2023 UPDATE

 Hi everyone!

Wow it's been a minute. It's nice to see you again, and I hope you're doing well. <3

A lot has changed since my last post from years ago, and yet it feels like it was just yesterday. Even though the new year has begun well over a week ago, I think I've just realized that it is January 2023. 

Here's a short update:

In 2020 I was back in Korea as a foreign exchange student at the renown Yonsei University in Seoul. I was quickly vanquished from my hometown as COVID swept the Earth and returned for a bit over a year to the US. Jobless, friendless, classless, and stuck in the boring, snowy wastelands of Minnesota, I bode my time drinking and playing video games (with over 1000+ hours on Animal Crossing). I unfortunately ended up gaining over 30 kg (70 lbs) and am still in the works of shedding it. 

Desperate to get my life back, I searched different ways to return to Korea in an everchanging and virus-ridden world. As 2021 turned a new leaf, I landed a teaching job in Anyang, South Korea, just outside of Seoul in the Gyeonggi province. I left my high paying remote job in Minnesota to settle as an English teacher back in my country. 

Well little did I know that would be a CHOICE. I went through two awful schools. And you might be asking, "Well why didn't you just quit?". Fun fact: on a working visa in Korea, you are unable to quit without a written letter from the employer that states they will ALLOW YOU to resign. Even if you have a new job, housing, etc lined up, the old school MUST send in a letter of release (LOR) if you want to switch visas without leaving the country. 

The second school I worked at was (little known to me at the time) illegal work for kindergartners. I was teaching not only English, but science, art, physical education, math, and more. Teaching with no schedule or curriculum, and to 3, 4, and 5 year olds for 9.5 hours a day and a 20 minute lunch break really took a toll on me. Not to mention ridiculous expectations from management and parents. 

I fortunately was able to leave the job and have scored a very lovely position in Seoul now teaching elementary, middle and high schoolers a few hours a day after school. It's quite lovely. 

In 2020, I debuted as a solo, independent singer. Quite honestly my first album was shit. So I made a second one, which was a collaboration album, later in fall of 2020. This album was also shit. But it was an important stepping stone in my path to success. I created an incredible network of artists and talented friends from across the globe, and began my own remote, international entertainment company (KoKo Entertainment). 

Just before returning to Korea in the early spring of 2021, I released my third album, Olympus, and to be honest, this one had some bangers. Sure, there was still a lot of work to be done, especially when it comes to quality, but even now I enjoy performing a few of the songs from the album.

I began working alongside a friend of a friend in winter of 2021. Mike and I spent hours working in my semi-studio apartment in Anyang, Korea. We spent cold, snowy days, up until dawn working on new beats and songs for an album that was meant to spark a new trend in music. We had one vision, not to make music, but to make an experience. Each song is quite dynamic, from beat to lyrics. Its more like poetic story telling than just song writing. The long hours paid off, and after all the mixing was completed, we released the new album in May of 2022. 

After beginning my new dream teaching job in the following summer. I started doing live shows for the first time. At first it was incredibly nerve wrecking. I've always been great at stage presence, but for some reason when it came to singing my nerves bundled into a clenching ball in my throat. But after a few shows I got accustomed to it, and now I can go on stage as easily as it is to walk and breathe. 

Doing weekly shows (sometimes 2-3) for 6 months, beginning my own hiphop crew of over (currently) 30 members, and working on my 5th album had really taken the best of me. I'm currently on hiatus for the month of January and wanted to take some time to share my story with others. Whether someone finds it interesting, inspiring, or helpful, I'm happy to bring you along on my journey. 

I hope that my words are beneficial or at least entertaining to others out there. I'll be trying to update at least weekly. So I hope to see you soon. (: 

-Jessica Ko