Introduction
Jessica Ho (born December 17, 1988), better known by her stage name Jessi, is an American rapper and singer based in South Korea. She was born in New York, raised in New Jersey, and moved to South Korea at the age of 15.
Jessi originally debuted in South Korea in 2005 and briefly joined the 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.
Career
2005–2014: Early career and Lucky J
Jessi made her debut with single album Get Up 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", 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", 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, both of which released on July 13. On July 6, 2018, she released a single titled "Down".
2019–present: 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," 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," 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, released April 29, 2022, features Jessi on the track 'Ganji'.
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. On April 14, 2023, Jessi signed with Jay Park's label More Vision.
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.
Personal life
Jessi attended Korea Kent Foreign School along with Girls' Generation members Tiffany Young and Jessica Jung. Jessi successfully passed an S.M. Entertainment audition, the same company her 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.
In 2013, during her break from the music industry, a controversy about Jessi's involvement in an alleged assault surfaced. The professed victim soon dropped the charges against the singer, and the investigation was closed.
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | USWorld | |||
| Un2verse |
| 31 | 4 |
|
| Nuna |
| — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||
Single albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR RIAK | |||
| Get Up |
Track listing
| 49 |
|
Live albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Kill Bill 2nd Live: Jessi |
Track listing
|
Singles
As a lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KORCircle | KORBillb. | MYSSongs | NZHot | PHLSongs | SGPRIAS | SGPSongs | USWorld | VIE | WW | ||||
| "Get Up" | 2005 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Get Up |
| "1-2 Step" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Life Is Good" (인생은 즐거워) | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Rebirth | |
| "Unpretty Dreams" | 2015 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Compilation Album Unpretty Rapstar Semi Final |
| "I Want to Be Me" (나이고 싶어) | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Non-album singles | |
| "Ssenunni" (쎈언니) | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||
| "Raise Your Heels" (뒷꿈치 들어) (featuring Dok2) | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||
| "Excessive Love" (살찐 사랑) | 2016 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| "Don't Make Me Cry" (울리지마) | 2017 | 85 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| "Gucci" | 99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — |
| Un2verse | |
| "Down" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Who Dat B" | 2019 | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | Nuna | |
| "Drip" (featuring Jay Park) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | |||
| "Nunu Nana" (눈누난나) | 2020 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | 17 | — | 17 | — | — | ||
| "Numb" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "What Type of X" (어떤X) | 2021 | 38 | 30 | — | 40 | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Cold Blooded" | 30 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | |||
| "Zoom" | 2022 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 93 | ||
| "Gum" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||||
As a featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | US World | ||||
| "How Much Is Your Love" (얼마짜리 사랑) (Wheesung & Bumkey featuring Jessi of Lucky J) | 2014 | 15 | — |
| Non-album singles |
| "No No No" (Pharoh featuring Jessi) | — | — | — | ||
| "Bonnie & Clyde" (Vasco featuring C-Luv & Jessi) | 2015 | — | — | Code Name : 211 | |
