10 years ago in 2015, a 17-year-old Thai girl set foot on the unfamiliar land of Korea alone. There was only one reason she came to this place, where she had no one to lean on and no one to know. It was her burning passion for K-pop.

This is the story of Minnie, a member of the group (G)I-dle, who is now the undisputed ‘K-pop queen’. Ten years ago, she passed an audition at a dance academy where she had been attending because she loved K-pop, and her life changed “beyond imagination” when she debuted as a member of (G)I-dle in 2018.

Last November, she won the grand prize trophy at the Melon Music Awards (MMA) and reached the top spot as a K-pop star she had always dreamed of. Just before receiving the award, all five members successfully renewed their contracts with their current agency, Cube Entertainment, breaking the stereotype of “7th anniversary of the devil.”

Minnie‘s challenges are not over yet. On the 21st, she began her first solo activities since her debut through her first mini-album, “HER.” In an interview to commemorate her solo album held at the Cube Entertainment building in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on this day, Minnie said, “I’m very nervous about my solo debut.”

“I thought that my turn would come someday, following the other members, so I‘ve been preparing step by step. However, since my solo album was the first step within the team after renewing my contract, it’s true that I feel more pressure. Because more attention will be on me. The more that happened, the more I wanted to show a cool side of myself.”

Her strong determination towards solo activities is also evident in her mini album, which is filled with 7 tracks that she composed and wrote herself. From the intense charm of ‘Heo’ to the calm, beautiful voice of ‘I‘m Used to’, self-composed songs that contain Minnie’s diverse sides are included in the album like a “diary”.

I even pulled out songs that I worked on 4-5 years ago, like ‘Valentine‘s Dream’. I wanted to show Minnie’s ‘everything’. I also put a lot of effort into the featuring. Rapper Big Naughty, who participated in writing the lyrics for ‘Huh’, didn‘t have any special connection with him, but I asked him especially because I thought he wrote great lyrics. I also called WayV’s Ten, who is from Thailand, and asked him to do a duet with ‘Obsession’. ”He laughed, saying, “At first, I couldn‘t imagine that I would be writing Korean lyrics in Korea, where the lifestyle was unfamiliar.” What helped Minnie endure was her parents, who “still wonder about my songs every day,” and the members, who are now another ‘family’.

“There were definitely hard times, but I was able to endure because I knew that my parents didn’t send me to Korea easily. It would have been harder without the members. While I was preparing for this, the members told me, ‘Don‘t think about what other people think and do whatever you want.’. They said that if I did, I wouldn’t regret it. I‘m glad I trusted them. I’m happy to continue to be with these great friends.” “We became stronger through the period of re-contracting where we talked honestly with each other without any reservations.”



Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.