Sori (singer)

Kim So-ri was born on July 21, 1990 in Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea.[1] As a teenager, she migrated to Japan for her secondary education.[2] Additionally, she became a cheerleader at her high school, which became the "base experience that made her yearn for the stage."[2] Following three years in college, Kim returned to South Korea to pursue a career as a singer, where she signed with the South Korean entertainment company Mol Entertainment in 2013.[2] She debuted as an actress the following year in KBS2's romantic comedy television series Hi! School: Love On, in which she portrayed a high school student.[2]

Sori in February 2016

Following three years of training, Kim debuted under the mononym Sori as one-half of the duo CocoSori with the single "Dark Circle" on January 4, 2016.[1] The duo's image was compared to the girl group Crayon Pop due to their similar musical direction and unconventional music videos.[3] CocoSori auditioned to become members of the project girl group Real Girls Project on May 6, 2016,[4] resulting in Sori scoring a spot in the group.[5] The group debuted with the single "Dream" on August 24, 2016.[6] Consequently, she was billed as one of the main cast members of Amazon Video's musical drama television series The Idolmaster KR, a South Korean adaption of the video game series of the same name.[7][8] The series premiered on April 28, 2017 and ran for twenty-four episodes prior to its conclusion on October 6, 2017.[9]

Alongside former Real Girls Project groupmates Heo Young-joo, Lee Ye-eun, and Yukika Teramoto, Sori competed as one of Mol Entertainment's four representatives in JTBC's reality television competition Mix Nine, during which she became the subject of controversy following a comment made by the judge Yang Hyun-suk regarding her age and the state of her career.[10] She released a single titled "To Myself" in the midst of the controversy on November 5, 2017.[11] Sori ultimately finished in seventh place in a field of ninety-seven female competitors and therefore became a member of the final female team during the final episode on January 26, 2018.[12] However, the female team was defeated by the male team for the opportunity to debut, where the former garnered 7,866 points against the latter's 8,114 points.[13]

Sori announced her debut as a solo artist through her official YouTube channel on July 31, 2018.[14] She launched a Makestar project in order to fund the expenses of her debut on August 1, 2018.[15] The project ultimately concluded on August 28, 2018 with over $20,000 raised by approximately 250 supporters.[16] Sori's debut single titled "Touch", featuring the rapper Basick, was released on September 4, 2018 in conjunction with the premiere of its music video.[17] The song was arranged, composed, and penned by the record producer Gamen Rider.[17] The music video was directed by the film director Hong Won-gi of the video production company Zanybros.[18] "Touch" was performed for the first time during its showcase held at the Dongja Art Hall in Seoul, South Korea on the day of its release.[19] The single enjoyed minor commercial success, where its physical version debuted and peaked at number 49 on the Gaon Album Chart.[20] To promote the single, Sori performed on music programs and radio programs, and held street performances as well. A Japanese version of the "Touch" was released as her debut single in Japan on November 14, 2018,[21] with the music video premiering two days later.[22] The Japanese version was performed for the first time during its showcase, which was held for four days at the HMV flagship in Harajuku, Shibuya.[23]

Sori launched a Kickstarter project on December 7, 2018 in order to fund the expenses of her sophomore release.[24] Throughout its run, she documented herself preparing the rewards for the supporters of the project on her YouTube channel.[24] The project concluded on December 21, 2018 with over ¥3,000,000 raised by around 260 supporters.[24] The music video for the song titled "I'm Ready", featuring the rapper Jaehyun, subsequently premiered ahead of its release.[25] It was directed by the film director Kyotaro Hayashi.[25] The single was ultimately released on December 26, 2018 through several music portals. "I'm Ready" was composed and penned by Gamen Rider, who previously worked on "Touch".[26] Promotions for the single were held the following month due to the holiday season, which included a collaborative performance with the internet personality StarTy in Hongdae, Seoul.[27] "I'm Ready" was re-released on February 8, 2019 in Japan prior to Sori's first fanmeet titled ''SoriNation in Japan", which was held on February 11, 2019 at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Kanagawa.[28] The fanmeet was presented by the singer Miho Miyazaki,[29] while choreographers MikuNana and former Real Girls Project groupmate Lee Su-ji appeared as guests.[28][30] The single debuted and peaked at number 126 on the Oricon Singles Chart.[31]

Sori in November 2018

Following CocoSori's disbandment on March 6, 2019,[32] Sori became the host of a segment titled Sori Action for TBS' variety show Fact in Star.[33] Its first episode premiered on March 13, 2019, in which she analysed the music video of "Noir" by the singer Sunmi.[34] Sori subsequently became a cast member of Channel J's travel documentary Travel to Ibaraki Without Knowing Japanese, which premiered its first episode on April 20, 2019.[35] She announced that she will be releasing a collaboration with the record producer Folded Dragons as her third single through her official Patreon page on May 17, 2019.[36] A Kickstarter project was subsequently launched in order to fund the expenses of the single, which ran from May 23, 2019 until June 20, 2019.[37] The project concluded with approximately ¥1,900,000 raised by 245 supporters.[37] Sori revealed the title of the song as "I Am Not Alone" with an accompanying still from its music video on July 1, 2019.[38] The single was ultimately released in conjunction with the premiere of its performance-oriented music video on July 10, 2019.[39] It was directed by the film director Park Sang-won of the Zanybros.[40] "I Am Not Alone" was arranged and penned by the rapper Grace under the pseudonym Storm.[41] Sori became a cast member of the second season of Mnet's reality television series Somebody,[42] which premiered its first episode on October 18, 2019.[42] She subsequently performed at the series' joint concert titled "Some Days" and "Some Nights", which was held on January 18, 2020 at the Sangmyung Art Center in Hongji-dong, Jongno District.[43]

Sori made a cameo appearance as a jazz club singer in the fourth episode of OCN's television series Rugal, which premiered on April 5, 2020.[44]