I-DLE’s SOYEON is back on “Unpretty Rapstar” nine years after competing ― this time as the show’s MC and lead producer.
On the Oct. 16 premiere of Mnet’s “Unpretty Rapstar: Hippop Princess,” SOYEON stepped in as both host and head producer, acting as a steady mentor for the contestants.
“In my first audition program, I took a lot of hits,” she shared in a pre-taped interview. “I kept asking, ‘How do I make up for what I lack?’ In the end, the answer was to make my own music and build my own stage.”
“I literally made songs from scratch and replayed, millions of times, what I needed to show onstage,” she continued, recalling her “Unpretty Rapstar 3” run. “I practiced every step and every bit of blocking and walked into that audition with a performance I designed myself.”
She later made a dramatic entrance as MC to roaring cheers. The contestants couldn’t hide their excitement, praising her as “the face you think of when you hear ‘Unpretty Rapstar’” and “a self-producing artist we really respect.”
During the self-introduction cypher mission, SOYEON’s warm reactions and nimble hosting lifted the room. “Watching you takes me back to my first cypher on ‘Unpretty Rapstar,’” she said. “It feels so good to be in this energy again.”
For the first track battle pitting Team Korea against Team Japan, she set the tone: “My criteria is simple ― skill, period.” After closely watching Korea’s A Team and Japan’s A Team, she delivered cool-headed but constructive notes aimed at helping each artist level up.
“Hippop Princess” gathers 40 contestants from Korea and Japan―each with a distinct identity―to form a new global hip-hop girl group. The series airs Thursdays at 9:50 p.m. KST and is available in Japan via U-NEXT.
Photo courtesy of Mnet, “Unpretty Rapstar: Hippop Princess” broadcast stills
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)