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Jeon So-yeon (; born August 26, 1998), known as Soyeon, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer, under Cube Entertainment. She first gained attention for competing in the television shows Produce 101 and Unpretty Rapstar before debuting as a solo artist on November 5, 2017. On May 2, 2018, she debuted as the leader and rapper of the girl group (G)I-dle, now known as I-dle, for whom she has written and produced most title songs. She is also part of SM Station X girl group project Wow Thing and has portrayed League of Legends character Akali in the virtual musical groups K/DA and True Damage.
Soyeon was promoted to a full member of the Korea Music Copyright Association on January 31, 2024.
In July 2016, Soyeon appeared as a contestant in the third season of the rap competition show Unpretty Rapstar. Soyeon finished the show as the second runner-up, and three of her tracks were included on the show's final compilation album.
On December 29, 2016, Soyeon signed an exclusive contract as an artist under Cube Entertainment. She officially debuted on November 5, 2017, with the digital singles "Jelly" and "Idle Song", which she wrote herself.
On August 8, 2018, it was announced that Soyeon would participate in a girl group project called Station Young for SM Station's X 0 alongside Red Velvet's Kang Seul-gi, Kim Chung-ha, and GFriend's SinB. Station Young released their first song, "Wow Thing", on September 28, 2018.
After their debut, Soyeon and fellow (G)I-dle member Miyeon were approached by Riot Games to collaborate with American artists Jaira Burns and Madison Beer as part of the Virtual band girl group K/DA for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. K/DA officially debuted with the song "Pop/Stars" during the 2018 League of Legends World Championship on November 3. The official music video for "Pop/Stars" was released on the same day, reaching 30 million views on YouTube in five days, and 100 million in one month. The single release of the song reached number one on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart. The K/DA incarnation of the character Akali, whose vocals were performed by Soyeon, proved to be especially popular, becoming a frequent subject of fan art and cosplay.
In 2019, Soyeon composed labelmate CLC's "No", which was selected through a blind test and served as the lead single of the group's EP No.1. In March 2019, Soyeon made a public apology for using a pirated version of the German music-producing software Kontakt. She wrote on her online fan community site, "I deeply regret that I used an illegal copy of the program; as far as I remember, I used it when I first learned songwriting. I had not even recognized that I did not delete the program. But since the day I began composing in earnest, I have only used authorized programs." The apology came days after a behind-the-scenes YouTube video of preparing the I Made EP, produced by the agency, showed icons of the software's illegal copy on her laptop screen. The agency later deleted the video and apologized.
Soyeon reprised her role as Akali in the League of Legends collaborative hip hop group True Damage. A collaboration with Becky G, Keke Palmer, Thutmose and Duckwrth titled "Giants" was released as a single alongside an animated music video on November 10, 2019. The song is a multilingual track performed predominantly in English, with verses in Spanish and Korean. On the same day, the group performed at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship finals in Paris, France. It was Soyeon's second year in a row to perform at the opening ceremony of the World Championship finals. "Giants" debuted at number fifteen and nineteen at Billboard
In 2020, Soyeon guested on Mnet's hip hop-inspired show Do You Know Hip Hop, collaborating with Illson and Nuck to perform a remix of "Lion". In April, (G)I-dle released their third EP, I Trust. All of the songs on the album, including the lead single "Oh My God", was written and composed by Soyeon and longtime collaborator Yummy Tone. The lead single was released in both English and Korean. On July 22, Soyeon helped write and featured on Kim Hyo-yeon's "Dessert" with rapper Loopy, a jungle pop song with "bouncy" beat and moombahton rhythm, synthesizer-based hook, claps and whistles, and lyrics expressing desire for a sweet love rather than a difficult and complex one. In an interview with Melon, DJ Hyo revealed that she chose Soyeon as a collaborator because of her talents. In August, Soyeon composed (G)I-dle's first summer song, "Dumdi Dumdi", alongside Pop Time, who had previously produced songs for rapper Zico and the boy band Block B.
On August 27, 2020, Soyeon reprised her role as League of Legends character Akali in "The Baddest" and "More", on K/DA's EP All Out. Soyeon was credited as the producer of Apink's Namjoo solo debut song "Bird", which was released on September 7. On December 16, it was confirmed that Soyeon, Pentagon's Hui, and AB6IX's Lee Dae-hwi would produce songs for the top seven competition on Mnet's audition show CAP-TEEN. Her song, "Eternal Sunshine", was performed by Lee Seo-bin. It was characterized as having "a groovy" guitar and bass rhythm with lyrics expressing the feelings of a first love. Lee received overall positive reviews and a total score of 354 from the judges for the performance.
On August 23, 2023, Soyeon collaborated with LG Uplus and a music video was released titled "I'm Okay" (아무너케), which garnered more than 9 million views on YouTube in a week.
On November 9, 2023, it was confirmed that Soyeon would be part of a special collaboration single "Nobody" with Ive's Liz and Aespa's Winter, which was released on November 16.
On February 20, 2024, Soyeon, along with Choi Yena, was featured in the music video of "Sugar Rush" by BIBI.
Soyeon then lyrics and participated in composing the title track for QWER's second EP Algorithm's Blossom, titled "My Name Is Malguem" (내이름 맑음), released on September 23, 2024, which secured the first music show win for the band.
