Category: K-POP ARTISTS

When K-pop idols leave their agencies, fans usually assume that there’s something about the way the idol concerned was treated by the agency that eventually led to the decision to part ways. Such is the case with all members of GOT7 and JYP Entertainment, when it became blatant that the members were discouraged in terms of growing and developing artistically by the agency itself.  But is this the case with everyone who has left JYPE? Not really, if we are to examine three cases. 

What Remains a Mystery Up to This Day: HyunA

If you know HyunA as the sexy rapper who is in a relationship with E’Dawn and is currently promoting with him as a duo under Psy’s PNation label, then you must be a 4th Gen stan. If you know HyunA as the most popular member of the Cube Entertainment girl group 4Minute, then you are a late 2nd Gen stan. But if you are one of those who is not wondering what HyunA is doing in an article about female idols leaving JYP Entertainment and knows exactly why she is first to be named, then you are quite the early adapter! That’s because our Bubble Pop girl is actually one of the earliest female idols that Park Jinyoung’s company debuted in a girl group – yes, HyunA was one of the original members of the Wonder Girls!

In 2006, JYP announced that HyunA will be the main rapper of Wonder Girls. She participated in the group’s debut mini-album The Wonder Begins, which was released in February 2007, and was also part of the group’s television show MTV Wonder Girls for two seasons. If you’re not convinced, have a look at the music video for Irony, the group’s first single: 

See the girl in yellow with the shoulder-length bowl-cut hair who was first to play with the voodoo doll that manipulated the cheating guy? Yes, that’s HyunA. Aside from participating in the group’s initial promotions, she also co-hosted Show! Music Core with her groupmate Sohee and Fly to the Sky singer Brian Joo from May to June of 2007. Then, unfortunately, it was her parents who pulled out the then-15-year old from the group in July, as they were getting more concerned about her health when she experienced chronic gastroenteritis and fainting spells during her time training and promoting with the group.

But then, the next year, it was revealed that HyunA had joined another company, Cube Entertainment. In May 2009, it was announced that she would debut as part of the girl group 4Minute and only two months later, the group debuted with the single Hot Issue. Well, considering the record label changes that went rather quickly, people can’t help but wonder whether the group’s song can also refer to HyunA being a center of this “hot issue” of leaving JYP Entertainment because of health reasons only to return to the biz, but in a different company. 

As there weren’t too many idols in 2007, any news about K-pop singers, particularly idol group members which was then still a novel concept was a big deal. Thus, when HyunA left the Wonder Girls, people were shocked and the press has a field day. Also because there weren’t a lot of female idols that rapped, fans were quite invested in her. When it was known that she joined another entertainment agency after leaving JYP, people were suspicious of her reasons for leaving JYP in the first place. Did she really suffer from health problems? If she did, then why would she return to the music industry and join a different company? 

To make matters more interesting, it was also revealed that Cube Entertainment, which at that time was a very new company, was formed by Hong Seung-sung (aka Simon Hong), who was JYP Entertainment’s former president. So, was it a matter of talent piracy, where CEO Hong asked HyunA to feign health issues so she can leave WG and JYPE, only to resurface a bit later when the issue of her departure cools down, with his company? Or was there a conflict with HyunA (which at that time may have been represented by her parents since she was still very much a minor) and JYPE, with the former favoring leaving the company and joining Hong’s company rather than staying?  All parties, JYPE, HyunA, and Cube have stuck to the health issue narrative all these years. 

And we may never know if the “absolute truth” behind this because well, HyunA’s relationship with Cube has practically died, bridges burned and all following the company’s dismissal of her and then-Pentagon member E’Dawn when the two admitted to their romantic relationship. I’m not sure if Korea has a memoir culture where celebrities commit to “tell-alls” about their public life once they shun the limelight and settle into a more private existence, but something tells me there will be no HyunA, JYP, or CEO Hong biography in the future that will dish everything on what really went on during the early days of Wonder Girls and 4Minute. But we can always dream, eh?     

Differences in Artistic Expression: Sunmi

One thing’s for sure: HyunA didn’t leave her first girl group and the company because of squabbling or conflict among the members of the Wonder Girls. Since becoming a part of 4Minute and launching her solo career, she has been seen interacting with her former groupmates in music shows and industry events. One of these events was when Sunmi, who was about to promote her first single after leaving JYP, Gashina, coincided with HyunA’s promotion of her 6th EP, Following, with the single Babe. Both were seen on music shows being cozy with each other, like long-lost friends who are catching up with each other’s lives. So, fans were pretty much assured that HyunA and the Wonder Girls have never gotten into conflicts. Which leads us to Sunmi, one of the OG WGs who has had an inconsistent relationship with JYPE. 

