Jessi (musician)

Career

In 2003, Jessica H.O successfully auditioned for Doremi Media, and moved to South Korea at age 15. She released her debut single album "Get Up" in 2005, performing the title song on the TV program Music Bank. In 2006 the hip hop group Uptown featured her in their album "Testimony", replacing their original vocalist Yoon Mi-rae. Her second single album, entitled "The Rebirth", was released in January 2009. After this 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. A month after their debut, Lucky J made an appearance in Mnet's music competition program Immortal Songs 2. On December 31, Jessi performed the rap verse in a collaboration stage with her labelmate Ailee and Sistar member Hyolyn. The trio presented the hit song Bang Bang at the end-of-year music program MBC Gayo Daejejeon.

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 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. Throughout 2015, Jessi appeared as a guest in various popular variety shows, including Running Man and Happy Together. She released her first ever solo rap single, "Sseunni", on September 15. Jessi's first live performance in the America was held on October 16. She performed at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, with hip-hop duo Mighty Mouth as her opening act. When Unpretty Rapstar 2 aired, Jessi appeared in several episodes as a mentor. She and Cheetah, the winner of the previous season, were featured in Unpretty Rapstar 2 tracks produced by Verbal Jint. In December 2015, Jessi performed her rap song "Sseunni" at the Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Personal life

Jessi attended Korea Kent Foreign School along with Girls' Generation member Tiffany and ex-member Jessica Jung. Former CSJH The Grace member and current solo singer Stephanie Kim also attended the same school. Jessi successfully passed an S.M. Entertainment audition, the same company her three classmates were all 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.

Jessi has been close friends with Tiffany of Girls' Generation since they attended the same high school. The two appeared on multiple TV shows together, including the reality show Sister's Slam Dunk and two episodes of Tiffany's style show Heart a Tag. She is also friends with current soloist and former 4Minute member Hyuna, Hyolyn of Sistar, Hongki of F. T. Island, and Jackson of Got7.