By Hasan Beyaz
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked things like this before. It was really fun. Your questions really made me think a lot.”
Every interviewer dreams of hearing that. But with BIBI, it never felt like flattery — it felt like a realisation taking root in real time.
She says it near the end of our session. We’re talking over Zoom, two days before her 2025 EVE world tour is set to begin. It’s just past midnight on my side of the world, 8am on hers. She’s in bare daylight; I’m in deep night. And across that distance, something begins to unfold — not just answers, but something slower, more searching. At times she pauses mid-sentence, scribbles something down, looks away for a beat, then returns with thoughts still forming. Watching her speak is like watching someone paint while the canvas is still wet — layers slipping, merging, re-forming.
Across our time, we speak about myth, mortality, clones, muses, alter-egos. She talks about exhaustion, masks worn too long, and the tender rebellion at the heart of her new album, EVE: ROMANCE. She draws parallels between science and scripture, between sound and body, between loneliness and love.
There’s Eve, and Eve-1. There’s Pygma Girl. There’s meat.
And then, there’s BIBI — one of the most curious, self-aware, and subversive voices in today’s Korean music scene — letting herself be seen, even as she continues to evolve. What followed was not a typical interview. It was a slow unearthing of exhaustion, identity, and what remains when the world ends and you’re left only with the mirror.
The album is called EVE: ROMANCE, which instantly evokes seduction, rebellion, and maybe even original sin. What does the figure of Eve represent for you in this project?
There is a story that I made, and this album started from that story. So, while it's not completely connected to the Eve in Adam and Eve, the character's name is Eve. The story's genre is romance. So, there is this Eve character and there is a character named Luca. Eve is the first woman in Adam and Eve in the Bible. Luca is the first living thing on Earth. Luca means the Last Universal Common Ancestor. I named it after that: Eve and Luca. So it's basically a romance, and they make out to be a fun story. Eve is a singer, so this whole album is the music of that singer. I think she reflects a part of me — the way she acts, the way she makes decisions, it all feels very human. And I’m human too, so I think there are things in her that connect with a lot of people. Or at least, I hope so. But yes… in the end, she’s a singer — and that’s why she’s a reflection of me.
When you’re building a concept like EVE: ROMANCE, where do you start? Is it a melody, a mood, a visual, or something completely different?
I start with a story, actually. I think this album is visually amazing, and the song and the lyrics are very, very good. But I started this whole album and concept with this story. I have been writing this story since 2022 and it took almost three and a half years.
That was around when Lowlife Princess: Noir came out. So did you start making it right from that album or you made it right after this?
There are some songs that I wrote before and some songs I wrote after. My bosses, my CEO always told me to write a lot of songs before I debut. So I still have like 100 more songs on my computer. So there are some songs I wrote before, and some after. I just combined it to make this album.
What kinds of sounds or genres were you drawn to while building this project? Did you intentionally want to evolve or break away from your previous musical eras?
My previous era was my Noir era, and I was… very angry. I don’t know exactly why. My life just felt chaotic. I was really self-conscious and had very low confidence. When I made Noir, I was obsessed. I just kept writing and writing. I felt like I was that character I created — exactly that character. Looking back, I think I was really young emotionally, even though it was only about three years ago.
With this new project, I tried to step outside the story and actually look at who I am — and who the people around me are — and how the world really is. I tried really hard to do that. Musically, I changed a lot. I used to work with just one or two close producers, but this time I collaborated with many different people. In the middle of it all, I hit a slump. Just a short one, but still a slump. And after that, I think I changed again.
That whole process… it feels like effort is like a staircase. Sometimes you hit a stair that’s so big, it feels like a wall. You think, ‘Maybe I can’t colimb this one.’ But eventually, you do — and you realise you’re way higher than before. I feel that way now. Especially with sound — sonically — I’ve grown a lot.
What do you hope this album unlocks for you creatively, emotionally, or even professionally? Is EVE: ROMANCE closing a chapter or opening a new one?
But if I close that chapter, it feels like I can’t talk about love anymore. And there’s still so much time left in my life. Maybe I can learn a different kind of love. Like, if I had a baby — loving my child would be completely different from anything I’ve ever felt in this world. So maybe, that’s a new place to start.
The teaser for the "Apocalypse" MV shows you under a tree with an apple — a loaded biblical image. What did you want that moment to represent in the wider visual story of this era?
This song is based on an old saying. I don’t know who said it, but it goes something like: ‘If the world ends tomorrow, I’ll still plant my apple tree.’ It’s kind of a well-known quote in Korea. I always found it interesting, that idea of doing something so pure and hopeful even if everything’s about to end.
But people have different answers, right? Some people say they’ll do something they’ve never done. Some will steal. Some will hug their family. Some will have an orgy.
And planting the apple tree — it looks so marvellous, and so amazing. But then having an orgy — people might say that’s bad. But why? That feels young, or naive, but I think it’s all the same.