| "Who's Your Mama?" (어머님이 누구니) (Park Jin-young featuring Jessi) | 1 | 12 |
| Non-album single | |
| "I Deserve It" (San E featuring Jessi, Illinnit & i11evn) | — | — |
| The Boy Who Cried Wolf | |
| "Just Like You" (Primary featuring Yankie & Jessi) | 73 | — |
| 2 | |
| "Something I Can Do" (내가 할 수 있는 건) (Black Nut featuring Jessi) | 12 | — |
| Show Me the Money 4 Episode 5 | |
| "Me, Myself & I" (Heize featuring Wheesung & Jessi) | 19 | — |
| Unpretty Rapstar 2 | |
| "We" (Turbo featuring K.Will, Jessi) | 54 | — |
| Again | |
| "Never Enough" (Double K featuring Jessi) | 2016 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Hangover" (술김에) (Baechigi featuring Jessi) | 66 | — |
| Regression | |
| "Crazy Guy" (미친놈) (#Gun featuring Jessi) | 5 | — |
| Show Me the Money 5 Episode 9 | |
| "Talkin Bout" (Microdot featuring Jessi) | — | — | — | +64 | |
| "BeBopaLula" (삐빠빠룰라) (Tae Jin-ah featuring Jessi) | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
| "We Are Young" (위하여)(G2 featuring Jessi) | — | — | |||
| "Dawndididdawn" (Dawn featuring Jessi) | 2020 | — | 13 | Dawndididdawn | |
| "Shivers" (Ed Sheeran featuring Jessi & Sunmi) | 2021 | — | — | = | |
| "Die for Love" (B.I featuring Jessi) | 2023 | — | — | To Die For | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
Collaborations
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | ||||
| "I'll Be There" (with The Nuts) | 2007 | — | — | Platonic Syndrome: White Romance Vol.1 |
| "My Type" (with Cheetah feat. Kangnam) | 2015 | 2 |
| Unpretty Rapstar Compilation |
| "Kwaejina Ching Ching Nane" (쾌지나 칭칭나네 (with Kim Young-im & Crispi Crunch) | 2016 | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "K.B.B" (가위바위보) (with Microdot, Dumbfoundead & Lyricks) | — | |||
| "Life Is Beautiful" (with VaVa, Yitai Wang & DOK2) | 2020 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||
Soundtrack appearances
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Engraved" (각인) | 2015 | Glamorous Temptation OST |
| "Why Do You" (너는 왜) (with Hanhae of Phantom) | 2016 | Two Yoo Project Sugar Man OST |
| "My Romeo" | Cinderella with Four Knights OST | |
| "A match (Kill Bill)" (성냥 한 개비 (킬빌)) (featuring Double K) | 2019 | Target: Billboard - Kill Bill |
| "Gosh" | 2022 | Woori the Virgin OST |
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KORGaon | USWorld | ||||
| "Ganji" (Psy featuring Jessi) | 2022 | 122 | 15 | — | Psy 9th |
| "Don't Tell" Kang Daniel featuring Jessi) | — | — | The Story | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
Composition credits
All song credits are adapted from Korea Music Copyright Association (KMCA) database otherwise noted.
| Year | Album | Artist | Song | Lyrics | Composer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credited | With | Credited | With | ||||
| 2005 | Get Up | Herself | "WTH" |  | – |  | – |
| "Missin' U (English Ver.)" | | – | | – | |||
| "All I need...1-2 Step (English Ver.)" | | – | | – | |||
| 2015 | Unpretty Rapstar compilation album | "My Type. prod by Verbal Jint" | | Jintae Kim, Hyun Joo, Cheetah| | | – | |
| "Unpretty Dreams" | | J'Kyun | | Gray | |||
| Non-album single | "I want to be" | | – | | 6d | ||
| "strong sister" | | 237 | | – | |||
| "Heel Up " feat. Dok2 | | earattack, Dok2 | | – | |||
| 2016 | It's good luck | "It's good luck" | | Crispi Crunch | | ||
| "Kwijina Ching Ching Nane 쾌지나 칭칭나네" | | Crispi Crunch | | – | |||
| 2017 | High School Rapper Regional Competition Part.2 | "I'm good" | | Kim Dong-hyun (MC Gree) | | Big Banana | |
| Un2verse | "Gucci" | | Swings, Antonia Macklin jr 'Anti pop' | | – | ||
| "Boing" feat. Changmo | | Swings, Antonia Macklin jr 'Anti pop' | | – | |||
| "My Walk" feat. Year of the OX | | Year Of The OX, BLACK WAVE | | – | |||
| "Spirit Animal" | | Dumbfoundead | | Dumbfoundead | |||
| "Arrived" | | Dumbfoundead | | Dumbfoundead | |||
| Mix and the City Part.3 | "Love Me When I'm Gone" | | AK47 | | Torai Park | ||
| 2018 | Non-album single | "Thorns," | | Double K, Microdot | | LUKA. 5ILY | |
| "Down" | | Double K | | GRAY, Danny Chung | |||