Sunmi has stayed loyal to the company despite having had to take breaks from promoting with the Wonder Girls. From 2006 to 2009, even with their controversial promotional activities in the US, where she changed her name to Mimi, she was a dependable part of the group. However, in 2010, the company announced that Sunmi would be taking an academic break to focus on her studies and on developing her talents. However, they were quick to clarify that Sunmi would still be a talent of JYP Entertainment and that there were no concrete plans on when Sunmi will return to the Wonder Girls, if at all.

Sunmi did go to university during her academic break, studying in Dongguk University while receiving additional training with JYP. She claimed that she was only a trainee for more or less one year when she was included in the Wonder Girls line-up, so the whole time, she felt that she was pretty much lacking in a lot of skills. But while studying in university and getting additional training, Sunmi actually returned to her music career in 2013, but not to the Wonder Girls, as JYPE promoted her as a solo artist. Her solo career took off amazingly, as her debut single 24 Hours achieved an all-kill on music charts. She released an EP not long after, with Full Moon equaling her debut single’s achievements. 

The following year, JYP Entertainment announced that Sunmi would be back as a WG after five years, which also coincided with the group’s return after a two-year hiatus. The group returned as a band, with Sunmi as bassist. The group’s comebacks were received warmly by the fans, who had no trouble appreciating the group’s band concept. Though the EP Reboot did not sell as well as their group’s previous albums and EPs, the singles I Feel You and Why So Lonely peaked at #3 and 1, respectively, with sales of over 800,000 copies for both singles. 

Alas, at the start of 2017, it was announced that the group was disbanding after negotiations with Sunmi and Yeeun for their contract renewals broke down. The girls released a final single on their tenth anniversary in February before going their separate ways. The next month, Sunmi signed with Makeus Entertainment, which at that time only had guitarist Park Won and the R&B trio Urban Zakapa on their portfolio. As an old adage goes, the rest is Gashina history. 

The transfer of Sunmi to MakeUs (which has since then been acquired by ABYSS Company and has welcomed another former JYP talent GOT7‘s Bambam and former 2NE1 member Dara into their fold) is a bit weird, considering that JYP has already launched her as a soloist in 2013, successfully at that. So, why did she leave JYP? The thing is, she may have just disagreed to continuing with the Wonder Girls and still be under JYP as a soloist, as she already had experience on that since 2013. She didn’t have to leave the company, right? 

An interview in the popular talk show Radio Star may hold some answers to the questions regarding Sunmi’s decision to part ways with the agency. For one, she had objections to the signature vocal technique JYP evangelizes (well, to some, more of “force,” actually) to all his idols: the half-voice, half-air technique. It is known in the Korean music industry that this technique is something JYP himself applies and he prefers to listen to with the idols under his wing, as he feels that technique produces a sound that people can’t help but be fond of. Alas, Sunmi, as with a lot of former and even current JYP idols does not really agree with her boss’ preference. She thought she wanted to experiment with producing an airier sound or a more solid sound, depending on which fits a song. This dissent, of course, is not really allowed in JYPE, where Park Jinyoung ultimately has the final say in a lot of creative decisions. 

Speaking of creative decisions, she also narrated her experience during the time she promoted 24 Hours, her second single as a soloist in JYP. Park Jinyoung instructed her to have a plain, expressionless face on both the music video and her live stage performances as he thought a no-makeup look fit the song best. Sumni was not comfortable with the concept, as she does not feel confident without makeup and false eyelashes that leaves her with a pale look. She expressed her disapproval of JYP’s instruction, but in the end, she obviously had to give way to him. 

Finally, when the hosts pointed out that those where idols cannot object to JYP’s instructions are known throughout the industry as a reason why artists who have already worked with JYP are not planning on working with him ever again. Sunmi agreed and when asked if this issue also applies to her, she demurely agreed as well. Suffice to say that even if there was no animosity between her and her former company, particularly JYP himself, we may never see a time when Sunmi will ever record a JYP song ever again. 

Differences in Career Direction: Suzy

Suzy’s involvement with K-pop can be tracked back to the year 2009, when she auditioned for Mnet’s Superstar K. Though she qualified through the preliminary round, she was ultimately eliminated in the succeeding rounds. However, a talent scout from JYP Entertainment noticed and invited her to audition for then company. She agreed and soon enough, she became a JYP Entertainment trainee. Things went fast for her as the next year, she was chosen as a member of the company’s second ever girl group, Miss A. 

