Former The Ark Members debut as KHAN with “I’m Your Girl?”
After facing challenging times on competition programs and following disbandment, former The Ark members Minju and Euna have joined forces to form the duo KHAN.
Now signed under Maroo Entertainment (home of Running Man’s Kim Jongkook and Wanna One’s Park Jihoon), the girls are attempting to break through once again. Minju is noted for her participation on K-Pop Star twice, whereas Euna is known for her participation on Superstar K3, Unpretty Rapstar 3, and most recently her involvement on The Unit. The two are arguably most known from the short-lived girl group The Ark, which left an unforgettable mark on many fans’ hearts with their heart-clenching debut, “The Light.”
Despite their lengthy experience in the K-Pop industry, “I’m Your Girl?” fails to deliver a lasting impression on both old and potential fans. It’s smart that the duo tackled a more mature sound rather than tackling the bubblegum pop or even girl-crush concept, but the soft EDM, R&B nature of the track isn’t really a standout. The lyrics speak of confusion over the state of their relationship with their significant others. Sad lyrics over a tame electronic beat is not a very bold concept. The mellow trap beat adds a little umph to it, along with the tropical beats in the background.
The music video itself was a bit confusing as well. It was smart to focus on the girls’ dancing abilities, as they are talented dancers who can handle both girly and hip-hop dance styles (check out their cover dances whilst promoting as The Ark). It also should be mentioned that the girls’ styling throughout the video is on-trend and fits their image. Besides that, however, the music video’s connection to the song is muddy. There was a moment where Euna was seen holding hands with a male before looking back at Minju with other friends, both looking solemn. Then, Euna removes her hand from his grasp. It almost alludes to a romance between the two women as the man is not seen again afterwards and at the very end, their hands intertwine. The lyrics do not reference a specific gender, so if the girls are hinting at a more LGBTQ-friendly concept, then that’d definitely add leverage to their debut. However, we cannot assume until the girls confirm it themselves.
In general, the debut felt underwhelming, especially to a huge The Ark fan. While the girls should not necessarily follow the same concept as their former group, if The Ark didn’t survive with such an impactful debut, it’s hard tell the future of the duo. Hopefully, some underlying tones regarding their debut’s meaning will be revealed in the near future, but for now we can only cheer the girls on in hopes that we’ll see more from them soon. The girls have been through so much already, so it’d be great to see them achieve personal and grandscale success.