Yena

South Korean singer and performer YENA first rose to prominence as the primary rapper for the girl group Iz*One, where her contributions helped drive the act’s chart dominance across Korea during the late 2010s and early 2020s. After the group dissolved in 2021, she launched a solo career under Yuehua Entertainment, beginning with the mini-album Smiley that entered the Korean charts at number two.

Raised in Gil-Dong, Gangdong, Choi Ye-na trained as a teenager at Polaris before joining Yuehua Entertainment and adopting the stage name YENA (예나). Her appearance on the Mnet survival program Produce 48 earned her a spot among the twelve members selected for Iz*One. Within the lineup she handled main-rapper duties while also serving as a lead vocalist and lead dancer. The group’s first EP, Color*Iz, arrived with the lead single “La Vie en Rose,” reached number two on Korea’s Albums Chart and number one on Japan’s Albums Chart, and received platinum certification from the KMCA.

Iz*One maintained a brisk pace of releases through the close of the decade and into the 2020s. Their second mini-album, Heart*Iz, gave YENA her initial Korean number-one placement in early 2019. In 2020 the group issued both Bloom*Iz, which peaked at number two in Korea and earned domestic platinum status, and the Japanese-language Twelve, which topped the Japanese charts. Additional 2020 EPs Oneiric Diary and One-reeler/Act IV arrived at numbers two and one, respectively, on the Korean Albums Chart, while “Panorama,” “Secret Story of the Swan,” and “Fiesta” extended the group’s streak of hit singles. Upon the conclusion of their contracts in April 2021, the members disbanded to pursue separate paths.

YENA confirmed she would continue as a soloist with Yuehua, releasing her debut mini-album Smiley in January 2022. The project opened at number two in Korea; its title track “Smiley” reached number eight and secured her first music-show victory on M Countdown. Her follow-up mini-album Smartphone entered at number three in August, after which she issued the single albums Love War and Hate XX in the first months of 2023. In January 2024 she returned with the mini-album Good Morning, which again landed at number two on the Korean charts.