Her father was a janitor before working in finance, and her mother worked in banking. Hallim began writing songs at age 16. Living in a music-filled household, Hallim says she always knew music was her passion. Her father was a guitarist in a band and would allow her to sit on the stage when she was younger as he would play. In 2002, Hallim was part of a girl group called X-Quisite alongside Nicole Holness and Nirvana Savoury. Signed to Warner Music Canada, the group released their self-titled debut studio album "X-Quisite" in 2003. At the 2004 Juno Awards, the group was nominated as one of five finalists for &lt;a href="Juno%20Award%20for%20R%26amp%3BB/Soul%20Recording%20of%20the%20Year"&gt;R&amp;B/Soul Recording of the Year&lt;/a&gt; for the album "X-Quisite". The group had a number of singles from the album, notably "Bad Girl" and "No Regrets". The group disbanded in 2005.