HYO, also known as Hyoyeon of Girls’ Generation, dropped her first EP “Deep” on Monday. The girl group member-turned-DJ’s album instantly took the No. 1 spot on iTunes Top Albums charts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Chile, Peru and Egypt.

“It’s my first EP as a solo artist, so I’m really excited,” HYO said in a statement that she issued upon the EP's release. “The EP’s concept is what I paid the most attention to. I think I pondered a lot about how I can leave a strong impression on the public as HYO the artist.”

Her new title track “Deep” compares the beginning of a romance to a predator and prey analyzing each other, then falling inescapably into each other. The EP features six other tracks, five of which she had previously released after launching her DJ career in 2018.

HYO debuted in 2007 as Hyoyeon, a member of the then-nine-member Girls’ Generation. Thanks to its cute and feminine concept, the girl group quickly established itself as a national sweetheart, releasing numerous hits. Girls’ Generation is still together as a team of eight and remains an iconic figure as one of the first K-pop girl groups as we know them today. Its 2009 megahit “Gee” is one of the earliest examples of catchy K-pop hooks.

HYO has proved herself as a vocalist and electronic dance music (EDM) artist through her career spanning 15 years, and she is especially known as a standout dancer. Her time to truly shine came in 2011 when Girls’ Generation departed from its cute style and transitioned into a more charismatic image. Her powerful dance style was spotlighted through songs like “The Boys” (2011), “I Got A Boy” (2013) and “Mr. Mr.” (2014).

The spider web-themed choreography for “Deep” was created by Honey J, the leader of all-female dance crew HolyBang that starred on Mnet’s hit dance competition show “Street Woman Fighter” (2021).

“When I first listened to ‘Deep,’ I instantly thought of Honey J,” HYO said. “I thought Honey J’s choreography style and this song would match well. We kept sharing our opinions and tried to make a cool performance. The result came out just as how we wanted it; something really powerful.”

As Hyoyeon, the singer has also been active in multiple subunits; SM Entertainment’s mixed-gender project group Younique Unit in 2012, her group’s subunit Girls' Generation-Oh!GG since 2018, and most recently SM’s female supergroup GOT the beat in January dubbed the “female avengers of K-pop.”

She has released two solo digital singles “Mystery” (2016) and “Wannabe (Feat. San E)” (2017), under the name Hyoyeon.

She took on the alias HYO as a DJ when she launched her EDM career in 2018 with her single “Sober” featuring Turkish-Dutch DJ Ummet Ozcan. She has demonstrated her passion for creating music and trying out different sounds over the past four years, dropping songs “Punk Right Now” (2018), “Badster” (2019), “Dessert” (2020), featuring rapper Loopy and Soyeon of girl group (G)I-DLE and “Second (Feat. Bibi)” (2021).

“There are so many subgenres under EDM — I’ve demonstrated progressive house, deep house, psytrance, moombahton and elec pop in my previous releases,” she said. “I’ve tried going in many different directions this time too, ranging from genres that are popular among the public to those that EDM manias enjoy. I want to call this EP a ‘variety of charms.’ Not only does it contain various genres, but also shows my many diverse sides. It was another challenge for me and I gave myself a new color.”

Girls’ Generation is scheduled to come back in August with a new album and end its five-year hiatus as a group, celebrating its 15th anniversary.


HYO (Kim Hyoyeon)

Date of birth: Sept. 22, 1989
Zodiac sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Incheon
Debut: August 2007 as a member of girl group Girls' Generation
Agency: SM Entertainment

HYO debuted in 2007 as Hyoyeon, a member of Girls’ Generation. The girl group has released numerous hits including “Gee” (2009), one of the earliest examples of a catchy K-pop hook. Girls’ Generation is still together as a group and will drop an album in August to mark its 15th anniversary. Known as a powerful vocalist and dancer, she has been in subunits such as Girls' Generation-Oh!GG and GOT the beat. She launched her electronic dance music career in 2018 and started using the alias HYO as a DJ. She has been experimenting with various electronic dance music subgenres with solo music including “Sober” (2018), “Badster” (2019), “Dessert” (2020), “Second” (2021) and most recently “Deep” (2022), actively collaborating with other artists.

This information was confirmed by SM Entertainment on May 19.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]