| 2019 | Kill Bill Special Stage | "One Match" feat. Double K | | ILLSON | | Konquest, Whos (WHO$), Kriz, Kyung-hyun Cho | |
| "Wet'S" feat. Flowsik | | Flowsik, Gonhills | | Flowsik, Gonhills, Revive, Punch Sound | |||
| Non-album single | "Who Dat B" | | Double K, Brian Lee | | Brian lee, Jessie Lauren Foutz | ||
| "Drip" feat. Jay Park | | Jay Park, john john | | johnjohn, CuzD | |||
| 2020 | Nuna | "Nunu Nana" | | PSY, ILLSON, PENOMECO, DAMIAN, JohnJohn, Jaero | | – | |
| "STAR" | | Illson (Double K), JAE RO, | | Yoo Geon-hyung,JAE RO | |||
| "Put it on ya (Feat. BM of KARD, nafla)" | | nafla, BM of KARD, johnjohn, JAE RO | | – | |||
| "Numb" | | Emile Ghantous, Angel Taylor, Peter Chun, Aurora Pfeiffer | | Emile Ghantous, Angel Taylor, Peter Chun, Aurora Pfeiffer | |||
| 2021 | Non-album single | "What Type of X" | | Psy, JohnJohn, Jaero, KOALA | | PSY, Gunhyung Yoo, Kurz D, JohnJohn, Jaero, Donna, SPACE ONE | |
| "Cold Blooded" | | Bobblehead JohnJohn, Jaero | | Bobblehead, CuzD, bayb | |||
| Secret Number | "Fire Saturday" | | BEATAMIN | | – | ||
| 2022 | Non-album single | Herself | "Zoom" | | PSY, bobblehead, Yeomda | | – |
| Psy 9th | Psy | "Ganji" | | Psy | | – | |
| 2023 | To Die For | B.I | "Die For Love" | | B.I | | White Noise Club |
Filmography
Television show
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Hairy Bikers' Asian Adventure | Herself | Episode 6 | |
| 2015 | Unpretty Rapstar | Contestant | Runner-up | |
| Real Men 3 | Cast member | |||
| King of Mask Singer | Contestant | With the stage name "Miss Korea" (Episode 35) | ||
| 2016 | Sister's Slam Dunk | Cast member | ||
| Duet Song Festival | Contestant | With Kim Seok-goo (Episode 1–2) | ||
| 2017 | High School Rapper | Judge | ||
| 2018 | King of Mask Singer | Contestant | As Laundry Fairy (Episode 161–162) | |
| 2020–2022 | Sixth Sense | Cast member | Season 1–3 | |
| 2020 | Hangout with Yoo | Episode 57–68, 82-83 | ||
| Law of the Jungle – Tribe Chief and Granny | Episode 427–429 | |||
| 2020–2021 | Cap-Teen | Judge | ||
| 2021 | Street Woman Fighter | Special Guest |
Web show
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–2022 | Showterview with Jessi | Host | SBS's Mobidic channel |
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Somehow Family | Herself |
Concerts
- Zoom in Manila (2022)
Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s) / Work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Artist Awards | 2021 | Female Solo Singer Popularity Award | Jessi | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Popularity Award – Singer (Female) | Nominated | |||
| Brand Customer Loyalty Awards | 2021 | Best Female Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
| Gaon Chart Music Awards | 2021 | Song of the Year – July | "Nunu Nana" | Nominated | |
| Golden Disc Awards | 2021 | Best Solo Artist | Jessi | Won | |
| KBS Entertainment Awards | 2016 | Best Newcomer in Variety Show | Nominated | ||
| Korea Cable TV Awards | 2016 | Cable Star Awards – Best Singer | Won | ||
| Korea First Brand Awards | 2021 | Best R&B/Hip-Hop Artist | Won | ||
| Hot Icon | Won | ||||
| MBC Entertainment Awards | 2020 | Excellence Award in Music/Talk Category – Female | Omniscient Interfering View & Hangout with Yoo | Won | |
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | 2020 | Worldwide Icon of the Year | Jessi | Nominated | |
| Best Dance Performance – Solo | "Nunu Nana" | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Dance Performance – Female Solo | Won | ||||
| Song of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| 2021 | Best Hip Hop & Urban Music | "What Type of X" | Nominated | ||
| SBS Entertainment Awards | 2020 | Rookie Award | SBS Mobidic: Jessi's Showterview | Won | |
| Seoul Music Awards | 2021 | Best R&B Hiphop Award | "Nunu Nana" | Won | |
| Main Award (Bonsang) | Jessi | Nominated | |||
| Popularity Award | Nominated | ||||
| K-wave Popularity Award | Nominated | ||||
| Style Icon Asia | 2016 | Awesome Swagger | Won | ||
| The Fact Music Awards | 2020 | Best Performer | Won | ||
| TMA Popularity Award | Nominated |