How Ejae Turned the K-Pop Grind Into Gold

You know a little trick I have?

你知道我有一個小訣竅嗎？

People were like, "How do you hit that note? What a babe!"

大家會說：「妳是怎麼唱出那個高音的？『What a babe！』」

For fun, sometimes with my fiance, when I'm acting like cute, I'm like, "Babe!"

好玩的時候，我有時跟我未婚夫撒嬌裝可愛，我就會叫：「寶貝！」

It's like literally the same thing. Like, just use the same technique when you sing for me: "Hey!"

這簡直是一模一樣的感覺。只要用同樣的技巧來唱：「嘿！」

You're welcome.

不客氣。

I got into a really prestigious Korean record label as an 11-year-old.

我 11 歲時進入了一家非常知名的韓國唱片公司。

I had a whole future set out for me.

當時我整個人生藍圖都已經規劃好了。

I was like, "Okay, I'm going to be a K-pop idol, huge superstar by like 18."

我想著：「好，我要成為 K-pop 偶像，大概 18 歲就會成為超級巨星。」

Well, yeah, it definitely didn't pan out that way.

嗯，沒錯，事情顯然完全沒有那樣發展。

I end up, you know, being too old to become a K-pop idol, was like 22.

結果呢，我到了大概 22 歲，對於當 K-pop 偶像來說已經太老了。

Technically that's young, but not for K-pop idol age.

嚴格來說那還很年輕，但在 K-pop 偶像的世界裡可不是。

That's actually considered like the grandma age, is what they call it.

那實際上已經被稱為是「阿嬤年紀」了。

Depression was a thing.

憂鬱情緒隨之而來。

But what helped me get out of it was thankfully accidentally getting into songwriting.

但幸好，陰錯陽差接觸了詞曲創作，拉了我一把走出低潮。

That's how the journey began.

旅程就是這樣展開的。

My grandpa was a huge figure in the movie industry of Korea.

我爺爺是韓國電影界的大人物。

He would always tell me, "You have to work hard to be successful."

他總會告訴我：「妳必須非常努力才能成功。」

Always like would drill that in my head.

總是這樣不斷灌輸到我的腦海裡。

There's a famous saying in Korea, "말이 씨가 된다" (Words become seeds), which is like what you say out loud becomes your story.

韓國有句名言叫做「言出成讖／話語成籽」，意思是你大聲說出來的話，就會成為你的故事。

So I think at a young age, that was always kind of instilled in me.

所以我想從很小的時候，這份信念就已經深深植入我心中。

I was like, "How do you become a superstar?"

我想著：「要怎樣才能成為超級巨星呢？」

So I would go on YouTube and I would watch like interviews of Beyonce as a kid like working her butt off,

於是我會上 YouTube，看碧昂絲小時候拚了命練習的採訪，

like dancing and singing.

看她如何練舞跟練唱。

So I would like work tirelessly, like seven, eight hours of dancing and singing every day.

所以我也跟著不知疲倦地苦練，每天練舞練唱七、八個小時，日復一日。

I went through so many rejections. I'm like, "What am I doing wrong?"

我經歷了無數次的被拒絕。我心想：「我到底是哪裡做錯了？」

One of the reasons why I wanted to have some level of success in songwriting or something

而我之所以想要在詞曲創作或其他領域取得某些成就，原因之一就是

was because I was like, I always thought that I would have a crazy story to tell.

因為我總覺得，我未來一定會有個非常精彩刺激的故事可以分享。

And the Oscar goes to...

奧斯卡得獎的是……

I try not to expect anything, but when I heard...

我盡量不去抱任何期待，但當我聽到……

"Golden!"

「《Golden》！」

Golden, couldn't believe it.

《Golden》，我簡直不敢相信。

Remember thinking, I heard that before you die you have like flashback for like 3 seconds of like your whole life.

我記得當時想著，聽說人死前會有一種像走馬燈一樣、在三秒內回顧整個人生的跑馬燈。

I felt like I had that moment, like walking down that aisle.

走在紅毯走道上的那一刻，我就有那種感覺。

I was thinking about like my trainee days, all up until my songwriting days, and how hard that was, to this moment.

我想到了以前當練習生的日子，一路到我做創作人的歲月，還有那些日子有多麼艱難，直到這一刻。

Yeah, it was tears. I couldn't help but cry.

是的，全是眼淚。我忍不住哭了出來。

Oh, my god.

我的天啊。

This was a moment where I was like, I do really want to perform for people. It was at the BRITs.

那一刻讓我深刻體會到，我真的非常想為大家表演，那是在全英音樂獎（BRITs）的舞台上。

There was like fans, like actual like Huntrix fans in the crowd.

台下有粉絲，是真正屬於 Huntrix 的粉絲群。

I have stage fright, right?

其實我會怯場，對吧？

And I heard this kid go, "Rumi, you got this!"

然後我聽到台下有個孩子大喊：「Rumi，妳做得到的！」

And that gave me so much courage. Like, it's so simple, but I sang so well that day.

那給了我莫大的勇氣。一句話雖然很簡單，但那天我唱得特別好。

The love from the fans was just why I feel confident about my singing voice. I appreciate it a lot, so...

粉絲給予的愛，正是我能對自己的歌聲感到自信的原因。我非常感激這一切，所以……

Oh, gosh. Tear, get in there. Okay.

天啊。眼淚快回去。好了。

It was just so beautiful and just like a pure form of of love, in a way.

那真的太美好了，在某種意義上，那就是最純粹的一種愛。

I feel like I found kind of my purpose, which is representation,

我覺得自己彷彿找到了人生的使命，那就是「代表與榜樣」，

especially when I see like a little Asian girl looking at me and being like, "I want to be like you."

尤其是當我看到有亞裔小女孩看著我說：「我以後想像妳一樣。」

You know, I never had that opportunity as a kid.

你知道的，我小時候從來沒有這樣的榜樣。

Girls who looked like me in in the US who were pop stars or singers, they were all in Korea.

在美國，長得像我的女孩子幾乎不可能成為流行巨星或歌手，她們都在韓國。

So, I felt like a responsibility of giving those, the younger generation, younger Asian kids, Asian girls, some hope.

因此，我覺得自己有一份責任，要為更年輕的一代、亞裔孩子和女孩們帶來一些希望。