Korean-American rapper and singer Jessica Ho, aka Jessi, was just 15 when she moved from New York to Korea to pursue her dream of becoming a K-pop icon. While her showbiz journey has been marked by several controversies, Jessi is a success story on the whole. With her illustrious music career, brand deals and staggering net worth, K-pop soloist Jessi has made her mark as one of the most successful female rappers of the 21st century. Here we look closely at the K-celebrity’s opulent wealth and her life beyond the mic.
Jessi made her official K-pop debut in 2005 and had her claim to fame after Mnet’s hip-hop show, Unpretty Rapstar season one, where she earned the second position in 2015. Known for her outspoken personality and bold lyrics, Jessi’s music spans several genres, including Rap, R&B and pop. Standouts from her music portfolio include some of the most-streamed K-pop songs like “Ssenunni”, “Gucci”, “Nunu Nana”, “What Type of X”, “Cold Blooded”, “Zoom”, “Ganji” and “Gum”.
Of late grabbing headlines for an alleged fan-assault controversy, soloist Jessi offered fans a glimpse of her struggles and triumphs in the entertainment industry through the 2024 Apple TV+ documentary K-pop Idols.
Talking about her goals as a musician in a 2023 NME interview, Jessi said, “I think one of the biggest goals is to really find what I want. Music is something that’s just such a given, like, I love it in my blood. If you play me a song, or the cameras are on me, it’s showtime. But I do want to have a family. I want to become a better daughter. I want to become a better person. I want to become an entrepreneur. I want to do things other than just music. I want to use my brand to help other women out. I want to write a children’s book, I want to make children’s music. The list goes on. So, anything that finds peace within myself, I think it all connects to that. That’s what I’m striving for.”
All about K-pop rapper Jessi: Her net worth, music career, controversies and more
The net worth of K-pop rapper Jessi
According to K-media outlet ByeolKorea, K-pop artist Jessi has a net worth of USD 2 to 4 million, as of 2022. While it is challenging to quote an exact figure in 2024, it goes without saying that Jessi, who has been in the Korean entertainment industry since 2005, earns massively from her music endeavours.
Apart from her earnings from album sales, music streams and concerts, Jessi also makes a substantial portion from acting projects, variety shows, commercials, brand endorsements and social media.
Career
Early days
Jessica Ho, now popular as Jessi, made her K-pop debut in 2005 with the single album Get Up. While it wasn’t a major hit, Get Up sold over 1000 copies. The following year, she starred in Uptown’s album Testimony after joining the hip-hop group. Jessi left for America after releasing her second single album The Rebirth in January 2009.
The rapper returned to South Korea after a five-year hiatus and joined fellow Korean pop idols J’Kyun and J-Yo’s band Lucky J in 2014. The hip-hop group debuted in July of the same year with the digital single “Can You Hear Me”.
Jessi made her television debut with Unpretty Rapstar in 2015. A spin-off of the variety series Show Me The Money, Unpretty Rapstar gave Jessi the golden chance to be featured on tracks in a compilation album. Her popularity soared after winning second spot in the show and she was featured in JYP Entertainment’s single “Who’s Your Mama?”. A music video for the same was released in April 2015 and went on to top nine major music charts in Korea.
The Korean celebrity released her first solo rap single, “Ssenunni”, on 15 September 2015. It peaked at #29 on the Gaon Chart and sold over 110,800 downloads. In October of the same year, Jessi performed at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles for the first time, with the hip-hop duo Mighty Mouth.
Rise in popularity, awards and “Nunu Nana” success
In January 2019, Jessi left her former agency YMC Entertainment and signed a contract with Psy‘s record label P Nation. On 23 September, the rapper released her first single under the label, “Who Dat B”, which earned #8 on the World Digital Songs Sales chart and #68 on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100. A music video for the single was also released on YouTube and has over 28 million views as of October 2024. Meanwhile, her rap single “Drip” featuring Jay Park, which was released in November, reached #16 on the World Songs chart.
On 4 June 2020, Jessi premiered her new variety show, Jessi’s Showterview, on SBS’s Mobidic YouTube channel. She is also invited to various other television shows, including Real Men 3, Sister’s Slam Dunk, Hangout with Yoo, Sixth Sense, and King of Mask Singer. According to sources, the K-pop rapper earns approximately USD 1000 to 30,000 per episode on a variety show.
Jessi grabbed multiple headlines with her track “Nunu Nana”, which was released as her extended play (EP) Nuna‘s third single on 30 July 2020. Deemed a hip-hop track with pop elements, “Nunu Nana” became a huge global hit. It peaked at #2 on the Gaon Digital Chart, becoming Jessi’s first chart entry since “Gucci” in 2017. Her highest-charting song to date, “Nunu Nana” also topped the Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100 at #2. The music video for the same stars South Korean singer Lee Hyori and has 229 million views as of October 2024.
In November 2021, Jessi also featured in an official remix for Ed Sheeran’s hit “Shivers” alongside Korean singer Sunmi. Her prominent rap recognitions include the 2021 Best R&B/Hip-Hop Artist from Korea First Brand Awards and the 2021 Best R&B Hip-hop Award from Seoul Music Awards. She also wrapped up an iconic European tour in 2022, which spanned major cities like Berlin, London, Paris, Oberhausen, and Barcelona.
