“You”(U) is from English, “ae”(爱) is Sino-Korean for “love”, and “na”(나) is Korean for “me”. IU's fancafe used to be called Uaena and over time, IU fans were called uaenas.
"IU is, undeniably, one of Korea’s most successful singer songwriters yet."
In an episode of TMI News, lyricist Seo Ji Eum — who wrote mega earworms like EXO‘s “Growl” and Girls’ Generation-TTS‘s “Twinkle” — revealed that she is a huge fan of IU’s lyrics. She commented that “IU’s lyrics make [her] drop everything and listen.” She particularly praised IU’s ability to “take deep, almost philosophical topics and turn them into easily relatable, easy-listening lyrics.”
Lyricist Kim Eana, who is an award-winning lyricist to have worked with artists like Sung Si Kyung, Brown Eyed Girls, and IU herself, noted that “IU has reached a certain level of writing lyrics that work.” According to Kim Eana, IU “as a songwriter has the ability to write the words and give those words the best melody they can have“. And someone who can do both is simply unstoppable.
Lyricist Kim Eun Soo (or Jennifer E. Kim), who is a lyricist with JYP Entertainment, once tweeted that IU is a certain “force“. She claimed “it is an honor to have been able to write lyrics for IU and heard her sing them” — especially after listening to the words to “Knees”.
