Jessi Reveals the Hardships She Went Through Before Reaching Success

By Robyn Joan May 22, 2021

Before becoming one of Korea's baddest and realest queens, Jessi went through many hardships to reach the success she has now.

Keep on reading to know more.

Jessi Reveals the Hardships She Went Through Before Reaching Success

On May 20, Korean-American singer and rapper Jessi made a guest appearance on the third season of KBS's talk show, "The Joy of Having a Talk," which is hosted by Yoo Hee Yeol.

At one part of the talk, Jessi recalled the time she first came to South Korea, all the way from the United States on her own to fulfill her dreams and to enter the music industry. She revealed that once she arrived in the country, she was able to join a record label called "Doremi Records," now known as Genie Records. Under Doremi Records, she managed to make her debut in December 2005, promoting with the name "Jessica H.O."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jessi Reveals She Was Bullied as a Child, Betrayed by Her First Boyfriend

(Photo : The Joy of Having a Talk)

She added that the record label had spent more than 800 million won (approximately $709,000) for her training, however, the outcome of her debut wasn't good and that her music didn't do well.

Following the lack of success of her first music, she then joined the group Uptown, a pioneer hip-hop group that first formed in 1997 with four original members: Yoon Mi Rae, Chris Jung, Carlos Galvan, and Steve Kim. The group had originally disbanded in 2000 due to drug charges against three of the members, however, they reunited in 2006 to release an album, to which a teenage Jessi joined.

Jessi said that the group didn't do well either, and she ended up taking a long hiatus after that. However, under contract terms, she had to release a song, according to her record label. Although she didn't want to do it, she had to.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jessi Reveals She Wants to Get Married and Have a Big Family

(Photo : The Joy of Having a Talk)

After the release of the song, she returned back to the United States immediately. While back in the United States, Jessi had uploaded numerous cover songs on Youtube, which earned her calls from several agencies in South Korea. "I decided to give myself another go and head back to Korea," said Jessi.

However, once she returned to Korea, she had nowhere or anyone to go to, so she ended up sleeping at 24-hour saunas. As she was about to give up again, the producer of Mnet's "Unpretty Rapstar," a rapper survival show and the female version of "Show Me The Money," contacted Jessi and asked her to join the show. Thanks to the show, she was able to get to where she is now.

Jessi also confessed that she kept having bad thoughts when things weren't going well for her at that time. "I really didn't want to live anymore, but I thought about my parents every time those thoughts came into my head. I thought to myself, 'What would happen to my parents if I disappeared?'" said Jessi.