#id.shin ryujin

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON R!OT’S MAIN RAP, VOCAL LEE JIMIN…

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: N/A CURRENT AGE: 20 DEBUT AGE: 20 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 17 COMPANY: 99 Ent. ETC: this member participated on UPRS and came in second prior to debut

IDOL IMAGE

with her mature features and sharp eyes paired with that deep voice and intense rap, jimin embodies the “cool girl” aesthetic. her personality is blunt yet rough around the edges, her anger and attitude often coming close to crossing the line into “unacceptable” territory. she’s far from tame and most would think that no company would want to take the risk of debuting her just yet, however, she was added to the r!ot lineup anyway and made it into the group with her list of flaws still a mile long. though, they knew exactly how to play it just right. jimin is not a “typical” idol, but then again that’s exactly what 99 is going for with r!ot—a group of girls meant to be just catchy enough to draw you in and just intimidating enough to make you keep your distance. her aggressive and loud stance is exactly what the group needs to stand out she bring their concept home.

her confidence paired with the skills she spent years cultivating makes her worth the risk, especially with the heavy criticism of idol rappers growing each new generation. however, her own attitude towards them is what holds her back. she never wanted to be an idol, hated idols even, and it shows in her performance. the occasional lazy movements, lip syncing instead of singing live with the rest of the group, slacking off on practice. she’s far from enthusiastic about her position as a member of the group, doing the bare minimum to keep her spot and avoid confrontation from the members. when the cameras are on her, she can do what she has to get by, but when the others are trying their hardest to stand out with so many groups debuting every day, she’s doing her best to fade into the background.

that doesn’t stop 99 from pushing her as an mc and on variety shows. her blunt attitude and quick wit make her easy to crack jokes with and keep banter going, her harsh nature coming off more as a dog that’s more bark than bite when combined with the typical wacky editing. she’s a tool to get her group out there, no matter how much she dislikes it. she feels it undermines her as a rapper and a musical artist to be paraded around like a show pony and make everyone like her. she should be loved for her music and music only, not her visuals or anything else irrelevant. while she can’t exactly take back the contract she signed, she can stage her own form of protest in being as bare minimum as possible.

IDOL HISTORY

Early Life

from the moment she was born, jimin was put at a disadvantage. coming from a single mother family with two children and being from a small time, their family was always the topic of whispers and rumors. her mother never finished school, meaning the only jobs she could get were those at a store, cafe or hair salon—never making enough money to care for her and her older brother. options were limited with her mother having little family willing to take on two kids with no guarantee she’d ever come get them, and ultimately her mother decided to give the two of them up by the time she was 4 and he was 6, sending them off to live with their grandmother.

needless to say jimin and jungmin, her brother, were as thick as thieves. they were unable to be separated even before they went into the system together. despite the closeness in age, jungmin did his best to take the role of parent with how often their mother spent out working or with “friends”, and even more so when they felt they had no one else they could depend on. and jimin did what she could to keep him safe, despite being younger. whether it be fighting on his behalf whenever he would be picked on by the other children, or waiting for him when he got back from school so they could walk hand in hand home.

their dependence on each other was a crutch and a weakness. they could hardly go the school day without one another and it only got worse as they grew older.

II. Adolescence

jimin has odd hobbies for someone her age. most kids frown at the idea of writing and willingly spending extra time in school, but it was what she enjoyed. particularly, spending hours on end writing stories or poems in her little notebook her brother got her with the little pocket money he had. it was something she was always drawn to, from when she was younger and writing diary entries to school age when she would always get the highest rank in the subject. combined with her odd childhood fascination with spiders and various other creepy crawlers and her bad attitude, she was naturally seen as a bit strange. she was never a people person—coming from her relying solely on her brother and her fear of abandonment coming from her relationship, or lack of, with his mother—but jungmin was instantly popular.

where jimin was awkward and aggressive, jungmin was kind and gentle. where jungmin was bright and energetic, jimin was gloomy and sluggish. polar opposites despite spending nearly every waking moment together for years. there came a time when they began to stray away from one another, more so on jungmin’s part. when they were younger, there was no problem with letting the rude little sister tag along with her older brother’s friends, but it became increasingly awkward and weird. eventually he began telling her excuse after excuse, lie after lie, to keep her home and away from him. he loved his sister, he did, but he wanted to be his own person. jimin couldn’t seem to understand that.

as the gap between them grew, so did her tendency to isolate herself. she focused solely on her studies, her writing. she didn’t have many people who could put up with her snapping at them, and thus didn’t have any real friends close enough to reach out to her. she was alone. and that was when she found music.

