(G)I-dle

(G)I-dle (), stylized in all caps, is a South Korean multi-national girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2018. The group consists of six members: Miyeon, Minnie, Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua. On May 2, 2018, the group debuted with their first extended play, titled "I Am" with the title track "Latata". On July 31, 2019, the group debuted in Japan under U-Cube with "Latata".
In 2018, the group was dubbed the "monster rookies" of the year and have been considered one of the most successful South Korean girl groups that do not hail from the "big three" record labels. Since their debut, the group has released six extended plays and eight singles, which include: "Latata", "Hann (Alone)", "Senorita", "Uh-Oh", "Lion", "Oh My God", "Dumdi Dumdi" and "Hwaa".
Relatively unusually for a K-pop girl group, (G)I-dle are directly involved in the creation of their music. In particular Soyeon has written or co-written (along with co-produced) the majority of the group's title song releases, with Minnie and Yuqi also co-writing a significant number of album songs. In conjunction with the release of their third EP "I Trust" in 2020, the group signed with Republic Records, an American record label, to pursue expansion into the U.S. marketplace. Upon its release, the group set the highest record for a South Korean girl group to top the iTunes Top Albums chart and the fourth girl group to sell 100,000 copies in the first week of sales. Their 2020 single album, "Dumdi Dumdi" broke the single album sales record, making it the second best selling girl group single album of all time. (G)I-dle also became the first K-pop group to get interviewed by "Forbes China".
Name.
In an interview with "The Star", the leader of the group, Soyeon, revealed that the name "Idle" came to her when she was composing the "Idle Song". She sent it to the company and the name was finalized after going through the company's competition. However, there were mixed reactions in South Korea and internationally because "아이들" ("aideul") means "children" and "idle" in English refers to someone who avoids work. Accordingly, the group was renamed (G)I-dle, with the "I" standing for individuality, the hyphen to show that the name has been divided into two parts and "Dle" ("deul") as the plural form of "I" in Korean, meaning a group of six different personalities gathered together. When the name is verbally mentioned, the "G" enclosed by the parentheses is not included.
History.
Pre-debut.
Soyeon was a female trainee who represented Cube Entertainment in the survival show "Produce 101", peaking at the 10th place on the fifth episode. However, she did not become a member of the winning girl group I.O.I. Soyeon also competed in the third season of the rap competition reality show "Unpretty Rapstar", finishing as the second runner-up. She later debuted as a soloist, releasing two digital singles: "Jelly" and "Idle Song".
Miyeon had previously trained under YG Entertainment between 2010 and 2015, leaving the company after unknown complications regarding her debut. She then attended a vocal academy. Soojin was a former trainee under DN Entertainment in 2015. She trained as a member of the girl group Vividiva with the stage name "N.NA", but left before the group's debut. Minnie was featured in Line Friends' album "Dance Party", which was released in November 2017.
On April 5, 2018, Cube Entertainment revealed the name of their upcoming girl group, (G)I-dle. Before their debut date, Cube revealed the members to the public through Dingo Music's dance busking at Hongdae, Seoul. The busking performance video exceeded two million views on YouTube less than three weeks after its upload date (April 15, 2018).
2018: Debut with "I Am" and "Hann (Alone)".
(G)I-dle released their debut EP, "I Am," on May 2, 2018, with the lead single "Latata". The video for "Latata" exceeded 5.9 million views within the first week. The EP debuted at number 13 on the Gaon Album Chart issued on May 10. "I Am" also debuted at number seven and peaked at number five on "Billboard"'s World Albums chart on May 9. A week after release, "Latata" debuted at number 35 on Gaon Digital Chart on May 17. (G)I-dle received their first-ever music show win on SBS MTV's "The Show" on May 22, twenty days after their debut. On June 5, they made their debut on "Billboard"'s Social 50 Chart, charting at number 36.
In June, a survey was carried out between thirty-five participants in the South Korean music industry where (G)I-dle was voted the "Next Generation of K-pop" category with 39 points overall. On August 6, (G)I-dle held a small concert and recorded a flash-mob performance of "Latata" in Times Square and Washington Square Park.
On August 14, (G)I-dle's first digital single, "Hann (Alone)", was released. Within 24 hours, the music video surpassed 4.9 million views on YouTube. "Hann" topped domestic music charts including Bugs, Genie and Olleh Music on August 16, and peaked at number two on the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart. They received their first music show win on "Show Champion" on August 29 for "Hann". In September, the group made their first appearance at KCON in Thailand.