Over the years, Jessi has been part of multiple successful tracks. These include “What Type of X”, “Cold Blooded”, “Zoom”, “Ganji” and “Gum”.
Her latest project is Apple TV’s K-Pop Idols — a documentary series featuring Jessi, Blackswan, and Cravity — which premiered on the streaming platform on 30 August 2024.
Luxury brand endorsements of K-pop rapper Jessi
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Besides music and acting projects, Jessi also has massive luxury brand endorsement earnings adding up to her net worth. The rapper has endorsed several high-end brands like Fendi, Burberry, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Skims, dorosiwa, ANEW GOLF and Duvetica.
Additionally, her pictorials include prestigious magazines like W Korea, Vogue Korea, Jalouse China, Noblesse Men and 1st Look.
With over 15.1 million followers as of 24 October 2024, Jessi is one of the most-followed K-pop idols on Instagram. The rapper also owns a YouTube channel @jessiofficial, which has over 4.15 million subscribers as of 24 October 2024.
Expensive things owned by Jessi that add to the net worth of the K-pop rapper
The Korean star is known for spending most of her wealth on prime real estate investments. According to media outlet K-pop Newswire, Jessi purchased a USD 2.8 million home in 2024.
On 20 September 2024, the Korean celebrity also launched her own independent label, UNNI.
Controversies
In her two-decade-long career, Jessi has found herself embroiled in multiple controversies, from fan-assault cases to outfit scandals and death threats.
Alleged fan-assault scandals
According to multiple K-media outlets like MK Korea, a Korean-American woman pressed charges against the “Nunu Nana” singer in 2013 claiming that Jessi and her friends assaulted her in the women’s restroom of a club in Itaewon. In her response, Jessi shared that she only tried to stop the fight but did not participate in the assault. While the victim refused this claim initially, she later dropped the charges because she was travelling back to the US.
Meanwhile, another major K-pop controversy involving Jessi has been making headlines in 2024. The incident was reported on 29 September this year, where an underage fan who identified as A, pressed assault charges against Jessi and her team in Seoul. According to his claims, he was verbally and physically assaulted by someone from Jessi’s team in Gangnam when he requested a picture. The victim reported that when Jessi declined his photo request, he had apologised and was about to leave but the perpetrator in her team violently struck him in the face. He also stated that Jessi initially attempted to stop the assault, but left the scene once things further escalated.
Soon, the scandal ignited online trolling, with Jessi receiving extreme hate and death threats. Following this, she parted ways with her agency DOD. On 12 October, Jessi took to Instagram to issue a public apology to the victim. Sharing that she did not know the person who committed the assault and had only met him for the first time that day, Jessi wrote, “This is Jessi. First, I want to sincerely apologize to the victim and their family affected by this incident. Even though I caused this situation, my inappropriate behavior, attitude, and failure to respond have harmed many, including the victim. I have made them feel betrayed and angry. I regretted this tens of thousands of times.”
Highlighting the fact that she should have handled the situation better, Jessi added, “I wish I could turn back time. If I had taken a photo with the victim, done more to protect the victim, gone straight to the police, or offered a proper apology, the victim would not have suffered so much. I take full responsibility for this. I know I cannot be forgiven with just these words. However, I am committed to correcting my mistakes and helping the victim recover, even if it’s late. Once again, I apologize, even if it is too late. I was wrong.”
On 16 October, Jessi was summoned to the Gangnam Police Station as a defendant in the alleged assault case and released after a six-hour interrogation.
Death threats and connections with Producer Koala
The K-pop soloist, who has also been receiving death threats after the incident, addressed the issue in her Instagram story. On 23 October, Jessi posted a hateful comment she received which read, “The best news would be that she committed suic!de by taking medicines.” In response, she wrote, “Please Stop.” Soon, a positive outpour was seen, with her fans supporting her and condemning the hateful comments.
Additionally, Jessi is receiving criticism for her connections with South Korean producer Koala, who according to the victim, is one of the perpetrators. His claims were supported by the CCTV footage released by JTBC’s current affairs program Crime Chief on 16 October 2024.
Sources also claim that Koala has tattoos of the letter ‘K’ on his right arm and ‘OS’ on his left arm and that he might be a gang member as ‘KOS’ reportedly stands for ‘Korean Outlaws’, a Korean gang in Los Angeles.
However, Jessi’s legal representative denied these claims and shared with Crime Chief, “Koala has worked with Jessi on a few music projects, but Jessi is not connected to any gang. We have no knowledge of Koala being affiliated with a gang.”
Her personal life
Born in New York to a Korean father and an American mother, K-pop rapper Jessi wanted to be a musician since childhood. At age 15, she moved to Korea and attended the Korea Kent Foreign School along with Girls’ Generation members Tiffany Young and Jessica Jung. Soon, she passed an SM Entertainment audition and later pursued a music career in the K-pop industry.
As for her relationship status, Jessi is single as of October 2024. However, she reportedly dated American rapper Dumbfoundead in 2016.
(Hero and Featured image: Courtesy Jessi/Instagram)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.