It’s been almost a year since we heard from Weki Meki, but before we get a full group comeback we have the solo debut of member Choi Yoojung. Yoojung has long been one of the group’s most well-known members, beginning her career in IOI before moving on to become the “face” of Weki Meki. She has all the attributes necessary for a great solo career, but debut song Sunflower doesn’t go far enough to harness them.
On the plus side, Sunflower’s sparse production and subdued, vibey groove leaves plenty of room for Yoojung’s voice to shine. Its sound is well-suited to these late-summer days. You can practically hear the transition of seasons within the track. On the negative side, Sunflower is just kind of… boring. It made me immediately think of New Jeans’ Attention — a song that has gone on to become a dominating force on the charts. Both tracks have a similarly laid-back bounce, but Sunflower lacks the engaging vocal arrangement and natural hookiness that can make this style really shine.
When Sunflower‘s instrumental isn’t recycling trendy percussion, it revs up to deliver rounds of fast-paced, clap-along rhythm. This makes for a potentially interesting turn, but the track’s languid pace keeps it in one gear even when the percussion tries to break free. The producers get bonus points for those wonky, retro synths, though! It’s abundantly clear that Yoojung’s a star, and her skills as a dancer elevate Sunflower’s visuals. I just wish the song itself had the same bite.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
im not a fan of coffeeshop house music at all so this one gets a pass. low 7’s
anyway about dia’s comeback
why the fuck did mbk settle for some boring-ass ballad instead of some sort of dance song to send off the group??? so disappointing after waiting like years just for a comeback 😡
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anyway somehow’s still the goat
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Honestly, I would’ve been shocked if it had been anything *but* a ballad. Agencies don’t usually have much imagination when it comes to these things.
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the fact mbk’s treated dia this dirty and sent them off on a low note is just… WHY???
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I was wondering a similar thought. Given that these solos require a lot of time and money and effort, why do the agencies always pick such generic songs? Do they not know what makes their performer a unique STAR in all caps?
This one here, its alright. Basic kpop.
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Song is ok, but “immediately thing of NewJeans”
I find it funny that I can barely type out a sentence without autocorrect working and now I’m commenting on others’ spellings haha
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Haha thanks for the catch!
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As WhoAmI pointed out, this feels like discount NewJeans. At least glad the Y2K vibes are back!
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Now I’m just waiting for a rookie group to debut with the name “Discount New Jeans”!
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What this is is a cheap hail-mary from Fantagio made more apparent in light of DIA’s winding up. I mean, why now? Why not a group comeback?
Much the same as Pristin V or Gugudan Semina but on a smaller scale, this gives the company ammunition to say in the near future ‘sorry but we couldn’t even make a dent with the best the group has to offer’.
I hope I’m wrong, I LOVE Weki Meki’s discography but with so many ‘instantly successful’ big company groups out there it seems líke there’s increasingly less room for groups like WeMe.
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I can’t realize why Yoojung was tortured with this boring, generic-ass coffeeshop ditty. Yes, the instrumental has got potential, but the lack of meat on the song’s bones immediately makes it sound just…deeply uninteresting. She is extremely talented, and wasting her skills on these drowsy mid-tempos is ultra-retarded. 6.75 for me.
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I have a soft spot for Yoojung. I think she’s a spitfire with buckets of charm. So I take offense to your assertion that she’s in or has anything to do this.. ..song/video?!
Not my Yoojung! Not in this spiritless bowl of porridge. No sirree. You’re not fooling nobody! YOU TAKE THAT BACK, MISTER!
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The choreography for this elevated it a lot for me. Yoojung is a fantastic performer and always stands out on a Weki Meki stage. I feel rather indifferent about this, it’s a fine enough song but it doesn’t cement her as a soloist immediately. Oddly enough, Weki Meki were the third k-pop group I ever got into, after Blackpink and BTS for no reason I can remember now. I genuinely love all of their title tracks and they have some excellent bsides too, as well as very talented members. I’ll always feel sad they never took off the same way Astro did, and wish Fantagio had promoted them better or they’d have a stroke of luck to make the massive, as they’ve had a killer run of songs. Recently they had a song called Stupid Love for some TV show that I really enjoyed, and completely wish had been a single with a music video as it suited them perfectly and brought to mind the fabulously assured and chic b-side Who Am I from last year. I’m dismayed that it doesn’t look like we’ll get a comeback from them this year. I’m hoping for a full album and another single next year, or at least a couple of packed minis, as they have so much more potential if Fantagio would care about them at all.
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