Lee Jin-ah (; born March 16, 1991) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and jazz pianist. After finishing in third place on SBS's K-pop Star 4, she signed with Antenna in 2015.
Her distinctive musical style combines jazz with pop and R&B, often featuring whimsical lyrics.

Biography

Early career
Lee Jin-ah majored in applied music at Seoul Institute of the Arts.

In 2011, she took part in the CCM singer audition program Gospel Star C Season 1 as part of a group called Snowdrop, who placed within the final top 10.

On March 5, 2012, she was selected as the winner of the 9th Tune Up, a competition and musician support program run by the CJ Cultural Foundation.

Lee debuted in 2013 with her first album, Invisible.  The album was produced by Kim Soo-jin, a music director who had previously produced OSTs for dramas including Behind The White Tower, Sign, and Queen Seondeok. Lee Han-jin, a professor of applied music at Seoul Institute of the Arts participated in this album as a jazz trombone performer. This album is too intense to be a debut of a new musician.

She was a member of the "JinA Band". The other members of "JinA Band" were Park Hyun(contrabass) and Cho Sun Kyun(drums) before and after K-pop Star 4.

2014–2015: K-pop Star 4
In 2014, she participated as a contestant in K-pop Star 4, a reality television audition program on SBS. She performed seven self-written songs, which is rare in audition programs, drawing rave reviews from the judges with her performances.  JYP Entertainment CEO Park Jin-young, one of the three judges, became especially impressed, saying he "might as well quit the music industry now."   Antenna Entertainment CEO You Hee-yeol drew attention by saying, "I think I saw here the reality of a female musician who I had dreamed of not being able to conclude or define." Lee and her songs became very popular through this program. On April 5, she won 3rd place.

On April 20, it was announced that she had signed with Antenna Music.

2017–2018: Random and Jinah Restaurant Full Course

In 2017, her first EP Random was released. She produced all songs in it at the recommendation of her agency CEO You Hee-yeol. You Hee-yeol said to her not to pay much attention to the album's success, praising her as "a musician who shows her true value at a concert hall."

Random was described by Jung Yeon-kyung at the music publication IZM as "a mixture of Girls' Generation, Jamie Cullum, Okdal, and Disney animated musicals". In particular, the song "Stairs" was noticed by critics for its novel fusion of pop and jazz. On the title track "Random", the lyrics describe an experience in which she discovered an unexpected joy while listening to music in random play.  She said this song contains the meaning of discarding prejudice in music and other things. The EP was later nominated for Best Pop Album at the 2018 Korean Music Awards.

In 2017 Park Jong-woo(bass) joined the "Lee Jin-ah trio". Another member of the "Lee Jin-ah Trio" is Seo Ju-young(drums). Both Lee Jin-ah and Seo Ju-young entered Seoul Institute of the Arts in the same year. Park Jong-woo was a year senior. Park and Seo have sometimes participated in composing and arranging her songs.

In 2018, Jinah Restaurant Full Course was released. She participated in the lyrics and composition of all songs in this album.

2020–present: Candy Pianist

In 2020, her second EP, Candy Pianist was released. By participating in writing and composing all the songs in this EP, Lee once again proved her ability as a singer-songwriter. The theme of it is 'Awakening', which is clearly shown in the title song "Dreamlike Alarm", "Awake(Feat. Sam Kim)", and other tracks. This EP contains Lee's desire to give strength and motivate those who listen to her music as a candy pianist.

In 2021, she made her debut as a film music director with Children Are Happy OST.

Personal life 
Lee married pianist Shin Sung-jin in March 2019. They met as music students at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Shin has steadily participated in her songs by playing musical instruments, rhythm programming, and string arrangements.

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtrack albums

Extended plays

Singles

K-pop Star 4 songs

Soundtrack appearances

Other appearances

Songwriting credits
The following credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association database.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links
 Official fancafe
 Antenna Mufan cafefficial website

1991 births
Living people
South Korean jazz singers
South Korean women pop singers
South Korean female idols
South Korean singer-songwriters
South Korean keyboardists
South Korean pop pianists
South Korean women pianists
People from Gwangju, Gyeonggi
Musicians from Gyeonggi Province
K-pop Star participants
Seoul Institute of the Arts alumni
Antenna Music artists
21st-century South Korean singers
21st-century South Korean women singers
21st-century pianists
South Korean women singer-songwriters
21st-century women pianists