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EXID

“

Who's that girl? EXID! Hello, we are EXID!
(Who's that girl? 이엑스아이디! 안녕핫세요, 이엑스아이디입니다!)

”
—EXID

EXID (이엑스아이디, an acronym for Exceed In Dreaming) is a five-member girl group. Originally a six-member group, they debuted on February 16, 2012, with the digital single "Holla".

Hani and Jeonghwa left Banana Culture in 2019, followed by Hyelin, Solji and Elly in 2020. In an April 2020 interview, Elly stated that despite the members being under different agencies, they still desire to promote and release albums together.[1]

History

Pre-debut

In May 2011, producer Shinsadong Tiger and AB Entertainment scouted several trainees from JYP Entertainment to form a new girl group. Trainee Yuji was the first to join the JYP girl group but failed to debut. Yuji contacted the trainees Hani, Haeryung and Jeonghwa to audition for AB, and all three were subsequently accepted into the agency. The group added a fifth member when Shinsadong Tiger discovered Elly, an underground rapper and songwriter. Dami, who was already an AB trainee, was the sixth and last member added to the group.

Originally named "WT", an acronym for "Who's That", the group changed their name to EXID a few months before their debut. The group was intended to make their debut in January 2012, but it was delayed to February when Elly sustained a leg injury during rehearsals. In December 2011, Elly was featured in Huh Gak's single "Whenever You Play That Song", which appeared on Korean music charts.

2012: Debut with "Holla", Dami, Yuzi and Haeryung's departure, addition of Solji and Hyelin, Hippity Hop, "Every Night"

EXID Holla promotional photo

EXID made their debut as a six-member group with the release of their first digital single, "Holla" on February 16, 2012.

Two months after the group's debut, on April 30, it was announced that members Dami, Yuzi and Haeryung had left the group due to personal reasons. Dami and Yuzi left the group to pursue their academic schedules while Haeryung left to pursue her acting career. The three members were then replaced by two new members: former vocal trainer Solji, who was originally a member of the duo 2NB as well as a solo artist, and fellow AB Entertainment trainee Hyelin, who was intended to debut with the other six members before she was cut from the lineup.[2] The former members of the group would eventually re-debut in July 2013 as BESTie with Dahye being a fourth member.

EXID Hippity Hop promotional photo

The group then released their first mini album Hippity Hop on August 13, 2012.

EXID made their comeback with the release of their second digital single "Every Night" on October 2.

2014-2015: Breakthrough with "Up & Down", Ah Yeah

EXID Up And Down Promo

In June 2014, it was announced that EXID had signed a contract with Banana Culture (then known as Yedang Entertainment) and were in preparations for a comeback. The group released their third digital single album "Up & Down" on August 24, 2014. The song earned them their first-ever music show win of their career on M Countdown.

In November 2014, the group gained wide recognition after a fancam of Hani dancing to "Up & Down" went viral. Because of the success of the fancam, EXID was invited back onto stage to promote despite the fact their promotions ended months prior.

The group returned on April 13, 2015 with their second mini album Ah Yeah. The title track's accompanying music video was released the same day. The following month, EXID performed in the US for the first time in Los Angeles, California at the Korean Music Festival.

On November 18, the group made their return with their fourth digital single "Hot Pink".

2016: Street, Solji's hiatus

EXID made their return with the release of their first full length album Street on June 1, 2016. The song "L.I.E" was the title track used to promote the album.

On December 20, a statement from Banana Culture was released announcing that group member Solji would be going on hiatus from activities after being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. The group would then continue to promote with four members for the time being.[3]

2017: Promotions as four with Eclipse, Full Moon

EXID Eclipse promotional photo

Due to Solji being on hiatus from activities, the group's comeback was delayed until April. Their agency announced in March that the group would return as a four-piece while Solji recovered from her hyperthyroidism. EXID made a four-member comeback on April 10, 2017 with their third mini album Eclipse. They then took their first win with the title track "Night Rather Than Day" on April 25.

EXID Full Moon group photo

On November 7, EXID released their fourth mini album Full Moon, marking their comeback as a full group. Due to Solji's continued hiatus, the group would continue promoting as four members until her return.

