Take a look at EJAE now, because the singer-songwriter is shinin’ like she’s born to be. Liquid I.V. revealed on Wednesday (Jan. 21) that the KPop Demon Hunters star — who is the singing voice of HUNTR/X‘s Rumi — is appearing in its Super Bowl ad teaser. Not only that, EJAE also lends her powerful vocals to cover one of Phil Collins’ most iconic tracks in the clip: the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).”
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“I’m like, ‘Hell yeah!’ Of course, that’s such a banger,” the star tells Billboard of her reaction when the powdered hydration brand asked her to appear in its Super Bowl campaign rollout teaser titled “Tiny Vanity Concert,” a 15-second clip of which was unveiled Wednesday. “I was definitely nervous, because it’s, like, a legendary song. But it’s a timeless song, so I feel very honored to be singing it. I did my best!”
In the clip, EJAE unleashes her powerful, stripped down vocals for the emotional ballad (which has been covered by the likes of Mariah Carey) in a glamorous bathroom that features a double vanity as well as a white grand piano, singing into an appropriately golden mic. “I just sang it how I would sing it,” she explains to Billboard, adding that she tried not to listen to the five-time Grammy winner’s version to avoid any unintended influence on her own take on the 1984 classic. “It was just really fun to sing. [I] made the key kind of fit within my vocal range. And I really like Phil Collins already. He has a lot of grit in his take as well, and so I kind of tried to have that same energy, but my own EJAE version of it.”
Though the hit song is about heartbreak, the Kpop Demon Hunters star — who just won the best original song Golden Globe for cowriting the Hot 100 hit “Golden” — says it can be about more than the end of a romance. “It could honestly apply to a lot of things. It really is a song at the end of the day about perseverance and not giving up, whether to find and get the person you love, or it could be like a dream that you’ve always been wanting,” shares the singer, who drew on her K-pop training — which she began at age 11 — and all the rejections and failures to channel the feelings for her “Against All Odds” cover. “So that’s kind of where I tried to put my emotions in, that feeling of yearning for something you really want, that also ‘Golden’ has as well. It was honestly very cathartic to sing.”
And she could soon add an Oscar or two to her collection of growing accolades, as the Academy Awards nominations are set to be announced Thursday (Jan. 22). (Billboard‘s awards editor, Paul Grein, predicts “Golden” will earn a nod for best original song. The film could also nab a nomination for best animated feature.) If EJAE does snag a nomination, she says it would be for all the Asian girls watching. “I think that’s what helped me get through my writer’s block, or for me to persevere, was exactly watching these awards … seeing who receives the awards,” the singer-songwriter tells Billboard of how seeing women of color — and especially Asian women — winning would motivate her. “I’ve always felt as a singer-songwriter, what helps me persevere, to keep going, is that representation aspect of it. I don’t see many Asian women in the industry, especially in songwriting … so it was quite lonely.”
EJAE adds there was another side to the hurdle. “I do think that there’s a preconception of Asian women that [they’re] subservient, quiet, passive,” she shares. “[That preconception] makes me feel more shy … it interferes with the imposter syndrome as an Asian woman. So I think this award would mean so much, because I want to break that a little bit more as much as I can for the next generation. … It absolutely is possible, as long as you put the work in and make the first step. And if that could help that, then I’ll work my butt off to get there.”
Speaking of representation, EJAE says that when she first heard Bad Bunny would be the Super Bowl Halftime Show performer, she thought it was “awesome” and “so cool.” “Immigrants are a huge part of America. To be celebrating all different cultures is just a beautiful part of it,” the musician enthuses. “I’m so excited! He has bangers!”
The Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. To watch EJAE’s full cover of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds,” go to Liquid I.V.’s Instagram and TikTok.
