Minnie of (G)I-DLE poses during an interview with The Korea Times for her first solo album "HER," held at Cube Entertainment in Seongdong District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Cube Entertainment
Minnie of K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE made her long-awaited solo debut with the album “HER,” showcasing her unique musical spectrum through seven self-written and composed tracks.
“Since this is my first solo album in seven years, I worked really hard to prepare it. I'm very excited and looking forward to it. I'm grateful to the fans who waited for so long,” the Thai singer told The Korea Times, during an interview held at her agency, Cube Entertainment in Seoul, Monday.
Minnie of (G)I-DLE / Courtesy of Cube Entertainment
The new album features seven tracks, with the singer contributing to both the composition and lyrics. Minnie shared that she has been writing songs for years, gradually building up material for her solo album.
“Some of the songs were written a few years ago. I started preparing and developing it since last summer for the release,” she said.
“I worked on them while thinking about my past stories. The last three tracks — ‘Valentine's Dream,' 'It's Okay' and 'Obsession' — were written four to five years ago. You can see it as containing my story from around that time until now. It's like my personal diary.”
The 27-year-old singer explained that she aimed to showcase the various facets of her personality with the new album, making it a collection of her unique charms.
“If I were to release a solo album, I wanted to be hands-on as much as possible. It was my ambition … While in the team, my image was a dreamy charismatic color. But with the solo album, it has to be filled with just my voice from start to finish. So I thought it was important to show various vocal expressions,” she said.
“I wanted to try various things I couldn't do during group activities. As a result, the tracks have diverse genres like funk, ballad, R&B and different colors like dreamy, vivid, kitschy and emotional.”
Minnie of (G)I-DLE / Courtesy of Cube Entertainment
The title track of the same name delivers the message that she's her own muse, expressing her own thoughts about herself both on stage and in her personal life.
“It's a story I wrote while looking at myself from a third-person perspective. For the entire album, I became my own muse, thinking of myself as the artwork. I included my experiences and things I wanted to talk about,” she said.
“'HER' is about how when I look at myself, or when the public looks at me, they think of me in a certain way, but actually there could be different sides inside. There's a different self from what you see on the outside. I think all these different sides are Minnie, and I want to show them all.”
The singer shared that she was in a bit of a conundrum while working on the album, including deciding on the title track, as she was fond of all seven tracks that she wrote.
“I was really worried a lot about the title track. I didn't know that I was someone who worried this much. Even when I was recording (the track), I wanted to make all of the tracks (the title track), but when I finished the mastering process, I became certain,” she said.
“After completing it, I felt that this song, both its lyrics and concept, could encompass the whole album. I also felt confident that 'I could express this best.'”