Soyeon's songs are also inspired by cartoons, books and dramas. "Idle Song" was created because she was inspired by the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song. "Latata" was inspired by Song Joon-geun's catchphrase "arata rata rata" in KBS2's Gag Concert. "Hann (Alone)" was inspired by Kim Sowol's poem "Azaleas". "Senorita" was inspired by Spanish song, "Despacito" (2017). "Uh-Oh" was inspired by the expression and the tone used by staff, where she'd shot a reality show, To Neverland in the U.S. "Lion" was inspired from live-action The Lion King during her group's debut in Japan.
For I Trust album concept, Soyeon revealed that she got inspired by watching an isekai anime, , and "Luv U" was created and choreographed from the scene heart-finger V by the animation Sugar Sugar Rune. "Dumdi Dumdi" was inspired by the 2016 Disney's Zootopia. The inspiration for "Hwaa" came to Soyeon when Shuhua once said 'winter girl' in a conversation. She took the idea and created the concept of a woman trapped in winter.
For I Never Die, Soyeon compared the album with the Marineford war in One Piece anime series – "the war is a very important event in One Piece. The story revolves around the members who have grown up two years after fighting a war that they thought was an insurmountable crisis and like the members are separated to grow up. Like the manga, I thought I Never Die is an album that depicts (G)I-dle after the war. This album, which is represented by growth and shock, was perfected with passion and fierceness." "Tomboy" was inspired by the fictional character, Cruella de Vil.
Before the release of I Love, Soyeon appeared in episode 445 of I Live Alone where she was seen leading a meeting for the next album in which she said "I have a message I want to convey," that "It's better to be hated as I am than to be loved as I am not." She stated that she was inspired by late actress Marilyn Monroe for the next album concept. "I want to break the prejudice of 'sexy'. You can think of it as a expression that 'even if I am loved by you again, I will (still) be me'," she added.
Soyeon noted in the press release for the album I Feel, that she was inspired by the 2018 movie I Feel Pretty and the subject revolves around conveying a message about self-esteem and confidence.
For (G)I-dle's first preliminary performance on the competition show Queendom, Soyeon proposed a sorceress concept for "Latata", an arrangement that IZM praised as "an entirely original song". According to the magazine, her consistent confidence in her group, song and herself both on and offstage is because "she has a clear image of what she wants to create." Poet Seo Hyo-in wrote that Soyeon "covers all aspects of producing, from composition and writing, rap making and setting the concept" but "doesn't overshadow the other members." She praised Soyeon for maximizing the strengths of each member, allowing them to find their own artistic freedom.
Soyeon has been regarded as a role model for young women. Various artists cited her as an inspiration, including Majors' Aki, ANS' Dalyn, Woo!ah!'s Songyee, Craxy's KaRin Lightsum's Jian and Juhyeon, Lunarsolar's Eseo, H1-Key's Hwiseo, Blank2y's Siwoo, and Adya's Sena, Purple Kiss' Yuki. South Korean producer and songwriter Ryan S. Jhun expressed his admiration for the competition Queendom, on which (G)I-dle appeared, and shared that he hopes to work with Soyeon one day.
During the recording of "My Name is Malgeum" (내이름 맑음), QWER member Hina recalled, "Since my voice has a lot of nasal sounds, she told me, 'Sound like a man, don't be shy, and try your best.' I was very moved by Soyeon's consideration during the whole recording process, and I think my vocal range has broadened thanks to this experience".
On June 2, 2021, Soyeon opened a personal Instagram account with several photos of selfies and an arm tattoo. Later, Soyeon revealed the tattoo was a "consent for organ donation" tattoo on V Live. She stated, "I saw an article saying that an average of 5 people a day died waiting for an organ donor. I thought about what I could do for others in my life, and then I came to a conclusion. It was a decision I made after cautiously thinking."
On January 18, 2022, Soyeon donated 20,000 briquettes to the Sharing Briquettes of Love campaign to help those in need, including unprivileged and low-income families, throughout the cold winter.
In February 2023, Soyeon donated ₩20 million to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association in order to aid those affected by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.
On July 17, 2024, Soyeon donated ₩100 million to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association, as a member of Hope Bridge Honors Club, to help recover from heavy rain damage across South Korea. She stated, "I participated in the donation with the hope that it would be a small comfort to those affected by this heavy rain."
On March 28, 2025, Soyeon delivered another ₩100 million in donations to the same foundation, Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association, to support for residents in areas affected by forest fires such as Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam and temporary shelters. A statement was issued where she stated, "I wanted to convey even a little comfort. I sincerely hope that those who are suffering will return to their daily lives as soon as possible," she added, "I think it's time for all of us to reach out."
| + List of extended plays, showing selected details, selected chart positions, and sales figures ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Sales |
| + List of singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, sales figures, and name of the album ! scope="col" rowspan="3" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="3" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="3" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="3" | Sales ! scope="col" rowspan="3" | Album | ||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
| Unpretty Rapstar 3 | Finished 3rd | |
| + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination ! scope="col" | Award ceremony ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Nominee / Work ! scope="col" | Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | |
| 2023 | Best Producer (Overseas) | "Queencard" | ||||
| Special Award | ||||||
| 2024 |
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