On her debut solo EP, (G)I-DLE's YUQI has one wish: for all the "freaks" around the world to confidently sing along with her.
YUQ1 boasted a whopping 500,000 pre-order sales prior to its April 23 release, demonstrating the Chinese singer/songwriter's tremendous popularity. YUQI's creative flair permeates everything from the music itself to its accompanying visuals, as does her desire to stand alone. "I’m a certified freak," she sings, celebrating the liberation she feels when embracing her uniqueness.
YUQI is the third member of (G)I-DLE to make her solo debut, and the quintet's second member to release a solo EP. While YUQI has released her own music before — including the digital album A Page and singles "Bad Liar" and "Fire!" with Alan Walker and JVKE — YUQ1 marks her first lengthier release.
YUQI added an additional level of authenticity to her EP by contributing compositions and lyrics to most of the tracks, meticulously working on crafting her unique artist identity as she dabbles in different genres. From the red rabbit mascot on the concept photos to the lyric in "FREAK" that mentions her Zodiac sign Libra, YUQ1 is a reflection of the singer's free-spirited yet delicate artistic qualities.
This isn’t the first time YUQI has preached about being proud of yourself and your life. Her trendy 2021 house-inspired single "Bonnie & Clyde" (from A Page) similarly depicts a high level of confidence, as well as a fearlessness when it comes to facing whatever life throws at you. And YUQI has truly lived this bravery as an artist who moved from her home country to Korea, learned a new language, and experienced the strenuous K-Pop training system.
While YUQI has grown exponentially over the past six years as a member of (G)I-DLE and as a solo act, she still feels the need to be perfect. And while (G)I-DLE is the only K-Pop girl group to achieve a "perfect all-kill" on major domestic charts with four consecutive releases, YUQI believes she hasn't succeeded yet.
As her understanding of creating her crafts deepens, YUQI’s self-awareness also grows. "The depth of my understanding of the songs I create has significantly changed and improved," YUQI tells GRAMMY.com. "I, personally [and] as an artist, have matured a lot!"
Perhaps she picked up some of these facets from her father. "Honestly, even without joking, my father taught me everything when I was 3 years old," she says with a laugh.
While in Seoul, YUQI sat down with GRAMMY.com to share why she thinks everyone is a "freak," and how this era marks the beginning for her as a solo artist.
The interview has been edited for clarity.
This is just your first mini-album, but do you already have a vision for your solo career?
I tried to capture the YUQI that’s real and confident in this album. No matter what other people say about me, I’m not the weird one. But, in fact, I think everyone is a "freak," too.
This album expresses my confidence and emotional life through music. I wanted to convey that you just have to live confidently too, just as I do. When preparing for my solo album, I also tried different hairstyles that I’ve never tried as a (G)I-DLE member!
You've previously shared that moving to Korea alone to pursue this career was difficult, and your parents were strongly against it at first. Do you think those uncertainties and challenges played a huge role in making who you are?
Definitely! That situation did play a huge role in my career. I just kept on believing in myself and moving forward for my dream and what I wanted to achieve. And through the journey, I discovered that believing in yourself is the best way and that mindset helped me a lot.
I was insecure about my voice when I first came to Korea. But then, everyone told me how precious my voice was. Just like my unique voice, I believe there were many aspects of myself that I wasn't initially aware of, which contributed to my growth as an artist.
I’m always open and working hard to listen to many people’s opinions so I’ll be able to have a broad perspective. It helps me and makes me develop myself in many ways!
Your music often tackles common worries about growing up, and some of the songs on YUQ1 are inspired by your personal experience such as "My Way" and "Everytime." How do you feel about sharing this side of yourself with the public?
When I talk about my worries and tell a story about them, I feel that everyone actually shares similar experiences regardless of the circumstances they’ve been through or will go through.
In a previous interview with GRAMMY.com, you said that your biggest takeaway since debuting in (G)I-DLE is to always be proud of yourself. Do you feel that way now, or is there a gap that you think you need to fill in order to achieve that pride?
Honestly, my thoughts have not changed over the years. I still feel proud of myself, always! Something that would not change, is that I would still [like to] challenge myself and try to do anything I want to go after.
Also, I always think that I’m not perfect and always try to make up for what is lacking.
You believe you haven’t succeeded yet. However, you’ve already come so far in people’s eyes. At what point in time do you believe you can proudly say "I made it"?
When people only see me in the media, they would think that I have succeeded a lot. But for me, personally, I don't think so… I still have many things to do in order to succeed in my career. And I always try to keep moving forward with my goals.
My biggest dream, both now and in the past, has always been to live a happy life. It changes from time to time often, but I guess living a happy life is my ultimate goal.
You never forget to mention how you want to always keep improving in interviews. How would you describe YUQI who works really hard to showcase her growth right now?
While preparing for this album, I have experienced so many things that I haven't experienced fully before. For instance, there are so many genres I explored while preparing for this album. Also, it was the first time where I designed my own album, came up with the concept, and had a full album with all the songs that I composed!
This album definitely allowed me to grow as an artist. Even though there were a lot of difficulties, I believe that those are part of the journey and made YUQI even more mature, have more responsibilities, and be aware of them.
Could you share some insights and walk us through your involvement in the songwriting process?
I have participated in composing and lyrics for (G)I-DLE’s songs in our previous albums. However, this was my first time composing an album on my own.
It makes me think I can actually do more diverse things, and I believe I was able to do what I wanted to do for myself in this album. It was a great opportunity to include many songs in my own way and style and was able to show new aspects that I have never shown before with my group.
You worked with MINNIE, pH-1, and Lexie Liu on the album’s "Everytime," "Drink It Up," and "On Clap," respectively. What made you choose to feature them on those particular songs, and what was the experience like?
I think and feel that [MINNIE’s] unique voice always suits every song! I’ve always wanted to work with her and I’m glad that she was able to be part of my album.
And pH-1 was an artist that I’ve always wanted to work with. There was a rap part in "Drink It Up" and I was trying to look for a rapper that would perfectly fit into that part, and pH-1 came into my mind. I had so much fun working with him and he perfectly matched the style that I thought of. Even though it was our first time working together, he was very friendly!
Lexie and I have been close friends for a long time. We always promised to work together, and I thought this time was the perfect opportunity to do so. I’m thankful that we worked on a song together.
The main character on the track list photo is a red rabbit. It’s also in the music video and some of your concept photos. Could you tell us the backstory of who that is and what that represents?
I was born in the year of a Rabbit and my favorite color is red! So, I decided to have a red rabbit as my main character. And that represents YUQI itself. When you look at the track list, you can see that the rabbit’s facial expressions and comments change depending on the song. In that sense, I think it is a character that shows YUQI’s day in various aspects!
When most people think of a red rabbit, I think that what comes to their mind is that it could be mysterious and scary. And so, I wanted to add some fun elements to the music video and give that feel of a horror movie.
What’s one line from a song on YUQ1 that hit you the most? And what's something you want the listeners to resonate with the songs?
[A line] from my title track "FREAK"! I think it’s going to be the chorus part, "I’m a certified FREAK." I often talk about my strength as an artist and I saw a lot of comments asking, "Why is she like that?" and "Why is she talking about her own strength?"
These comments actually gave me a lot of inspiration while writing this song. People who judge me… that way, they are also "FREAK" like everyone else. This is the reason I chose this part. The song contains a message that since you only live once, live yourself whatever you want to do without worrying about what others think.
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