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This is NOT a Competition, Jessi Slayed her Los Angeles Show

jessi jessica ho los angeles show concert belasco

Words like “humble” and “down to earth” are commonly used to describe artists and idols, but they’re often merely decorative and empty adjectives to make them seem more human and relatable. Not in Korean-American singer/rapper Jessi’s case though. For her first ever show in Los Angeles, CA at the Belasco Theater on October 16, the “Unpretty Rapstar” runner-up proved she cherishes her fans and the position she’s in currently while completely owning her performance.

But a headliner needs excellent opening acts to pump the audience for the main performer. And even though their set was short, Yung Koconut, Lyricks, Ken Nana, and the rest of their squad had a massive bro party on stage, throwing water at the audience every five seconds and dancing all around, to songs like “Mollah” and “Revenue.” Even rapper Dumbfoundead made an appearance, jumping up and down and serving as a guest hypeman.


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Korean hip hop duo Mighty Mouth were next up, receiving loud cheers from the audience. Members Sangchu and Shorry J followed suit keeping the energy at 100, performing their hits including “Lalala,” “Movie Star,” and “Bad Boy.” The guy’s excitement was visible, especially Shorry’s, revealing his abs, flirting with fan cams left and right, and even giving his microphone briefly to a fan during a song. Mighty Mouth lit up the venue and set the perfect pace and energy for the main act.

mighty mouth los angeles show concert shorry j

by Alejandro Abarca

Once Mighty Mouth’s stage finished, the screen above the stage played Jessi’s now famous “this is a competition” speech which made her a household name during “Unpretty Rapstar.” Having a venue filled with Jebbies (her fan club name), cheers and woo’s boomed throughout the Belasco and served as the best welcoming for Jessi.

Unfortunately, a few mishaps with the CD almost ruined her intro, but Jessi made the best out of an awkward scenario by taking the time to introduce herself and dissing us all Californians by saying In-n-Out Burgers “wasn’t as good as [she] expected.” But this wasn’t the only instance Jessi took to throw shade. Oh no. In true Jessi ssenunni fashion, she continually asked the audience why they weren’t drunk enough, said “Unpretty Rapstar 2” is “not as fun as it used to be,” and playfully complained that the guys from the opening acts didn’t help her out onstage as her hypemen. From another artist, this might have been frowned upon, but coming from Jessi, that’s just her being real, and being real is what made her massively popular in the first place.

Among the songs she performed, Jessi especially shined when she belted out “I Want to be Me” as her first full song and replaced the n-word in her cover of Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” with “baby” — which other artists should take note on. Aside from her new hits like “My Type” and “Unpretty Dreams,” the singer took her fans back to 2009 by performing “Life is Good,” which she shared it was still hard for her to sing. She also did a medley of a few songs including a cover of Guy Sebastian’s “Battlescars,” her verses in “Me, Myself, & I” from “Unpretty Rapstar 2” and Vasco’s “Bonnie & Clyde,” and gave her intro, a mashup of “My Type” and a few verses from “SSENUNNI,” another shot. However, the song that received the most excitement from the fans and her alike was the latest single “SSENUNNI.”

jessi los angeles show concert belasco jessica h.o

by Alejandro Abarca

Before the encore, Jessi told the audience “I’m never gonna forget this moment,” and that sentiment was her set’s whole mood. Right from the get go, Jessi was all smiles, even with her jetlag, repeatedly thanked the audience for coming, and expressed her excitement perform in LA. And as mentioned before, these were not empty words just to make the fans feel special. Throughout her set, Jessi took every cellphone she could get her hands on from the audience and took videos and selfies with them. Seriously… she took the phones of everyone in first two rows, at least. For the encore, Mighty Mouth came out onstage with Jessi and followed suit by also taking as many selfies and videos as they could, as well as the traditional one with the audience as the background.

jessi concert show los angeles belasco jessica h. o la

by Alejandro Abarca


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However, once the show ended, the fan engagement was clearly not over for Jessi. Security guards and staff urged Jessi to get off the stage, but she wouldn’t, she kept on taking phones from the audience. Even when a security guard whisked her away, she somehow cheated him and ran to the pit to dance, hug, and keep on taking pictures with her fans. To say Jessi was truly happy and genuinely wanted to meet her fans is an understatement. Jessi gave her fans a whole experience rare in the K-pop field, and Jebbies loved every second of it. Turned out this ssenunni isn’t that bad or mean when it comes to her fans.

mighty mouth jessi jessica ho los angeles show concert belasco

by Alejandro Abarca

Check out more pictures from the show here:

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Are you a Jessi or Mighty Mouth fan? Why do you like best about them? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

8 Jessi Songs To Get You Ready For Her Los Angeles Show

jessi jessica h.o. los angeles show u.s.

