i-dle's YUQI Returns With Solo Mini-Album 27 Over a Year After Motivation

i-dle's YUQI is returning to her solo career with her second mini-album, 27 (二十七), set for release on October 8 at 1 p.m. KST across major streaming platforms. The comeback lands roughly thirteen months after her 2025 single Motivation and carries the full weight of a debut that shifted over half a million copies in its first week.

Cube Entertainment revealed an artwork teaser on the 23rd built around a single image: the number 27 engraved on a nail tip. It's a quietly striking visual choice, and it came accompanied by a line that reads something like this in English: "At twenty-seven, like a sunflower that turns its back on its own shadow and grows toward only the sun, it is the time that hides the deepest worries behind the brightest smile." The message positions the album as YUQI's most personal work yet, a portrait of being 27, with all the contradictions that age carries.

What she's already built

YUQI's solo run has been defined by numbers that don't happen often. Her debut mini-album YUQ1 crossed 550,000 copies in first-week sales, landing her in half-million-seller territory. The lead single FREAK then spent 100 consecutive weeks on Tencent Music's Korea chart, a record that had never been set before. When Motivation followed in September 2025, every track on it was self-written, a signal that she was moving toward shaping her own sound rather than just performing it.

Her profile in the Chinese market has grown well beyond chart statistics. The digital single Radio (Dum-Dum) held a TOP 10 position on Tencent Music for 79 straight weeks. A feature on NOWZ's track Fly Freely hit number one on QQ Music's new release chart. She was named Tencent Music's Woman of the Year and became the first foreign female idol to be elevated to full membership of the Korea Music Copyright Association, a distinction that reflects her role as a songwriter rather than simply a performer.

The fan-con circuit

Alongside the album, YUQI will hold 2026 YUQI Fan-Con '27' across four major Chinese cities: Guangzhou, Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai. The tour name carries the same number as the album, tying the live experience directly to the record's concept. City-by-city scheduling and ticketing details are set to follow through official channels.

For fans who have watched YUQI develop from group member to solo artist to credited songwriter and now Tencent award recipient, 27 arrives at a moment when the expectations on both sides feel genuinely earned. The sunflower turns toward the light, and apparently has a lot to say about what it leaves behind.