(G)I-DLE’s Minnie pre-released a song from her new album earlier this month and now its title track HER has been unveiled as she makes her official solo debut. She’s the fourth member of the group to venture out on her own, and rather than reinvent the wheel HER sounds like something you’d hear on any (G)I-DLE album.
Much like Blind Eyes Red, I’m not the target audience for this song. It’s the latest in a long line (endless, really…) of “You think you know how awesome I am but you really don’t” K-pop songs — a lyrical conceit so well-trodden it earns an instant eye roll from me. At this point it just feels empty, going through the expected motions without actual investment in the concept.
Musically, HER echoes so many western pop tropes of the moment. From its vocal quirks to the soft bassline to the atmospheric synth, you could hear this on any global Spotify playlist. This familiarity may help ingratiate the song to a wide audience, but it doesn’t feel unique to Minnie or K-pop as a whole. The chorus is slight and repetitive and the track maintains a dull energy throughout. There’s no sense of modulation or growth, just a thumping remoteness that does Minnie no favors as an artist.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Not so much the verses but the chorus does sound like the kinder softer gentler Queen Card retread. It’s a little more listenable and less abrasive than recent G-idle (oh snap!), but still a pass for me.
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Best mini album minnie – HER
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I think you hit the nail on the head with the queen card comparison. I sang it with this chorus and they line up a bit too well. Maybe this song was a first draft lol
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Fourth, not forth.
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lol yes
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I think you hit the nail on the head with the queen card comparison. I sang it with this chorus and they line up a bit too well. Maybe this song was a first draft lol
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I hate WordPress I was clearly responding to magoogle and then it starts glitching to all the comments smh
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Eh, it’s okay, more upbeat and better than Blind Eyes Red, but still falls flat.
7.5 (8, 7, 8, 7) for me.
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I don’t buy the persona that Minnie wants to propose on stage, but I recognize her talent. I think her vocals are voluptuous. They work very fluidly in Korean, English or Thai. A song I could easily see her dominating would be I Got It Bad by Addison Rae, it’s a shame this isn’t the caliber her song brings here
7.5 (7, 8, 8, 7)
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Kinda wish the beat was MUCH bouncier. Would have made the song WAY BETTER. Im refering to the bridge instrumental. It should have been more prevelant.
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I’m 5 songs into the album and I might just say the craziest thing: This might be the best kpop solo debut album I have ever heard. It’s so outside of usual kpop’s soundscape I cant even consider it kpop. This is what ROSIE should have been.
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also, the songs have some LENGTH on them.
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Holy shit, “Obsession” is amazing.
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I recommend Taemin’s Ace album. Might actually be my favorite EP solo debut in kpop. Truly astounding.
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yeah its good but ig I over exaggerated. I mean to say like in recent years/groups. Ace is like super kpop’s soundscape!
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Ok, so, I listened to the album, and I do have to say, it IS really good! Like you said, Obsession is beautiful, and I also liked It’s Okay and maybe? Cherry Sky.
Really glad I took the chance to listen to it. Mainly because of you. Thanks!!
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Of course:)
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I’m actually a little disappointed on how EVERY other track on this album is a whole notch higher than the two tracks that actually got music videos, aka BER and Her. Obsession and Cherry Sky are really good, above an ‘8’ rating I’d say. Not quite a 9, definitely not, but still very high to me.
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I really like it!
It sounds like they took Minnie’s parts from all her Gidle songs and combined them into one great, albeit slightly lackluster song.
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the best
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This one is less Halsey and more late 2010s Selena Gomez, pitched up.
I think part of the problem I have with most GIDLE songs is the very affected voices that they all put on.
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Yeah, that’s a big problem for me too but I hesitate to voice it too often because I get a bunch of shit from their fans…
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Yep, you nailed it. Soyeon’s a great rapper but chooses to put on an odd accent on her vowels. Minnie’s a great singer but often slips into the odd “cursive singing” that Billie Eilish popularised in 2019-2020. Yuqi works great with whatever octave you give her, yet they either push her too high or too low with vocal effects depending on the vibe the song has. Sigh.
I really do think that Miyeon and Minnie are two out of a long list of great female singers of 4th gen, but a lot of the time, their unique tones are overshadowed by everything else going on around them. I’d say this is a trait shared by a lot of vocalists in recent years, to be honest– other victims of this include I.N of SKZ, who, while not being the best vocalist of the group, has one of the stand vocal tones, and yet that vocal tone is upped to SUCH extremes that you can’t appreciate the specialness of it anymore.
Gah, I mustn’t ramble in the replies of someone else’s comment, but honestly… I love (G)I-DLE when they’re at their most… Idle-ness (Hann, Fate, Lion, Lucid, to name a few). All of those songs I mentioned are entirely different from one another, so I would say it’s less that I dislike the direction the group is currently going (I’m actually very curious) and moreso that I dislike when Soyeon and/or other producers swamp the members’ voices with unnecessary flourishes in songs.
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i love it!….i believe it is a great debut, and Minnie definitely has the looks, spunk, attitude, and talent to be a great kpop star….i’d give it at least a B+
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She is SMOKING
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yezzzzzzzzzz she is!
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I can actually listen to this all the way through unlike her previous track. It’s enjoyable enough but largely forgettable. I’m more intrigued by the video, there are different versions of HER but I don’t really understand what message is being conveyed with them
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