XOXO, SOMI

Fearless, limitless, and ambitious are the words we’d use to describe JEON SOMI. On a path of purposeful growth, this K-pop singer-songwriter is forging an exciting artistic legacy

-  FARISIA THANG

SOMI is hell-bent on revenge. At least, she is in her music video for XOXO, her lead single off her debut studio album of the same name.

In the video, SOMI finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with a close friend. Well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. We see her sauntering to his home, breaking in, and smashing everything in sight with her hammer. After that, in a separate car chase scene, she hunts him down with a gun. And in the grand finale, she walks away from his house as it explodes in a blazing fireball. This is Harley Quinn meets Cruella de Vil in a masterclass on revenge — and the stylistic choices of pigtails with neon strands, a kitschy mallet, and faux fur coats clearly point to that. Whatever syrupy affection the song title might have originally indicated is completely turned on its head in this anthem.

But don’t get her wrong. This song is not an undertaking of vitriol or contempt. Instead, it is about the act of a woman choosing herself. And if anything, that’s a theme that seems to run strongly through her own life.