Why do we say something is good and something is bad, when tomorrow is the apocalypse? Everything’s gone. Good and bad doesn’t mean anything if everything disappears.
Actually, I think right now is kind of like that too. Of course there’s good and bad, but everything is different. It’s very grey. I started to ask myself — what is good and bad? What is the start? What is the end? So this whole song is just one big question mark, I think.
And the music video, it’s a little different. I just wanted to make it more interesting. I hope people feel that it’s fun, even if they don’t know the meaning. I wanted to raise the question: would you choose a boring heaven, or a very interesting, very fun hell?
That makes me even more excited to see the full video. I think one of the things people really connect with in your art is how many questions it raises — how layered and thought-provoking it is. From what I’ve seen, there’s already a lot of buzz around this video, and now that I’ve heard you talk about it, I’m even more intrigued.
Something else I wanted to ask you about is the concept photos you shared — especially the ones titled Meat, Real Man, and Pygma Girl. They each feel so distinct. What connects those three ideas for you? Is there a narrative behind the characters that ties them together?
There is a character called Eve — but actually, there are two Eves. There’s Eve, and there’s Eve-1. Eve-1 is the clone of Eve. So, Eve lived in this world until… when she died in 2024 or 2025, she was like 50-something. And after she died, we made a clone. And she grew up — like when she turned 18, it was 2044.
So there are two characters. And basically, on the album, there are 14 songs — and 7 of those songs are from Eve-1. Meat is from Eve-1. Eve-1 is very rebellious. The Korean title of Meat is actually just Body. But I thought that was boring. This song is about the question: is it easier to buy love with money, or money with love? Personally, I think — if you buy love with money, I don’t think that’s really getting love, or even getting money, or a body. I think that’s getting meat. That’s why I named it Meat.
But the song itself is very lovely, I guess. It’s basically like, ‘I have this and I have this — I have all this. And you can buy it. Even if you don’t have a credit card, you can buy it with love.’ That kind of thing. I think it’s very cute. And Eve-1 — that rebellious version — she wrote it.
Pygma Girl, on the other hand, is named after Pygmalion, the Greek myth. People usually think of a muse as just someone who stands there, and the artist makes the art. But Pygma Girl is more like — I am the art, and you are the drawer. It’s about where the muse has more autonomy, more voice as opposed to just being a muse for the art. Eve’s boyfriend was a painter. So that’s how I came up with this.
You’ve described yourself as a shape-shifter both visually and emotionally, and this is something audiences love about you. But, does constantly evolving ever feel liberating… or exhausting? Which transformation has surprised even you?
I actually never thought about it. I don’t know how to feel, actually — because I’ve always been shape-shifting. I don’t know how not to shape-shift, given my life before. Even before, I was always trying to change, depending on the situation or the environment, or who I was with. I try to read the room so hard — because I was a really awkward child, very ADHD. Everyone would already move on from a conversation, and I would still be stuck there… or I’d already moved way ahead and said something strange.
I was a very awkward person. So I tried really, really hard. I studied how to be like other people — like I was writing a thesis. I tried so hard to be like everyone else. So maybe… maybe I’m just really exhausted from that. I guess I never realised it until now.
Right now, I’m starting to work on my next album, because my second one is finished. I was thinking: Noir was the first one, then this one is Romance. Should I call the next one Drama… or maybe Documentary? And I think I’m leaning toward Documentary. Because I really want to know who I am. I’m trying to figure that out right now.
I’ve always tried so hard to be nice to everybody. But I never really tried to notice myself, or be nice to myself. So maybe the next album will be about that. Actually, you asked me a really, really good question. I just realised — wow. I think I was exhausted. Wow.
I’m happy that you had this moment. I really connected with what you said. Documentary is a really interesting concept, I’d say. Your music is often inspired by your personal experiences, but when you look back on your previous albums, do you notice any patterns in the stories or emotions you tend to return to?
Not everything is something I experienced in that moment. Sometimes I haven’t actually been through it — but I feel like I have. You know? Sometimes, for example, I wasn’t betrayed, but I felt like I was. So I exaggerate that emotion and then see where it takes me in terms of inspiration. And if I look back and listen to my last album… yeah, I can’t even tell what’s a lie and what’s real. Nobody will ever know. But I know.
Sometimes I hear a sound and think, “Oh, that sounds bad.” And sometimes I hear another one and go, “Oh, this is good — wow, I’m good.” So I think it’s like that. I think all artists feel the same way.
I think so. Artists are really critical of their work. My last question links back to “Apocalypse,” which you mentioned earlier. The caption said, “What would you do if the world ends tomorrow?” So… what would you do?
I think I would die before the apocalypse. I don’t think I could deal with the anxiety of it. Like, first, I’d want to know why — why is this happening? If it was something like a virus or zombies, I might think, “Okay, maybe I can survive.” But if it’s something like the biggest volcano or a meteor, I’d be like, “Oh… it’s coming.” Then I think I’d say goodbye a little bit earlier. Like, “Bye guys. I love you so much.” I don’t think I could take it.