Weki Meki was formed by Fantagio Entertainment (who also formed ASTRO, Hello Venus, and [part of] I.O.I) at the end of the 3rd generation in 2017. They had eight members: Elly, Choi Yoojung, Sei, Lua, Rina, Ji Suyeon, Kim Doyeon, and Lucy, and disbanded in August of 2024, three months ago at time of writing.

Here are my credentials: I don’t know much about Weki Meki, to be honest. I’ve probably heard a few of their singles passively, and I know some of their members from I.O.I., but until learning of their disbandment, I hadn’t thought seriously about featuring them on the blog. So, while I’m too late to become an active fan, I thought I’d try something new and do a retrospective on who they were. So let’s get into it!

EP #1: WEME

I have to say that the title of I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend doesn’t inspire confidence, especially for someone who grew up in the era of 2010’s romcoms with a bone to pick with the male lead’s “boring” girlfriend. I’m afraid that it does nothing to convince me otherwise, coming across as pretty childish and not in the way I think they were intending. The song itself is pretty standard for k-pop, mixing hip-hop with pop and sing-talk with vocalizing. I think that the strongest part is actually its vocalized hook, which manages to be catchy without being irritating, which the rest of it has a tendency to veer towards. The best way I can put it is that it feels like what someone who knows nothing about kpop thinks kpop is. Overall, it shows potential, but…ugh.

From the EP, I enjoyed the fast-paced percussion of Stay With Me and the gentle vocals of My World, but my hidden gem was the peppy vintage pop iTeen Girls Special (despite the weird name).

EP #2: Lucky

La La La came out less than a year after I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend, but feels like a world apart. Not only does it lean more into a confident, bombastic sound, but it’s very obviously going for “sexy”, or at least the “girl crush” sound that was so popular at the time. It still has a vocalized main hook, but this one is more dragged out, and the chorus more fleshed out in general. Besides the frankly uncomfortable sexualization, its transitions from sing-talk to vocals are often choppy, and its tendency towards aegyo comes across as a bit queasy when combined with the dancing. It’s definitely a step up, but it still has its issues.

From the EP, I enjoyed the synthy underlying beat of Iron Boy and the ethereal dance floor hook of Butterfly.

Single #1: Kiss, Kicks

Crush completes the transition of Weki Meki from “cutesy” to “bad girls”; its first minute doesn’t pull its punches, featuring motorcycles, graffiti, and guns. So many guns. (You can tell this wasn’t made in America.) Anyway, I think that this is actually their strongest single yet, not only doing a good job balancing a darker aesthetic with a quintessentially kpop sense of humor but also making a full-throated chorus with a solid payoff that doesn’t rely too much on a vocalized hook. By the end, I was both chuckling and bopping along. Funnily enough, I didn’t realize until the chorus hit that I’d actually heard this song before, which is always a highlight in any review of mine.

From the single, my hidden gem (and possibly my favorite b-side yet) was True Valentine, which adds a bit of funk into Weki Meki’s kpop diet, on top of a handclap-led beat that really drives the point home.

Single #2: Week End Lol

Picky Picky is probably Weki Maki’s signature song, or at least, the first song I thought of before beginning this review. And after listening to it, I can see why; it bops along with a delightful sense of fun, again balancing having a catchy hook—or two, in this case—while not driving you crazy. Everything is colorful in the most candy-coated way, adding a vintage feel, or at least that of Disney Channel from the 2000’s. (Very Lemonade Mouth, if anyone knows what I’m talking about) Adding onto that, I sincerely appreciate that its MV starts with credits; despite it being a stylistic choice, it’s always helpful when I’m looking into a group and don’t have much time to get to know their names. But really, it’s a great song that I’m sure will be finding its way onto my playlists soon.

Tiki Taka (99%) is from the same single as Picky Picky, and while both seem tailor-made for a party, Tiki Taka is a summer song through and through. Bubbly and effervescent, it bops along with the kind of peppiness that drives the best pop songs. But it isn’t satisfied with just that, going for an expansive, committed chorus that I never would’ve expected after listening to their first few singles. I especially like the tropical influences and pops of brassiness that make an appearance in the song later on, and the short pull-back before the final chorus is a great example of how to emphasize a build up. Overall, another great song!

