Rising Stars (G)I-DLE Are Defining Their Own Genre

The efficiency starts with a roar, as Soyeon, 21-year-old leader of Korean girl sort (G)I-DLE, turns to the crowd and lets out a guttural cry. Her small frame is concealed in back of her own unrivaled bravado, and her gaze pierces the camera. "Beware, with rough claws," she warns in Korean. "I pave ways no one has gone before." Because the stage rises beneath her, the rapper's formidable flow intensifies up until it culminates in a dominant declaration: "I'm a queen." Then, she smiles.


For the emerging musical group (G)I-DLE, barely two years old, this staggering moment was their televised coronation. Their moody and percussive performance of "Lion" on the live finale of the competition series Queendom boosted their provocative image globally, plus it exemplified what soulful vocalist Yuqi refers to because the "(G)I-DLE genre," a bold aesthetic that is loosely defined as whichever they want it to be." At the end of the choreography, before the six girls strut across the stage to take their seats atop actual thrones, sultry singer Soojin exhales the final word: "I’m a lion, I’m a queen, nobody can stage name me."


Onstage, (G)I-DLE appears totally without restraints, and that feeling extends to "Oh My God," the group's latest single off their third EP, I Trust. One of the five total tracks on the release written and composed by Soyeon, "Oh My God" is a dark, trap-infused song with lyrics that riff on contrasts — light and dark, purity and sin — to communicate the the idea that true divinity comes from knowing and trusting yourself. "Believing in ourselves is a sort of confidence that only (G)I-DLE can portray," Soyeon tells MTV News from a conference room in Seoul, South Korea, where she's joined by her members at a huge table.


They are her muses: Miyeon with her powerful voice and temperate composure; Minnie with her sweet, airy tone and charming pluck; confident Yuqi, bursting with energy and humor; quiet storm Soojin with her empathy and grace; and youngest member Shuhua, whose ethereal strength inspired the untamed ferocity of "Lion." One of the reasons their music is so distinct and assertive, Minnie says, is as the sort control much of the process: Their music is by and around themselves. Minnie, who is from Thailand, wrote last year's funky "Blow Your Mind," and Beijing-born Yuqi has been working on her own compositions from the group's assigned studio indoor CUBE Entertainment. "It's not easy, even for us as foreigners," Minnie says. "That's why I respect Soyeon because she produces everything, some days in a very short quantity of time."


"Our strong point is that we're different individuals," she explains. "So we attempt to put out the strong, unique points of each of us through our songs. Soyeon is aware us the perfect, so she tries to give us the ideal part for each of us. That's the reason it comes out good every time." She pauses and smiles, "And this time, it's also very good!"


"With 'Oh My God' we wish to exhibit a genre of our own," Soyeon adds, though she would rather the sound speak for itself than spell it out in words. Because Soyeon, who once rapped "break the cage of prejudice / how dare someone stop me and control me" understands better than anyone: while you define something, it defines you — it boxes you in. And (G)I-DLE aren't about labels. There's a freedom to Soyeon's process; she likes to experiment with rhythms and melodies from various musical backgrounds. Their debut track, "Latata," was pure trop-pop seduction, while follow-up singles further expanded the group's diverse sound: to the sultry home of "Hann" to the Latin snaps and horns on "Senorita" to the '90s boom-bap of "Uh-Oh." In several ways, "Oh My God" is the organic developments of their trendy sound, building on the seething tension of "Lion" and adding a slow, simmering drop primed for the Western market, like a cozy sonic and thematic companion to Ariana Grande's "God Is a Woman."


The corresponding visual adds another layer of intrigue with haunting, cinematic images depicting heaven, hell, and purgatory. Inspired by isekai anime (a subgenre of Japanese animation in which a character is transported between worlds), Soyeon explains that the imagery symbolizes love in its several forms, a notion made more powerful by the unexpected use of female pronouns. "Oh my god, she took me to the sky," Soyeon sobs out on the hook, once she writhes within a mass of bodies cloaked in white and tainted in black ink. "Oh my god, she showed me all of the stars," Minnie concludes. It leaves viewers wondering to whom are they referring — to themselves or to love itself, a normal motif across (G)I-IDLE’s discography — yet Soyeon will leave it to the fans to interpret.


"I didn't aspire to quota that 'she' to a certain being or a certain definition," she says. "So it's open to anything. I believe that all kinds of love are valuable and must be respected. That's why I don't wish to allowance 'she' to something specific."


At first listen, Yuqi couldn't quite grasp the concept either. She listened to an early demo and "didn't understand it." Although she thought in the song's potential because she believes in Soyeon. "I trust her," the vocalist says, smiling at Soyeon across the table before erupting into a fit of giggles. Miyeon softly agrees. She recalls the anticipation of listening to "Oh My God" for the opening time: "I couldn’t wait to be able to see what Soyeon would do this time." It was a new sound for (G)I-DLE, and Soyeon was particularly nervous about the hook. It's not a regular pop chorus exploding with uptempo beats and bright melodies; she was worried listeners would find it anticlimactic. Yet Miyeon thinks the mesmerizing hook is what makes the song so fresh. Soojin loves the "addictive" pre chorus, the way it intoxicates and builds. Once I listened to the song with the hook, I thought that it was wonderful, especially the lyrics," Soojin adds.


right now that it's complete," Yuqi says confidently, "I know it's going to be a hit — not only in Korea, however all over the world."


A new partnership with Republic Records In America will support propel them towards that objective. I Trust marks their official debut in the American market, and the order recorded a English version of the track for the album as a gift to their international fans, referred to as Neverland. Moreover to "Oh My God" and "Lion," the EP also includes the flirty, bass-heavy B-side "Luv U" and the broody, EDM-synth track "Maybe." Each toils with a different emotion in relationship to love, with "Luv U" depicting the fizziness of new passion and "Maybe" reflecting on a toxic fling turned sour.


"With I Trust we wanted to convey a method of self-trust, the process in which we come to believe in ourselves, which leads to self-confidence as well," Soyeon says. "We did this concept because we wanted to do it. There's no right time or wrong time for girl groups to do anything. We can do whichever we want, once we aspire to do it."


It's that tenacity that solidifies (G)I-DLE as a formidable categorize eager to claim the global throne. And on I Trust, they've never sounded more confident. That unwavering belief in themselves, bolstered by their experience on Queendom, is the (G)I-DLE genre. They don't ask for permission, and so they don't seek forgiveness — they simply exist. "We habitually do the sort of music that we aspire to do," Soyeon says.


"In our sort, we have the same objective Yuqi adds. "I believe that in the event you don't desire to have regrets, then you've got to do something that you like and something that you really wish to do."