3 Minutes That Will Make You Love TAEYEON
As the leader of Girls’ Generation, TAEYEON has become one of the most influential idols in K-Pop. Here’s a sampling of what makes her so great.
Since her debut in Girls’ Generation (SNSD) in 2007, Taeyeon has been one of the most impressive vocalists in K-Pop. In Girls’ Generation, Taeyeon was known as the group’s plucky, tiny leader – only 5’3” – whose voice is a powerhouse. For nearly seven years, Girls Generation defined the sound of second generation K-Pop. Their music was incredibly influential and representative of the hard shift K-Pop would eventually make towards embracing experimental production. “I Got A Boy”, perhaps their magnum opus, stands as one of the first K-Pop songs that brought listeners on twists and turns, sharply veering into hip-hop then back into bubblegum pop. But their ballads, too, could also melt your heart. “Etude”, one of my favorites from the group’s 2009 “Genie” EP, showed just how charming SNSD can be.
Taeyeon is the rare artist who can make nearly any song handed to her her own, but for a long time her solo music never quite reflected the complicated, sometimes deeply expressive woman she portrayed on social media. Her solo debut in 2015 was a declaration of independence with a mini-album titled “I”, and future works like “Fine” depicted Taeyeon as a woman who needed no one’s help.
Yet what I always loved about Taeyeon is how, in her personal life, she has always openly talked about her struggles and insecurities. Once on an Instagram live in 2019, Taeyeon shared that she had taken a break from social media because of depression. When a viewer wrote, “is this bipolar disorder? Tsk Tsk,” Taeyeon grew defiant. “No, I am suffering from depression. I am working hard to get better through treatment with antidepressants,” she said. “Whether it’s depression or bipolar disorder, please don’t ‘tsk’ and treat people disrespectfully. They are all patients who are suffering.”
Today, Taeyeon is 35 years old, an age that plants firmly in the company of many peers who are men and only a few women, such as BoA. Yet instead of catering to what is trending in K-Pop, Taeyeon has chosen to forge her own path. She fought SM for the right to release “INVU” in 2022, a track that would become one of her greatest hits, and last year released “To. X”, a mini-album that saw the singer dig deeper into dark R&B and even jazz. As she’s grown older, Taeyeon has eschewed convention. She is not married, not interested in conforming to patriarchal standards, and is fiercely outspoken. (This is, after all, the same woman who launched at Wiz Khalifa on Instagram, after he falsely accused her of missing a rehearsal for the Asian Music Awards). “I think maturity is best expressed when you show another side of yourself,” she told PAPER magazine in 2022.
In celebration of Taeyeon’s new single “Heaven”, I have gathered together a sampling of songs that, if you take three minutes to listen to them, will make you love her. Be sure to let me know if you have any favorites.
“WEEKEND”
Korea is known for its brutal work culture and a cut throat competitiveness. So perhaps it was an act of defiance for Taeyeon to release a single where she embraced doing absolutely nothing. “When the weekend comes,” she sings over a frothy city pop beat, “I can do whatever I want.” In the song, Teayeon thumbs her nose up at spending time with a boyfriend. This weekend is for her and her alone.
The same weekend as the single’s release, Taeyeon pushed back at the near constant sexist demands placed on women in the industry. "If you gain weight, you’re fat; if you’re skinny, you look sick; if you dress loosely, you look like a man; if you wear dress tightly, it’s too revealing; if you eat a lot, you’re like a pig; if you eat little, you’re picky, if you like luxury, you’re frivolous; if you like being frugal, you don’t know how to dress up,” she wrote on Instagram. “People who are going to insult me are going to insult me regardless, so it’s best to live however I want."
“I”
Taeyeon’s debut single was a perfect introduction to the singer. It’s a brassy self-empowerment anthem that allows Taeyeon’s giant voice to literally reverberate through the speakers. She captures you from the very first note as she nearly shouts that “like a dream, I’ll fly.” “I” was a song written and prepared for Taeyeon by SM Entertainment, but it so clearly spoke to the girl we had grown up with in Girls Generation. “My tears begin to fall,” she sings in the second verse, “But I’ll endure it all.” Throughout the song, one thing becomes entirely clear: Taeyeon’s perseverance.
“To. X”
On her latest mini-album “To. X”, Taeyeon backs away from trends in K-Pop. At times, the album almost feels like a referendum to the current state of the K-Pop industry. It’s insular, experimental at times, and above all, interested in how Taeyeon can move beyond the sterile sound of a studio.
Like the best Taeyeon tracks, the singer dissects a failed relationship and pushes past a deadbeat lover. “You say I’m a difficult, fussy child,” she sings in a clever line on the chorus, “That’s my thoughts get tired.”
“To. X”, the album’s title track, is a snappy R&B track that incorporates hints of jazz. I hear the influence of BoA, a senior at SM, on this track: it’s evocative mix of genres; the way Taeyeon is embracing intimacy; and perhaps, the way she wants to leave behind the conventions of pop music. Although the EP had very little promotion, this song still had a viral life on TikTok thanks to the choreography and months later, the song is still gaining traction on Korean charts.
“INVU”
This is, hands down, my favorite track in Taeyeon’s discography. It is an elegant, visceral work of art that grabs me by the skull from the very first second. Beginning with a rippling base, the song builds into a crescendo that blossoms into one hell of a chorus. This is Taeyeon at her most mature and commanding thanks to the phenomenal production. But the song’s lyrics are also remarkably complex for a K-Pop song. “Even as I abandon and lose myself more,” Taeyeong sings in the chorus, “The irony is you shine more.”
While “INVU” became one Taeyeon’s biggest hits, the irony is that she had to still fight for the song to be released. "I was confident and I felt like I had to convince and persuade the staff,” she said in an interview. “I sang the song while acting to express the song a bit better."
“Nights Into Days”
If ballads are your thing, this b-side collaboration between Taeyeon and NAUL might deserve to be on your playlist. “Nights Into Days” is part of NAUL’s “Ballad Pop City” project that recreates the sound of Korean ballads from the early 90s.
This is a ballad with a capital “B”, with backing vocalists included, and one that lets Taeyeon’s emotional voice pull you into a heartbreaking story. “I cry all by myself,” she sings, “I think I’m getting lost.” Next to “All About You”, this is Taeyeon at her most heartwarming and traditional. But it’s so far from the center of what mainstream K-Pop sounds like that it almost sounds radical.
“Dear Me”
Released as a single for the re-release of “Purpose”, Taeyeon’s second album, “Dear Me” is an oddly underrated track. Perhaps because Taeyeon has so many highs in her discography, it’s easy to overlook this quiet, understated single – but it’s not to be missed.
I see “Dear Me” as the beginning of Taeyeon publicly grappling with self-love and identity. That year, Taeyeon revealed that she was struggling with depression – a fact that is frowned on in South Korea, where mental health is often seen as a weakness. In 2017, a study found that 1 in 10 Koreans struggled with mental illness, but only 1 in 10 sought help. Teayeon, though, was honest that she was receiving treatment for her depression. Perhaps this is what led to the tender lyrics of “Dear Me”.
“There are things I want to tell myself,” she sings in the chorus, “I love myself/ I trust myself/ Words that I didn’t have before.” Here, she sounds not like an idol – just a girl bravely charting the uncertain turbulence of adulthood, ready for whatever comes her way.
