''XOXO'' is the debut studio album by Canadian-Dutch-Korean singer and songwriter

Jeon Somi Ennik Somi Douma (born March 9, 2001), known professionally by her Korean name Jeon Somi (), is a Korean and Canadian singer, rapper and dancer signed under The Black Label. Jeon shot to domestic stardom as the first-place winner of the sur ...

. It was released on October 29, 2021, by

The Black Label The Black Label Inc. (; stylized as THEBLACKLABEL or THEBLΛƆKLΛBEL) is a South Korean record label and an associate company of YG Entertainment. It was founded in 2015 by YG producer Teddy and Kush. History On September 22, 2015, YG Entertain ...

and distributed through

YG Plus YG Plus Inc. (previously named Phoenix Holdings Inc.) is a publicly traded media and advertising company acquired by YG Entertainment in November 2014. In 2019, the company entered the music distribution industry and also engages in production, d ...

and Interscope Records. The album consists of eight tracks and was supported by five singles: "

Birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many re ...

", " What You Waiting For", " Dumb Dumb", " XOXO" and "Anymore". The album features a guest appearance by South Korean rapper and singer

Giriboy Hong Si-young (; born January 24, 1991), better known by his stage name, Giriboy (Hangul: 기리보이), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter,record producer,and actor signed to Just Music. Career Giriboy began his musical career in ...

Background and release

, well known as the winner of the first installation of the ''

Produce 101 ''Produce 101'' is a reality television talent competition franchise created by South Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ E&M, based around the formation of a K-pop girl group or boy group. The format is noted for having no panel of judges, emp ...

'' competition series and a member of the series' temporary project girl group

I.O.I I.O.I (; also known as IOI or Ideal of Idol) was a South Korean girl group formed by CJ E&M through the 2016 reality show ''Produce 101'' on Mnet. The group was composed of eleven members chosen from a pool of 101 trainees from various enterta ...

, began to venture out as a soloist following the conclusion of group activities under her then agency

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...

. She eventually left JYP Entertainment and joined

and made her solo debut with the digital single "

" and B-side track "Outta My Head" in June 2019. Jeon made two comebacks following year-long breaks with digital singles " What You Waiting For" in July 2020, and " Dumb Dumb" in August 2021. In the press conference for "Dumb Dumb", Jeon shared that she had "spent the past year practicing and recording a lot of songs apart from "Dumb Dumb" ... and there's a lot more coming." On October 1, 2021, the singer uploaded an image of a pile of albums, with title ''XOXO'' and her name printed on them, onto her Instagram post with the caption "Soon to be yours x̷o̷x̷o̷." On October 14, The Black Label announced that Somi is scheduled to make a comeback with her first full-length album ''XOXO'' at the end of the month. In the following week Jeon revealed the release date and shared the tracklist of the album through her social media accounts. The album was released for digital download and streaming on October 29, alongside the music video for lead single " XOXO". On December 25, the music video for "Anymore" was released.

Critical reception

Carmen Chin writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' criticized the songs on the album for being "repetitive and uninspired" and stated that despite Jeon Somi's "immense musical talent", the album "fails to flesh out her identity". Chin also expressed disappointment in half of the short tracklist being made up of Somi’s previous releases.

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{Somi 2021 albums Korean-language albums YG Entertainment albums Interscope Records albums