What 'Debut' Means in K-pop

Today’s guest is a Grammy-winning songwriter, global pop architect, and one of the most quietly influential voices shaping modern music across borders.

Before the world heard her voice, she spent years training inside the K-pop system — learning discipline, structure, and endurance long before recognition ever arrived. When the system didn’t know what to do with her, she pivoted. Slowly. Intentionally. And built a career that would eventually be heard everywhere.

Now, as a songwriter whose work spans K-pop, pop, animation, and beyond — and as an artist stepping into her own voice — she represents a different kind of success: one built patiently, shaped by pressure, and defined by longevity rather than speed.

And The Writer Is… Ejae!

In this episode of And The Writer Is…, Ejae opens up about:

• The reality of the K-pop training system and what it actually teaches you about discipline and survival
• Rejection and why her voice didn’t fit the moment — and how that shaped her writing
• Learning to work alone after years inside a rigid system
• How songwriting became a safer, more powerful entry point than performing
• The pivot that reframed her career and led to global success

And much more…

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Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

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A special thank you to our sponsors…

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.

And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

1:30 Early life & finding music

6:10 Inside K-Pop training

9:00 Ejae's writing process...

28:00 Rejection from auditioning to be a K-Pop Idol... and $5 Karaoke training to pass.

41:00 Ejae sings her first song

41:37 Sponsor Spotlight: NMPA

42:18 Sponsor Spotlight: Splice

14:45 Discipline, pressure, and identity

23:20 Being let go by the system

26:19 The truth about the K-Pop system

30:40 Rebuilding in isolation

39:15 Discovering songwriting as power

50:00 K-Pop's ultimate evaluation: Auditioning to debut

50:37 Ejae's rejection and rock bottom... and the pivot that would change everything

56:10 Global songs & delayed recognition

1:00:00 How she wrote her first songs

1:04:00 Writing her first song for film

1:07:00 Writing 'Psycho' for Red Velvet at her first session

1:13:00 K-Pop vs Pop music... And the reference to 'Psycho'

1:14:00 K-Pop Demon Hunters

1:20:00 The story behind 'Golden'

1:26:00 The original 'Golden' voice memo...

1:30:00 The process of co-writing the songs for K-Pop Demon Hunters

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Creative Directed by Jad Saad

Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki

Watercolor Art by Michael White

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