Yuqi
Yuqi | |
|---|---|
 Yuqi in 2023 | |
| Born | Song Yuqi September 23, 1999 Beijing, China |
| Education | Beijing 101 Middle School |
| Occupations |
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| Musical career | |
| Origin | Seoul, South Korea |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Labels |
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| Member of | |
| Chinese name | |
| Traditional Chinese | 宋雨琦 |
| Simplified Chinese | 宋雨琦 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Sòng Yǔqí |
| Wade–Giles | Sung Yü-ch'i |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 우기 |
| RR | Ugi |
| MR | Ugi |
| Signature | |
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Song Yuqi (Chinese: 宋雨琦; born September 23, 1999), known mononymously as Yuqi, is a Chinese singer-songwriter, dancer and record producer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group I-dle, which debuted as (G)I-dle under Cube Entertainment in May 2018. She has been a cast member of the Chinese variety show Keep Running since 2019 and hosted the KakaoTV reality show Learn Way (2020–2021). In May 2021, Yuqi made her solo debut with a single album A Page.
Life and career
[edit]1999–2018: Early life and pre-debut activities
[edit]Song Yuqi was born on September 23, 1999, in Beijing, China. She attended Beijing 101 Middle School.[3] In 2015, Yuqi attended the Cube Star World Audition Beijing Station, performing CLC's "High Heels" and G.E.M.'s "Bubble".[4]
2018–2020: (G)I-dle and solo activities
[edit]아이들_팬사인회_(6)_(cropped).jpg)
On April 8, 2018, Yuqi was revealed to be an upcoming member of Cube Entertainment's new girl group, (G)I-dle.[5] She debuted with the group on May 2, 2018, with the lead single titled "Latata" of their debut extended play (EP), I Am.[6]
In 2019, Yuqi became a cast member for the seventh season of the Chinese TV show Keep Running.[7]
In April 2019, Yuqi was cast in a new variety show The Gashinas. The pilot episode aired on May 19.[8][9] In June 2019, Yuqi was confirmed as part of the cast for Law of the Jungle in Myanmar.[10][11] In September, Yuqi sang the ending theme for the Chinese reality show Please Pay Attention Visitors.[12]
In May 2020, Yuqi debuted as a songwriter and composer with "I'm the Trend", a song dedicated to (G)I-dle's fanbase.[13] On May 29, Yuqi was cast alongside WJSN's Exy and Yeoreum in 1theK Originals' game show The First Date.[14] For (G)I-dle's first single album, Yuqi was credited for "Dumdi Dumdi" Chinese lyrics and guide alongside Z King.[15] On September 17, KakaoTV launched an original entertainment program hosted by Yuqi, Learn Way.[16] In October, Yuqi was cast in tvN's I'm a Survivor, a reality show where entertainers undergo survival training for natural disasters.[17] On November 9, it was announced that Yuqi would participate in G-Star 2020 with Krafton, an e-sports reality show where celebrities and streamers entered a special school for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Series 3.[18] On November 22, Yuqi appeared on Play Seoul, a program produced by the Seoul Tourism Foundation and KBS with the aim of promoting safe post-COVID-19 tourism in Seoul.[19] On November 30, Yuqi also appeared in Seoul Connects U, a variety travel show jointly planned and produced by MBC and Seoul Tourism Foundation.[20]
On January 11, 2021, (G)I-dle released their fourth EP I Burn, on which Yuqi co-wrote and co-composed the song "Lost."[21] Later that month, the group released a Chinese version of their lead single "Hwaa", with Chinese lyrics written by Yuqi.[22][23]
2021–present: Solo debut, China's activities, international collaborations
[edit]
For most of 2021, Yuqi focused on promoting as a soloist in China.[24] On May 6, 2021, Cube Entertainment announced that Yuqi would debut as a solo artist with single album A Page on May 13, which includes the lead singles "Giant" and "Bonnie & Clyde".[25] In August, she became a contestant in the music talent survival show Stage Boom.[26] On October 27, Yuqi participated in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games theme song "Salute to the Heroes".[27] Throughout 2021, Yuqi also participated in multiple Chinese variety shows including Keep Running, Let's Fall In Love 3, 2060, and Shine! Super Brothers.[28]