In November, Riot Games released a song called "Pop/Stars" which provided vocals from Soyeon and Miyeon along with American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns under a virtual girl group named K/DA which featured Soyeon and Miyeon as Akali and Ahri respectively. They performed the single at the "League of Legends" World Championship along with Beer and Burns and it reached number one on the "Billboard" World Digital Sales chart.
Throughout the rest of 2018, (G)I-dle earned several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Gaon Chart Music Awards, Genie Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Korea Popular Music Awards and Melon Music Awards.
2019: "I Made", "Uh-Oh", Japanese debut and "Queendom".
(G)I-dle released their second EP, "I Made", on February 26, 2019. The EP contains five songs, including the lead single "Senorita", written and composed by Soyeon and Big Sancho. On June 26, (G)I-dle released their second digital single, "Uh-Oh". The song ranked number 22 on NetEase Cloud Music China for the first half of 2019, making them the only K-pop group to chart on it.
In July, (G)I-dle held their first U.S. performance during the annual KCON convention and music festival at Javits Center, New York City. They later held a live showcase at the Mainabi Blitz Akasaka on July 23. The showcase sold over 1,000 tickets with 1,500 attendants. It was reported that around 15,000 applied to attend, but due to the venue's capacity limit, some could not make it. On July 31, (G)I-dle debuted in the Japanese market with the release of their EP "Latata". On August 19, (G)I-dle and makeup brand "Kate" collaborated to release a spin-off music video of "Latata (Japanese ver.)".
(G)I-dle subsequently participated in a reality girl group survival show created by Mnet, "Queendom". In the first preliminary round, (G)I-dle finished in first place after performing "Latata" re-imagined with a concept of shamanism. The introduction of the performance, Minnie's Thai "enchantment", was well received and became a hot topic among both Korean and Thai fans. In the second preliminary round, (G)I-dle reinterpreted 2NE1's "Fire", finishing in last place. In September, it was reported that Cube would partner with e2PR and Strategic Communications to establish a new promotion team for handling (G)I-dle's international public relations. That same month, the group held their first fan meeting, Welcome to the Neverland"," at the Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets to the show sold out in two minutes.
On October 4, (G)I-dle performed as first-time main headliner at the Spotify On Stage Jakarta. They were one of the six acts including Rich Brian, Ateez, and others. On October 5, the group appeared on , a KBS's reality television singing competition. This marked the group's first appearance on the program. They performed a rendition of Koyote's "Sad Dream" as a part of the group's 20th anniversary. (G)I-dle performed "Put It Straight (Nightmare Version)" for "Queendom"'s Fan-dora's Box round. The stage performance reached one million views after fourteen hours of release, and placed fourth in the round. On October 25, (G)I-dle released "Lion" as part of the EP "Queendom Final Comeback". By November 2019, the live performances of "Latata" and "Fire" had surpassed 11 and 13 million views, respectively. (G)I-dle finished the show in third place. "Lion" became a sleeper hit after gaining popularity on their stage concept of "The Queen's Royal Welcome", re-entering the real-time charts of various music sites. A music video for it was released on November 4. The video surpassed five million views in two days. The song debuted at number 13 on the World Digital Song Sales and peaked at number five. Simultaneously, the single rose eighty-nine spots to number 19 on the Gaon Digital Chart and topped China's QQ Music Korean Song chart for two consecutive weeks. On December 21, (G)I-dle performed their hit singles at the 2020 Tainan Christmas & New Year Eve Party at Tainan City, Taiwan. Their stage was recorded the highest tide of the event of an appearance of 80,000 people.
2020: "I Trust", I-Land: Who Am I online concert, "I'm The Trend", "Dumdi Dumdi" and "Oh My God".
On January 28, the group announced their first world tour , which would span 32 different cities around the world. Later, it was announced their commenced show in Bangkok and new album release project in mid-March were postponed in response to the coronavirus outbreak, to ensure the health and safety of the artists, fans, and staff. On January 31, the group appeared on "Two Yoo Project Sugar Man 3" to perform Minnie's composed and rearranged Kim Won-jun's "Show".
On March 26, (G)I-dle was announced as part of the lineup of the 2020 Twitch Stream Aid, scheduled for March 28. The live stream was a 12-hour charity concert aiming to raise money for COVID-19 relief. They were the first female K-pop group to participate.