2018: Re:flower Project, "Lady", Japanese debut, Solji's return

From December 2017 onwards, EXID, through their social media platforms, shared photo teasers for a project named Re:flower, whose songs would be remasters and remakes of past B-sides.[4]

EXID Lady promotional photo 1

On April 2, 2018, the group returned with a single album, "Lady". They remained promoting as four due to Solji being on hiatus after being diagnosed with orbital decompression surgery.[5]

On June 9, the group's Japanese Twitter announced that they would be making its Japanese debut on August 22.[6] On this day, EXID made their formal Japanese debut under Tokuma Japan Communications with their first Japanese single "Up & Down", with Solji confirming her return in the near future.[7][8]

On November 21, 2018, the group made a comeback as a full group with their second single album "I Love You", as well as Solji officially announcing her full return from her hiatus after a year and a half to almost 2 years of hyperthyroidism recovery.[9]

2019-2020: We, departure from Banana Culture, hiatus, Japanese activities

EXID We group promotional photo

On January 24, 2019, it was reported that EXID would be releasing their first Japanese studio album sometime in April.[10] On February 12, 2019, the group's Japanese Twitter later confirmed this and announced that they would be releasing their first Japanese full-length album Trouble.[11] Then on February 16, it was announced that the album's release date would be due for release on April 3.[12] On April 3, the album was then released.[13]

On May 2, 2019, Banana Culture released a statement revealing that the EXID members' contracts would expire at the end of the month, adding that Jeonghwa and Hani decided not to renew them while Solji, Elly and Hyelin renewed their contracts. It was agreed that all of the members would participate in promotion activities for the upcoming album. It was also reported that despite the change of music labels, the group was said to not be disbanded. However, after the promotions concluded, they would enter into an indefinite hiatus until the members who left had the opportunity to focus on their own individual endeavors and future activities would be remained to be discussed.[14] Meanwhile, on May 7, Banana Culture announced that EXID would be continuing their Japanese promotions as a five-member group for another year.[15]

The group made a comeback on May 15 with their fifth mini album We.

On May 30, 2019, Jeonghwa and Hani published a letter each to fans, confirming their departure from Banana Culture after the end of the "Me & You" promotions.[16] On July 7, 2019, Jeonghwa signed with J,WIDE-Company as a singer and actress.[17] On October 11, 2019, Hani signed with Sublime Artist Agency as an actress.[18]

On January 15, 2020, a Banana Culture source confirmed to local news outlet STOO that Hyelin's contract with the company had come to an end and she decided not to renew it.[19] On May 6, it was announced that she signed with sidusHQ.[20]

On February 4, 2020, several media outlets reported that Solji had decided to terminate her exclusive contract with Banana Culture. Later that day, the reports were confirmed by herself, however, a source at Banana Culture commented that the termination was still being discussed.[21] On March 23, C-JeS Entertainment announced that Solji had recently signed a contract with them, confirming her departure from Banana Culture and the change of agencies.[22]

On March 25, 2020, Elly confirmed her departure from Banana Culture on Instagram, making her the final member to depart the agency.[23]

On June 26, 2020, the group's Japanese Twitter announced their second Japanese studio album B.L.E.S.S.E.D, which was released on August 19.[24]

Following their departure from Banana Culture and the release of their second Japanese full-length, EXID entered into an indefinite hiatus period in which the members would focus on their solo activities.

2022: Final Japan tour, Japan Activity Best, 10th anniversary celebration, "X"

On July 13, 2022, it was announced that EXID would be holding their EXID 2022 Japan -Final- Live Tour in September after their previous planned tour, EXID 2020 Japan Live Tour ～Bad Girl For You～, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To commemorate the tour, a best album titled Japan Activity Best would be released on September 2.[25][26]

On August 9, 2022, EXID announced that they would hold a 10th anniversary special broadcast titled We Are EXID on Naver NOW on August 13.[27] On September 7, 2022, the group held a surprise livestream on Instagram and announced that they would be releasing their 10th anniversary special single album, "X", on September 29.[28]

Members

Name Position(s) Years active
Solji (솔지) Leader, Main Vocalist 2012-present
Elly[n 1] (엘리) Main Rapper 2012–present
Hani (하니) Lead Dancer, Lead Vocalist, Visual, Face of the Group 2012–present
Hyelin (혜린) Lead Vocalist 2012–present
Jeonghwa (정화) Main Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Visual, Maknae 2012–present
Former
Dami (다미) Leader, Lead Vocalist 2012
Yuzi (유지) Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer 2012
Haeryung (해령) Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Visual 2012

Sub-units

  • SoljiHani (Solji and Hani)
  • MaeJjeop (Hyelin and Jeonghwa)