Suzy’s fast rise to fame cannot only be owed to her activities as a member of Miss A, and soon enough, she was constantly selected as an emcee or host of special events such as award ceremonies and concerts. In  October of 2010, Suzy became a fixed host for MBC Show! Music Core with T-ara‘s Jiyeon and SHINee‘s Minho and Onew. After that, she was selected to host other events such as the Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and Mnet 20’s Choice Awards, where she also took home an award for “Hot New Star of 2011”. Apart from her hosting gigs, she also started a career in acting, debuting in the musical teen drama Dream High, which she co-starred with labelmates Wooyoung and Taecyeon of 2PM, T-ara‘s Eunjung, IU, and Kim Soohyun.

Suzy slowly and surely earned recognition as a visual, not particularly as an acting rookie with strong thespian skills.  At the KBS Drama Awards, Suzy won the Best New Actress award as well as Best Couple award with co-star Kim Soo-hyun. She continued appearing on TV as a cast member in KBS TV reality show Invincible Youth 2. Soon enough, she made her film debut with Architecture 101. But even if her acting skills were up for debate, there was no question that Suzy was a certified star. After all, nobody in Korean showbiz has ever won a singer rookie award, drama rookie award, film rookie award, and variety rookie award in his or her first two years in the entertainment industry. Her popularity outside of Korea was also confirmed when in September 2016, Suzy’s became the first Korean female celebrity to receive a wax likeness of herself at Madame Tussauds.

Alas, with Suzy’s established popularity, fans pointed out that the group Miss A had become more of a “Suzy and Friends Group,” a distinction that is given to groups with a member that is grossly more popular than the other members or in some cases a member who is given preferential treatment by the company over the other members who as a result, appear disregarded or overlooked. Thus, you have groups like “HyunA and Friends” (4Minute), “Hyolyn and Friends” (SISTAR), and lately, “Solbin and Friends” (LABOUM), and “Sejeong and Friends” (Gugudan). But at that time, it appeared that JYPE was impervious to these opinions, although they sort of dispelled them by making Chinese member Fei the first solo artist from the group. 

However, it wasn’t too long before Suzy also had her solo debut with the album Yes? No? as its title. She achieved an all-kill on music charts with a pre-release single, Pretend. The title track, Yes, No, Maybe was released a week after. Besides, the public already had a taste of Suzy doing her own thing outside the group when she sang a duet with EXO‘s Baehyun entitled Dream, which peaked at #1 in the Gaon Digital Charts. 

On December 27, following the announcement of Min’s departure, JYP Entertainment announced that Miss A had disbanded, although Suzy renewed her contract with the company.  She had a comeback the next month with Faces of Love, whose pre-release track entitled In Love with Someone Else gave Suzy a real-time all kill. The next year, Suzy left JYP Entertainment following the expiration of her contract and quickly joined  acting agency Management SOOP.She has since then starred in numerous K-dramas, the latest being the 2020 show Start-Up. 

With Suzy, it appears fair to assume that the two parties have diverging goals. Suzy has made it clear that she has shifted to an acting career, while JYP is still pretty much a record label and an agency of singer-idols who may have side gigs in acting. Thus, you have Taecyeon, who has also left JYP but still part of 2PM because he is now more active as an actor than a singer/rapper. Compare that to Wooyoung, Nickhun, and Junho, who although have numerous acting jobs are still very active in promoting their music as solo artists. Suzy, like Taecyeon, have not focused on their music careers since leaving JYPE, proving that they really want to establish their careers in television and film. Unfortunately, JYP may not be the best company to support their career goals. 

There are more artists who have left JYPE in mysterious circumstances, such as Produce 101 winner Somi, who was reported to be a part of ITZY before her departure (rumor has it that she wanted to debut as a solo artist, something JYPE didn’t allow); another Wonder Girls member Sohee who left JYPE before the group disbanded, supposedly to focus on growing her acting career; former 15& member Jimin (who is now signed with Warner Music Korea as a solo artist), to name a few. 

It is also interesting to note that as mentioned earlier, JYPE has really recalibrated its focus towards supporting musical artists, which coincidentally has taken place after all the company’s actors (e.g., Choi Wooshik of Parasite  fame and Park Gyuyoung, who we can watch currently in Dali and Cocky Prince) have left the company altogether from 2018 to 2019. So, if you look at JYPE’s current roster of artists, there’s not a single actor or actress left, only idols with acting gigs, like Wooyoung and Junho as mentioned earlier. Although the company has received a lot of backlash last year with GOT7’s mass exodus, Day6 Jae’s online meltdowns, and TWICE’s spotty performance, we can still hope that the company gets its act together and protect its current artists such as ITZY and Stray Kids.

