When GFriend disbanded in May 2021, it was devastating for the Buddy fandom and not an especially great time for the GFriend members themselves either, as we have addressed in detail in our explanation of when and why GFriend disbanded. However, when one story comes to an end, other stories begin. In the case of Yuju, the main vocalist of GFriend, the next big step was to become an independent soloist. On September 1, 2021, Kang Daniel’s Konnect Entertainment announced that it had signed an exclusive contract with Yuju, meaning her solo debut was imminent at last — so here is the exact answer as to when Yuju debuted as a soloist.

Yuju Made Her Solo Debut on January 18, 2022 with [REC.] and “놀이 (Play)”

Yuju made her solo debut on January 18, 2022 with the mini-album [REC.] and the lead song “놀이(Play).” The tracklist to [REC.] includes five songs in total: “Bad Blood(Intro),” “놀이(Play),” “겨우, 겨울 (Feat. 매드클라운)” (“Cold Winter” featuring Mad Clown), “데킬라(The Killa),” and “Blue Nostalgia.” “놀이(Play)” in particular was composed by MZMC, Yuju, and Chancellor, and Yuju also contributed to the lyrics. In fact, Yuju participated in the lyrics and composition of the entire album, with the exclusion of “Bad Blood(Intro),” where she only contributed lyrics. This marked a significant step forward for Yuju as an artist, though she had previously participated in the creation of a handful of GFriend songs.

The music video for “놀이(Play)” was released in tandem with the debut. Yuju went on to perform on a music show for the first time on January 20, 2022, with “놀이 (Play)” on M Countdown.

Yuju would enjoy various promotions and comebacks afterward, such as the single “이브닝 (Feat. BIG Naughty)” (“Evening”) and her second mini-album, O, which had the lead single, “Without U.” She naturally retains the full support of the GFriend members too, as illustrated when Sowon surprised Yuju with flowers during her O promotions.

In summary, Yuju made her debut as a soloist on January 18, 2022 with [REC.] and lead single “놀이(Play),” and more successful solo promotions followed from there. For more, check out how old all of the GFriend members currently are, or check out the full story behind when Viviz made their debut!