{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Yaeji | type = EP | artist = Yaeji | cover = YaejiEP.jpeg | alt = | released = March 31, 2017 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Lo-fi house | length = 19:13 | label = Godmode | producer = {{flatlist| *Yaeji *Nick Sylvester }} | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = EP2 | next_year = 2017 | misc = {{Singles | name = Yaeji | type = EP | single1 = New York 93 | single1date = February 29, 2016 | single2 = Guap | single2date = May 13, 2016 | single3 = Noonside | single3date = February 27, 2017 | single4 = Feel It Out | single4date = May 12, 2017 }} }} '''''Yaeji''''' is the debut extended play by South Korean-American house music producer Kathy Yaeji Lee, known by her stage name as Yaeji. Written and produced by Lee and Nick Sylvester,<ref name = "Pitchfork"/> the EP is a lo-fi house record with minimal structures and spoken word lyrics in a combination of Korean and English. It was released by the label Godmode on March 31, 2017 and garnered mostly favorable reviews from critics, landing at No. 50 on ''Pitchfork''{{'s}} list of the "50 Best Albums of 2017".
==Production== ''Yaeji'' was produced by Lee and Nick Sylvester. The making of each song began with Lee writing the lyrics and coming up with concepts on how the instrumental would be produced in Ableton.<ref name = "BreakingThrough"/> She then sent her ideas to Sylvester.<ref name = "BreakingThrough"/> As he said in an interview, "Maybe I'll replace certain parts or rearrange them, or I'll send it back to her and be like, 'I think this could be better.'"<ref name = "BreakingThrough"/> Once the songs' conception was completed, the two went to Godmode's Los Angeles studio to record their final versions.<ref name = "BreakingThrough">Pearl, Max (December 15, 2017). [https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3121 "Breaking Through: Yaeji"]. ''Resident Advisor''. Retrieved February 8, 2018.</ref> Sylvester initially wrote the instrumental for "Feel It Out" for Beyoncé, but her creative team did not use it and he created a new arrangement of it for ''Yaeji''.<ref name = "BreakingThrough"/>
==Composition== ''Yaeji'' is a lo-fi house album characterized by simple structures,<ref name = "XLR8R"/> prominent three-note bass riffs,<ref name="RA" /> two-note chords<ref name="RA" /> and intimate yet deadpan vocals.<ref name="RA" /><ref name = "XLR8R">[https://www.xlr8r.com/features/2017/12/xlr8rs-best-of-2017-releases/ "XLR8R's Best of 2017: Releases"]. ''XLR8R''. December 13, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> Lee's singing follows a fast inflection and "shifts between a relaxed whisper and endearing spoken word, maintaining a melancholy register throughout," wrote Kevin Lozano of ''Pitchfork''.<ref name = "Pitchfork"/> Max Pearl of ''Resident Advisor'' compared Lee's performance to Marie Davidson and Galcher Lustwerk.<ref name="RA" /> The lyrics are written in a combination of both Korean and English languages,<ref name = "Pitchfork"/> with the "secretive or private" stuff being sung in Korean.<ref>Barr, Natalia (November 6, 2017). [https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/yaeji-brings-whispers-to-dancefloor "Korean-American producer Yaeji brings whispers to the dancefloor"]. ''Interview''. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> ''Yaeji'' features both emotionally charged songs, "Noonside" being a commentary on the United States Border Patrol and "New York 93" being about her time as a child in New York City, and regular dance tracks such as "Full of It" and a cover of Australian DJ Mall Grab's "Guap."<ref name = "Pitchfork"/> "Feel It Out" is about the idea that "what is here is what ain't" in other places in the world, and Lee raps on the song, "Other countries, they are having more than coffee."<ref>Trammell, Matthew (May 20, 2017). [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/listening-booth-yaejis-borderless-house-music "Listening Booth: Yaeji’s Borderless House Music"]. ''The New Yorker''. Retrieved March 26, 2018.</ref>
==Promotion== "New York 93," its video and a remix of the track by Jean St. Jean were released on February 29, 2016.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180327161358/https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/new-york-93-single/1087249834 "New York 93 – Single by yaeji"]. iTunes Store. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref><ref name = "NewYork93">Rettig, James (February 29, 2016). [https://www.stereogum.com/1862620/yaeji-new-york-93-video/mp3s/ "Yaeji – “New York 93″ Video"]. ''Stereogum''. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> The track was Yaeji's debut song for Godmode,<ref name = "NewYork93"/> which included it as part of its weekly ''Faculty'' series where the label uploaded a new song from the imprint to SoundCloud each week.<ref>Pepperell, Martyn (September 1, 2016). [http://www.dummymag.com/mixes/playlist-godmode "Playlist: Godmode presents ‘Faculty Series’"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503100443/http://www.dummymag.com/mixes/playlist-godmode |date=May 3, 2018 }}. ''Dummy''. