Nicknamed the “Korean Grammys,” the 38th Golden Disc Awards will take place on Jan. 6 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to honor the passion and talent that shone bright in the world of K-pop during the year of 2023.

Organized by the JoongAng Group, the Golden Disc Awards is considered one of the most prestigious awards in Korea with its unique format where dozens of nominees and multiple winners are chosen for three main categories — music, album and rookie of the year.

In this series, Golden 2023, the Korea JoongAng Daily’s entertainment arm Celeb Confirmed looks at K-pop’s biggest and brightest stars who are potential nominees, and their achievements this year.

I feel, I love, I burn: (G)I-DLE has marked itself down as one of the most talented girl groups in K-pop history, especially with its unapologetically empowering songs, true to being and loving oneself in this harsh and unforgiving world.

Helmed by the gifted and genius leader Soyeon, who writes all of the group's lead and most popular tracks, (G)I-DLE has released some of the biggest hits of the 2020s ever since its debut in 2018 with EP "I am," including "Lion" (2019), "Tomboy" (2022) and "Nxde" (2022).

The band has been continuously pushing the "I am who matters the most" concept from day one, which has been loved by not only fans but also listeners from all walks of life who become hooked on both the message of the group's songs and the catchy melody that delivers them.

This year, the band released its sixth EP "I feel" in May in Korea and two music in the United States — digital single "I Do" in July and special EP "Heat" in October.

"I feel" the love with (G)I-DLE

(G)I-DLE's sixth EP "I feel" dropped on May 15 with six tracks, led by pop dance track "Queencard," and U.S. EP "Heat" dropped on Oct. 6.

The album had sold 1.11 million copies by the time a week had passed, making it the fourth highest-selling K-pop girl group album at the time. "Queencard" was streamed over 226,000 times within just 24 hours on Melon and over 838,000 times on Spotify.

The album has landed (G)I-DLE eight nominations at the upcoming 2023 MAMA Awards, including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

The girl group's first English album "Heat" sat at No. 25 on the Billboard 200 albums chart after selling 22,000 albums in the United States, the highest ranking for the girl group.

Soyeon recently dropped a collaboration single with Winter of aespa and Liz of IVE titled "Nobody" on Nov. 16 to support Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

(G)I-DLE “I feel” (May 15, 2023)

First-day album sales of "I feel": 689,500

First-week album sales of “I feel”: “1,116,300

First-day streaming of lead track "Queencard" on Spotify: 838,565

Music video for “Queencard” on YouTube: 266,861,796 (as of Nov. 21)

Major nominations: 2023 MAMA Awards (Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Worldwide Fans’ Choice, Best Female Group, Best Dance Performance Female Group, Best Music Video, Best Collaboration for Minnie and Anne-Marie’s “Expectations”)

Other: No. 41 on Billboard 200, No. 25 on Billboard 200 (U.S. EP “Heat”)

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]