In a new interview, rising K-pop star Jeon Somi opened up about how her new album XOXO helped her feel confident as an artist.

It’s no secret that Jeon Somi’s XOXO has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year. Over the last couple of years, Jeon has been one of K-pop’s most exciting new faces, taking over charts (and Tiktok, thanks to her viral hit ‘Dumb Dumb’), poised to become one of this generation’s most acclaimed soloists.

Needless to say, thus, that excitement for her album XOXO was justified. Now, in a new interview with Nylon, Jeon has opened up about how her first full-length album helped her become more confident as an artist, the genesis for which came after she joined her current agency, THEBLACKLABEL.

“The turning point in my life was when I joined THEBLACKLABEL because that’s when I really got to grow as an artist and experiment with different sounds and write songs.” she told Nylon. “The release of XOXO is my proudest moment ever, and probably will be for life! It’s everything I’ve worked on up until now, in the most perfect album form.”

Admittedly, taking ownership of her own work helped her get a clearer understanding of her vision. “I used to feel pressure as a solo artist when I was just starting out, but now, I don’t mind it.” she said.

“Honestly, most of the time when I’m in the songwriting and producing process, I have all our producers at THEBLACKLABEL to go to for questions and support, so it doesn’t feel like I’m alone in this journey as an artist,” she continued, before pointing out that going solo did not mean she forgot about the synergy of a group, referring to her time with the girl-group I.O.I., where she got her big break.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jeon also hinted that there might be more English-language music on the way.

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“I noticed how everyone was enjoying my song ‘Anymore’ because it was an all-English track, so that’s something I want to do more of.” she said, but did not offer any other details.

You can read more about this topic over at the Asia Pop Observer.

Check out ‘XOXO’ by Jeon Somi:

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