(G)I-DLE

(G)I-DLE (Hangul: (여자)아이들; RR: Yeoja Aideul; lit. Young Girls / Individual Girls; short for Girl-Idle) is a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2018.

The group currently consists of five members: Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua. Originally a six-member group, Soojin left the group in 2021 due to a bullying controversy. The group debuted on May 2, 2018 with their first extended play titled "I am". A year later, the group debuted in Japan on July 31, 2019, under U-Cube with "LATATA".

(G)I-DLE was dubbed the "monster rookie" of 2018 and has been considered one of the most successful South Korean girl groups to not hail from the "big three" record labels. Since their debut, the group has released six extended plays and eight singles including "LATATA", "HANN (Alone)", "Senorita", "Uh-Oh", "LION", "Oh my god", "DUMDi DUMDi", "HWAA" and "TOMBOY".

(G)I-DLE has also stood out for their direct involvement in their music, with their leader, Soyeon, and members Minnie and Yuqi writing and co-producing their material. In conjunction with the release of their third EP "I trust" in 2020, the group signed with American record label Republic Records to pursue expansion into the U.S. marketplace. Upon its release, the group set the highest record for a South Korean girl group to top the iTunes Top Albums chart and the fourth girl group to sell 100,000 copies in the first week of sales. Their 2020 single album, "DUMDi DUMDi" broke the single album sales record, making it the second best selling girl group single album of all time. (G)I-DLE also became the first K-pop group to get interviewed by Forbes China.

Pre-debut
Soyeon was previously introduced as one of the female trainees to represent Cube Entertainment on the Mnet survival show, Produce 101. She remained a popular contestant throughout the show's run, peaking at 10th place on the fifth episode. However, she was ranked at 20th place in the final episode and failed to become a member of the winning girl group, I.O.I. Soyeon also competed in the third season of the rap competition show Unpretty Rapstar, where she finished as the second runner-up. She later debuted as a soloist, releasing two digital singles: "Jelly" and "Idle Song".

Miyeon was a former YG trainee, from 2010 to 2015. She was originally supposed to debut with the girl group BLACKPINK, but failed to debut and left the company. Soojin was a former trainee under DN Entertainment in 2015. She was a member of pre-debut girl group VIVIDIVA, but left before the group's official debut. Her stage name was N.Na. Minnie, Yuqi and Shuhua appeared in the promotional video of Rising Star Cosmetic in June 2017. Shuhua made an appearance with labelmate Yu Seon-ho in 10 cm's "Pet" music video in September 2017. Minnie featured in Line Friends' album Dance Party, which was released in November 2017. From February 2018 to March 2018, Miyeon and Minnie made four cover videos under Dingo Music Youtube Channel. Yuqi also appeared in the short video of Dingo Music.

On March 22, 2018, Cube Entertainment announced that their new upcoming girl group would debut in the first half of 2018, which Soyeon was revealed to be a part of the group's line-up last January. On April 5, they unveiled the logo and the name of their upcoming girl group (G)I-DLE. Cube Entertainment began revealing the members of (G)I-DLE with the release of individual photos of the first two members, Miyeon and Yuqi, on April 8. Soojin and Shuhua were revealed two days later on April 10. Minnie and Soyeon were the last to be revealed on April 12, and they formed the final line-up of the upcoming girl group.

2018: Debut with "I am", rising popularity and "HANN (Alone)"
(G)I-DLE officially released their debut mini-album I am on May 2 with the lead single "LATATA". Their debut showcase was held at the Blue Square iMarket Hall on the same day as the album's release. They made their official debut stage on the music program Mnet's M Countdown on the next day.

(G)I-DLE achieved combined views of 2.2 million for the "LATATA" music video within two days of its release. The mini-album debuted at number 13 on the Gaon Album Chart issued on April 29, 2018. "I am" also debuted at number seven and has since peaked at number five on Billboard's World Albums chart on May 9, 2018. "LATATA" debuted at number thirty-five on the Gaon Digital Chart on May 17, 2018. (G)I-DLE received their first-ever music show win on SBS MTV's The Show on May 22, twenty days after their debut. Two days later, on May 24, the group received their second music show win for "LATATA" on Mnet's M Countdown and followed by their third win on The Show. After a month after debut, they made their debut on Billboard‘s Social 50 Chart by charting at number 36 on June 5.

