TLDR; singer-songwriter, producer, visual artist, tattoo artist, etc.

In Korean, the attaching of “ya” at the end of someone’s name is a mark of closeness. It would never be used to refer to new friends and acquaintances, but can be attached to the names of siblings, old friends, and familiar faces. For HUNJIYA, the artist name of singer, producer, and songwriter, it feels fitting. Her modern production and lush vocal layering frames, confessional lyrics full of the sort of personal reflections one would expect to hear from a best friend. 

Hunjiya released her debut EP Lineage in 2017, a gift for her grandparents who had never heard her music prior to its release. Stripped down and featuring voice notes of her grandparents in their native tongue, Korean, it retells the story of how they fell in love. Two years later, Hunjiya released her second project and full length album, Look After August which explores the concepts of self-care. The album garnered attention from British Vogue, who premiered her first music video for give it/what i get.

In 2020, Hunjiya released her electronic-pop EP Fold as a duo, indigoworld, with producer Justin Trout. This EP saw an evolution in Hunjiya’s vocal production and style, which gained the attention of South Korean producer, Millic, who scouted her through the music streaming platform, SoundCloud, and offered her a record deal. In the end of 2020, she relocated to Seoul to where a new door of opportunities and challenges opened up to discovering her own identity, both as a musician and an individual. 

In 2022, she carried these new changes into her third album, KHAMAI which explores the chameleon-like nature of finding yourself through ever-shifting identities. Her single, ‘FAVORITE’ garnered over 1.5 million views on YouTube, 1 million streams across Spotify and Apple Music, and her EP gained the attention of Nylon, Paper Mag, Rolling Stone Korea, and more.

Having returned to being independent in 2024, HUNJIYA has released various projects including an official remix released for K-pop legend Taeyeon on her song “To. X.” Now, she is venturing into producing and writing for other artists as well as starting her tattoo career.