Jessi Talks About Potential Girl Group With Lee Hyori, Plans For U.S. Debut, And More

Jul 29, 2020

On the July 29 broadcast of MBC’s “Radio Star,” Kwanghee, Jessi, Ayumi, and Nam Yoon Soo appeared as guests.

During this episode, Jessi talked about Lee Hyori naming her as a member of her ideal girl group, along with Uhm Jung Hwa and MAMAMOO’s Hwasa. Based on Rain’s suggestion, the hypothetical girl group has been referred to as “Refund Expedition” by fans.

Jessi said, “I was surprised while watching the episode on TV. I was especially surprised because there was a time when I was going to be in a three-member girl group with Lee Hyori and Lee Eun Joo. Lee Hyori said that she wanted to gather women with unique eye smiles and and reputations for being strong-willed.”

Jessi continued, “I don’t know if ‘Refund Expedition’ will happen or not, but I exchanged positive messages with Uhm Jung Hwa. If it really works out, then wow!”

About her upcoming comeback, Jessi said, “I’m releasing an album soon but the title track was suddenly changed. PSY kept saying we should change it. The album title is ‘NUNA’ and the title track is called ‘NUNU NANA.’ There were about three days left before the music video shoot, and I thought it would be nice to have a tough noona [older woman] in it. I asked Lee Hyori. I felt sorry because it was so out of the blue, but she readily agreed to do it. The video came out really well.”

The hosts mentioned that Jessi had attended the 2020 Grammy Awards, and Jessi shared that she had had plans to debut in the United States.

She said, “I invested about four or five months in my U.S. debut. I got calls from Chris Brown, Tyga, Juicy J, and even 2 Chainz. I went to the U.S. and saw a lot of people in high places, like the CEOs of top labels. In the United States, they don’t want you to be too modest, so I just acted as I usually did. They wanted to sign a contract within five minutes. But then COVID-19 happened. The five months I’d invested were gone in a flash. At first, I was angry. I was very disappointed, but I believe that good opportunities will come back in the future. I believe I was born to be a star.”