III. Discovery of Music

when she found music, she felt like she finally found herself. while jimin loved writing, she always felt something was missing. her teachers suggested an extra curricular or something to do instead of spending all her free time alone. the standard kpop groups she would see her classmates play or she’d overheard her brother talk about never interested her, and as she further explored music she found she had a strong dislike toward them and the treatment of music on their part. they didn’t appreciate the real art of it all, they didn’t understand what that music could really mean to someone. it was annoying in a way she couldn’t put into words.

that was what helped her discover the rap scene. living in hongdae, it was hard to really miss the huge hip-hop scene there, but it never occurred to her that she of all people could be a part of it. to say she was immediately good would be a lie. jimin started out participating in freestyle events and becoming more and more fascinated with the world. her craft was rusty, but she eventually managed to make a name for herself and felt like she fit with the people around her. it was real, the words truly meant something to them. it wasn’t like the music she heard her classmates gush about—it was raw and made her feel like part of a real movement. she loved it.

jimin didn’t start really rapping seriously until she was 15, attending proper competitions and turning her poems into raps and her stories into songs. it was like she was reborn as someone with confidence to be herself, her own person, regardless of the flaws and whether people liked her or not. she could let out all her pain and struggles, or everything that made her smile. it was an amazing feeling.

though she was young, she earned a decent amount of respect for her skills and ability to hold her own among older rappers. she was far from amazing, sure, but for her age she had a very solid foundation. that was probably what led to her being scouted. hongdae was known for the hip hop scene and the people within it, so it wasn’t strange for scouts for 99 to hang around the known populated areas for talent. jimin wasn’t the first or only choice, but she was recognized as someone who had potential and was called for an audition.

she initially decided to not go. it wasn’t her thing—she wasn’t idol material nor was the lifestyle what she wanted. but she was still young and immature and the scouts were very sweet talkers, and so she agreed to go. in heavy contrast to herself, her brother was excited to hear it. he followed all kinds of groups, especially girl groups, and the idea that his sister had the opportunity to work alongside them was almost too good to be true. and it was, because though she passed the audition, the moment she became a trainee was the moment she discarded it all.

IV. Trainee & Idol Life

needless to say jimin was unhappy as a trainee. the promises they told her and the lies they sold her to get their there were quickly thrown out the second she signed her name, leaving only anger and disappointment. the only reason she remained even after her hopes were crushed was because she couldn’t bring herself to let down the little family she had, who were so excited at the idea of seeing their little girl on the big screens in front of the whole country. she couldn’t bring herself to let them of all people down.

despite her reluctance, she wasn’t bad at it. rapping was naturally her strong suite, but dancing and singing weren’t particularly difficult for her. she was a natural, some praised her. it made her sick. jimin was completely at the mercy of the company and trainers, singing how they told her, dancing how they told her, rapping what they told her. it went against everything she knew and she hated it. there wasn’t much she could do, however. the longer she stayed, the deeper in debt she grew, and there was no way her family had the money to pay for any of it. her only option was to debut, and no matter how much she looked down on the others or how much she hated the idea, she worked toward it harder than anyone.

when she got the offer to be sent to a competition show while still as a trainee, she naturally hesitated. the competition among trainees was already more than she bargained for after all. but the possibility that she’d get to rap what she wanted, how she wanted, was just too much to give up.

when she was a contestant on unpretty rapstar, it was like a whole new world, but somehow the same one she’d left. she’d never tried “dissing”, not really, after all she was young and no one would truly try to take her down hard before. but that wasn’t like then. no one would go easy on there and she had to deliver the show people wanted to see. her cocky attitude and aggressive nature came in handy in a way it hadn’t before—she was exactly what people wanted to see when they turned the television on. she was all confidence and power, even if she lost or was less perfect on her rhymes. she held the attitude of a winner and when you have that, it doesn’t matter where you place. however, lucky for her, she managed to come out second and helped 99 solidify their plans for her.

with the hype surrounding her from the show, it wasn’t hard to figure out that she would be one of the girls debuting next. it was both a blessing and a curse for someone like jimin, but there wasn’t much that was within her power. when she was announced as r!it’s main rapper, she didn’t celebrate like the other members chosen. it was like one weight in her shoulders was exchanged for an even heavier one and it only got worse as the debut day grew closer. the only saving grace was her being allowed to have a hand in a track, allowing some ounce of actual jimin to be poured into the music she wanted to hate.

