Having spent her teenage years participating in talent shows, South Korean vocalist YUJU was recruited into the six-member girl group GFriend in 2015, who had increasing success with a string of mini-albums in 2015 and 2016 before issuing their number three-charting debut studio album, LOL, in July 2016. Through the 2010s and early 2020s, GFriend issued four studio albums and ten mini-albums, landing at number one on the Gaon charts with mini-albums The Awakening (2017), Time for the Moon Night (2018), Fever Season (2019) and Labyrinth (2020). During this time, YUJU briefly flirted with a solo career, issuing singles such as the number 31-charting "Cherish" in 2016. After the group's six-year contract expired in May 2021, GFriend disbanded. Signing to Konnect in September 2021, YUJU began promoting herself as a soloist with her debut mini-album REC. in 2022.