On April 6, the group released their third EP titled "I Trust" with "Oh My God" as its lead single. The album consists of five songs including an English-language version of the title track. In conjunction with the release of "I Trust", (G)I-dle signed with Republic Records to help highlight and push their individuality into the U.S. marketplace. The album had over 91,311 pre-orders, making it their most pre-ordered EP, and it became their highest selling album by selling 100,000 physical copies in three days. "I Trust" debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart becoming (G)I-dle's first number-one album in South Korea and achieved their highest-ever position on "Billboard"'s World Albums chart at number four, and set the highest record for a South Korean girl group to top iTunes Top Albums chart in 62 countries worldwide. The music video for "Oh My God" broke their personal record by amassing 17 million views within its first day of release, and was nominated for the 2020 MTV Video Music Award for Best K-Pop Video and BreakTudo's International Music Video. The song also marked the first time the group had appeared on the Scottish Singles Chart and charted at number 97, becoming only the third K-pop artist and the second female act to appear on the chart. (G)I-dle's live promotions for "Oh My God" won four music show awards including their first grand slam public broadcast win on KBS's "Music Bank", SBS's "Inkigayo" and MBC's "Show! Music Core". On May 6, (G)I-dle broke into Rolling Stone's Top 25 Breakthrough chart as the only K-pop group to chart for the month of April at the top 20 spot with a unit growth of 3.3 million and over 5.5 million total on demand audio streams in the U.S.
In May, (G)I-dle released the official English version of their debut song "Latata" on May 15. On May 31, the group announced that they would be joining the 32-artist lineup at KCON:TACT 2020 Summer on June 23. The group was expected to release two albums in the second half of the year, including a digital single, according to an EBest Investment & Securities Co., Ltd researcher. (G)I-dle held I-Land: Who Am I as an online pay-per-view concert scheduled on July 5 instead of what would have been their first world tour. They performed songs from their debut album as well as "I'm the Trend", composed by Minnie and Yuqi, with a live audience of 11,000 real-time viewers. Subsequently, the group released the digital single, along with its music video on July 7 as a special present for their fans.
On August 3, (G)I-dle released their first single album "Dumdi Dumdi", with a lead single of the same name. With this release, "Dumdi Dumdi" ranked as the second best selling girl group single album in history with 94,587 initial sales. However, the song had a slow rise on the Gaon and "Billboard" charts. It debuted at numbers 27 and 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart and the US "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart, and later peaked at numbers 8 and 13, respectively. On iTunes, the song topped in 42 regions in the world. The music video for "Dumdi Dumdi" garnered over 17.6 million views in a single day, breaking their previous record with "Oh My God". The group ended the promotions winning first place for two weeks in a row on "Show Champion", "M Countdown" and "Inkigayo", becoming the group's most-winning title track. On August 26, they made their first Japanese comeback with the release of their second extended play, "Oh My God", along with the Japanese version of "Oh My God", "Uh-Oh", "Senorita", "Dumdi Dumdi" and an original Japanese track titled "Tung Tung (Empty)", which was composed by Minnie. On August 27, (G)I-dle resprised their roles as Akali and Ahri in K/DA for the song "The Baddest" featuring American singers Bea Miller and Wolftyla. It was also announced that they were to be featured on the title track "More" with the original lineup Beer and Burns along with Chinese singer Lexie Liu, released on October 28. Both songs charted at number one on "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales, and were included in K/DA's first EP "All Out".
In November, (G)I-dle held an online fan meeting called GBC in the Neverland through Global Interpark. "GBC" is the shortened title for "(G)I-dle Broadcast Club".
2021: "I Burn" and "Last Dance".
On January 11, the group released their fourth EP, "I Burn", with its lead single, "Hwaa". According to Hanteo Chart, "I Burn" debuted at No. 1 on the daily album chart with 75,510 copies sold. The album also debuted at No.1 on Gaon Retail Album Chart with 59,086 copies sold. The music video for "Hwaa" scored 10 million YouTube views in 29 hours after it hit the streaming site. Two days later, the album was reported to be charted on the iTunes Top Album charts in 51 countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Italy and Finland. For the first time since their debut in 2018, all songs from "I Burn" was charted in Melon chart. Hwaa topped domestic charts and attained commercial success on Billboard charts, peaking at number 5 on K-pop Hot 100 and number 8 on World Digital Songs. Besides that, "Hwaa" achieved 10 music show wins, highest since their debut in 2018. (G)I-dle is also awarded triple crown with their new lead single, "Hwaa".
