REI AMI was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved stateside to Maryland when she was 6 years old. While her family adhered to a fairly strict Christian belief “where any ‘worldly’ music was banned,” she reflects, her upbringing became high-octane fuel. Her middle school days brought exploration of the so-called world music, from Destiny’s Child and Mariah Carey to Britney Spears, as well as a ton of K-POP. Later, she would seek out the catalogs of Kendrick Lamar...