Rhyme Report

Published on November 17th, 2019 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

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DJ Soda, Ducky and JVNA remix hit song “EMPIRE” by Wengie ft Minnie of (G)I-DLE

One of YouTube’s most-subscribed stars, WENGIE, who collaborated with K-pop recording artist MINNIE of (G)I-DLE on their latest single ‘EMPIRE’ has reimagined the track with three epic remixes. The dynamic duo’s powerhouse vocals are transformed by three of dance music’s most elite female crew: DJ’s Ducky, JVNA and Soda. The girl-power anthem debuted last week at #22 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart and is the first-ever single entry into the chart for both WENGIE and MINNIE. The track received over one million streams on Spotify in less than a month and sparked a movement with its ear-catching trap-style beats. The official remixes are all released today worldwide on digital streaming platforms.

The original version has four official versions of the song: English, Hybrid (English and Korean), Korean, and instrumental. While a K-pop song at heart, “EMPIRE” represents female empowerment and unity as all artists involved have different global backgrounds: WENGIE is Chinese-Australian, MINNIE hails from Thailand, DJ Soda is Korean, DJ Ducky is San Francisco-bred and DJ JVNA is LA-based.

Listen to EMPIRE remixes by DJ’s Ducky, JVNA, and Soda

Credit Wengie

Photo Credit Wengie

WENGIE: This song is all about empowerment and community coming together. I’m so honored to have such talented female artists like DJ SODA, DUCKY, and JVNA add their unique touches on the remixes of ‘EMPIRE’.”

Credit by Morgan Neiman

Credit by Morgan Neiman

Ducky: “The whole point of this remix is to make you lose your mind! I was so excited when they sent over the stems for this – I knew what I wanted to make right away, because it’s this totally badass song and I could also hear how cute it would be when I sped it up. Cute and badass, my exact vibe! So it’s this total hyperspeed turn-up track, but still a battle anthem for when you came to flex. I’m so stoked to premiere my remix for ‘EMPIRE’ – check it out!”.

Credit by Marlo Coloma

Credit by Marlo Coloma

JVNA: “Huge shout out to WENGIE & MINNIE for letting me remix this one. I took an emotional and bass-heavy approach with this track. It is a badass experience being able to remix such an empowering song for two dope female role models I look up to.”

Credit by Jinveun

Credit by Jinveun

Soda: “I participated in the remix because I thought that meeting with global creator WENGIE, and MINNIE, a member of (G)I-DLE, the most popular girl group in the k-pop scene these days, was worth a collaboration. The song blends well under the theme of Girl Crush, even as the two artists’ solid identities are felt. Anyone exposed to this music and video will be able to directly feel through the eyes and ears that the new paradigm of K-pop has arrived.”

Ducky is a San Francisco-bred, Los Angeles-based producer and DJ who has been playing clubs since she was 13 (via fake ID vibes). For years she has been quietly shaping her distinct sound-a range of melodic pop tunes and heavy rave bangers that stretch from uplifting to headbanging to full-on hardcore. After moving to the West Coast from New York on a whim, Ducky quickly bubbled up in both the Los Angeles scene as well as online, boasting releases on Twitch star Ninja’s collaborative compilation with Astralwerks, Zeds Dead’s Deadbeats, and Jauz’s Bite This, to name a few. She easily moves through musical roles, premiering an Adult Swim select on Fader one day, throwing a sold out warehouse show in LA the next. Ducky’s sound is able to transcend any one scene, with her music’s raw emotionality and top-tier production earning cosigns ranging from Skrillex to NPR Music. And her skills aren’t limited to a laptop – 2019 marks the debut of Ducky Live, a glittery combo of angelic live vocals, an iconic pink electric guitar, and IRL star shaped drums you have to see to believe. With a slew of next-level releases in the pipeline and a killer new live show to match, Ducky’s genre-free journey is just getting started.

JVNA is the moniker of Jana, a 22-year-old LA based producer who is constantly blurring the lines between heart pounding and melodic music. Emerging in 2016 and crafting emotional productions ever since, she found initial success with her releases of “Waterfall” and a cover of Kingdom Heart’s “Dearly Beloved Sweater Weather”. She has continued to release video game themed covers alongside her originals, following this trend with her recent rendition of Skrillex’s “Face My Fears”. In early 2019, JVNA released her single “Catch Me” on Proximity and subsequently announced her debut Catch Me tour. Being graced with the cover of Spotify’s Friday Cratediggers playlist and racking up millions of streams across Spotify and YouTube alone, JVNA will continue to take the future by storm, captivating new and old fans alike along the way.

SODA embarked on her journey to become a world star DJ in 2013, shortly after giving up musical acting to focus all her efforts into DJing. She has been a loyal fan of hip-hop ever since she heard ‘Eastside LB’ by the Twinz, as a child. Her obsession with hip-hop wasn’t only about the music, but also about the culture surrounding Nike Jordan’s and street fashion. Soda’s background in stage performances aided her development of her signature stage move, the ‘Flute Dance’, which instantly went viral and accumulated millions of views on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media. Utilizing her adorable and charming appearance, Soda has a stable modelling career which funded her beginning as a DJ. She has modelled for a variety of global brands such as Bourjois, Pringles, Nike, Maxim, and etc. Soda, as a DJ, is capable of mesmerizing audiences unfamiliar with hip-hop, by mixing in tracks of other genres. She constantly communicates and energizes the audience with her enigmatic personality. Soda truly understands the art of DJing. Soda’s colorful journey as a bright, energetic and curious person, has come together, and we can proudly say, ‘She is the complete package’.

Courtesy of CUBE Entertainment

Courtesy of CUBE Entertainment

Superstar MINNIE is the main vocalist for (G)I-DLE, a South-Korean multinational girl group formed by powerhouse CUBE Entertainment. The group’s breakout hit “LATATA” which has recently surpassed 133 million views, has become an instant hit and landing a music show win on South Korea MTV’s “The Show” within a month of debuting. For their second single, “HANN (Alone)” bolstered their success and earned them 10 awards that year including the “Rookie of the Year” title at the Asia Artist Awards and Korea’s Golden Disk Awards in 2018. One of the biggest collaborations to date for the group is with “League of Legends” for “K/DA – POP/STARS” with the music video currently at 270 million views and counting.

WENGIE is a leading representation of the female artist as one of YouTube’s most-subscribed personalities and pop music recording artist, with nearly 20 million YouTube subscribers and more than 20 million combined following across all socials. WENGIE’s music skyrocketed to the top of the charts with the six singles she released in a period of just 12 months and has accumulated over 2.1 billion views on her YouTube channels to date. WENGIE’s most recent collaboration with Filipino pop star Iñigo Pascual for “Mr. Nice Guy” climbed to the #1 spot on two separate charts in the Philippines in June 2019.


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About the Author

Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.


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