Ve A Blast

K-pop sextet IVE is set to make a splash this month with the release of their first full-length album, I've IVE. Consider this a deep dive as the group's sunbae, Gaeul tells L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE how the album "illuminates IVE's identity" and how the set's title track is different from anything the girls have done before

- IAN LEE

In just 16 months since their debut, Gaeul and five of her fellow members of K-pop girl group IVE have managed the impressive feat of placing all their single albums Eleven, Love Dive, and After Like at the top of the music charts in South Korea. Since scoring hundreds of millions of views on their music videos, having their infectious singles being certified multi-platinum, and taking home countless awards (including Favourite New Artist and Song of the Year at the MAMA Awards 2022), IVE have sealed their status as one of the biggest fourth generation K-pop girl groups. This month, the girls are back and raring to release their first full-length album, I've IVE, and make their US debut. The group's rapper, dancer and eldest member, known to fans as "Gaeul Sunbae" (the Korean word translates to "senior"), speaks to L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE exclusively about the upcoming release and how she has assimilated all of the group's incredible success so far.

IVE is a contraction for "I have". Could you complete this sentence: In the past 16 months, and on this incredible journey with IVE, I have...

developed my passion.

Your first three singles, "Eleven", "Love Dive", and "After Like" were big hits in South Korea and around the world. Can you remember your first reactions when "Love Dive" and "After Like" hit number one in South Korea?

Firstly, I was ecstatic about receiving so much love from so many listeners, and initially, I didn't expect to receive this amount of love and support. In those moments, my first reaction was gratitude to our DIVE fans for pushing us through to reach our successes. I'm so honoured and humbled by the success of the singles, and even though making a good song is important, our fans are ultimately the backbone of the love and support received by our singles.