K-pop Group Weeekly Talks New Single,'Stranger,' Drawing Strength from Global Fandom (Exclusive)

As the continued popularity of K-pop seemingly continues towards its peak, yet another group is stepping out onto the global stage. Girl group Weeekly recently released their latest digital single, "Stranger," on Jan. 25 in both Korean and English.

The six members of Weeekly – Lee Soojin, Monday, Park Soeun, Lee Jaehee, Jihan, and Zoa – debuted in 2020 with an EP titled We are. Their unique charm and youthful energy appeal to audiences as relatable teenage girls.  In addition to having over one million Spotify listeners and an equally large Instagram following, the chart-topping group is gaining new fans every day.

As with every K-pop group, Weeekly's fans have been graced with an official name: Daileee. The fandom motto is, "Without 'Daileee (Daily)' 'Weeekly' cannot exist." And there appears to be a concerted effort to recruit as many new Daileee as possible.

"We're beyond excited to share this single with Weeekly's fans all over the world," said the group's management, IST Entertainment. "This release is a big part of expanding the popularity of the group globally and introducing them to a wider American audience."

In addition to their energetic performances, distinctive style, and impressive talent, Weeekly has become a household name in K-pop. PopCulture spoke with the group about their goal to reach a wider American audience with the release of their newest single. 

The acoustic song "Stranger," reflects Weeekly's ongoing struggles as they pursue their dreams. It shows their journey thus far and how they have overcome setbacks and pain through the loving support of their fans.

However, according to member Soeun, the inspiration for "Stranger" was themselves and their growth as a group. As there are two versions of the song, she added, each track somewhat differs from the other lyrically. "So, it'll be interesting for the fans to really look into the meaning of it," Soeun said.

"Stranger" was first unveiled as a surprise encore during the Weeekly University fan meeting in January. It was a special advance performance before any release of the song, and if there was any apprehension about how Daileee would receive the song, the group's fears were quickly assuaged.

"It was our first time trying an acoustic genre song like Stranger, so we were a little worried," Jihan said, "but the fans liked it a lot, and we were looking forward to when it would be released.  I heard a lot of good reactions and compliments, so I think there were a lot of things I was worried about. 

"There was also a bit of a fear about various genres, but through this pre-release, I think I was able to show a lot of a lot of self-confidence after the performance and after the feedback from the fans."

Exciting things are underway for Weeekly with plans for a U.S. tour happening this year, and Soeun said they are fervently practicing English so that they "will not feel that language barrier with the fans."

They are also working really hard to improve their performance and also have a very good chemistry with each other. Therefore, Weeekly are looking forward to showing that bond, the positive vibe, as well as some fun stories they share between them. 

It's that chemistry that sets them apart from other K-pop groups, Zoa said. "I think our relationship is one of the biggest competitive strengths the group has because we spend a lot of time together, almost 20 hours a day, we eat together, sleep together, we talk, and communicate a lot with each other. So that is really one of the biggest strengths we have."

As far as Weeekly's message to their new and existing fans worldwide through the single, Zoa said, "Weeekly and Daileee are each other's life, and also, it is meaningful to us.  This is our first English version, so I wish a lot of our love.  And we feel thankful that we wanna say thank you to our friends, so I hope it could stand well."