(G)I-DLE member Soyeon is opening up about her creative process and lyric inspiration, in turn calling out the sexist double standards in the South Korean music scene.
In a new interview with Cosmopolitan Korea, Soyeon discussed the buzz surrounding (G) I-DLE's song "Wife," which came out in January 2024, after it was banned from South Korean broadcaster KBD for its "sexually explicit" lyrics.
When asked how important freedom of expression was for her when creating music, Soyeon took the chance to clear the air about the song's inspiration while calling out sexist double standards female Korean musicians face when openly singing sexually charged lyrics.
"There are a lot of songs by male artists, especially male hip-hop artists, that are explicitly about sex. But, in Korea, when female musicians sing about sex, they express it metaphorically and indirectly," Soyeon explained. “But a woman who desires sex is not a bad woman, right? I believe that every woman has her own desires and personality, and I wanted to portray a female 'character' who expresses those desires actively.”
Soyeon went on to say that such explicit inspirations are often used for novels and movies in South Korea but are only frowned upon when it comes to music, which is why few artists dare to touch them in the first place and why "Wife" got the treatment it did. "Many people thought the lyrics of 'Wife' were dirty," she continued, “but I don't think sexual acts are dirty. They're human instinct.”
"It's not a crime or 'dirty' for a woman to desire sex or sing about it," she added. “Though my personality is not the type that talks freely about sex [in my personal life], I don't ever want to call someone [who openly enjoys sex] vulgar or dirty.”
Soyeon added that when writing lyrics, she thinks of herself as a novelist or a storyteller, pulling from general experiences many people can relate to instead of personal inspiration.
“When I write a song, I write it based on an imaginary situation, not as Jeon Soyeon, but as a character or speaker in the song. But many people look at the songs I write and think, 'Wow, Soyeon, did you really do this?' Even for 'Wife,' people were like, 'Soyeon, what kind of life are you living?' but I and the character in the song are two different people.”
Even if the situations are not always drawn from her real life, Soyeon added that she "always [tries] to sing honestly and express a variety of emotions, and [she wants] to express them freely." She continued: "I don't want to hide myself. I want to be confident about myself as a human being, and I want others to be the same. I want everyone to enjoy everything they deserve as humans," recalling a recent time a friend came out to her. “I am a person without prejudice, so people around me feel comfortable coming out to me. Even if I were attracted to a certain woman, I don't think I would think, 'Huh, why am I attracted to a woman?' That's why I don't try to limit myself when I write songs.”
