Lim Kim

Lim Kim
Lim Kim in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Kim Ye-rim
Born	(1994-01-21) January 21, 1994 (age 30)
Origin	South Korea
Genres	K-pop, indie pop, folk rock
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2011 (2011)–2016 (2016) 2019 (2019)– ()
Labels	New Entry
Korean name
Hangul	김예림
Hanja	金藝琳
Revised Romanization	Gim Ye-rim
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Yerim

Lim Kim (born Kim Ye-rim; Korean: 김예림; Hanja: 金藝琳 on January 21, 1994) is a South Korean singer and a member of the band Togeworl with Do Dae-yoon. She competed in the Superstar K3 singing competition as a member of Togeworl, placing third. In 2013, Kim debuted as a solo singer, and is known for the song "All Right." She left Mystic Entertainment after her contract ended in 2016.^[1]

Kim was born in South Korea. For high school, she decided to go overseas, and attended Leonia High School in New Jersey.^[2] While attending high school in 2011, she heard about the New York City auditions for the South Korean singing competition Superstar K3. She asked a fellow Korean student Do Dae-yoon, who was known as a great guitarist at the school, to audition together, even though she did not know him well.^[3] He agreed, and they formed the band Togeworl. Togeworl managed to pass the audition, and flew to Seoul to compete. The duo were successful, and were picked to be mentored by singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin.^[4] Eventually they finished third in the competition, after Ulala Session and Busker Busker.^[5]

After the competition, Kim and Do remained in South Korea, where they continued to receive musical training, and signed a contract with Mystic89.^[4][5] Togeworl released their first song in February 2012 for the soundtrack for the TVN variety show The Romantic. Kim began attending high school in Bundang-gu, Seoul in March 2012.^[2]

In March 2012, Kim made an appearance in the drama Flower Band,^[6] and released two songs for the soundtrack, "Two Months" and "Love U Like U," which was a duet with L from the boyband Infinite.

Though Togeworl planned to debut in 2013, member Do Dae-yoon had to return to the United States, due to issues with high school.^[7] Because of this, it was decided Kim should debut as a solo artist before reuniting as a duo.^[4]

In June 2013, Kim released the extended play A Voice, led by the song "All Right." The song was successful, reaching number two on Gaon's singles chart.^[8] Then, she released a second extended play in September, Her Voice, and a full-length album in November called Goodbye 20.

In April 2015, she released her third extended play, Simple Mind. The track "Awoo" was the only K-pop song included on Spin's 101 Best Songs of 2015, coming in at No. 51. In the article, Andrew Unterberger praised the song, saying "no [American] pop song this year breathed like this Korean emoji of a pop song" and calling it "a kinetic environment bursting with creativity, synthesis, and an intrinsic passion".^[9] Billboard's 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015 ranked the song at No. 8, claiming that Kim outdid herself and praising the song's "mix of woozy synths, trance-like chants, and trappy snares [...] pulled off with a sense of sophistication that's hard to make believable."^[10]

On May 30, 2016, Mystic Entertainment posted an official statement announcing Kim's departure from the label after her contract has ended.^[11][12]

After an over-three-year hiatus, Lim Kim released "Sal-ki", her first published song as a rapper, on May 24, 2019.^[13] Her new EP Generasian was released independently on October 15, 2019. Generasian won the award for Best Dance & Electronic Album and "Sal-ki" won Best Dance & Electronic Song at the 2020 Korean Music Awards.^[14]

On December 9, 2021, Kim signed a contract with New Entry.^[15]

Kim is known for her empowering lyrics, which demonstrate her interpretation of what it means to be a modern-day woman and attempt to tear down the Orientalist stereotypes of the West.^[16]

• Lim Kim on Facebook