In late 2021, Yuqi returned to South Korea to prepare for (G)I-dle's comeback.[24] On March 14, 2022, the group released their first studio album I Never Die, in which Yuqi participated in writing and composing the tracks "Polaroid" and "Liar."[29] In April, she was cast as a panelist in the TVING web series Zero-Sum Game.[30] Later that month, Yuqi's (G)I-dle groupmate Miyeon released her debut EP My on which Yuqi co-composed the track "Rain."[21] In October, (G)I-dle released their fifth EP I Love, on which Yuqi co-composed the tracks "Reset" and "Dark (X-File)."[31]
In February 2023, Yuqi and groupmate Miyeon released the song "Sweet Dream" as part of the soundtrack for the Netflix romantic comedy series Love to Hate You.[32] Later in February, she collaborated with EDM producer team HypeerTime on the song "Not Cinderella" for the KakaoPage webtoon I Wasn't the Cinderella.[33] In March, she was confirmed to return as a main cast member in season 11 of Keep Running.[34] In May, (G)I-dle returned with their sixth EP I Feel, on which Yuqi participated in writing and composing the tracks "All Night" and "Peter Pan."[21] In June, Yuqi was a featured artist on Choi Ye-na's "Hate Rodrigo", the lead single from Choi's second single album Hate XX.[35] The following month, she made her acting debut in the Netflix original series Celebrity as Zhang Wei, a Chinese influencer.[36] On September 5, Yuqi and Miyeon released the single "How to Twerk" as part of the soundtrack of the Mnet dance competition show Street Woman Fighter 2.[37] Six days later, she was cast alongside Chuu and Billlie's Tsuki in the Studio X+U entertainment show Star of Star Girls.[38]
On December 14, Yuqi collaborated with Alan Walker and Jvke on the single "Fire!" off of Walker's fifth studio album Walkerworld 2.0.[39] On January 29, 2024, (G)I-dle released their second studio album 2, on which Yuqi co-wrote and co-composed the tracks "Doll" and "Rollie".[40] On February 27, Yuqi released "Bad Liar", a special track from the tvN series Marry My Husband.[41]
On March 22, 2024, it was announced that Yuqi would be making her Korean solo debut in April.[42] On April 2, it was officially confirmed that she would be releasing her first EP Yuq1 on April 23, with the pre-release single "Could It Be" released on April 5.[43] The lead single "Freak" and its accompanying music video were released together with the EP.[44] On September 20, Yuqi released the promotional single "One" as part of the soundtrack for the Chinese release of Transformers One.[45]
On March 14, 2025, a teaser was released stating that Yuqi would be releasing a digital single "Radio (Dum-Dum)", a medium-tempo boom bap track that compares a broken heart to a record, on March 17.[46][47] On September 1, Cube Entertainment announced that Yuqi would be releasing her third single album Motivation on September 16, with the lead single "M.O.".[48][49] The album's release was preceded by the release of a music video for the track "Gone" (아프다) on September 10, which starred Chinese actor Wang Anyu.[50]
Personal life
[edit]Yuqi came to South Korea in 2016[51] and is known to have high-level Korean proficiency.[52] Her Korean Proficiency level was certified in 2020 when she gained Level 5 out of 6 overall in the TOPIK test (222, 8 points below the level 6 score of 230). When asked about her language skills in KBS2's Happy Together 3, she answered, "Kim Soo-hyun was my Korean teacher. I fell in love with him after watching the drama My Love from the Star. I studied Korean with my mother with the drama."[53]
In addition to Korean and her native Mandarin Chinese, Yuqi is also fluent in English.[54]
In the media
[edit]Yuqi has appeared on various South Korean entertainment shows such as KBS2 Happy Together 3, JTBC Knowing Bros, MBC Every 1 Korean Foreigners, and