Serena Kim is a writer and editor living in Los Angeles. 

She was born in San Francisco to an author mother and a professor father, both from Seoul. Kim grew up in L.A. Koreatown and traveled to South Africa with a group of high school-aged student activists to make a film about the ending of apartheid. She went on to study Islamic History at the University of California at Santa Cruz. 

From 1995 to 2000, Kim deejayed at some of the most popular nightclubs in New York City. She blended hip-hop, soul disco classics, and reggae on vinyl before the rise of digital mixing. 

In the early 2000s, she served as features editor at the award-winning music magazine, Vibe.  As a freelance music critic, she was widely published in the LA Times and the Washington Post. During this time, she played a large part in writing The Michael Jackson Opus. Her publication credits also include Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide and Split: Stories from a Generation Raised on Divorce. As an Apple employee from 2010-2014, she helped create the editorial tone for iTunes’ and the App Store’s social media channels. She is currently a speechwriter for Samsung Mobile’s global product launch events.