On January 27, (G)I-dle released the official English and Chinese version of the new EP's title song, "Hwaa". The song-writing credits for the Chinese version of "Hwaa" was given to Yuqi, which is one of the group's Chinese member. On February 5, (G)I-dle released a remixed version of "Hwaa" by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. It would be the band's first collaboration with foreign artists.
On March 4, it was announced that Soojin would temporarily halt all activities following alleged bullying accusations by former classmates.
On April 29, (G)I-dle alongside Universe released the song "Last Dance". However, due to Soojin's temporary hiatus from the group, Universe and Cube Entertainment decided that the vocals will be redistributed to the remaining five active members in the group.
Philanthropy.
On April 22, 2020, (G)I-dle donated 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizer worth ₩100 million through Holt Children's Services for children and their families to overcome COVID-19 in South Korea.
Artistry.
Image.
(G)I-dle has been praised for their musicality and ambiguity. According to industry specialists and marketing researches, the group was noted to embody the spirit a group like 2NE1 once had, but adapted to today's sensibilities.
The group has often been recognized for being a "self-producing" idol girl group and breaking female idol stereotypes. Being the youngest group to appear on "Queendom", the members were actively involved in their own music videos, jacket photoshoots, song arrangements, choreography, and outfits production. Instead of appealing to the opposite sex with its femininity, their fanbase, collectively referred to as "Neverland", has a huge number of women and girls. The release of "Oh My God" further led to a spike in having 70% of female listeners on Melon.
Natalie Morin from Refinery29 described them as individuals with different energies that complement each other. She also described them as "bold and sensual", characteristics which she asserts sets them apart from other K-pop girl groups. "Mor.bo" named them as a diverse group that is unafraid to try different music styles. "Elle magazine" named the group as "independent musicians and artists" where girl groups' concepts typically work within a mould that was made by someone else. Chun Yoon-Hye of "HeraldPop" describes "(G)I-dle, a group filled with skills and confidence [...] engraved their presence by successfully expressing their exceptional concepts during "Queendom" [...] has gone from super rookie to trending girl group."
Musical style and themes.
(G)I-dle's songs have covered a wide variety of genres, crossing from "Latata" (moombahton trap), "Hann (Alone)" (moombahton), "Senorita" (Latin pop), "Uh-Oh" (boom bap), "Oh My God" (urban hip-hop) and "Dumdi Dumdi" (tropical moombahton). In the K-pop genre saturated with songs with themes of love and farewell, the group released "Lion", a song that diverges from a typical girl group song, comparing one's dignity to the dignity of a lion. In "I Trust", the group explores elements of EDM trap, hip hop and urban music, with themes of self-love and self-trust.
Taylor Glasby from MTV stated that (G)I-dle songs are steeped in their very essence — a girl's complex, internal house of mirrors that is constantly being broken, assessed, understood, and remade, where one style or sound is never enough to reflect who they are. (G)I-dle is the enticing tropical beats and coy finger snaps of "Latata" and the ominous, warning whistled hook of "Hann (Alone)". They are also the pensive harmonies and slow throb of bass on the R&B-infused ballad "Put It Straight," the whimsical words painted over the house music of "What's In Your House," and even the tango of "Senorita". Their lyrics push back, they beckon. They can be boring nonchalance or sharpening desire. Writing for "Herald Pop", Kim Na-yul described (G)I-dle's genre can only be performed by them and made a good impression to the public. Melon's magazine described (G)I-dle's music generally as "Uniqueness is (G)I-dle's most powerful weapon." "Korea JoongAng Daily" journalist Yoo Seong-woon complimented the group for blending different elements from various sources into a unique mix of concepts and creating something new and fresh for the K-pop scene. (G)I-dle's summer song, "Dumdi Dumdi" was praised to have carried the legacy of summer songs.
Stage performance.
The group has also been praised for their stage presence during performances such as 2018 MMA's golden stage, reminiscent of Cleopatra, and 2018 MAMA's stage performing with dozens of female dancers to emphasize the image of women. It is also stated that their performance for Fan-dora's Box was "another legendary stage" due to the emotional acting by the members where they expressed "anger in sadness". (G)I-dle gave their last "Queendom" stage, "Lion" (with the "Lion" story narrated by Minnie), dancing in golden robes ornately decorated with a lion's mane, and finished with a herd of lions [dancers] following (G)I-dle to the six thrones. The stage was described as "world-class" and "legendary". This resulted in the group winning several performance awards, including Golden Disc Awards.
