Angel meets devil. Good versus evil. It’s a tale as old as time illustrated on the title art of South Korean star Bibi’s latest single ‘Derre’, which sees two animated creatures colliding, hands almost touching. This dichotomy is hardly new for the enigmatic artist; famed for swinging on the pendulum when it comes to her notable hits. Last year, she swept the awards clean with ‘Bam Yang Gang’, a sugary-melty track laced with an addictive hook. But it wasn’t long before that when she gave us ‘Bibi Vengeance’, the epitome of feminine rage—explosive, fierce and downright gnarly.
One would think the consistent, explicit range that Bibi straddles is merely an exaggerated expression of her artistry, but to her, it’s only natural. “People think ‘why is she different now?’ or ‘why is she pretending to be something [else]?’ But I’m a shape-shifting person—from my looks to my personality,” the star affirms on a Zoom call. And it seems the answer has always been prevalent from the beginning. She harks back to her debut single ‘Binu’, a song that traces the early days of a younger Bibi and one that the artist sums up the entirety of her music. “I wrote the song ‘Binu’ to explain to people that I’ve always been in different shapes.”
Before me, the 26-year-old star is barefaced, contemplative in her answers while exuding a childlike glee. It’s again a 180 from the Bibi on stage—magnetic, assured and powerful. Whereas on our Zoom call, she feels a lot like an easygoing free spirit who’s unsure of what’s to come despite her seismic success. At one point, painfully relatable even, when I ask what’s on the cards for her she candidly blurts out: “I have no idea. Actually, I don’t know where my life’s going. You know, I’m just going.” She might mean that to a certain extent, but not long after our chat, the star announced her first world tour, from the US to Asia, of course including a stop in Singapore.
Born Kim Hyung-seo, Bibi’s foray into the industry started off haphazardly—writing songs when she was just 14 years old. “When I was younger, it was hard for me to have good relationships with people.” She describes a teenage Hyung-seo growing up, isolated and detached from the world. “I was almost like a hikikomori, which means a recluse in Japanese. I didn’t do anything, I didn’t eat anything, all I did was watch movies in my room.” A big influence for her music happens to be South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, who’s known for directing films like Oldboy and The Handmaiden. “I wanted to belong with other people but I was very, very lonely and the only thing that could make me feel special was music. So I started making music and got attention in the underground scene when I turned 16.”
A couple of self-produced songs on SoundCloud changed the course for Bibi when South Korean rap veteran Yoon Mi-rae discovered the young star and signed her to Feel Ghood Music in 2017. And while she was getting somewhere with a music career, it didn’t magically change her relationships with people.“I always tried to get attention with my music but it doesn’t work like that. I learnt that if I want to make friends, I have to work on my personality.” She cites this self-revelation as recent as 2022, chiding that it took her this long in life to realise this.
“I’m a shape-shifting person—from my looks to my personality.”
Bibi’s refreshing candour breathes life into our conversation, a signature trait that is endearing and one that has transcended into her approach to music as well. “The songs that I write and the music that I make stem from personal experiences—and that includes the films that I watch and the books that I read.”
Post-‘Binu’, the singer went on to create a discography that is self-confronting—circling around her perception of her life and situations, no doubt excavated by her love for fictional material with the star being a well-known cinephile. After signing a deal with American record label 88rising, her next big release came through ‘The Weekend’, a punchy R&B pop track about a lover with commitment issues. Sung entirely in English, the song sparked global reception and made its way onto the charts in the US, which propelled Bibi to international stardom. Her first studio album Lowlife Princess: Noir continued to ride that high—with ‘Bibi Vengeance’ at the centre of it all. A bold anthem that screamed of feminine power, the title track went hand in hand with a music video largely inspired by Park’s neo-noir psychological film Lady Vengeance. It was also where her acting prowess came to light.
“As an artist, I’ve always wanted to break stereotypes and challenge the norm.”
Almost like a harbinger, she proceeded to make her film debut in Hopeless opposite industry heavyweight Song Joong-ki, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. Subsequently, her next show-stealing turn came through playing a seductive drug distributor in crime thriller series The Worst of Evil. What followed that was a Best New Actress title at the Baeksang Arts Awards and it was soon clear the artist had more talent and grit than she had initially let on. “When it comes to music and acting, some skills are interchangeable. For example when I make my music, there’s some sort of acting involved. But skills like vocal projection or facial expressions, these are things that are unique to acting. I needed to work on them from scratch so that part was quite difficult and challenging,” explains Bibi.
All that hard work panned out sublimely for the singer-actress, who despite having a strong start on the acting front, continued to create fresh new tracks for her fans. No stranger to pushing boundaries, even in the largely conservative society in South Korea, the music video for her most recent single ‘Derre’ depicts a crush between the same sex with Bibi playing the obsessed counterpart. On the chosen narrative, she offers: “I won’t say I want to break stereotypes around females. But as an artist, I have always wanted to break stereotypes and challenge the norm. And I just so happen to be female. If I was a male artist, I would probably do the same, but for men.”
Apart from shattering the glass ceiling, she expresses hopes of leaving behind an influence—in light of our theme of ‘Movement’ for this month’s issue. “I don’t have anything grand but it would be great if people could look at me and gain the courage to say ‘hey, maybe I could do it too’. Hopefully, more people can feel that way and make more music because I was, too, a nobody.” More layers of Bibi are peeled back as our conversation deepens and what is clear amid her many facets is her consistent love for music. “I typically recharge by hanging out with my friends just like any other person or through love from my fans.”
Here, she especially mentions a newfound fame within a demographic close to her mother’s age. “They recognise me from the dramas I’m in and what’s great is that at restaurants, they offer me a special treat,” she sheepishly adds with a grin.
“But mostly, I recharge through working. In the past, when I made music, it felt like work. But these days, making music has felt really fun and enjoyable. It feels like I’m going back to the basics.”
As to what that means, it’s hard to ever guess Bibi’s next move. But she does give a small hint. “Recently, I met Yoon Mi-rae unnie and shared my experiences. She then brought up the term ‘adrenaline junkie’. That somehow stuck out to me and I’m writing something about it right now.”
Photographer Mok Jungwook
Film director Haechan Kim
Stylist Hary Hong
Make-up artist Wang Bit Na
Hair stylist Eunyoung Choi
Assistant director Yurim Kim, Dabin Han, Sungok Joo
Photography assistant Joongmyoung Lee, Hansol Chu, Seunghoh Han
Styling assistant Yeonju Choi
Make-up assistant Yeonjung Choi
Hair assistant Haeryeong Kim
Executive producer Sooh Hwang
Local producer Mi Kim
Producer David Bay
Production assistant Heehyun Jung
Vogue Singapore’s April ‘Movement’ issue will be out on newsstands from 14 April and available to preorder online.
