BIBI

BIBI is a nimble navigator of intense, stylistic emotion. Since debuting in 2017, the Korean singer-songwriter and rapper has melded rumbling hip-hop swagger with K-pop drama on songs like the electro-trap single “Kazino” and the thrumming, revenge-addled “BIBI Vengeance.” Born Kim Hyung-seo in Ulsan, South Korea, in 1998, BIBI was discovered online and signed to the record label run by the K-hip-hop power couple Yoon Mi-rae and Tiger JK. She soon became known for her dry, bemused vocals and oddly charming demeanour, first reflected on her debut solo single, 2019’s sweet, childish “Binu.” BIBI takes inspiration from her own mental anguish to channel messy anti-heroines, sulking even through smooth, twinkling R&B (“BAD SAD AND MAD”) or groovy funk-pop (as on the global hit “The Weekend”). But she occasionally dips into gentler personas, as on the whimsical pop-waltz “Bam Yang Gang.”