YEJI:

“What’s a queen without her crown?” The saying refers to the hair on a woman’s head, symbolizing the value, pride and glory of her beauty and femininity. When cut short, colored, trimmed or dyed, it symbolizes change; a transition welcoming a new era of power and vulnerability.

The scenario applies as a double entendre for ITZY’s Yeji. She’s donned long locks most of her life, and uses various hand gestures and poses in the shape of a crown in choreography to symbolize the pride of “having it all” – a play on the Korean word for the group’s name. Now 11 days ahead of her solo debut, the soon 25-year-old Jeonju-native officially ditches her mid-length hair and extensions for a shorter cut. A new chapter has begun, and with the release of her lead single "Air", she's ready to take the chance and give up all her plans to see where it all goes.

It’s been six years since she made her debut in the music industry as ITZY’s leader. Though making an appearance on a reality competition program (The Fan) prior to her 2019 introduction made her a familiar face to the public, she already had a rep within her label at JYP Entertainment as the Secret Weapon because of her passion and versatility in performing. Her charismatic stage presence and piercing eyes with Light Fury or cat-like facial features leave a strong impression, making her a fearless standout upon first glance. She’s conscious of her fierce and intimidating expressions, but it just shows how ambitious and dedicated she is to her craft. The fourth-gen idol’s real charm is actually her friendly, caring, and easygoing yet clumsy duality; she may not be the best at baking or games, but she can pick up and memorize choreography like no other while making sure everyone she works with is taken care of.

“Recently, people started to tell me I’m always the same, and I really reflected on it after I heard it,” she says.

The visuals for AIR consists a mix of different high fashion sci-fi avatar looks; one reminiscent of her debut days in “Dalla Dalla” with a high ponytail, an all-black look complimented by her then-long straight black hair and the long black see-through dress that debuted her bob that’s gone viral across social. However, she confesses she was wearing a wig during the shoot.

“Fake hair,” she says in English. She chuckles revealing that small piece of trivia. “That was fake hair. Not my hair. The short hair was never part of the plan. My hair in the trailer is actually a wig. But after testing it out, we thought it looked better than expected and since my hair wasn’t that long at the time, we just ran with it. While cutting my hair, we didn’t think it was short enough, and kept cutting and cutting it. It’s now the length it’s at now.”

This wasn’t the first time Yeji’s creative juices were challenged and then brought to life. The star envisioned her own look for her viral cover of Brtiney Spears’ “Toxic” at the year-end music festival last year. And most iconically, she got a grasp for songwriting with her first solo song “Crown On My Head” off the ITZY Born To Be album last January.

“‘Crown On My Head’ and ‘Air’ are two songs that were very difficult for me in different ways.” She takes a moment before she continues her explanation. “Honestly, how do I explain this? ‘Air’ was harder due to the theme itself. There were a limited number of things I could think of surrounding the keyword, so I thought really hard about how I could convey it. Not in a cliched way, but in a new and refreshing manner.”

While her two solo songs can easily be translated to sequels or prequels of her journey, Yeji says “Air” is more than overcoming risks by herself. 

"This might be a really obvious answer but prepping for this solo album was a real challenge for me," she continues. "It was the first time I ever prepared something like this alone. I also haven’t had many experiences preparing for something like this without the members, so I struggled a bit. But I did my best to make this album as perfect as I could.”

She’s a perfectionist after all, and she is fully aware of it. “I think my personality is really like that,” she giggles. Whether it’s making sure everyone’s height is the exact same in a dance or doing a handful of takes on a song’s ad-lib until it feels right — even when the producer says the takes prior were already good. “Honestly, I think I get stressed when things aren’t certain. For example, if I’m not personally satisfied, it doesn’t matter what it is, it kind of stresses me.” (See ITZY’s recording session for GOLD or her rehearsal with Stray Kids’ Hyunjin for 2023 year-end music festivals, for example.)

With four additional tracks now under her name, AIR only marks the beginning of Yeji finding her voice and identity in music. “I’m still in the process, but while recording this album, I really enjoyed discovering new sides of myself that I never imagined. And since I have to sing all the songs myself, I don’t want to bore the audience so there was lots of experimenting.”

But boring was never part of her vocabulary. And it definitely wasn’t in ITZY’s, as the group always promoted self-love and confidence in their music and message.

“Trust yourself always,” Yeji immediately says, as cliché as it sounds. That’s how she defines confidence on her own and empowers herself. “I trust myself. It's natural now how it's all in me. Because it’s the same message and thoughts that ITZY and I relay to our fans. We hope this resonates with them as well. And so I always perform in what I really believe in.”

Her tone is authentic and admirable. One that would make you say the Korean expression “역시.. (yeokshi)” or “as expected..” as a sign of respect like giving them a co-sign that what was said or done was highly commendable. In return, Yeji expresses she hopes people will share the same thoughts once everything’s out.

“When you said ‘역시 예지다 (‘Yeokshi, Yeji-da’ or ‘As expected, it’s Yeji’),’ I would like to not only show people Yeji as a soloist, but also hope others feel the same way as you did. Many have been waiting for my solo album and I’d like to meet everyone’s expectations. So I prepped really really hard and filled it with much more love and effort. I want to hear people say ‘역시, 예지다.’”

Six years hasn’t been an easy ride in the industry, it’s safe to say. However, Yeji continues to fly higher with ITZY while making her-story, whether it be personally or professionally. She’s grounded but she’ll never forget her roots. This career led her to many firsts, including her first plane ride that would be an inspiration to reach great heights and bigger goals.

“I try not to forget that feeling because I was fascinated by the experience,” Yeji says, recalling her trip to Tokyo to watch TWICE at Tokyo Dome. “I thought to myself, ‘I hope we get to do a show like this, too.’ Thinking about it now, it might be because I had this dream when our fanbase was still small, or maybe ‘cause six years doesn’t feel long to me. I feel that we still have a long way to go and there’s so much more to come. It’s not easy to not have any regrets. I actually have another motto, which is: ‘Even if I felt that something was lacking in that moment, as long as I did my best, that is all that matters.’ This makes me feel less regretful and is also why I try harder every single time.”

So, what’s next after all of this?

“This is always such a difficult question. I think I always try to think about what’s next, like my future goals and why I’m working so hard. When I set a goal, I end up comparing myself to it, and when I don’t reach it, it makes me lose my confidence."