even while promoting as a member of a rookie group, jimin never changed who she was. she never forced a smile, never faked a giggle to seem more likeable. sure it made some variety appearances awkward, the hosts and members trying their hardest to joke her blank face off but she stayed true to who she was. lucky for her, it went hand in hand with the way the public viewed her based on her uprs appearance—confident, unshakeable, and powerful. somehow, her disinterest only propelled her forward, landing her a job as an MC of all things. if given the choice, jimin would happily hand the job over to another member, but the excited calls from her brother and grandmother after seeing her on television made it hard to hate. after all, it was the only thing that could get her to smile and act energetic with her co-MCs and that frown could only get her so far.

#id.bio #id.99 #id.riot #id.shin ryujin

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON NEON’S LEAD VOCAL, LEAD DANCE DANIELLA KIM...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: Dani CURRENT AGE: 19 DEBUT AGE: 19 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 15 COMPANY: Midas SECONDARY SKILL: N/A

IDOL PROFILE

NICKNAME(S):  boyfriend dani INSPIRATION: the legendary female soloist boa is her idol, especially because their discovery stories are very similar.  SPECIAL TALENTS:

dance covers – play any popular song and there’s a 95% chance dani knows the choreography. it’s very common for her to cover songs from boy groups, girl groups, and soloists on variety shows for both random dance challenges and to show off her talent.

cooking meat – dani is your local barbecue dad.

finding cameras – she’s got a really good eye for finding cameras, even when they’re filming from far away.

NOTABLE FACTS:

was discovered at an overseas audition in her hometown of san francisco, california.

can speak english fluently.

likes watching horror movies.

really dislikes mushrooms and tries to avoid eating them as much as possible.

IDOL GOALS

SHORT-TERM GOALS:

since neon has only recently debuted, dani’s goal for now is to take their debut as far as it can go. it’s no longer about just herself as a trainee trying to debut, but to work with the rest of her members as a team. her goals for neon include winning number one on music shows, gathering more international fans, and becoming an overall more popular girl group in the k-pop industry. there are a lot of high expectations for neon, especially since it’s in a company as well-known as midas, and she hopes to live up to them.

LONG-TERM GOALS:

currently, dani is still very confused as to what she wants to do with her life and if being an idol is the right choice. her very personal long-term goal is to figure out whether she wants to stay on this career path as an entertainer, and if not, leave. if this does end up being the right choice for her, then she would like to make a living in the future off of simply her variety skills, such as a talk show, and eventually stop performing as her main source of income.

IDOL IMAGE

if it wasn’t her potential and talent as a dancer and singer that got dani into midas media, it was her eccentric personality. her character is one that’s hard to forget and even more difficult to ignore — daniella kim is unafraid of attention, even when she does something embarrassing. after years of midas media staff and management seeing her constantly crack jokes and act like a troll, midas knew that she’d be the perfect 4d factor of the group. most people call her dorky, but neon fans call her a “crackhead”. dani’s onscreen personality is very much similar to her offscreen, just more toned down to avoid coming off overbearing or annoying to netizens. midas hoped that this would bring in more attention for the group on variety shows as well as be refreshing for fans to enjoy a humorous idol with a very outgoing and non-serious image.

due to this bold image of hers, dani is often shameless with her actions and quirks. she has a boyish charm that makes her do things that make her seem like a boyfriend. fans swoon over how she helps fellow female idols up/down stairs, gives her jacket to members when it’s cold, and reenacts famous k-drama scenes as the male lead. known as neon’s “boyfriend” member, dani is often playfully flirtatious with neon members and other female idols. this coincides rather well with the group’s girl crush concept.

creating a persona for daniella within the group wasn’t too difficult of a job. midas took her offscreen personality and amplified it, playing it up on variety shows and other programs with special emphasis on certain quirks and habits that came off 4d and/or girl crush-y. gifs, videos, and photos of her fingerguns, winks, head pats, and the like probably bring in more female fans than male. it’s also not uncommon to see memes made of her.

