BIBI releases sophomore album 'EVE: ROMANCE' with philosophical edge
South Korean artist BIBI released her highly anticipated sophomore album 'EVE: ROMANCE' on Wednesday, delivering a project that blends her signature genre-defying sound with philosophical twists.
The singer, songwriter and actor, who moves fluidly between pop, R&B, hip-hop and electronic music, has built a reputation for her bold, unapologetic presence in an industry often defined by careful image management. Her latest album features 14 tracks, including six new songs alongside previously released hits like 'Bam Yang Gang' and 'Derre.'
In an interview with The Associated Press, BIBI explained the meaning behind the album's lead single 'Apocalypse,' which carries a more poetic Korean title meaning 'The Apple Tree of the End Times.'
'I thought, if there was the fruit of knowledge of good and evil at the beginning, then this would be the apple tree at the end of times,' BIBI said.
'You know that saying — when asked what you'd do if the world ended tomorrow, some say they'd plant an apple tree, others say they'd have an orgy. ... But to me, they felt like the same thing. Both are, in essence, acts of planting seeds.'
Her interpretation, merging ideas of creation, pleasure, and existential finality, may come across as provocative in a conservative South Korean society where open discussions about sex remain rare and often taboo.
'In reality, everything has an end, and what each person chooses to do in that moment is their own,' she added. 'It can't be labeled as good or bad. After all, isn't the very idea of good and evil ambiguous?'
One of Korea's fastest-rising stars with a growing international presence, BIBI reflected on the surprising success of 'Bam Yang Gang.' The song, which means a chestnut jelly snack in Korean, became a viral sensation in South Korea last year while she was too busy to notice.
'I was filming two dramas simultaneously, so I was really busy,' she said. 'I couldn't really feel it at that time. Actually, I felt it more this year because people introduce me saying, 'Last year was the year of Bam Yang Gang.''
Despite her growing popularity, BIBI aspires to maintain an element of 'ambiguity' in her artistry.
'I want to be a mysterious artist. Like 'Gacha!' — that kind of feeling. Like you don't know what you'll get from a Gacha machine,' she explained, referencing the Japanese toy vending machines known for their randomized collectibles.
The album includes 'Pygma girl,' a track that reimagines the Greek myth of Pygmalion by reversing traditional muse-artist dynamics, suggesting the subject is the art itself rather than merely inspiring the creator.
'Midnight Cruise,' another standout track, was written after she dreamt about her late grandfather before her Coachella performance in 2024.
BIBI will kick off her first global tour in Seoul on May 16, before heading to the United States and Canada. She will then continue across Asia, with stops including Hong Kong and cities in Japan. The tour will conclude in Australia and New Zealand this October.
'EVE: ROMANCE' is out now.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Lizzo shows off weight-loss in bikini in dance video
Lizzo showed off her incredible weight loss in a bikini after recently refusing to reveal the number of pounds she has lost. On Saturday, the star, 37, shared a video of herself dancing in a gray and pink bikini in her backyard on Instagram. In the clip, she also wore a black balaclava. Seemingly teasing a new song, Lizzo danced to audio of herself rapping. She captioned the post: 'BLACK TRUCK A** POKING OUT THA WINDOW,' a reference to one of the lyrics in the song. It comes after the star spoke about her weight loss while on The Jason Lee Show. She did not reveal how much weight she has lost since she embarked on her weight loss journey in 2023, but did say she was bullied for her curves due to her confidence. Lizzo said: 'I think it was crazy to people because I was fat. The shocking factor was that people couldn't believe that someone that looked like me was confident.' Host Jason Lee said: 'You were cute when you were bigger,' before Lizzo fired back: 'I was fine as f***.' Pressed on how much she has lost, she said: 'If I say the number, I don't think people could do the math. 'I've seen a lot of TikToks where it's like "Lizzo talks about her 500lb weight loss". Why are y'all putting numbers on me? It kind of annoys me.' In January, the singer, who denied using Ozempic, proudly announced she had achieved her weight loss goal. At the time, she shared: 'I did it. Today, when I stepped on my scale, I reached my weight release goal. 'I haven't seen this number since 2014! Let this be a reminder you can do anything you put your mind to. Time for new goals!'