2015 has definitely been Jessi’s year. Not only did she win runner up on “Unpretty Rapstar” but her popularity surged because of it and her now famous “this is a competition” diss,, which everyone in and outside of Korea made a meme out of. Jessi made appearances on other shows and collaborated (not competed!) with other artists, and now she’s gearing up for her very first show in Los Angeles. With more than 10 years in the business, Jessi has built up a sizable repertoire of songs, so let’s check some of them out to get us ready for the upcoming show.

1. “Can You Hear Me”

After a five year hiatus, Jessi came back as part of the trio Lucky J as their power female vocal and released “Can You Hear Me.” Even though she’s now famous for her husky spit, Jessi has the same tone when singing, which is equally amazing. The girl not only can drop fierce bars but her vocals are just as powerful.

2. “Get Up”

As mentioned before, Jessi made her debut back in 2005 as Jessica H.O. with “Get Up,” a pop song embellished with the R&B sounds that were on trend back then. Not to put her on blast with this throwback, “Get Up” shows how much she has evolved as an artist and a woman.

3. “Unpretty Dreams”

Fast forward to the present, as it was the hit show “Unpretty Rapstar” that made Jessi a star. Sure, she stirred up some trouble in the show, but she always keep it real and showed us that she had the chops. And even if she lost the competition only to Cheetah, her semi final song “Unpretty Dreams” was her manifesto that this time around, she was here to stay.


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4. “My Type”

As advertised on every episode, “Unpretty Rapstar” is Korea’s only female rap competition show where the contestants strive to win features on songs on the show’s compilation album. Sadly, Jessi never got her own track but shared her win with the other queen of the show, Cheetah. This, of course, is not a bad thing given that Cheetah is a superb rapper and lyricist (she did win the show, after all!), and together they released one of the most fun songs on the album, “My Type.” And, oh yeah, Kangnam of M.I.B sang the chorus.

5. “Who’s Your Momma?”

After “Unpretty Rapstar,” Jessi became a coveted rap feature, and one of the lucky artists who got to collaborate with this queen was Korea’s king of soul, J.Y. Park. Jessi’s rap on “Who’s Your Momma?” may be brief, but it’s full of sass and she gets to showcase her amazing body.

6. “Just Like U”

Another feature that she did was on Primary’s “Just Like U” off of his superb album “2,” which contains a myriad of wondrous songs. Along with rapper Yankie, Jessi not only rapped but sang a bit on the chorus and together they created an interesting contrast with a sweet-sounding love song while saying things like “I just like you, but I don’t love you” and “I really like this kid, I do, but fxxk, he calls me late at night like I’m some kind of booty call.”

7. “I Want to be Me”

As mentioned before, Jessi is also a talented singer and has the vocal range to make power ballad singers in the industry take several seats. Not only is her voice husky, making her tone unique in the genre, but the listener can sense genuine pain behind her voice. And the song that perfectly encapsulates this and showcases her as a versatile artist is “I Want to be Me.” Jessi needs no features on her songs to help her out; she can rap and sing and slay the whole performance.


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8. “SSEUNNI”

To wrap this up, we couldn’t forget her latest release “SSEUNNI.” On this track, Jessi stayed true to her brand — bad and fierce chick — and made it hella fun at the same time. This girl can put on a show and “SSEUNNI” is just the jam to turn up to.

Jessi’s show will be at the Belasco Theater on October 16 at 8 p.m. Moreover, the opening act will be none other than hip hop duo Mighty Mouth. Tickets went on sale on September 11, but you can still cop them through TicketGate. The cost ranges from $35 for general admission to $156 for the meet and greet package. And if you’re not over 21, worry not for the show is all ages!

jessi los angeles jessica h.o. belasco theater

Check out this video greeting from Jessi about the show!

What’s your favorite Jessi song? Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.