Dentist-turned-singer Lee Ji signs with former Cho Yong Pil manager

Lee Ji (Lee Ji-young), a practicing dentist and singer, is making a full-scale entry into the trot market by joining forces with a professional entertainment management agency. As Lee Ji, who balances her expertise as a Doctor of Dental Surgery with her musical career, takes on this new challenge to expand the boundaries of popular music, attention is also focused on her collaboration with a veteran producer.

According to her agency, C&ALL, on the 20th, Lee Ji recently established an exclusive collaborative system with CEO Maeng Jeong-ho, the head of C&ALL and a former manager for Cho Yong Pil, and has officially begun her activities as a trot singer.

Maeng is a professional entertainment producer who has been active in the domestic popular music scene for a long time. He has led artist planning, overseas market expansion, and overall performance and album businesses, including the Japanese promotion for singer Cho Yong Pil, as well as managing artists such as Jeong Ye-rin, Kim Heung-guk, Lee Hye-min of Baettaragi, and the project group 'The Giving Tree.' Based on his accumulated production experience and network, he plans to seek both Lee's musical direction and her public scalability.

Lee has recently released her new song 'Uri Oppaya' and is continuing active promotions. The work is a semi-trot genre song that playfully expresses the feelings of falling in love based on a cheerful rhythm and bright sentiment, aiming to connect with a wide range of generations through its familiar melody and popular composition.

A large number of talented production staff from the domestic popular music industry participated in this new song. Singer Park Gu-yoon, well known for the trot hit 'Ppunigo,' participated in the composition, and Kang In-soo, a composer and producer who has created numerous hits such as Fin.K.L's 'Blue Rain' and Fly to the Sky's 'Gaseum Apado,' took charge of producing to enhance the song's perfection. The track is being praised for strengthening its genre accessibility by combining the unique popularity of semi-trot with modern arrangements.

Actor Jo Jae-yun and trot singer Jung Min made special appearances in the music video. The two decided to appear based on their friendship with Lee, and they increased the immersion of the work by showing humorous acting and natural chemistry in line with the cheerful atmosphere of the song.

Lee is a practicing dentist who graduated from Seoul National University College of Dentistry and obtained a PhD in Dentistry, garnering attention for her history of balancing medical practice with musical activities. Having also worked as a ballad singer in the past, she has built her own musical identity based on her unique career combining a professional profession with artistic activities.

Recently, in the popular culture industry, so-called 'N-job artists'—those who balance their main profession with artistic activities—are establishing themselves as a new cultural phenomenon. As cases of producing various cultural contents based on specific professional expertise increase, some analyze that activities breaking the boundaries between profession and art are gaining public interest. Lee is also drawing attention as a case that combines professional expertise as a medical practitioner with artistry as a singer.

Lee stated through her agency, "This activity is not merely a dentist singing as a hobby, but a new challenge to convey hope and joy to more people through music and to create a virtuous cycle that leads to medical volunteering and social contribution activities. Since both music and medicine are fields that comfort and heal people, I want to practice 'good influence' by harmoniously connecting the two fields."

The industry is focusing on what kind of differentiated competitiveness Lee, who possesses both musicality and professionalism, will demonstrate in the semi-trot market.