IDOL HISTORY

born and raised in san francisco, california, both daniella and her older brother, david, did not have many opportunities to connect to or learn about their south korean heritage. she had no interest in dancing, singing, or anything of that sort. the only exposure to k-pop that daniella had was thanks to her father; silent car rides were replaced with south korea’s top hits, played by cds that her father would burn every few weeks. what started as famous ballads and trot songs eventually turned to something different as first generation idol groups became popular and the k-pop industry was born. daniella, uninterested in that part of korean culture, was more attentive to different things. she watched a lot more korean movies, dramas, and shows while her brother watched more music videos and enjoyed keeping up with his favorite idols.

david eventually joined his high school dance team after being so greatly inspired by his favorite k-pop groups. his parents supported him, happy that they had a son with passion and drive for something rather than nothing at all. in all honesty, they believed it was a phase. nothing but a hobby, just a fun form of exercise and a great stress reliever. both daniella’s parents and her brother encouraged her to join the dance team when she entered high school, and with some reluctance, she agreed. it turned out to be more fun than expected — dani made friends, performed at rallies, and even won top titles at competitions with her team. her dance talent was genetic, many of her friends would say. then they would laugh as daniella danced along to a k-pop song that came on during practice, because “i thought you didn’t listen to k-pop, dani!” it was completely unintentional, but k-pop grew on her slowly.

then came the year of goat: 2015. daniella, enjoying the beginning of her summer vacation after finishing her freshman year of college, sat at the kitchen table eating dinner when her brother burst out of his room. “i wanna go to an audition at least once in my life,” he said, trying to convince their parents to let him attend an audition of some sort. midas media was holding its annual global audition in san francisco, only a twenty minute drive from the kim home. “on one condition,” their father said. “take your sister with you.”

daniella went as moral support if anything, holding her brother’s papers as he practiced the dance routine he had prepared for his audition and fetching him water or snacks when asked. she had absolutely no plans or desire to audition herself and stood around to patiently wait for her brother’s dreams to come alive. she was at a vending machine buying a candy bar when a middle aged man asked her if she was here for the midas auditions, to which she politely declined. he encouraged her to, and david supported it. she was already here and she could just do it for fun. it’d be a fun story to tell her friends, if anything. dani, reluctantly once more, agreed.

to this day, dani still believes it was luck that made her pass the audition. she had the least amount of interest in this audition out of all the people there, yet for some reason she stuck. while she wasn’t the most talented of the bunch, the potential and the visuals were there. perhaps it was the funny konglish joke she told the audition panel that sealed the deal.

arrangements were made very quickly for daniella. david was jealous but supportive nonetheless, and her parents cried as they sent their daughter off to live with her aunt in seoul. never in a million years did they expect her to pursue a career in the k-pop industry, but this was what she wanted. at least that’s what everyone thought. at the young and naive age of fifteen, daniella experienced culture shock in her new home of south korea. on top of that, she spent everyday under the very tough trainee contract and schedule of midas media. the first two years were spent looking through rose colored glass — she couldn’t afford to question her life plans or dreams. she didn’t have the time or energy to when she was trying so desperately to keep up with the competitiveness and rigor of being a trainee. she wanted what every other person wanted: recognition. at age seventeen was when the questioning began. daniella loved dancing, and she was damn good at it now with the help of all the practicing she’s been doing as a trainee. she was also excelling in other skills, specifically singing. while her hard work was paying off for her personal improvement, there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. did she even want to become an idol? was this all worth it?

just as her doubts were hitting peak level, the universe swept in to save her in the form of speech. rumors about a new lineup. rumors about a new girl group. rumors about debut. they were, of course, whispers and gossip passed along between trainees in the studios and hallways. they couldn’t be completely trusted, but at the same time, dani couldn’t help herself. she had already spent years in midas, growing up under the care of trainers and music instead of her parents. she had worked so hard to fit into south korea’s cultural standards, changing her attitude and appearance. there was no way in hell she was going to let that go to waste when there was a possibility for debut. she refused to believe all of the emotional and physical strife she had gone through would go to waste.

and thank god she did. daniella has been good to midas, and midas has been good to her. placed in neon as the lead vocalist and lead dancer, dani has gone from not caring about k-pop at all to becoming a k-pop idol herself. even through all the late nights wondering what she’s doing with her life, the fleeting doubts of whether or not this career is for her, and concerning self reflections on her happiness and how to pursue it, nobody can ignore the popularity and success neon is gaining. besides, this is what she’s been waiting for all these years… right?

#id.bio #id.midas #id.neon #id.shin ryujin