FIRST PRESS

Disclosure: First Press operates independently but shares ownership ties with EG Management, which works with DaYoung.

The usual story about solo careers in K-pop runs through the top of the group: the center, the main vocalist, the member with the biggest fan count. DaYoung's run since September 2025 is a useful correction to that story. She debuted with WJSN in February 2016 as one member of a large lineup, and her first solo record arrived nearly a decade later, after what The Korea Herald reported was about three years of work traveling between Korea and the US, with her overseeing songwriting and video production along the way.

"body"

The single album gonna love me, right? came out on September 9, 2025, led by "body"), a dance-pop track written by a team including Jack Brady, Jordan Roman and Eric Nam and produced by The Wavys. It is built on a punchy beat and a hook that lands early, and it put the brightness of her voice up front rather than burying it in group-style layering.

The numbers followed. Korea JoongAng Daily reported that "body" peaked at No. 9 on Melon's Top 100 and No. 17 on the monthly chart, and on September 23 it gave her a first music show win on The Show. Her words on stage, as the Herald quoted them: "I really wanted to be loved, and I'm grateful for all your support." Critic Lim Hee-yun called the run "surprising, yet understandable" in the same piece.

Then the year-end lists. "body" placed sixth on Billboard's staff list of the best K-pop songs of 2025, seventh for The Hollywood Reporter and 12th for NME#Accolades), a spread the Korea Times also noted. At home she took Best Solo Artist (Female) at the 2025 Korea Grand Music Awards.

Refusing the sequel

The obvious next move was "body" part two. She did not make it. "What's a girl to do", released April 7, 2026, slowed the tempo and moved toward R&B, with a more restrained mood than the debut. She is credited on songwriting and lyrics for both the title track and the B-side, "Priceless (kaching kaching)", and she told JoongAng Daily she kept CGI out of the video so the visuals would feel grounded.

It was a quieter chart record than "body". It was also the more revealing one: a second single from an artist with a hit to protect, spent on showing what else she can do.

"FLIRTY"

August brought "FLIRTY" with Jay Park, her first collaboration single. The Korea Times traced the pairing to a surprise appearance during his set at the 2025 Melon Music Awards and a return to his Waterbomb stage on July 25. Starship describes it as pop with R&B and reggae touches over guitar-driven grooves, and credits DaYoung as co-writer on lyrics and music.

Speaking to Ones To Watch, which reported the track was recorded in LA, she named Brandy, Monica and Alicia Keys as the singers she grew up on. That lineage is audible across all three singles: the phrasing sits closer to late-90s R&B than to the group-pop she came from. Her own summary of the new song was simple: "This is the kind of music that feels like DAYOUNG."

What to watch

• Whether the "body" follow-up she has talked about arrives, and whether it pulls the R&B turn of the last two singles back into dance-pop.
• More collaborations. "FLIRTY" showed her voice holds up next to a seasoned duet partner.
• A full-length project. Three singles have mapped the range; a record would show whether it holds together.

The Herald framed her debut as a hopeful example for mid-tier idols aiming at solo careers. A year on, the better case for DaYoung is that she has stopped being an example of anything. She sounds like a solo artist with a plan, and the plan keeps changing shape on purpose.