Kim Yeon-ji (; born October 30, 1986) is a South Korean singer. She was the lead vocalist of South Korean vocal group

SeeYa SeeYa (Hangul: 씨야) was a South Korean girl group originally made up of Kim Yeon-ji, Lee Bo-ram, and Nam Gyu-ri. When the group debuted in 2006, they were marketed as the female version of SG Wannabe. SeeYa were known for their 2007 hit son ...

until becoming a solo artist after SeeYa's disbandment in 2011. During her tenure with the group, Kim was noted for her dynamic vocal style and wide

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

Biography

Kim Yeonji was raised in

Anyang, Gyeonggi Anyang (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population of approximately 600,000, it is the 20th largest city in South Korea. It is a satellite city of Seoul and located approximately s ...

in South Korea, where she attended Pyeongchon Management High School. Yeonji entered the Postmodern Music Department at

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (KHU; ) is a Private university, private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. It was founded in 1949. Kyung Hee University is part of the Kyung Hee University System, which offers comprehensive ...

in 2008. Yeonji returned to Kyung Hee University's Postmodern Music Department as a full-time student in 2011, focusing on absorbing the department's orientation toward jazz, blues, and cross-cultural music. In 2013, Yeonji graduated from Kyung Hee University with an unusually high

GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

for an entertainment figure after having submitted a portfolio of musical arrangements and a thesis on the songs in which she had participated.

Career

Predebut

Yeonji won awards in various singing and dancing talent contests and was eventually scouted by the record label and management company GM (currently

MBK Entertainment MBK Entertainment () was a South Korean entertainment company established by Kim Kwang-soo. MBK Entertainment is known for managing multiple successful K-pop artists, such as T-ara, DIA, Davichi, SeeYa, F-ve Dolls, Shannon, Coed School, and S ...

). After more than a year of training under the label's auspices, Yeonji debuted as part of the

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

Pop group

in 2006.

SeeYa (2006–2011)

Yeonji debuted as lead vocalist of the group

in 2006. The group officially disbanded on January 30, 2011, after the group final performance on Inkigayo.

Solo career

At the end of 2011, Yeonji appeared during the 2011 SBS Drama Awards as actor Lee Jaeyoon's duet partner for a performance of the Lee So-ra song "Proposal." In early 2012, Yeonji contributed the song "Run" to the vocal music series M/Project, and the song "Love is Right" to the original soundtrack of the

jTBC JTBC (shortened from Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company; ; stylized in all lowercase) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on December 1, ...

miniseries Padam Padam. In May 2012, the Modern K Music Academy, a prominent K-Pop "incubating" school, announced that Yeonji would be participating as an invited vocal instructor for its summer K-Pop training program in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. In March 2013, Lee Jinsung of

Monday Kiz Monday Kiz (Korean: 먼데이 키즈) was a South Korean boy band formed in 2005. The group originally consisted of two members: Lee Jin-sung and Kim Min-soo, but after the death of Min-soo in 2008 the group reformed with two new members: Han ...

announced through Twitter that he had collaborated on a duet song with Yeonji, which he described as "memorable because it was work with a pure person who loves music so much." The song, "Hurting but Happy," was written and produced by Lee and released in March as a preview track from Monday Kiz's fifth LP album. Yeonji contributed the song "In My Eyes" to the SBS miniseries I Can Hear Your Voice () in July 2013.

Discography

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Awards

References

External links

Kim Yeonji
on Maroo Entertainment {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Yeon-ji 1986 births K-pop singers Kyung Hee University alumni MBK Entertainment artists Living people South Korean female idols Singers from Gyeonggi Province South Korean women pop singers 21st-century South Korean singers 21st-century South Korean women singers People from Anyang, Gyeonggi