Like fellow 88rising label-mate Rich Chigga, Brooklyn-via-Seoul singer/producer Kathy ‘Yaeji’ Lee's music videos hits you with mild cognitive dissonance. These unassuming-looking Asian youngsters are making this kind of unmistakably edgy music?
On her latest track “Drink I’m Sippin’ On”, Yaeji's airy trap beats and deadpan flow (most of the song is rapped/sung in Korean) creates an atmosphere of palpable ominousness in her recount of everyday psychological meanderings: “The drink I was sipping on/ The movie I watched/ The reason I don’t remember yesterday.” The menace she evokes eases off in the song's pre-chorus, the only part of the song that is sung in English: 'Bringing out the colors in me/ I feel so fine'. The following two lines - 'Making up for what you can't see/ I feel so fine', nevertheless come across like a veiled threat. That nagging sense of unease returns in full force during the song's prolonged chorus, where Yaeji negates her previous conclusions again and again: "That's not it/ No, that's not it".
In her verified commentary for Genius, Yaeji acknowledge that her lyrics veer towards abstraction; she often finds it difficult accurately describe her feelings in words. She revealed that the song was actually inspired by the tension in her interpersonal relationships: "I was really fixated on how I feel I’m being misunderstood by everyone around me, even the closest people". Instead of correcting these misunderstandings, she channeled the dissonance she felt into her music as a means of coping: "'Drink I'm Sippin On' is non-alcoholic though its effects are similar to getting drunk: knowingly being misunderstood by others, forgetting what I did yesterday, and feeling comfortable being me. I sip on it as a reminder that I can feel fine if I just let myself" ().
“Drink I’m Sippin’ On” follows "last breath" as the first glimpse of Yaeji's second EP, a follow up to her self-titled debut EP that was released in March this year. The latter's music video made Pitchfork's list of the best music videos of September 2017, earning kudos for Yaeji's nonchalant satirical take on Youtube makeup tutorials and skincare reviews: “This product is called depression and it stays on for 24 hours.” Her new work retains the earworm-y qualities of previous tracks like "Feel It Out", but her unique blend of nonchalant rap, minimalist house music, and pop is now being put to different ends. This newfound swagger and unblinking take on her surroundings have already won her a wider audience; the music video for the track recently hit the 1 million mark on Youtube. She might very well prove to be one of 88rising's best bets at promoting a left-field vision of what it means to be an Asian entertainer to the world.