From the single, I didn’t have a hidden gem.

EP #3: Hide And Seek

While both the previous songs were solidly in the realm of fun pop a la TWICE’s early years, Dazzle Dazzle goes more in the direction of later hits like Fancy or Feel Special. It too features those pops of brass, a synthy underlying beat, and an expansive chorus, but its verses are far more understated. Whatever the exact reason is, something about it doesn’t excite me as much as their last few songs have. And that’s not to say that it’s not a good song, but I feel like it’s pretty standard for kpop of the time, not adding anything new or acing said standard enough to stand out.

Oopsy follows in the footsteps of Dazzle Dazzle, but is even more minimalistic than its predecessor, tip-toeing along on a synthy beat infused with a fun bit of funk that I wish they emphasized more. It’s a bit odd, honestly, going for that more mature aesthetic but having a hook as silly-sounding as “Oopsy”, a contrast that could have worked if they did more to emphasize it, but for now just feels a bit out of pocket. again, it’s not a bad song, but it’s nothing that stands out.

From the EP, I enjoyed the chanty outro and pop perfection chorus of Moya Moya.

EP #4: New Rules

Cool goes even further into the sound that the last few songs established, and unfortunately for me, does it with verses heavy on sing-talk and light on substance. Something I’ve consistently enjoyed about Weki Meki is the attention they pay to their choruses, often having more than one hook and layering them on top of each other to great effect. But this song just throws that out the window, having them use their lovely voices to just chant hooks at the camera, which is, frankly, a waste of their talents. Songs built on this structure can work, like CLC’s No for example, but you have to have a) a really strong hook and b) palpable charisma and stage presence, neither of which come through here. Sorry, girls.

From the EP, I enjoyed the laidback sound of D-Day (which is an insane sentence out of context, btw).

EP #5: I Am Me

I wasn’t quite sure where Siesta was headed when it started with a similar minimalistic verse to Oopsy but a much brighter palette, giving me just a bit of hope that it would surprise me. And thankfully, it did! It uses the best elements of past songs, like the brass of Dazzle Dazzle, the strong build of Crush, and, most vitally, the throw-everything-at-the-wall choruses of Picky Picky and Tiki Taka. It’s finally a return to the form that Weki Meki is best at, and to great effect. That final minute, especially the bridge’s bleed into the last chorus, is just great, sweeping and irrepressibly joyful in a way that makes you smile.

From the EP, I enjoyed the vogue-worthy drama of Who Am I and the hints of R&B in First Dream, but my hidden gem was easily Luminous. Operating on a wonderfully maximalist, bombastic beat, it spirals out into single-worthy status by the first chorus, and embraces its craziness wholeheartedly.

Single #3: CoinciDestiny

CoinciDestiny is an oddball for kpop, specifically released as a goodbye single to fans, and thus, is just as nostalgic as you’d imagine it to be. More of a vehicle for the girls’ vocals than anything else, its synths twinkle along with a bittersweet edge as the members hold hands and practically skip off into the sunset together. And you know what? Despite the somewhat eye-roll worthy name and the low-budget music video and the incredibly sappy lyrics, I found myself getting emotional anyway.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this. Like I said, I didn’t know much about Weki Meki before this deep dive, but I feel like I got to know them at least a little bit. I didn’t have too much time for B-T-S content this time around, but I did watch their “I’m Yours For 60 Minutes” episode on tvN Asia, which I’d highly recommend. They seem like they have a lot of fun when they’re together, which was really nice.

My Top 5 songs are Picky Picky, Tiki Taka (99%), Luminous, Siesta, and True Valentine with CoinciDestiny as an honorable mention. Weki Meki gets an 8 out of 10 from me. I think that my biggest issue with Weki Meki is that, in such an insanely competitive industry filled to the brim with girl groups doing the same genres (and doing them better, frankly), there’s nothing about them that feels very unique. I want to stress again that I’m not saying that their music is “bad”, because it isn’t; in fact, it can be a lot of fun, and their best tracks come when they abandon any sense of restraint and just sing with absolute delight. But as someone who analyzes 10+ hours of kpop a week, most of their music just doesn’t stand out.

Next time, we’re onto Part Three of my insane SuJu deep dive. Tschüss!