Every year there is an onslaught of rookie groups hoping to make their big break and debut on the big stages of music programs in Korea. In 2018 alone, over 63 girl groups and 28 boy groups officially debuted with the hope of shaking up the hearts of their newfound fans – Amongst them was the 8 member girl group Weki Meki.
Consisting of leader Ji Suyeon, vocalist Elly, main rapper Choi Yoojung, visual Kim Doyeon, lead vocalist Sei, main dancer Lua, lead dancer Rina, and maknae Lucy – A wide collection of bright, fun and bubbly young girls all with multiple talents and a wide variety of personalities.
Showcasing their theme of “Teen Crush”, the young ladies were promoted for their childish teen-like playfulness that is promoted through their music, lyrics and visuals. But don’t let first impressions hold you back, unlike many other girl groups before them, Weki Meki has been noted for their dance routines that have a sexy yet powerful vibe that mirrors their upbeat music style which is very unique to them.
If you are looking at the group thinking you have seen some of the members before, you wouldn’t be wrong. Choi Yoojung and Kim Doyeon appeared on the M.net survival TV program “Produce 101” and ranked 3rd and 8th in the finale. After debuting as part of the programs project group I.O.I, the girls were able to sweep first place position across various music programs and even won “Rookie of the year”.
You may have also seen many of the girls under the Fantagio trainee team “I-Teen Girls” where they released behind the scene clips of their trainee days before Weki Meki became a music industry name – Kim Doyeon, Choi Yoojung, Lua, Elly, and Lucy also made many appearances on their label mates, ASTRO, pre-debut online web drama “To Be Continued”. On July 6th 2016, just after “Produce 101” finished, Fantagio announced that Weki Meki would be their new girl group and began promoting the members ready for the big stage appearance in 2017.
In August 2017 Weki Meki released their first debut single “I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend” along with their first mini album “WEME”. According to the GAON charts, the album sold over 47’000 physical copies, which made it the highest-selling album for a girl group debuting in 2017 – not an easy feat by any means, and something that the girls could feel proud for achieving.
Only 6 months later in February 2018, the girl group released their second mini-album titled “Lucky” which featured two released title songs “LaLaLa” and “Butterfly” – the latter of which was a remake of a song used as an OST for a sports movie “Take Off”. Weki Meki released their version of the song in support of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Fast forward to October and Weki Meki release their first single album “Kiss Kiss” with the released song “Crush” that showed a girlish rebellious side to the members.
May 2019 saw Weki Meki release their second single album release with “Lock End LOL” and their title single “Picky Picky” where the music video has a schoolgirl theme but in true Weki Meki style, there’s a lot of colour, attitude and amazing dance skills. The repackaged album “Week End LOL” featured their newer release “Tiki-Taka (99%)” which was released in August 2018 – This song is a certified summertime song, and where the likes of certain other idol groups were not releasing a signature summer song, Weki Meki took their opportunity to release an absolute summertime essential!
Recently on February 20th 2020 (it seems it was destiny – 20022020) the group released their latest digital single album titled “DAZZLE DAZZLE” with their song release with the same title – You can certainly see how the group has grown with each release both vocally, lyrically and with their dancing skills. The girlish charms are slowly fading, and a more mature outlook has set in.
We are certainly excited to see more from Weki Meki in the future and ask that our readers show a little support for the girls by checking out their Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels.
Be sure to check back to UnitedKpop as we have a special exclusive with Weki Meki lined up.