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> As ''Stereogum'' summarized, the video "feels like dozens of different memories displaced from time. It’s smooth and sultry, oddly comforting but a bit alienating, in a way that the city it's named after can so often be. Listen below."<ref name = "NewYork93"/> The track "Noonside" and its music video, which depicts footage of Lee in New York and Seoul, was released on February 27, 2017.<ref>DeVille, Chris (February 27, 2017). [https://www.stereogum.com/1926784/yaeji-noonside-video/video/ "Yaeji – “Noonside” Video"]. ''Stereogum''. Retrieved March 26, 2018.</ref> On April 4, 2017, ''The Fader'' premiered the official music video for "Feel It Out."<ref name = "FeelItOutvideo">Darville, Jordan (April 4, 2017). [http://www.thefader.com/2017/04/04/yaeji-feel-it-out-music-video "Watch Yaeji Find The Beat In The Groovy “Feel It Out” Video"]. ''The Fader''. Retrieved March 25, 2018.</ref> Filmed at Sylvester's apartment in The Bronx, it depicts Lee in a room with objects such as pineapples coming to life around her.<ref name = "FeelItOutvideo"/>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev1Score = 7.1/10<ref name = "Pitchfork">Lozano, Kevin (March 30, 2017). [https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23022-yaeji-ep/ "Yaeji: ''Yaeji EP''"]. ''Pitchfork''. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> | rev2 = ''Resident Advisor'' | rev2Score = 4.1/5<ref name="RA">{{Cite web |last=Pearl |first=Max |date=May 17, 2017 |title=Yaeji – ''Yaeji'' |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/20863 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506153406/https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/20863 |archive-date=May 6, 2020 |access-date=April 14, 2023 |website=Resident Advisor}}</ref> }} ''XLR8R'' summarized ''Yaeji'' as "a perfect encapsulation of her sound," particularly highlighting the record's "appealing simplicity."<ref name = "XLR8R"/> Lozano described its more "straightforward" tracks as "earworm[s] through and through," while also noting the use of political and personal songs gave the record "an unexpected emotional texture."<ref name = "Pitchfork"/> Both he and Pearl praised the "pure" and "raw" display of Lee's vocals.<ref name="RA" /><ref name = "Pitchfork"/> Pearl spotlighted the EP's "charming details" in its production, such as the use of vocal harmonies.<ref name="RA" /> As Michelle Kim wrote about ''Yaeji'' as well as Lee's second extended play, "with each new song, Yaeji sounds more comfortable embracing the binaries that exist within her identity and her music."<ref name = "PitchforkYE"/> ''Gorilla vs. Bear'' placed the EP in the No. 1 spot in its year-end list of best albums, saying, "Similar to the experience of hearing Grimes for the first time, there's an obvious special, one-of-a-kind quality that just radiates from everything she does".<ref name = "GorillavsBear"/>
==Accolades== {|class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" |- ! Publication ! Accolade ! Rank ! class="unsortable"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |- !scope="row"|''BrooklynVegan'' | Top 50 Albums of 2017 | {{center|30}} | {{center|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/brooklynvegans-top-50-albums-of-2017/|title=Top 50 Albums of 2017|work=BrooklynVegan|date=December 22, 2017|access-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>}} |- !scope="row"|''Gorilla vs. Bear'' |Albums of 2017 | {{center|1}} | {{center|<ref name = "GorillavsBear">Chris (December 3, 2017). [http://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2017/ "Albums of 2017"]. Gorilla vs. Bear. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref>}} |- !scope="row"|''Pitchfork'' | 50 Best Albums of 2017 | {{center|50}} | {{center|<ref name = "PitchforkYE">[https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-50-best-albums-of-2017/ "The 50 Best Albums of 2017"]. ''Pitchfork''. December 12, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref>}} |- !scope="row"|''XLR8R'' | Best of 2017: Releases | {{N/A}} | {{center|<ref name = "XLR8R"/>}} |}
==Track listing== Track lengths derived from the iTunes Store.<ref name = "iTunes">[https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084808/https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/yaeji-ep/1210078431 "Yaeji – EP"]. iTunes Stores. Retrieved March 23, 2018.</ref> {{Track listing |title1=Noonside |length1=3:25 |title2=New York 93 |length2=3:23 |title3=Feel It Out |length3=3:16 |title4=Guap |length4=5:40 |title5=Full of It |length5=3:29 |total_length=19:13 }}
==Release history== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- !scope="col"|Region !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Format(s) !scope="col"|Label |- !scope="row"|Worldwide |March 31, 2017<ref name = "iTunes"/> |Digital download |Godmode |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:2017 debut EPs Category:Yaeji albums Category:House music EPs Category:Lo-fi music albums Category:EPs by American artists Category:EPs by South Korean artists