Artist Highlight: Soyeon

(G)I-DLE’s fierce leader Soyeon is redefining gender roles in K-Pop.

(G)I-DLE

On May 2, 2018 Soyeon debuted as the main rapper and leader of Cube Entertainment’s girl group (G)I-DLE. The group is known as one of few girl groups that are successful without being backed by one of the “Big Four” Korean record labels. (G)I-DLE stands out as a self-producing girl group that breaks stereotypes of how female idols should present themselves. Soyeon, being the leader and having the most credits to her name, is the spearhead of the group as she speaks out against the challenges that female artists face in their everyday lives, and shows a side of female idols that is not often seen in K-Pop.

Solo

Prior to her debut in (G)I-DLE, Soyeon competed on the girl group survival show Produce 101 which aired in January 2016. She ranked 20th and was subsequently eliminated in the final episode. In the same year, Soyeon went on to compete on the female rap competition show Unpretty Rapstar. She was the second runner up on the season and signed an exclusive contract as an artist with Cube Entertainment shortly after. Despite this contract being signed in late 2016, Soyeon did not debut until November 5, 2017. She released two singles as a solo artist, “Jelly” and “Idle Song”, before her debut as (G)I-DLE’s leader. She released her first EP Windy on July 5, 2021 which peaked at No. 7 on the Circle Album Chart. She won her first trophy from The Show on July 13, 2021 for the title track “BEAM BEAM”.

Songwriting and Producing

Despite not originally planning on being the group's songwriter, Soyeon is now (G)I-DLE’s primary songwriter. For her EP Windy, she wrote and composed all five songs and arranged three of them. Soyeon has been writing songs for other artists even before her debut, some of which include: “Say My Name” by JBJ, “Hang Out (Feat. Soyeon)” by HUTA (Lee Minhyuk), “No” by CLC, and “I Wanna Be” by Key. She is listed on the KOMCA (Korea Music Copyright Association) top 100 list, and is ranked fourth among female songwriters and first among fourth-generation female idols. Soyeon uses her music to challenge gender boundaries in art, and establish what she believes it means to be a female idol.

Edited by Lacey Diluvio