On June 8, they made a debut in the rankings by topping the list for June. The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community indexes of various girl groups using big data collected from May 7 to June 8. In their first-ever appearance on the list, the group shot to first place with a brand reputation index of 10,038,719. High-ranking phrases in (G)I-DLE’s keyword analysis included “LATATA” (the group’s debut title track), “The Show,” and “debut,” while their highest-ranking related terms included “hot,” “pretty,” and “exciting.” The group’s positivity-negativity analysis revealed a score of 63.55 percent positive reactions. They received their first award, Female Rookie Idol of the Year, at the Brand of the Year Korea 2018 awards.

On August 6, (G)I-DLE performed a small concert and record a flash-mob performance of their hit single "LATATA" in Times Square and Washington Square Park.

On August 14, (G)I-DLE’s first digital single comeback, “HANN (Alone)”, was released. The music video was released alongside the single on August 14. Within 24 hours, the video surpassed 4.9 millions views on YouTube. "HANN (Alone)" topped domestic music charts including Bugs, Genie and Olleh Music on August 16 and hits a new peak on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart where they debut at No. 2. They received their first music show win on Show Champion on August 29 for "HANN (Alone)".

In November, Riot Games released a song called "POP/STARS" which provided vocals from Soyeon and Miyeon along with American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns under a virtual girl group named K/DA, featuring Soyeon and Miyeon as Akali and Ahri respectively. They also performed it on the League of Legends World Championship along with Beer and Burns, reaching number 1 on the Billboard World Digital Sales.

Throughout the rest of 2018, (G)I-DLE earned several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Gaon Chart Music Awards, Genie Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Korea Popular Music Awards and Melon Music Awards.

2019: "I made", "Uh-Oh", Japanese debut and Queendom
(G)I-DLE released their second EP, I made, on February 26, 2019. The EP contains five songs, including the lead single "Senorita", written and composed by member Soyeon and Big Sancho. On June 26, (G)I-DLE released their second digital single, "Uh-Oh". The song ranked number 22 on NetEase Cloud Music China for the first half of 2019, making them the only K-pop group to chart on it.

In July, (G)I-DLE held their first U.S. performance during the annual KCON convention and music festival at Javits Center, New York City. They later held a live showcase at the Mainabi Blitz Akasaka on July 23. The showcase sold over 1,000 tickets with an attendance of 1,500 people. It was reported that around 15,000 applied to attend but due to the capacity limit of the venue, some could not make it. On July 31, (G)I-DLE debuted in the Japanese market with the release of their EP LATATA. On August 19, (G)I-DLE and makeup brand Kate collaborated to release a spin-off music video of "LATATA (Japanese Ver.)".

(G)I-DLE subsequently participated in a reality girl group survival show created by Mnet, Queendom. In the first preliminary round, (G)I-DLE finished first place after performing "LATATA" re-imagined with a concept of shamanism. The introduction of the performance, Minnie's Thai "enchantment," was well received and became a hot topic among both Korean and Thai fans. In the second preliminary round (G)I-DLE reinterpreted 2NE1's "Fire", finishing in last place. In September, it was reported that Cube would partner with e2PR and Strategic Communications to establish a new promotion team for handling (G)I-DLE's public international relations. That same month, the group held their first fan meeting, "Welcome to the Neverland", at the Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets to the show were sold out in two minutes.

On October 4, (G)I-DLE performed first-time as a main headliner at the Spotify On Stage Jakarta. They were one of six acts including Rich Brian, ATEEZ, and more. On October 5, the group appeared on Immortal Songs 2, a KBS reality television singing competition. This marks the group's first appearance on the program. They performed a rendition of Koyote's "Sad Dream" as a part of the group's 20th anniversary. (G)I-DLE performed "Put It Straight (Nightmare Version)" for Queendom's "Fan-dora's Box" round. The stage performance reached one million views after 14 hours of release, and placed fourth in the round. On October 25, (G)I-DLE released "LION" as part of the Queendom Final Comeback EP. The live performances of "LATATA" and "Fire" surpassed 11 and 13 million views by November 2019 alone, respectively. (G)I-DLE finished the show in third place. "LION" became a sleeper hit after gaining popularity on their stage concept of "The Queen's Royal Welcome", re-entering the real-time charts of various music sites. A music video for it was released on November 4. The video surpassed 5 million views in two days. The song debuted at number 13 on the World Digital Song Sales and peaked at number 5. Simultaneously, the single rose eighty-nine spots to number 19 on the Gaon Digital Chart and topped China's QQ Music Korean Song chart for two consecutive weeks. On December 21, (G)I-DLE performed their hit singles at the 2020 Tainan Christmas & New Year Eve Party at Tainan City, Taiwan. Their stage was recorded the highest tide of the event of an appearance of 80,000 people.

