A Strong Contender Approaches

Sadly, every single member of EXID has departed from their label, casting doubts as to whether the five will comeback in the future. I hope to be surprised, as I was when Brown Eyed Girls came back for "Wonder Woman" in 2019. It's no secret that EXID is one of my favorite groups. LE's amazing raps and powerful vocals of Solji and Hyerin, with the sexy and charismatic Jeongwha and Hani, cement the group as an icon of the decade. With hits such as "Ah Yeah!" and "I Love You," it'll be tough for another group to match them. Still, I don't want to sleep on a potential new top 3, in case we're not past peak K-pop as I had thought.

One group I'm currently betting on is (G)-IDLE. It's officially pronounced "Idle" because the "G' is silent, though I still call them G-Idle. They're a six girl group featuring 3 Koreans--Soyeon, Soojin, and Miyeon--with Thai Minnie, Taiwanese Shuhua, and Chinese Yuqi. They're signed to Cube Entertainment, the same as 4Minute, the engaging girl group that collapsed after Hyuna's popularity overshadowed the entire group.

Of the six in G-IDLE, the strongest is the leader Soyeon. She resembles LE in that she not only raps and sings, she also writes most of their songs. Soyeon is credited as a producer on all the group's albums, and the other members unanimously agree that she is the hardest working in the group. The above song, "Senorita," features her disorienting rap that's so syncopated that it feels like a different time signature from the 4/4 song. To me, this really highlighted that Soyeon is the creative star at the center of the group's planetary system. Like EXID, G-IDLE courts the "girl crush" concept, exuding a coolness that causes straight women to second guess their sexuality. Yuqi seems to embody this cool vibe. Like EXID, G-IDLE courts the "sexy lady" concept, coupling choreography with sensual facial expression. Soojin seems to excel at this. As expected of girl groups, G-IDLE owns the "cute girl" vibe as well, both on and off the stage. In my opinion, Shuhua sets the bar here, with Minnie and Miyeon not far behind. Unfortunately, G-IDLE doesn't have any power vocalist like EXID's Solji and Hyerin. Here, my comparison falls short.

I started writing this post about a year ago. At the time, G-IDLE came out with "Uh-Oh" which I felt was in a similar style to EXID's "Lady." Since then, G-IDLE competed on MNet Queendom, a survival type show that pitted female K-pop stars against each other. Among the contestants was Mamamoo, my favorite and favored contestant (and they won!). G-IDLE was my 2nd choice, because I'm convinced that they're rising stars. To my surprise, Oh My Girl won 2nd place, not that it matters. AOA surprised me by demonstrating that they're still in the game after losing Choa, and G-IDLE cemented themselves among today's top K-pop girl groups.