Sunmi originally auditioned for SM Entertainment, up to the stage where it would be decided whether or not she would become a trainee. But an SM employee who was moving to JYP Entertainment scouted her and suggested that she audition there, and she passed that audition immediately, becoming a JYP trainee. She debuted as a member of Wonder Girls on February 10, 2007 with the group's first mini album The Wonder Begins.
On January 13, 2010, JYP Entertainment announced Sunmi would be leaving Wonder Girls in order to focus on her academics. After completing schedules in February, she officially left Wonder Girls. Following a three-year hiatus from the music industry, on August 5, 2013, it was announced Sunmi would debut as a solo artist.
Her debut digital single, "24 Hours", was released on August 20. On June 24, 2015, JYP Entertainment announced Sunmi would be rejoining Wonder Girls. She made her official return as member on August 3 with the group's third studio album Reboot.
On January 26, 2017, JYP Entertainment announced that Wonder Girls would be disbanding after she and Yeeun decided not to renew their contracts with the agency. The group's final single "Draw Me" was released on their tenth anniversary on February 10, 2017. On March 14, 2017, MAKEUS Entertainment announced that Sunmi had signed on with the agency.
Her first single album under the agency, "Sunmi Special Edition 'Gashina'", was released on August 22, 2017. She released her next single, "Heroine", on January 18, 2018. The two songs were included on her mini album Warning, which was released on September 4, 2018, with the title track "Siren" and four other new tracks.
On January 16, 2019, it was revealed that she would embark on her first world tour. The tour kicked off in Seoul at Yes24 Hall on February 15. The tickets in multiple North American cities were sold out.
Originally, shows were announced in North America and Asia only, but additional dates for Europe were added. The last show took place in Seoul, at the same venue as the first show, on June 15. Sunmi released the single "Noir" on March 4, in the midst of her world tour.
The song's lyrics and music video touch on the dangers of taking social media too seriously and of needing likes, comments, and subscriptions to validate one's worth. "Lalalay", another single, was released on August 27. Sunmi said she got inspired by Mexico when she performed there during her tour.
The starting point of the song was the word "Lalalay", "which is about knowing when to really let loose" and, in folk music, is another name of the traditional Korean wind instruments taepyeongso. Sunmi released her first OST track, a song titled "Gotta Go" for the web drama XX, on February 6, 2020. Two days later, a special performance video of the song was also released on Muply's YouTube channel.
On June 29, she released her fifth digital single, "Pporappippam". Described as a love song with a summery feel, the track is lighter than her previous releases and intended to give a sense of emotional relief and escapism to her fans amidst the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 19, Sunmi released a special video for her unreleased song "Borderline".
The track was first performed during her tour and its lyrics touch on the topic of mental health. On February 2, 2021, it was announced that the preparations for her next comeback, to be released later in the month, were almost over. On February 9, a poster was released, announcing the comeback date to be February 23.
On February 15, the single was revealed to be called "Tail". Its title track, inspired by Catwoman, is about freely and confidently expressing one's feelings for someone. Sunmi was a mentor in Mnet's survival reality show Girls Planet 999, which started airing on August 6.
On July 14, ABYSS Company announced that she was preparing for her next comeback, to be released in August. The release date was revealed to be August 6 with the first comebac...
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