Tag: musician

Ellie Kim (she/her), known as SuperKnova (@superknova), is a genderfluid trans singer and musician based in NYC. Her relationship with music began early when her parents—like many Korean parents—enrolled her in piano lessons as a child. She hated it. It wasn’t until she picked up her first guitar that she fell in love with music and started dreaming of becoming a musician. Due to the lack of Asian American musicians in the mainstream—and even fewer queer Asian American musicians—Ellie didn’t think being a musician was a possibility, so she chose the “safe route” and pursued medical school. Ellie completed school and earned a medical degree, but she is not a doctor. She is now living life fully as both Ellie and SuperKnova. Music became the vehicle for her to process emotions and her queer identity, as well as to find a community that embraces her for who she is. So what’s her advice for the next generation? “Don’t listen to me! I’m just excited for Gen Z and Gen A to come up with their ideas and make the world better.”

At age 15, with a natural talent for perfect pitch, Edwin Kim quickly immigrated from South Korea to New Jersey’s very own Palisades Park to attend Juilliard’s competitive pre-college program. Rather than encouragement for his gift of music, he was met with doubt and accusations of plagiarism from instructors. As a student and young immigrant, Edwin recalls this incident causing a deep struggle to prove himself, almost bringing him to end his own life. With a lot of perseverance and eventual support, Edwin is now known as a “jack of all trades”, breaking his life-long music career down into five key roles: concert pianist, singer, arranger, composer, and writer – always following his heart and doing what’s right for himself.

James “Uzuhan” Han was born and raised in Washington, DC, and often worked at his family’s dry cleaning business. As a child, witnessing his parents interact with customers gave James insight into how the world viewed them and a desire to protect his family. It wasn’t until middle school that he discovered hip hop, allowing him to channel those feelings and connect with himself and his peers in a new way.