Before she became the singing voice of Rumi in Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack, EJAE spent 12 years chasing her dream of becoming a K-pop idol. On the October 20th, 2025 episode of You Quiz on the Block, she opened up about her painful time as a trainee at SM Entertainment, revealing the tears, heartbreak, and eventual triumph in her career.
EJAE trained during the peak era of Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, and f(x), giving her youth to pursue her dream of debuting as a K-pop idol. When her contract ended, she said she cried the entire way home in a taxi, realizing that sometimes even the hardest work does not guarantee success. For a month, she barely left her bed, feeling lost and resentful toward the K-pop world she once loved.
“For a month, I kept crying and just slept. I had deep emotional wounds related to idols and K-pop. I resented the industry a lot.”
But her story took a turn! Determined not to abandon music, EJAE began creating her own beats in cafés until closing time. Her persistence paid off when she composed massive hits like Red Velvet’s “Psycho” and aespa’s “Drama” and “Armageddon.” Most notably, she became the singing voice behind KPop Demon Hunters’ Rumi, smashing global charts around the world with “Golden,” one of the biggest hits of 2025.
