Ahead of her mentorship session with a finalist as part of the Samsung NXT 2.0 competition, BIBI showed out in an exclusive Billboard performance with cuts from her debut album, Lowlife Princess: Noir.
Shot in Korea, the five-minute set saw the singer-songwriter deliver a highly-choreographed number to album tracks, “BIBI Vengeance” (나쁜X) and “Lowlife Princess.” Amid six male dancers and flickering colored lights, BIBI took center stage in a striped mini-dress and furry black boots to bring the songs to new heights. Leaning in and out of a dance sequence, the singer used her synchronized unit to convey the song’s of “Vengeance,” before the number culminated with a scream and concluding dance routine. From there, the lights turned low for a party of one as BIBI flowed her way through the set’s vibey title track and a closing appearance from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4.
While BIBI previously performed the former at the 2022 MAMA Awards, “Lowlife Princess” has only been unveiled in front of a live festival audience prior to its release on the 12-song album. The conceptual LP, which dropped last November, marks her first full-length project and positions BIBI as the ultimate storyteller, recalling heartbreak and revenge through the voice of a fictional character by the name of Oh Geum-ji. She was reportedly inspired by the protagonist in Park Chan-wook’s 2005 thriller, Lady Vengeance. Per her feature with The Korea Herald, Oh Geum-ji serves as BIBI’s alter ego, one that embodies rage throughout the project. “Lowlife princess—these two words are incompatible in their meanings,” she told the outlet. “They seemed to expound the character Oh Geum-ji that was created through the emotions I pulled out of myself.”
BIBI will speak more to her creative approach when she sits down with a finalist as part of her mentorship duties in the Samsung NXT 2.0 competition. The Korean pop star helped usher in the last challenge in the singing contest, which advanced three contestants to the next stage of the experience as finalists. During the one-on-one session, BIBI, along with two other celebrity mentors, will each be paired with one finalist and coach the aspiring singer with their expertise ahead of the live grand finale. At the February event, the trio of contenders will go head-to-head with performances in front of a panel of A-list judges and a live audience.
“I’m so excited to partner with Samsung and Billboard to help discover the next great unsigned artist,” BIBI said in a statement in December. “Starting off the industry, mentorship was a major factor in helping me achieve my goals, and I’m honored to be able to provide the same support for this talented class of NXT 2.0 contestants.”
The winner of Samsung and Billboard’s NXT 2.0 competition will win a special digital Billboard cover opportunity, a meeting with a record label, studio time to record their first single, funding for a music video and tickets to the 2023 Billboard Music Awards.
Click here for more updates on Samsung and Billboard’s NXT 2.0 singing competition!
