Rei Ami is a Seoul-born, Maryland-based pop artist who has been making waves in the international pop music scene ever since her breakout single on YouTube, called “Snowcone”, in 2019. She has been described as a bubblegum pop persona who melds soulful music with her pop diva personality. The artist’s Spotify bio succinctly reads “hello kitty with a knife”, perfectly summing up in a sentence Rei Ami’s anime-inspired persona, which she makes her own by combining it with a mean, gritty, self-confident, and dangerous musical personality.

“Snowcone”, Rei Ami’s breakout single, which was released on YouTube along with a music video in October 2019, was completely edited and rolled out by the artist herself. Racking up over 7 million views to date, Snowcone propelled the Maryland-based artist’s career as she was soon signed to Visionary Records, co-signed by FINNEAS, the brother and co-writer of Billie Eilish.

Rei Ami was raised on academic education and a steady stream of R&B and hip-hop. She began writing R&B songs about love and breakups as a college freshman and suggests that while those early songs helped her find her footing, they didn’t touch on subjects close to her own being. Although she works a day job at a packaging company, Rei Ami says that she appreciates the regular paycheck, which she can use to further her musical endeavors.

Her debut single, released in early 2019, was called “Make it Mine,” and she argues that this was the first song she wrote that she felt was unapologetically her and hers. However, her stylistic and musical choices were brought into the limelight with the release of her now-famous breakout single “Snowcone”. Not only did this song set the wheels of her music career in motion, but also characterized her style as a mix of confessional and aggressive.

Rei Ami uses her songs to let loose her primal rage, exposing her anger, softness, and vulnerability through clever and authentic songwriting. She expresses her musicality through a style that is colorful and unpredictable as the artist herself. Rei Ami released many new songs in 2020, two of which brought her unprecedented recognition as a real force to be reckoned with in the pop music scene.

Cherry Chapstick became the artist’s first popular collaboration, which was done with producers Lolo Zouai and Stelios. While the release of the completed Cherry Chapstick in November 2020 was a serious high point for the artist, her latest release might top it.

Rei Ami’s latest song and music video, titled Dictator, shows the artist’s inherent duality of viciousness and softness, now in a much more refined light. Dictator shows Rei Ami as a now completely self-assured artist who fully embraces the persona she is putting out there into the world.

As Rei Ami continues to expand into the musical domain of pop, hip-hop, R&B, and music production, she is bringing many new followers with her. So much so that if you are a contemporary pop music lover and appreciate musical and artistic authenticity, Rei Ami can’t be missing off your radar.