Jessica H. O.

Jessi
Jessi at the Seoul Fashion Week 2016
Born	Jessica Hyun-ju Ho (1988-12-17) December 17, 1988 (age 28) New York City, New York, U.S.
Other names	Jessica H.O
Education	Korea Kent Foreign School
Occupation	Rapper songwriter
Musical career
Genres	Hip-hop R&B
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2005–present
Labels	YMC Entertainment
Associated acts	Uptown Lucky J Sister's Slam Dunk

Jessica Hyun-ju Ho (born December 17, 1988), better known by her stage name Jessi, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter based in South Korea. She was born in New York, raised in New Jersey, and moved to South Korea at the age of 15.

In 2003, Jessi successfully auditioned for Doremi Media, and moved to South Korea at age 15. She released her debut single album "Get Up" in 2005, performing the title song on the TV program Music Bank. In 2006 the hip hop group Uptown featured her in their album "Testimony", replacing their original vocalist Yoon Mi-rae. Her second single album, entitled "The Rebirth", was released in January 2009. After this release she took a break from music, and left Korea to return to America.

In 2014, after a 5-year hiatus, Jessi returned as a member of hip-hop trio Lucky J with rapper J'Kyun and vocalist J-Yo. Lucky J debuted with the digital single "Can You Hear Me" under YMC Entertainment in July of that year. A month after their debut, Lucky J made an appearance in Mnet's music competition program Immortal Songs 2. On December 31, Jessi performed the rap verse in a collaboration stage with her labelmate Ailee and Sistar member Hyolyn. The trio presented the hit song Bang Bang at the end-of-year music program MBC Gayo Daejejeon.

From January to March 2015, Jessi was part of the first season of Unpretty Rapstar, a spin-off of the program Show Me The Money. Unpretty Rapstar is a female rapper survival program, where contestants compete for the chance to be featured on tracks in a compilation album. Jessi was chosen as the second-place winner of the show, by audience vote. After her appearance on Unpretty Rapstar, Jessi featured in JYP's single "Who's Your Mama?" and its music video, which were both released in April 2015. The track topped all nine major music charts in Korea as soon as it was released. Throughout 2015, Jessi appeared as a guest in various popular variety shows, including Running Man and Happy Together. She released her first ever solo rap single, "Ssenunni", on September 15. Jessi's first live performance in the US was held on October 16. She performed at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, with hip-hop duo Mighty Mouth as her opening act. When Unpretty Rapstar 2 aired, Jessi appeared in several episodes as a mentor. She and Cheetah, the winner of the previous season, were featured in Unpretty Rapstar 2 tracks produced by Verbal Jint. In December 2015, Jessi performed her rap song "Ssenunni" at the Mnet Asian Music Awards.