Featured Image: Youtube Screengrab from Sunmi- Gashina MV

If you are a K-pop fan, no matter which generation, chances are you have at the very least heard of Apink. Second-generation Kpop fans have witnessed the group’s steady rise to stardom and their longevity that has allowed them to get past the much-dreaded “7-year curse” that unfortunately, a lot of their contemporaries fell victim to. For the more recent generation of Kpop followers, Apink is synonymous with a group successfully accomplishing an image overhaul because these fans swear they could remember hearing Apink popularizing teenybopper songs only to see them mount once a year comebacks with rather sophisticated hits like Eung Eung, I’m So Sick, and Dumhdurum. 

One of the only few remaining 2nd gen groups that continue to be active up to now, they have survived the 7-year curse, line-up changes, contract renewals, their entertainment company’s several name changes (yes, their company have changed their business name thrice in a span of eleven years), and concept changes. Dubbed as the “fairy idols of k-pop”, the group has stuck with a sweet and innocent image for most of their careers, only implementing major changes in recent years. 

So, how is it that this relatively scandal-free, durable, and long-lasting girl group is suddenly sending tongues a-wagging after releasing a special album of their 10th year as a group in 2022 when they’re only two months shy from celebrating their 11th year? Here is a breakdown of Apink‘s 10-to-11 year saga in three acts.

Act One: The Age of Innocence

The year was 2011. The second generation of K-pop idols dominated the airwaves, with intense rivalries, defections, and contracts getting violated left and right. It was during this time when the Big 3 entertainment companies introduced idols that became iconic and built the foundation of what was to be at the time the biggest attack of the Hallyu wave not just in Korea but in Asian countries and even America. SM had TVXQ!, SHINee, Super Junior, f(x), and Girls’ Generation, while YG countered with BIGBANG and 2NE1, and not to be outdone, JYP promoted 2AM and 2PM, Wonder Girls, and had just also introduced Miss A.

There were groups that stood their ground and built huge followings as well — INFINITE, B2st, MBLAQ, Teen TopKara, SISTAR, Jewelry, T-ARA, After School, 4Minute, and Secret, to name a few. Considering that these groups didn’t have as secure a support machinery as the ones mentioned earlier, that means that their success was really a big deal. To survive the industry and rise into household name despite not having a giant entertainment label to back them and the intense competition with hundreds of new groups debuting with them, all hoping to avoid being “nugus“, is no easy feat at all. The groups mentioned earlier proved that it can be done. However, by this time, the k-pop scene was already starting to get saturated, so it would take a number of factors such as a great mix of members, a concept that would click with the masses, and songs that the public would enjoy to survive and eventually thrive at that time. 

So, when Cube Entertainment toyed with the idea of producing a new girl group even with the ongoing success of B2st and 2Minute on their table, it could be said that they pulled a considerable number of stops to ensure the success of the group they will be introducing to the public. In February 2011, Cube Entertainment announced the first trainee for this new girl group, Son Naeun, who the public was already familiar due to B2st‘s Soom, Beautiful,  and Niga Jeil Joha music videos in late 2010, followed by Park Chorong, who appeared at the end of B2st‘s Shock Japanese music video. She was immediately announced as the group’s leader. By this time, the company also announced that a special and autonomous subsidiary named A Cube has been established to focus on the development of this new group, to be known as Apink. They also announced the third member, Oh Hayoung, a rather tall and mature-looking trainee who apparently was going to debut as Apink‘s maknae while still in middle school. 

Eunji, the main vocalist was later revealed to have been offered a vocal coach job with Cube before being considered as a member of Apink, which was why she had only been training for close to two months before the revelation. She was introduced as the fourth member on A Cube’s Twitter account through a video of her singing a rendition of Jennifer Hudson’s Love You I Do before Yookyung was similarly announced through an online video where she was playing the piano. The last two members, Bomi and Namjoo, were introduced through the group’s reality show, Apink News.

Apink News, a documentary detailing a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of the group’s creation and various training activities leading to their debut proved to be a stroke of genius. One, although the show was aired on a cable channel, the viewing public was very familiar with the celebrities who acted as hosts and MCs introducing the various videos and portions of the show — G.NA, Mario, MBLAQ‘s Seung Ho, and G.O, Beast, 4Minute, 2AM‘s Jinwoon, Secret’s Sunhwa and Hyosung. The viewers were also given a look at the intense preparations of the members before the group was launched, which made the members very relatable and familiar as even before they debuted. The viewers were already familiar with the strengths, weaknesses, and personality quirks of all seven members. Finally, a week before the group’s official debut, their first TV commercial for Ceylon Tea was released, so with all these pre-debut activities, the public was at the very least, vaguely familiar with Apink. 

