K-pop star Sunmi loves Notion and ear cleaning videos

The K-pop industrial complex runs on precision. Choreography is pixel-perfect, production budgets rival Hollywood, and fan engagement is managed through dedicated apps and data pipelines. So when a star like Sunmi—a genre veteran who broke the Billboard barrier with Wonder Girls in 2009—reveals that her personal tech stack is a Notion workspace and a YouTube feed full of ear cleaning videos, it's a refreshing puncture to the mystique. The machinery of stardom, it turns out, runs on the same mundane software as a freelance designer's side hustle. Notion has quietly become the uniform of the organized modern worker, but its appeal to celebrities is a different beast. For an idol whose schedule is dictated by agencies, producers, and fan events, Notion represents a rare pocket of autonomy—a private space to impose order on chaos. When Sunmi name-drops it, she's not just endorsing a tool; she's signaling that the aspirational self-optimization culture of productivity apps applies even at the top of the charts. The Verge's interview (https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1008654/k-pop-sunmi-wonder-girls-interview) captures this tension nicely: the most polished performer in the room is still just trying to keep her tasks in order. Then there's the ear cleaning videos. At first glance, it's a bizarre confession, but it makes perfect sense in context. These videos—often Korean in origin, featuring meticulous, ASMR-adjacent extraction content—are a niche internet obsession that trades in tactile satisfaction and quiet. For someone whose life is a constant barrage of lights, cameras, and screaming fans, a repetitive, low-stakes sensory video is the digital equivalent of a weighted blanket. It's the analog comfort food to Notion's sterile efficiency. What this interview ultimately demonstrates is that celebrity tech habits are rarely about cutting-edge hardware or bespoke software. They're about the same human needs everyone has: structure, escape, and a little bit of weirdness. Sunmi's confession isn't a product placement or a PR stunt—it's a reminder that the digital tools we share are the great equalizers, even in an industry built on the illusion of being larger than life.