2020: "I trust", "I-LAND: Who Am I" online concert, "i'M THE TREND", "DUMDi DUMDi" and "Oh My God" Japanese EP
On January 28, the group announced their first world tour, titled "I-LAND: Who Am I Tour", which would span 32 different cities around the world. Later, it was announced their commenced show in Bangkok and new album release project in mid-March was postponed in response to the coronavirus outbreak and to ensure the safety and health of the artists, fans, and staff. On January 31, the group appeared on Two Yoo Project Sugar Man 3 performing Minnie's composed and rearranged Kim Won-jun's "Show".

On March 26, (G)I-DLE was announced as part of the lineup of the 2020 Twitch Stream Aid, scheduled for March 28. The livestream is a 12-hour charity livestream concert aiming to raise money for COVID-19 relief. They are the first female K-pop group to participate.

On April 6, the group released their third EP titled I trust with "Oh my god" as its lead single. The album consists of five songs including an English-language version of the title track. In conjunction with the release of "I trust", (G)I-DLE had signed with Republic Records to help highlight and push their individuality into the U.S. marketplace. The album had over 91,311 pre-orders, making it their most pre-ordered EP, and became their highest selling album by selling 100,000 physical copies in three days. "I trust" debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart becoming (G)I-DLE's first number-one album in South Korea and achieved their highest-ever position on Billboard's World Albums chart at No. 4, and set the highest record for a South Korean girl group to have topped iTunes Top Albums chart in 62 countries worldwide. The music video for "Oh my god" broke their personal record by amassing 17 million views within its first day of release, and was nominated for the 2020 MTV Video Music Award for Best K-Pop Video and BreakTudo's International Music Video. The song also marked the first time the group has appeared on the Scottish Singles Chart and charted at number 97, becoming only the third K-pop artist and the second female act to appear on the chart. (G)I-DLE's live promotions for "Oh my god" won four music show awards, as well as their first grand slam public broadcast win on KBS' Music Bank, SBS' Inkigayo and MBC's Show! Music Core. On May 6, (G)I-DLE broke into Rolling Stone's Top 25 Breakthrough chart as the only K-Pop group to chart for the month of April at the top 20 spot with a unit growth of 3.3 million and over 5.5 million total on demand audio streams in the U.S.

In May, (G)I-DLE released the official English version of their debut song "LATATA" on May 15. On May 31, the group announced that they would be joining the 32-artist lineup at KCON:TACT 2020 Summer on June 23. The group were expected to release two albums in the second half of the year, including digital single according to EBest Investment & Securities Co., Ltd researcher. Their postponed world tour was cancelled, and instead (G)I-DLE held a live online concert of the same name on July 5. They performed songs from their debut album, as well as Minnie and Yuqi's composed song "i'M THE TREND", with a live audience of 11,000 paid real-time viewers. Subsequently, the group released the digital single, along with its music video on July 7 as a special present for their fans.

On August 3, (G)I-DLE released its first single album DUMDi DUMDi, with lead single "DUMDi DUMDi" of the same name. With this release, "DUMDi DUMDi" ranked second best selling girl group single album in history with 94,587 initial sales. However, the song had a slow rising on the Gaon and Billboard charts. It debuted at number 27 and 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart and the US Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, and later peaked at number 8 and 13, respectively. On iTunes, the song became their most-number-one song in 42 regions around the world. The music video for "DUMDi DUMDi" garnered over 17.6 million views in a single day, breaking their previous record with "Oh my god". The group ended the promotions winning first place for two weeks in a row on Show Champion, M Countdown and Inkigayo, becoming the group's most-winning title track. On August 26, they made their first Japanese comeback with the release of their second extended play, Oh My God, along with the Japanese version of "Oh my god", "Uh-Oh", "Senorita", "DUMDi DUMDi" and an original Japanese track titled "Tung-Tung (Empty)", which was composed by Minnie. On August 27, Miyeon and Soyeon reprised their roles as Akali and Ahri in K/DA for the song "THE BADDEST" which features American singers Bea Miller and Wolftyla. It was also announced that they would be featured on the title track "MORE" with the original lineup of K/DA, along with Chinese singer Lexie Liu. It was released on October 28. Both songs charted at number one on Billboard World Digital Song Sales, and were included in K/DA's first EP "ALL OUT".

