Draft:Yeji (singer)

Hwang Ye-ji (born May 26, 2000), known mononymously as Yeji, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member and leader of the South Korean girl group Itzy, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2019.

Early life
Yeji was born on May 26, 2000, in Seoul, South Korea, but she grew up in the southwestern city of Jeonju. She started dancing in fifth grade, and when she was in eighth grade she took dancing "seriously."

2015–2018: Pre-debut
In December 2015, Yeji auditioned for JYP Entertainment, one of the songs that she auditioned with was Jessi's 2015 song "ssenunni". She ended up joining the company in the same year. Later in 2017, she appeared publicly for the first time as a guest on Stray Kids with other group members including Chaeryeong, Ryujin and Yuna as members of a pre-debut group. Yeji first rose to domestic fame when she appeared on the South Korean competition show The Fan, where she ranked first on the South Korea search engine Naver. Following her stint on the show, Junho of 2PM described her as "JYP's secret weapon". Yeji spent about three years as a trainee, before debuting in 2019 as part of Itzy.

2019–present: Debut with Itzy
On February 12, 2019, Yeji made her debut as a member of Itzy. The group debuted with the single album It'z Different, led by the single "Dalla Dalla". In 2022,Yeji, along with Ryujin, participated on a remix of Bebe Rexha's 2022 single "Break My Heart Myself", released on July 29.

In November 2023, Yeji, alongside bandmate Chaeryeong, appeared as mentors on the SBS reality survival series Universe Ticket.

Public image
Yeji is known for being one of the female idols who have "a cat-like appearance," which Harpers Bazaar describes her as the "standard" of a cat's eyes, "because of her slender face shape, eyes without double eyelids, and detailed features [that] make people think of an agile cat." gaining the moniker of (charming cat) in the South Korean media.