Jeon Somi

Biography

Ennik Somi Douma (born March 9, 2001), known professionally by her Korean name Jeon Somi (전소미), is a South Korean and Canadian singer. Born in Canada to a South Korean mother and a Dutch-Canadian father, she moved to South Korea as an infant. Jeon initially rose to fame in South Korea as the first-place winner of the survival reality show Produce 101 and as a member of the show's corresponding eleven-piece girl group I.O.I. Following the conclusion of I.O.I's activities, Jeon signed with YG Entertainment's subsidiary, The Black Label. She made her debut as a solo artist on June 13, 2019, with the single "Birthday". In 2021, she released her first studio album XOXO, which included the top-ten single "Dumb Dumb". She achieved her first top-five single in South Korea with "Fast Forward" in 2023.

== Early life == Ennik Somi Douma was born on March 9, 2001, in Windsor, Ontario, to a South Korean mother Jeon Sun-hee and a Canadian father of German and Dutch descent, Matthew Douma; her paternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Heerenveen. She is the eldest of two daughters. When she was six months old, Jeon and her parents moved to Yeonhui-dong, Seoul in September 2001 because her mother had developed homesickness. Her father had previously resided in the area when he studied Taekwondo before moving back to Canada. At age four, she made an appearance on television with her father when he was being interviewed by KBS News for his part in clearing snow in the neighborhood. She initially attended a school for foreigners before transferring to Seoul Midong Elementary School to practice Taekwondo. She stated that she experienced bullying and discrimination at the school because of her mixed ethnicity and wanted to dye her hair black and get surgery to blend in. She graduated from elementary school in 2013, after which she attended Cheongdam Middle School; she graduated on February 3, 2017. Jeon completed her secondary education at Hanlim Multi Art School, majoring in Practical Music and Vocal, graduating in a ceremony held on February 7, 2020. She first dreamed of becoming a singer after watching the music video for Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" as a child. At age nine, she was introduced to Korean pop and discovered Park Bom of 2NE1, whom she admired for her unique voice.

== Career ==

=== 2013–2017: Career beginnings and debut with I.O.I ===

Beginning in her fourth year of elementary school, Jeon auditioned at various entertainment companies in South Korea. In 2013, as a part of the Seoul Midong Elementary School's Taekwondo demonstration team, she appeared in the Children's Day Special for Let's Go! Dream Team Season 2, where she paired with Park Joon-hyung. That same year, she sang and made an appearance in a music video for English education. In August 2014, Jeon, her mother and her grandmother briefly made an appearance on KBS2's Hello Counselor among the studio audience. She was also cast in a cameo role alongside her sister in the 2014 film Ode to My Father by director Yoon Je-kyoon, who her father was acquainted with and needed two biracial children for his film. That same year, Jeon auditioned for JYP Entertainment with "Lonely" by 2NE1 and was accepted into the agency's trainee program. In 2015, she appeared in label-mate Got7's "Stop Stop It" music video alongside other female trainees. In May 2015, Jeon participated in Mnet reality survival program Sixteen, where she was pitted against fifteen other trainees from the agency to secure a spot in its first girl group in five years (now Twice) after the debut of Miss A; however, Jeon was eliminated in the final round and continued as a trainee. JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young stated she had star quality but lacked preparation.

In January 2016, as a representative of her label, Jeon participated in the competition series Produce 101 and finished in first place with 858,333 votes. After completing a two-and-a-half-year training period, fifteen-year-old Jeon officially debuted on May 4 with the project female group I.O.I and its first extended play Chrysalis under YMC Entertainment. On August 9, Jeon was included in a sub-unit of I.O.I consisting of six other members. The sub-unit released the single "Whatta Man", which debuted at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. Jeon and her band-mates received their first-ever music show win with the single on SBS MTV's The Show. On August 29, Jeon collaborated with I.O.I band-mates Choi Yoo-jung and Chungha and Ki Hui-hyeon of DIA on the digital single "Flower, Wind and You". It entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number 48. In October, Jeon was selected as the new host for The Show, paired with singer Wooshin of UP10TION. On January 9, 2017, it was confirmed that Jeon signed a formal contract with JYP Entertainment for her solo activities on television. The agency however, revealed they had yet to decide what path her future held. Jeon's activities with I.O.I soon ended following its disbandment on January 29, 2017. Shortly afterward, she joined the second installation of Sister's Slam Dunk as a regular cast member. On March 9, Eric Nam and Jeon released a collaborative digital single titled "You, Who?". The single charted at number 16 on the Gaon Digital Chart. On May 12, Jeon joined Unnies, a project group created by the production team of Sister's Slam Dunk 2. The group released the singles "Right?" and "Lalala Song". Upon release, the digital singles debuted at numbers two and 48, respectively, on the Gaon Digital Chart and numbers 10 and 22, respectively, on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. "Right?" sold over 950,000 digital copies by the year's end.

On March 28, 2017, Jeon joined the KBS web entertainment program Idol Drama Operation Team. On the show, she and six other girl group members worked together to write their own drama series, Let's Only Walk the Flower Road, becoming accredited scriptwriters as well as acting in the series as fictional versions of themselves in a girl group. Final filming for the show took place on May 9. The seven cast members formed a project girl group called Girls Next Door and released a single as part of the show's soundtrack. The song, "Deep Blue Eyes", was co-written and co-composed by B1A4's Jinyoung and made available on June 14 through Warner Music Korea. The group held their debut stage on July 14 at Music Bank. In November 2017, Jeon featured on the digital single "Nov to Feb" by label-mate senior Jun. K of 2PM and performed the song in the special broadcast Jun.K X Rooftop Live on V Live.

=== 2018–present: Solo debut and mainstream success === On August 20, 2018, Jeon departed JYP Entertainment, terminating her contract with the agency following a formal discussion and mutual agreement. The following month, she signed an exclusive contract with YG Entertainment's independent subsidiary label The Black Label, home to South Korean R&B singer Zion.T. Jeon revealed she joined the label soon after her meeting with CEO Teddy Park, citing his authenticity and feeling of content while imagining future plans for her as reasons. In addition, Jeon believed The Black Label would aid and allow her to focus on her growth both as an artist and a person, which aligned with her interests, in contrast with the constant promotions and releases often seen in the industry.