In November, (G)I-DLE held an online fan meeting called "(G)I-DLE Official Fan Club Neverland 2nd fan meeting 'GBC in the Neverland'" through Global Interpark. GBC is a shortened title of "(G)I-DLE Broadcast Club".

2021: "I burn", Soojin's Controversy, "Last Dance" and Soojin's Departure
(G)I-DLE announced in December 2020 that they would be making a comeback on January 11, 2021, with their fourth EP, I burn, and its lead single, "HWAA". According to Hanteo Chart, "I burn" debuted at No. 1 on the daily album chart with 75,510 copies sold. The album also debuted at No.1 on Gaon Retail Album Chart with 59,086 copies sold. The music video for "HWAA" scored 10 million YouTube views in 29 hours after it hit the streaming site. Two days later, the album was reported to be charted on the iTunes Top Album charts in 51 countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Italy and Finland. For the first time since their debut in 2018, all songs from "I burn" was charted in Melon chart. "HWAA" topped domestic charts and attained commercial success on Billboard charts, peaking at number 5 on K-pop Hot 100 and number 8 on World Digital Songs. Besides that, "HWAA" achieved 10 music show wins, highest since their debut in 2018. (G)I-DLE was awarded triple crown for "HWAA".

On January 27, (G)I-DLE released the official English and Chinese version of "HWAA". The song-writing credits for the Chinese version of was given to Yuqi, which is the group's only Chinese member. On February 5, (G)I-DLE released a remixed version of "HWAA" by DJ duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. It would be the group's first collaboration with a foreign artist(s).

On March 4, it was announced that Soojin would temporarily halt all activities following alleged bullying accusations by former classmates.

On April 29, (G)I-DLE released the song "Last Dance" as a feature single for the platform named Universe. However, due to Soojin's temporary hiatus from the group, Universe and Cube Entertainment decided that the vocals will be redistributed to the remaining five active members in the group.

On August 14, Cube Entertainment announced that Soojin would be leaving the group due to her hiatus following bullying accusations. Legal action against the accusations are ongoing.

2022: Reformation as five members and "I NEVER DIE"
On January 17, 2022, the group performed for the first time as a five-member group as part of the Expo 2020 in Dubai on South Korea's country day.

It was reported on February 17 that (G)I-DLE were preparing for a comeback. On February 24, their first full-length album titled I NEVER DIE was announced. It was released on March 14, 2022 with the title track "TOMBOY".

Collaborations

 * "ONE" (2018) (with BTOB, CLC, HyunA, Jo Kwon, PENTAGON, Yoo Seon Ho)
 * "POP/STARS" (2018) (Miyeon, Soyeon with Madison Beer and Jaira Burns (as K/DA)

Solo concerts

 * 2020 (G)I-DLE Online Concert 'I-Land : Who Am I' (2020)

World tours

 * 2020 (G)I-DLE World Tour 'I-Land : Who Am I' (2020) (canceled)
 * 2022 (G)I-DLE World Tour 'Just Me I-DLE' (2022)

Concert participations

 * United Cube – One (2018)
 * Kpop.Flex 2022 (2022)
 * Waterbomb Festival Seoul (2022)

Awards and nominations

 * Main article: List of Awards and Nominations

Trivia

 * The group name has some significations:
 * "(G)" (여자) is for "girl" and "Idle" (아이들) for "children".
 * The "I" in "I-DLE" is for the individuality and "DLE" (들 seen reversed on the logo) the plural, so the girls have a unique personality, but they are related in a way.
 * Soyeon was a contestant on Produce 101 and Unpretty Rapstar 3.
 * Soyeon made her solo debut on November 5, 2017 before joining the group.
 * Soojin is seen in the music videos for "Jelly" and "Idle Song" as the girl wearing a white fox mask.
 * The music video of "Idle Song" hinted at the origins of the (G)I-DLE members before their reveal, using a globe with indicators of their birth places and a radio fixed on "450" (for April 5, their reveal date).
 * Miyeon is a former YG Entertainment trainee who was allegedly supposed to debut with Blackpink.
 * Soojin was originally supposed to be a member of the then-upcoming South Korean girl group VIVIDIVA.
 * Her stage name was N.Na.