Multiple facets of Minnie take centre stage in the music video for ‘HER’, the (G)I-DLE star’s debut solo single, each injecting a twist to the plot. At times, she’s dressed in pink, wielding a kittenish attitude, but at others, she appears in intense red, piercing through with a dark sophistication. And while these versions of her clash and contrast, almost to the point of literally hurting themselves, they ultimately complement Minnie’s nature. It’s still her, just viewed through different lenses.
But before the world knew her as a K-pop star, Minnie was born Nicha Yontararak in Bangkok, Thailand. Music had come to her “in a very natural way” from an early age, nurtured by a supportive upbringing. “My mom inspired me a lot because she plays the piano at home every day,” Minnie recalls. “I remember that I just loved listening to music and loved to dance along and go out on stage at school every time we had an event. I think it’s very natural for me. I was born with music.”
Eager to dive fully into this calling, Minnie moved to South Korea to start her journey as a trainee at K-pop agency CUBE Entertainment, aware of the unpredictable nature of the industry. Many idol hopefuls rely solely on perseverance, often with years passing by without a clear path forward. “There were times when I was feeling down, or sometimes I did want to give up, but I would always think about my parents, and how they trusted me,” she says. “It’s not easy to let their daughter go to another country alone. They’re my motivation. Also, I made this decision, so it’s my responsibility to try my best.”
Her determination paid off in the end, going on to debut as a member of the boundary-breaking girl group (G)I-DLE, who have redefined what it is to be an idol artist through their focus on empowerment and creative freedom. “(G)I-DLE are my second home,” Minnie says. “I’ve been with (G)I-DLE for almost 10 years now, and I’m so grateful that I have these girls by my side. We grew up together, and we’ve seen each other since before we debuted, and we changed and we’ve learned a lot. Only these girls know what I’ve been through.”
That’s why Minnie stands firmly in this moment, about to cross a threshold that she has been long prepared to step into. “I’ve been ready [to release a solo album] for a few years, but I was waiting for the right time,” she says, explaining that she wanted to focus entirely on her group’s commitments first. “It was the right choice because if I’d released it earlier, it was going to be so much different. I’ve learned a lot from working on our group’s albums, and I’ve realised what I like or what I can do well. Right now, it’s the best time to do my own thing because I know myself better.”
Being part of (G)I-DLE, however, also means a full itinerary that never ends. Minnie had to piece ‘HER’ together between the group’s globetrotting endeavors, a process which she concedes was “quite tough”, though a challenge that she cherished at the end. “The happiest moment for me was probably when all the songs were finally completed,” Minnie says, “and I got to listen to the fully mastered versions of all my tracks for the first time.”
One thing about Minnie is that her words are sprinkled with an unfiltered sincerity, making her captivating to converse with. And this quality has seeped into her songwriting, plucking genuineness from her heart. ‘HER’ is shaped in slices of her aura, spanning the mysterious allure of ‘Blind Eyed Red’ to the magnetism of ‘Cherry Sky’ and the mellow of ‘Valentine’s Dream’ – but it’s all Minnie, through and through, from the first note to the very last.
She’s at her most true in the lead single, ‘HER’. The record is laced in eerie elegance, which, paired with her siren-like defiance, quietly erupts as she provocatively invites you to revise how you see her. “Maybe she’s something more than you thought, or she can be someone different,” Minnie says. “I was trying to express the [perspective] that people may have about me in a general way. But actually, this girl can be different. She can be more than you think.”
Another key aspect that moulds Minnie is the close friendships she’s cultivated over the years. She had always envisioned collaborating with bandmate Yuqi – her first roommate in South Korea – as part of her first solo outing, mirroring what Yuqi did last year with her first mini-album with ‘Everytime’, a sweet ballad centred around their bond. But for ‘HER’, Minnie flips the script with ‘Drive U Crazy’: “This song is very strong, and it’s quite fun – it’s very rock. It really suits Yuqi. When I did the demo, I sang alone, but it sounds so much stronger with her.”
She also found another perfect duet partner in fellow Thai K-pop idol, Ten of WayV. His voice was the final ingredient for the sensual ‘Obsession’, a track that dates back to a few years ago, and also one of Minnie’s favourites. After reworking the music and lyrics, she was struck how much Ten would suit the song: “I contacted him like, ‘Hey bro, if it’s possible to feature on my song, I’m preparing for my solo album. So he said, ‘Okay, let’s do it! It’s going to be fun.’”
“We’ve been friends for so long, but I think this was my first time working with him,” Minnie adds. “I got to see a different side of him. He’s very chill and a very friendly person, but when it comes to work, he’s very serious and a perfectionist.” At the same time, there’s also a sense of pride for Minnie to work with a fellow Thai artist in the K-pop industry. “It makes me so happy to see artists representing Thailand,” she says. “Whenever I see new Thai artists debuting in the K-pop industry, I truly want to give them my full support.”
Long gone are the days when a young Minnie left her home country to chase a dream, but the K-pop star still holds on dearly to those memories, using them to reveal a story that represents every shade of herself. She notes how she intentionally made ‘HER’ consist of seven songs, to chronicle her seven years under the limelight. It’s an opportunity to “get to know me better through my music”, she says, while anticipating whatever life may hold.
With a bright future ahead for Minnie and (G)I-DLE – their leader Soyeon recently announced that the group had renewed their contracts with CUBE Entertainment – the singer is looking forward to writing her next chapter. “I hope we can express ourselves even more, and of course, I hope we will continue producing our own music,” she says. “I hope we can grow up more. I don’t know. We are so young and I always say, ‘Okay, let’s dream big.’”
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