EJAE opens up on depression after K-pop dream collapse

EJAE has laid bare the heartbreaking moment her lifelong dream of becoming a K-pop idol came crashing down, leaving her battling depression and questioning everything she’d worked for.

The 34-year-old singer-songwriter, now known as the voice behind Rumi in the hit animation KPop Demon Hunters, has revealed how years of gruelling training led to a devastating dead end. 

Speaking candidly, she admitted, “Depression was a thing,” after being told she was too old to debut, at just 22.

Having been accepted into a major Korean label at the age of 11, she believed superstardom was inevitable. 

“I had a whole future set out for me,” she said. 

“I thought I’d be a huge K-pop idol by 18.” 

But the industry had other plans, with insiders branding her age as “grandma age”, a brutal blow that left her lost.

Raised under intense pressure to succeed, EJAE pushed herself relentlessly, even studying Beyoncé’s early training videos and practising up to eight hours a day. 

Still, rejection after rejection took its toll. 

“I kept thinking, what am I doing wrong?” she confessed.

But just when it seemed all hope was gone, fate intervened. 

The Once Again singer “accidentally” found her way into songwriting, a move that would transform her life. 

She has since written for some of K-pop’s biggest names, including Red Velvet, aespa, TWICE and LE SSERAFIM.

Her full-circle moment came with the track Golden from KPop Demon Hunters, a career-defining opportunity that left her overwhelmed. 

“It felt like my whole life flashed before me,” she said.

And when she finally faced the stage at the BRITs, it was one fan’s shout, “Rumi, you got this!”, that helped silence her fears.

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