ROMANCE Album, World Tour, And What It Means To Be Human

In BIBI’s “Apocalypse” music video, she portrays a dreamlike version of EVE from the story of Adam and Eve. In this fantasy world, EVE lives happily with Adam, but she often stares at the forbidden apple, which transports her into the real world. In the real world, she’s in a seemingly happy relationship, but learns of her partner’s unfaithfulness and bites into the apple to return to his idyllic world of ignorance. The video has EVE constantly between these two worlds – one of happy illusions and the other of the painful truths of reality.

“I’ve been working on this [EVE: ROMANCE] for three and a half years,” BIBI says through Zoom from Seoul. “I had [this] crazy life being an actress, and now I’m just a singer. It feels very weird and amazing. I wanted to let people know how I feel and what I’m going through, and it’s finally out. I feel amazing, but overwhelmed.”

The 26-year-old Korean R&B artist, real name Kim Hyung-seo, isn’t one to shy away from talking about the realities of life: happiness, depression, suicide, pain, love, grief, and more. That’s what her music video and her newly released album, EVE: ROMANCE, really conveys.

“I think all people have many layers and concepts in [themselves], especially me,” BIBI says. “I could feel it vividly because it’s me. Everybody has their pressure. I have so many layers of me. There’s me rocking shows, and then there’s me who doesn’t like what I’m eating right now. [laughs]. That’s how I got this world. It’s very fun and cute. I just love humankind.”

It’s why her concept for the album talks about love, loss, finding purpose, and what it means to be human. In the story – told through the music and album artwork, a scientist couple uses controversial cloning technology to bring their beloved son, Luca, back from the dead from suicide. The beloved but reckless pop star EVE dies that same year, and the government creates a clone of her: EVE-1. As Luca and EVE-1 discover the truths about their origins, they begin to spiral about their creation, wondering about their purpose. They experience an emotional awakening and even love as they contemplate their lives.

The album is split into two sections: seven songs from EVE’s perspective and seven from EVE-1’s. Both versions of EVE are some form of BIBI. EVE was a professional and poised pop star in front of everyone, but she had many dark secrets. BIBI described EVE as chaotic and not the best person.

“The F-word was in my head [to describe her],” BIBI giggles.

In the story, EVE-1 discovers how superficial EVE was in life, and is left devastated. Now, EVE-1 wants to prove to everyone how she’s different from her original host. EVE-1 is not EVE, despite their exact DNA. EVE-1 is her own person, and that’s enough.

“I hope [people will take this concept and] feel it’s okay to be alive without being something,” says BIBI.

Like in her music video, there’s this picturesque image of how life should look, but deep down, it’s not like that – and that’s okay. She explains that people often face the pressure to “be somebody,” but she wants them to know that it’s OK to be yourself and not be this perfect person.

“It’s okay not to be someone else,” BIBI reiterates. “You’re totally fine even if you feel useless. I always think about that. There are a lot of people who think this way, especially in Korea and Asia. It’s a very competitive life. That’s why I wanted to say it’s okay to love yourself.”

Much of the album’s inspiration comes from her life experiences and interactions with those around her. She found everything in this world was inspiring, and saw that “every living organism deserves to be loved, and that could [mean] loving themselves as well.”

She also took inspiration from her panic disorders and how paralyzing they had become for her. She admits she’s not the best at describing her emotions during interviews. Since becoming a public figure, she started panicking because she had to be more cautious of what she said. She’s not the type to hide anything. Some people can put their emotions into pockets to deal with later, but BIBI says she doesn’t have pockets. Instead, she’s holding all the emotions, accidents, and secrets in her hands for everyone to see.

“[My] panic disorder influenced not only my music, but my entire life,” says BIBI. “Maybe this EVE album is influenced by my panic attacks. [When working on this], I started not to panic. I chose not to panic.”

Known for her straightforward and fearless attitude, BIBI doesn’t hold back from pushing the boundaries in her songwriting, cinematic storytelling, and performances. Her song “Burn It,” which features Korean R&B singer Dean, was banned from airing on the Korean Broadcasting System due to its “profanity, slang, and vulgar lyrics.” The music video for her popular song “Vengeance” featured her vigorously taking out men who threatened her seat as the next mafia crime boss. Her Kill Bill-inspired music video, “Animal Farm,” has her bloodied after violently decapitating and killing the men who wronged her. The visuals and music are stunning, but left many shocked at the violence.

BIBI doesn’t care what the haters say; she understands she may not be for everyone. She has the support from her fans and her company, Feel Ghood Music – and that’s enough. She rarely receives pushback from her company regarding her concept plans. The only time she recalls them axing an idea was her wanting images of porn in a thick mosaic art piece in the back of her visualizer for the sensual song, “Meat.”

“My company was like, ‘No, I don’t think you can,” BIBI laughs, acknowledging the controversial idea. “They asked me, ‘Where are you going to get porn?’ There are a lot of porn companies in Japan and America and everywhere. Who doesn’t watch porn?!”

With the album out, BIBI is preparing for her world tour, which kicks off in Seoul and begins in the U.S. in June. She is excited to see her American audiences, which she says are different from her Korean and Asian audiences. She does clarify that she loves all of her fans equally. Still, BIBI does feel a bit freer to explore in the U.S. as she’s done in her previous U.S. performances – throwing condoms and cigarettes to the audiences and kissing a female fan, for example. Still, she stays vigilant not to insult American fans. She explains, “There are certain things that Western or [American fans] might be more sensitive to than in Korea.”

Her main focus for the tour is putting on a good show for every fan. She’s excited for them to see the VCR between the set changes, which is about 15 minutes when combined. It will tell the story of EVE, which will be tragic initially but then end on a positive note.

“I prepared good music,” BIBI says excitedly. “The story in the first three episodes is very dark. Everybody will think, ‘What the hell is this?’ But the ending is good. The thing is really cute. I hope everybody will be like, ‘Oh, they’re so cute.’ If they’re cute, then I’m cute too! [laughs] I love it.”