Discography

Korean

Studio albums

Mini albums

Single albums

Digital singles

OSTs

  • "The Thousandth Man OST" ("Hey Boy") (2012)
  • "Incarnation of Money OST Part.2" ("Up & Down") (2013)

Japanese

Studio albums

Best albums

Singles

Digital singles

Chinese

Digital singles

Concerts

Solo concerts

Japan tours

Concert participations

  • The 13th Korea Times Music Festival (2015)
  • London Korean Festival 2017 with Feel Korea (2017)
  • The 16th Korea Times Music Festival (2017)
  • KCON 2018 NY (2018)

Fanmeetings

Solo fanmeetings

  • EXID's Leggo Show in Shanghai (2016)

Asia tours

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by EXID

Trivia

  • EXID was the first girl group (excluding the duo Davichi) to ever have all members compete on King of Masked Singer.[29]

Gallery

Notes

  1. ↑ Elly previously romanized her name as LE from 2012 to 2022

References

  1. ↑ Soompi: LE Speaks Honestly About EXID’s Future, Solo Promotions, And Royalty Earnings
  2. ↑ (KR) Newsen: EXID 멤버교체 "3명 하차 VS 2명 영입, 5인조 재편해 6월 컴백'
  3. ↑ Soompi: Solji Takes Break Due To Health Concerns, EXID To Perform With 4 Members At Year-End Shows
  4. ↑ Allkpop: EXID share beautiful cellphone background for 'Re:Flower Project'
  5. ↑ Soompi: EXID’s Solji Revealed To Be Recovering Post Surgery
  6. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (June 9, 2018)
  7. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (July 26, 2018)
  8. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (August 2, 2018)
  9. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Solji Celebrates Her Full Recovery From Hyperthyroidism On Instagram
  10. ↑ @mflo_official on Twitter (January 24, 2019)
  11. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (February 12, 2019)
  12. ↑ (February 16, 2019)
  13. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (April 3, 2019)
  14. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Hani And Jeonghwa To Part Ways With Agency, Banana Culture Gives Statement On Future Of Group
  15. ↑ Soompi: EXID To Continue Japanese Promotions With 5 Members For Another Year
  16. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Hani And Jeonghwa Write Heartfelt Letters To Fans About Leaving Banana Culture + Future Plans
  17. ↑ Soompi: EXID’s Jeonghwa Confirmed To Have Signed With Kim Tae Ri And Lee Sang Yoon’s Agency
  18. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Hani Signs With New Agency + To Make Big Screen Debut
  19. ↑ Soompi: EXID’s Hyelin Ends Contract With Banana Culture Entertainment
  20. ↑ Soompi: EXID’s Hyelin Signs Exclusive Contract With SidusHQ
  21. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Solji Announces Decision To Part Ways With Banana Culture + Agency Responds
  22. ↑ Soompi: EXID's Solji Officially Signs With C-JeS Entertainment
  23. ↑ Soompi: LE Becomes Final EXID Member To Leave Banana Culture Entertainment
  24. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (June 26, 2020)
  25. ↑ (JP) Yahoo! Japan: EXIDが復活、“FINAL”来日ツアーを4都市で開催
  26. ↑ @EXIDjpofficial on Twitter (July 13, 2022)
  27. ↑ Soompi: EXID To Hold Special Broadcast For 10th Debut Anniversary
  28. ↑ Instagram Stories (September 7, 2022)
  29. ↑ (KR) Jow News: "(복면가왕) 크루즈는 EXID 정화…전 멤버 출연 진기록"

Official links

Korean
Japanese
Chinese

v • e
EXID
Solji  •  LE  •  Hani  •  Hyelin  •  Jeonghwa
Dami  •  Haeryung  •  Yuzi
Discography
Korean
Studio albums
Mini albums
Hippity Hop  •  Ah Yeah  •  Eclipse  •  Full Moon  •  We
Single albums
"Lady"  •  "I Love You"  •  "X"
Digital singles
"Holla"  •  "Every Night"  •  "Up & Down"  •  "Hot Pink"  •  "Re:flower Project #1"  •  "Re:flower Project #2"  •  "Re:flower Project #3"  •  "Re:flower Project #4"  •  "Re:flower Project #5"
Japanese
Studio albums
Best albums
Singles
Digital singles
Chinese
Digital singles
"Cream"  •  "Up & Down"  •  "Fire (CHN Version)"
Related topics
Official links
Website (Japanese)  •  Daum Cafe  •  Facebook  •  Instagram  •  Twitter (Japanese)  •  V Live  •  Weibo  •  YouTube