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Billy Bragg makes me cry': Will Best's honest playlist
The first song I fell in love with My uncle was a massive Pink Floyd fan. I remember sitting in the boot of his car when I was eight, and him playing The Great Gig in the Sky super loud. I'd never heard anything like it and it completely blew my mind. The first single I bought My sister and I shared our pocket money and bought Spaceman by Babylon Zoo on CD from Woolworths in York. When we got home, we were so excited that we danced on the kitchen table. The song I inexplicably know every lyric to Every year at school, we'd have a concert where pupils would form bands, so I had this idea to form a band and ironically do Crossroads by Blazin' Squad. I learned all the words but couldn't entice anyone else to join me. So I chickened out as it definitely doesn't work as a solo. The song I do at karaoke I've not done a huge amount of karaoke. I'm very dull. When I did hip-hop karaoke on stage in front of 200 people, I did P's and Q's by Kano and it went as exactly as badly as you'd imagine. The best song to play at a party It depends on the crowd. The catch-all that works in every party environment would be Sorry (the David Howard Mix) by Monsta Boy. It's a classic garage tune with a fun drop, a fun bassline and a vocal people can sing along to. The song I can no longer listen to I've got a playlist called Rotators, which are songs I listened to over and over again obsessively when I discovered them, then never listened to again. Wasteland by Tierra Whack is one of those. The song that changed my life Turn the Page, the first song from Original Pirate Material by the Streets. Normally when I'm interviewing someone, I keep it pretty professional. After interviewing Mike Skinner, I ran after him and said: 'I just want to say thank you so much for Original Pirate Material. It changed my life.' As I was saying it, I thought: 'I think I'm crying.' The best song to have sex to Anything off House of Balloons, the first mixtape by the Weeknd. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The song that makes me cry A lot of songs make me cry. Helplessly Hoping by Crosby, Stills & Nash. I think it's the harmonies. Tank Park Salute by Billy Bragg is about his dad dying, and really sad. The song I want played at my funeral The temptation would be something wildly inappropriate. This morning I was listening to Hamdi – Skanka (P Money Vocal Dub) by this producer called Bassrush, which is an absolute face-melting, bassline monster. So I think that, just to watch people get confused, and make my mum cry even more. Will Best presents the Hits Radio breakfast show weekdays at 6am.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Legends (of the Golden Arches) review – a giddy, witty journey into a phantasmagoric hell
In the program notes to Legends (of the Golden Arches), performer and co-creator Joe Paradise Lui writes of the 'yearning for a once-common-thing-now-lost': the migrant experience writ large, 'as unfortunate as it is universal'. It's an idea that could also function as this show's organising principle, grappling as it does with the long tendrils of the past – with legacy, culture and the pain of individuation. Legends starts, as all theatre does, with ritual: in this case, the folding and burning of paper as a funerary rite. Fellow creator and performer Merlynn Tong is contentedly performing the ceremony for a recently passed relative, but Lui refuses to participate on moral grounds. This slight disagreement between friends soon spins out into a larger discussion of tradition and observance, of the expectations and cultural burdens they endure as members of the Singaporean-Chinese diaspora. Lui finds it all rather vague and problematic, and if Tong secretly agrees, she sees no harm in humouring the gods for the sake of some connection to her heritage. Lui's central issue is with the seemingly capitalist leanings of these rituals, meant to provide ancestors with luxury and comfort in the afterlife. Tong says they're designed to appease the gods, so they might shepherd the souls of their lost relatives through Diyu, or Chinese hell. Lui thinks this is worse: a bribing of celestial figures who should by nature be above such corruption. Both friends conjure gods to boost their arguments, which only results in more confusion (although happily not for the audience). Eventually, Lui and Tong descend into Diyu – a wondrous phantasmagoria of inflatable gods, neon-bright costumes and dodgy karaoke – on a mission of self-realisation and forgiveness. There they encounter the Heibai Wuchang, two deities that represent the undying loyalty of friendship, as well as the God of War, Guan Yu and the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. These beings mock them, threaten them and, in the process, maybe cure them of their doubts and hesitancies. There is a giddy, self-aware sense of abandon to Legends (of the Golden Arches) that disguises a very real and serious examination of beliefs and spiritual philosophy. Lui and Tong are clever and astute theatre-makers with a firm grip on theme and metaphor, who are unafraid of folding painful biographical details into their material while simultaneously taking the piss out of themselves and each other. Tong's loss of her mother to suicide and Lui's decision to evade Singaporean military service for a career in the arts give the work an undeniable depth and poignancy – but their maximalist approach to stagecraft, abundance of wit and some wild imagery helps avoid mawkishness or didacticism. References are broadly sourced– from McDonald's Filet-O-Fish to the 14th century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms – but precisely targeted. The production feels a little unhinged, even when it's carefully calibrated. Cherish Marrington's set is constantly surprising and Nicole Marrington's costumes are hilarious in their blinking, garish excess. Kate Baldwin's lighting design augments the swift mood changes and Wendy Yu's superb video and AV design is totally transportive – although on opening night technical problems with the projections caused a significant delay. Lui's own compositions are eclectic and savvy. While the tenderness of their rapport gives the show its heart and complexity, as performers Lui and Tong are slightly mismatched; Tong is sharper and more controlled than Lui, whose physicality can be awkward and unpolished. Vocally, she is stronger and more richly modulated. But Lui's probing intellectualism and crackling wit is crucial to the show's success. Together they make a winning team. Lofty ideals constantly fall victim to quotidian pressures in Legends (of the Golden Arches), and the result is a kind of toggling between modes – the exalted smashing up against the squalid at every turn. This provides much of the humour, but also underlines a central thesis: any war we wage with the gods must be fought not on the battlefields of honour, but in the streets, bedrooms and kitchenettes of our everyday lives. And sometimes, a dead relative is just hankering for a burger. Legends (of the Golden Arches) is on at Melbourne Theatre Company's Southbank Theatre until 28 June, as part of Rising festival.
