Shin Ji-min, better known mononymously as Jimin, is a South Korean former rapper and singer. She was the leader and main rapper of the girl group AOA, which debuted in 2012 under FNC Entertainment. In 2015, Jimin was a semi-finalist in the first season of Unpretty Rapstar. During the show, she released several successful collaboration singles, most notably "Good Start" and "Puss". Following allegation of bullying by former bandmate Kwon Mina, Shin left the group and entertainment industry in July 2020.
On July 30, 2012, Shin made her debut as a leader of AOA on Mnet's M! Countdown with the song "Elvis" from their debut single album, Angels' Story. She is also part of band unit AOA Black, established in 2013. She wrote the rap for AOA Black's single "Moya".
As a soloist
In early 2015, Shin was part of the variety showUnpretty Rapstar, a spin-off of Show Me The Money. Unpretty Rapstar is a female rappers survival program. The show consists of a single-elimination competition through rap performances. During the show, Shin released a few collaboration singles, such as "T4SA" with MC Meta and Nuck. Her song with Seulong, "Good Start", was produced by Verbal Jint and peaked at number two on the Gaon Singles Chart. "Puss", her rap battle song with rapper Iron during the semi-finals, peaked at number one on the Gaon Singles Chart. She was also a cast member of the variety show Off to School for four episodes, beginning March 17, 2015. On April 28, Shin and J.Don released the collaboration single "God". The song was produced by Rhymer of Brand New Music as part of FNC Entertainment's N Project. The song's music video was based on Game of Thrones. Shin debuted as a soloist on March 3, 2016 with the single "Call You Bae", featuring Exo's Xiumin. The single is the first release of Shin's solo project #OOTD. In October 2017, Shin released the single "Hallelujah", a Latin-pop influenced dance track, a collaboration with magazine W Korea. Shin sung the OST for tvN's A Korean Odyssey together with Seo Yu-na, the song is called "If You Were Me" and it was released on January 28, 2018.
Personal life
Bullying allegations
On July 3, 2020, former AOA member Kwon Mina alleged in an Instagram post that Shin had bullied her for a decade, which led to her withdrawal from the group in 2019. She posted a photo of her scarred wrist and claimed to have attempted suicide as a result of the bullying. Shin reportedly responded to the accusations by posting the word "fiction" to her Instagram Stories before deleting it shortly after. Kwon criticized the post, stating, "Fiction? It's too scary to say it's fiction." The allegations led to Shin's departure from the group and the halt of all her activities in the entertainment industry.
