You can forget about ‘entertainer’ Lee Young-ji for the time being. Lee Young-ji, who has been loved in the broadcasting industry for her cheerful and honest charm, is properly demonstrating her capabilities as a rapper, her main occupation, by collaborating with various artists. Her collaboration songs have become a hot topic all at once, and she has even secured her place as the new ‘collaboration powerhouse’ in K-pop.

NCT Mark‘s new song ‘Fracchee’ is a representative example. The song has been receiving hot attention from the fandom, such as rising to 5th place on YouTube’s ‘Music Rising in Popularity’ immediately after its release on the 16th. The song featuring Lee Young-ji is also gaining great popularity overseas, settling in the top 10 of the iTunes Top Songs chart in 15 regions, including Indonesia, Chile, and Mongolia.

Mark and Lee Young-ji are receiving favorable reviews for satirizing the different attention they receive on their activities across the K-pop and hip-hop stages with the word ‘spies’ and filling it only with heavy and sharp raps. These two, who hold the titles of both K-pop stars and rappers, also have one thing in common: they came from the Mnet rapper audition program ‘High School Rapper’.

Lee Young-ji reportedly participated in the featuring because she sympathized with Mark‘s song, which focuses on “Identity living in various forms”. Mark also said through his agency SM Entertainment, “I felt that Lee Young-ji had a similar character to me, so I requested a collaboration. “I thought we would have our own unique ‘chemistry,’ and I was able to confirm that it wasn’t a mistake with ‘Fracchee,’” he said, expressing his satisfaction.

This is already the third hit collaboration song for Lee Young-ji this year. In June, she swept the top spot on various music charts and music shows with the song ‘Small Girl’ featuring singer and actor D.O. (D.O.). ‘Trouble’, released in September in collaboration with Danish pop star Christopher, also garnered attention both domestically and internationally. Last year, she also added a rap to Seventeen unit Boo Seok-soon’s mega hit song ‘Fighting Hae-ya-ji’.

Thanks to her previous achievements, it has been reported that K-pop stars are continuously sending her ‘collaboration love calls’. This is thanks to his unique rap skills that caught people’s attention, not only because of his public recognition, but also because he won first place on ‘High School Rapper 3’‘Show Me the Money 11’. Lee Young-ji is also steadily working with fellow rappers such as Zambino, PH One, and Blase, and is solidifying her own unique territory.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com