Lee Jin-ah (Korean: 이진아; born March 16, 1991) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and jazz pianist. After finishing in third place on SBS's K-pop Star 4, she signed with Antenna in 2015.[1][2]
Her distinctive musical style combines jazz with pop and R&B, often featuring whimsical lyrics.[3][4][5][6]
Biography
Early career
Lee Jin-ah majored in applied music at Seoul Institute of the Arts.[7]
In 2011, she took part in the CCM singer audition program Gospel Star C Season 1 as part of a group called Snowdrop, who placed within the final top 10.[8]
On March 5, 2012, she was selected as the winner of the 9th Tune Up, a competition and musician support program run by the CJ Cultural Foundation.[9]
Lee debuted in 2013 with her first album, Invisible.[10] The album was produced by Kim Soo-jin, a music director who had previously produced OSTs for dramas including Behind The White Tower, Sign, and Queen Seondeok. Lee Han-jin, a professor of applied music at Seoul Institute of the Arts participated in this album as a jazz trombone performer. This album was considered too intense to be a debut of a new musician.[11]
She was a member of the "JinA Band". The other members of "JinA Band" were Park Hyun (contrabass) and Cho Sun-kyun (drums) before and after K-pop Star 4.[12]
2014–2016: K-pop Star 4 and signing with Antenna Music
In 2014, she participated as a contestant in K-pop Star 4, a reality television audition program on SBS. She performed seven self-written songs, which is rare in audition programs, drawing rave reviews from the judges with her performances.[13] JYP Entertainment CEO Park Jin-young, one of the three judges, became especially impressed, saying he "might as well quit the music industry now."[14] Antenna Entertainment CEO You Hee-yeol drew attention by saying, "I think I saw here the reality of a female musician who I had dreamed of not being able to conclude or define."[15] Lee and her songs became very popular through this program.
On April 5, 2015, she won 3rd place in said competition.[16] On April 20 , it was announced that she had signed with Antenna Music alongside Jung Seung-hwan who was her co-contestant and runner-up for K-pop Star 4.[17]
On June 10, 2016, Lee Jin-ah made a label debut with the single "I'm Full" which is the first part of her trilogy release.[18] She also was involved in the agency concert called "Hello Antenna:The Label Concert" held from September 23–25.[19]
2017–2018: Random and Jinah Restaurant Full Course
In March, 2017, Lee Jin-ah was part of a concert by "Antenna Angels" (Antenna Music's junior artists) called "We, Begin".[20] On July 20, 2017, her first EP Random was released.[21] This served as the second part of her trilogy release. She produced all songs in it at the recommendation of her agency CEO You Hee-yeol.[22] You Hee-yeol said to her not to pay much attention to the album's success, praising her as "a musician who shows her true value at a concert hall."[23]
Random was described by Jung Yeon-kyung at the music publication IZM as "a mixture of Girls' Generation, Jamie Cullum, Okdal, and Disney animated musicals". In particular, the song "Stairs" was noticed by critics for its novel fusion of pop and jazz.[24] On the title track "Random", the lyrics describe an experience in which she discovered an unexpected joy while listening to music in random play.[25] She said this song contains the meaning of discarding prejudice in music and other things.[22] The EP was later nominated for Best Pop Album at the 2018 Korean Music Awards.[26]
In 2017 Park Jong-woo (bass) joined the "Lee Jin-ah trio".[27] Another member of the "Lee Jin-ah Trio" is Seo Ju-young (drums).[28][29] Both Lee Jin-ah and Seo Ju-young entered Seoul Institute of the Arts in the same year. Park Jong-woo was a year senior. Park and Seo have sometimes participated in composing and arranging her songs.[30]
Lee Jin-ah was also part of Antenna's label concert later that year called "With, Antenna" that toured throughout 5 cities in South Korea and U.S.[31]
On June 26, 2018, she released her 2nd full album Jinah Restaurant Full Course which is the final part of her trilogy release.[32]
2020–present: Candy Pianist and Hearts of the City
In 2020, her second EP, Candy Pianist was released. By participating in writing and composing all the songs in this EP, Lee once again proved her ability as a singer-songwriter. The theme of it is "Awakening", which is clearly shown in the title song "Dreamy Alarm", "Awake (Feat. Sam Kim)", and other tracks. This EP contains Lee's desire to give strength and motivate those who listen to her music as a candy pianist.[33]
In 2021, she made her debut as a film music director with Children Are Happy OST.[34]
On September 13, 2023, Lee Jin-ah released her 3rd full length album after 5 years called Hearts of the City. This album is filled with 12 songs presenting a new musical world built from various emotions observed in a familiar but scary world called "city" while also warmly touching the inner hearts of those who live in one. It has two title tracks, namely "Mystery Village" depicting the city as mysterious place, and "My Whole New World" giving encouragement to build our own enjoyable city.[35][36] This album also features various artists such as Stella Jang, Sarah Kang, cellist Hong Jin-ho, Lee Hyo-ri, Lee Sangsoon, and producers Park Moon-chi and Simon Petrén.[37][38]
Personal life
Lee married pianist Shin Sung-jin in March 2019. They met as music students at Seoul Institute of the Arts.[39] Shin has steadily participated in her songs by playing musical instruments, rhythm programming, and string arrangements.[40]
^Jung, Byeong-wook. 이진아 [Random]: 2018 최우수 팝-음반 [Lee Jin Ah [Random], Best Pop Album 2018]. Korea Music Awards (in Korean). Retrieved July 20, 2021.
^Jung, Yoon-beom. 이진아 [진아식당 Full Course]: 2019 최우수 팝-음반 [Lee Jin Ah [Jinah Restaurant Full Course], Best Pop Album 2019]. Korea Music Awards (in Korean). Retrieved July 20, 2021.
^Kang Jin-ah (September 16, 2021). 유희열→유재석 총출동...'우당탕탕 안테나' 10월 공개 [Yoo Hee-yeol → Yoo Jae-seok is in full force... 'Woodang Tangtang Antenna' released in October]. Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved September 16, 2021 – via Naver.
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