Impact and influences.
In May 2018, (G)I-dle had revealed they deem Hyuna, a senior then from the same agency, as their role model. Yuqi said, "I grew up dreaming of becoming a singer after seeing Hyuna sunbae-nim. I want to become a sexy and cute singer like [her]. My mother played her music during preschool. That seems to have influenced me." Shuhua said, "Since I was young, I loved dancing with my friends. I want to stand on stage together."
The group is recognized for its brand recognition and marketing power, having topped the "Girl Group Brand Power Ranking" published by the Korean Business Research Institute, for June and September 2018. Their highest brand reputation index was in September 2018. (G)I-dle has been dubbed the "monster rookie" of 2018. "Billboard" ranked them at the top of its list as the best new K-pop acts of 2018. It was reported that Cube's music sales in 2018 increased by 58% to ₩8.8 billion due to the popularity of (G)I-dle's "Latata" and "Hann (一)".
In 2019, (G)I-dle gained more recognition in the general public after appearing on "Queendom". The performance of their finale song "Lion" was considered one of K-pop's biggest moments of 2019 by CTV News. This resulted in them topping the "Girl Group Brand Power Ranking" again for two consecutive months, October and November 2019. "Rolling Stone India" included "Lion" in their list of the 10 best K-pop music videos of 2019. The song was considered "one of the most visceral tracks of 2019" and was topped the list out of 920 songs released in 2019.
In January 2020, (G)I-dle was voted as one of the most anticipated singers/groups in 2020 based on surveys of several Korean music agencies, broadcasting and program officials, composers and popular music critics. In February, the group achieved number one in ranking brand power with the most-interacted topics, "Lion", and world touring. According to Hyundai Motors Investment Firm, during the Coronavirus pandemic, Cube target shares increased by 36.67% due to (G)I-dle's growth with "Oh My God". On August 13, Cube released a report of their earnings in the second quarter of the year. The sales in the record and broadcasting sectors rose by 349% (₩2 billion) from a year earlier due to "I Trust", which sold 151,108 copies, the success of , and "Dumdi Dumdi" raking up 98,587 album sales. The same month, they achieved 500 million streams cumulatively on Spotify. They are the first K-pop fourth-generation girl group and the fifth in the K-pop girl group's career in about two years and three months after their debut. On August 26, it was reported that they were the first K-pop group to get interviewed by "Forbes China" after a video interview was released through "Forbes"'s official Weibo account.
(G)I-dle's integrity and breaking of idol stereotypes has influenced female artists such as Dal Shabet's Park Subin.
Other ventures.
Ambassadorship.
Seoul Metropolitan City appointed (G)I-dle as the city's goodwill ambassadors alongside Yura, Park Jin-hee, and eight other nominees on December 6, 2018. They held the title "City Ambassadors" for two years. At the tenth annual Children's Diabetes Celebration Festival held at Lotte World Underground Kingdom on June 8, 2019, in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, they were awarded as the new ambassadors for Korean Children's Diabetes Association.
Endorsements.
In 2019, (G)I-dle started endorsing Kaja, a beauty brand co-created by Sephora and Memebox to create a new form combining K-beauty and K-pop. Through the partnership, the reality TV series "To Neverland" and the "Senorita" music video were released.
In 2020, Akiii Classic selected (G)I-dle as new models to reinforce the sensitivity of Gen Z's culture and trends pioneering the brand image. In early April 2020, (G)I-dle was revealed as a promotional model group for South Korea's biggest contact lens brand, LensMe. A representative from LensMe explained that the group's unique music and charismatic stage performances matched well with their "Basic, Trendy, Easy" company image. When choosing (G)I-dle as their models, the high fashion brand LipHop, emerging among young people predominantly in Korea, United States, Thailand, and Japan, stated that they considered the group to be "global artists who boast confident music and attractive visuals".
Awards and nominations.
(G)I-dle received their first music show win on SBS MTV's "The Show" with "Latata" on May 22, 2018. They won their first new artist award, "Female Rookie Idol of the Year", on July 24, 2018, at the Brand of the Year Awards, and went on to receive a total of seven rookie awards at various awards ceremonies in their debut year. In 2020, (G)I-dle won the International Music Video award at the 5th BreakTudo Awards with "Oh My God"—they also received a nomination for Best K-Pop Video at the 37th MTV Video Music Awards.