segment. Jessi and fellow singer Sunmi featured in an official remix for Ed Sheeran's song "Shivers," which was released on November 24.

On April 1, 2022, the agency announced that Jessi would make a comeback with the digital single "Zoom" on April 13. The song peaked at number twelve at the Gaon Digital Chart. The song became a viral hit on video platform TikTok. Psy's ninth studio album Psy 9th, released April 29, 2022, features Jessi on the track "Ganji".
In June 2022, it was announced that Showterview would be replacing Sunmi as its host instead of Jessi. Jessi stated on Instagram Live that "she had no idea she was being replaced until the news broke publicly."
On June 10, 2022, it was confirmed that Jessi's contract with P Nation would expire in June 2022, and at the time she was discussing a potential contract extension. On July 6, 2022, P Nation announced that Jessi left the company after three years with the label.

2023–present: More Vision and independent label

On April 14, 2023, Jessi signed with Jay Park's label More Vision. On October 25, she released the single "Gum".
On January 31, 2024, it was announced that Jessi had left Jay Park's label More Vision after a mutual decision to terminate her contract. On August 20, 2024, Apple TV+ announced K-Pop Idols, a documentary series featuring Jessi, Blackswan, and Cravity, which premiered on August 30. On September 20, 2024, Jessi signed a management contract with DOD Entertainment and launched her own independent label, UNNI. On October 18, following the fan assault controversy, DOD Entertainment announced that they had terminated the contract at Jessi's request. On June 27, 2025, she made a comeback with her first single under UNNI, “Newsflash×Newsflash27 June 2025 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Newsflash2:57”, and partnered with BMG for international distribution.

Personal life

Jessi attended Korea Kent Foreign School along with Girls' Generation members Tiffany Young and Jessica Jung. Jessi successfully passed an SM Entertainment audition, the same company her then two classmates were under. However, she chose not to become part of the label, as she believed its approach to music did not match her style. Before Jessi went on temporary hiatus from the music industry, she struggled to become accustomed to Korean culture. She did not find immediate success after her debut, and was sometimes forced to sleep in saunas when she did not have enough money for a place to stay.

Controversies

In May 2013, Jessi was booked in the case of a group assault filed by a Korean-American "A". The woman claimed that Jessi and her friends assaulted her in the women's restroom of a club in Itaewon. "A" initially pressed charges but later dropped them. Jessi later claimed that she only tried to stop the fight but did not participate in the assault. However, "A" refuted this claim and said that she dropped the charges because she was leaving for the US.
On September 29, 2024, a man who is identified as her fan reported to the police that he was physically assaulted by someone in her group after asking for a picture with her. The victim testified that, when he apologized and was about to leave after Jessi declined his request, the perpetrator in her group suddenly struck him in the face. According to the security footage reviewed by the police, flustered Jessi initially attempted to break up the fight by grabbing the perpetrator's arms, but left the scene shortly afterwards with no further intervention. The victim expressed his disappointment in Jessi for just leaving the scene with no effort to resolve the situation.
She later issued an apology to the victim on social media, and her agency specified that the assailant was a Chinese man who was an acquaintance of the producer in her group. It has been reported that the perpetrator has already left South Korea, and that she is now working with her agency to contact the perpetrator. On 16 October 2024, She was summoned to the Gangnam Police Station as a defendant in the case, but she was released the next day.

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from Korea Music Copyright Association (KMCA) database otherwise noted.