Ever since earning the moniker “summer queen” following a Watebomb appearance in 2023, singer Kwon Eun-bi has been a fixture of the summer festival season. But Kwon is eager to expand beyond that persona, believing she still has much more to offer as an artist.
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“I am truly grateful to be known as the ‘summer queen’ of Waterbomb, and it is amazing to be someone people associate with summer,” Kwon said during a roundtable interview in eastern Seoul on Monday, ahead of the release of her single “Dejavu” on Thursday.
“But I also thought, ‘Shouldn’t I present something new and more diverse?’” she continued. “And because appearance plays such an important role [on those occasions], I sometimes felt that the way I looked received more attention than my music.”
That is why Kwon’s priority with the new single — her first release since leaving longtime agency Woollim Entertainment and joining RBW in April — was to put the focus firmly back on her music.
Though the French term “déjà vu” appears frequently in K-pop, Kwon believes her latest single offers something listeners have yet to see from her.
“Onstage, I have always focused on putting on intense spectacles,” Kwon said. “But this time, I came up with a song that feels more emotionally delicate and relaxing, which is also something I really love.”
Kwon’s latest single, “Dejavu,” comes a year and a half after her previous release, “Hello Stranger” (2025). The song is a dreamy disco pop with laid-back vocals, a departure from her usual faster-paced songs with signature soaring high notes, such as her biggest hit, “Underwater” (2022).
The release also marks her first new single since joining RBW in April. Kwon said her primary reason for joining the company was to place greater emphasis on music, and that the move has allowed her to have candid discussions about her musical identity and direction.
“I’m happy with the single because I’ve always wanted to try this genre,” she said, adding that she was the one who chose the song to be her new single. “What made me particularly happy was that the single captured me as more of my natural self.”
Kwon debuted as a singer in 2014 and later became a member of the project girl group IZ*ONE from 2018 to 2021, which was formed through the Mnet audition show “Produce 48” (2018). After the group disbanded in 2021, Kwon pursued her solo career, releasing EPs “Open” (2021) and “Lethality” (2022).
Her major breakthrough came at the Waterbomb festival in 2023, when footage of her performance went viral on social media and earned her the summer queen title.
Since then, she returned to the festival for three consecutive years through last year.
Kwon acknowledged that she sometimes feels pressure when people expect her to release summer songs or wonder why she is not active during the season. Still, she neither shies away from her association with Waterbomb nor feels particularly burdened by the moniker itself.
“I think it comes down to confident, bright energy on stage,” she said, when asked what defines a summer queen. “I believe the biggest appeal comes from how I interact with the crowd on stage and lead the energy.”
Still, Kwon wants listeners to recognize the versatility of the voice behind her charismatic stage persona.
“When I started out as a vocalist, I wasn’t very confident because dancing was my specialty at the time,” she said. “Though I feel that I have grown a lot since then, filling three minutes with a range of emotions without boring listeners is very difficult — and now, I think I have become better at achieving that with this single.”
Kwon now hopes to find another song that resonates with a wider audience, saying she wants “Dejavu” to make it onto the charts.
She recently visited Mexico as part of the cheering team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and also performed in Turkey for Istanbul Festivali in August. Kwon said she hopes to further expand her ventures overseas.
“The passion and excitement were no joke,” she said, recalling her recent visits. “After experiencing such an intense energy and atmosphere, I came to want to perform more on such large festivals.”