Alas, when Apink‘s debut EP, Seven Springs of Apink, and the music video for its lead single, Mollayo was released on April 19, 2011, there was not a lot of awkwardness associated with a new group being pushed to the public in a cold and direct manner. The Mollayo music video also definitely caught the attention of the B2st fandom as it featured Lee Gikwang. It Girl, their second single was promoted after a few months and an OST for the SBS drama Protect the Boss was also released in September. 

The year ended with two big items: One, appearing on another reality show called Birth of a Family, where they shared top billing with Infinite, which at that time, was already getting more attention, and the other being the release of their second EP, Snow Pink, on November 22, which featured the Shinsandong Tiger-composed lead single My My. After seven months, the girls won a music show, a clear indication that a group has established a pretty sizable fanbase. After all, if a group doesn’t have fans who will stream the music video or vote for their song on the music show’s SMS platforms, getting a win will be that difficult, considering that a rookie group isn’t really expected to have sizeable sales figures or high chart positions, which are also included in the criteria of music shows. 

With four rookie of the year awards in their belt, Apink did prove that they are a group to be reckoned with. And considering that the group debuted with a sweet and teenybopper image with their first two EPs, their successful debut year is quite a feat and upon closer inspection, very well-thought of. The innocent music which was their introduction to the public is a bit too reminiscent of the music of 1st generation of girl groups like Baby V.O.X, Fin. KL and SES. Also considering that the groups at that time were going more for the range of girl-next-door with a notch of sophistication (SNSD) to downright sexy and adult (Secret and Nine Muses) to cater to changing public preferences, Apink‘s sweet and innocent concept may be a blessing in disguise. 

While it is true that what the public liked at that time may be a bit distant from the lollipops and rainbows concept the group is offering, they practically cornered the market. None of their contemporaries offered childlike innocence the way Apink did. SNSD at that time was already moving closer to sophistication with releases like Run Devil Run, Hoot, and The Boys. Consider this: the music video of Mollayo had the girls nursing a guy who passed out in front of their front door into their house. But no, instead of shouting “STRANGER DANGER” at the top of their lungs, the girls get giddy and shy when the said guy (Gikwang in a baby blue suit) does even the smallest of things like passing a glance. How’s that for cringy but endearing because the girls just sold the concept so hard and so effectively, you can’t help but think of what gift they should give Mr. Stranger once he recovers his strength. Spoiler: Naeun gave him flowers she herself picked, Hayoung gave him a cookie, and Eunji gave him a bookmark. 

And that may hold a couple of the major keys to Apink‘s success years after debuting. The girls continued with tracks like Bubibu, Hush, and NoNoNo, which have wholesomeness written all over them. The songs cover rather simple topics of what you would like to do with someone you like and the dilemma of whether to confess what you feel to the person. Very grade school stuff, which until this point is trademark Apink. You just cannot picture f(x)‘s Amber, 2NE1‘s Dara, or even SNSD‘s maknae Seohyun saying, “Dear boy, I fell in love with you on a snowy day” (Yookyung’s lyrics in My My) or the queens of retro T-Ara singing, “I wanna be that girl who can be with you forever, so tell me, will you be my boyfriend?” (again, spoken by Yookyung — I swear, Yookyung has some of the most cringe-inducing lyrics in the entire history of k-pop). 

This brings us to the second point: which was mentioned already earlier: All seven, and later, six, members of the group are masters, legends, and icons, in selling to us the sweet and pure concept of the group. Imagine these scenarios: 

1. Being a singer in her early 20’s like Chorong and having to sing the syllables BU-BI-BU. What on earth does that even mean? But of course, it’s baby talk and the seven in all their aegyo prowess, has us believing in what they are singing. 
2. Poor Yookyung having to say those cringe-y lyrics, reminiscent of grade school students daring each other to give the other their first kiss. 
3. The entire group wearing white skintight pants and baby tees – an attire that just does not adhere to anyone’s standards of innocence, for the Hush music video, and still having to act cutesy and perky in scenes where they are playing with the camera. 

If you are a singer in your late teens, the last thing you want to be is to appear like a grade school student, singing lyrics like “I’m always trembling, I think of you every day, You don’t know my feelings for you is getting larger.” Granted that this stanza was sung by Hayoung, who was indeed a middle school student the time Mollayo was released, but for someone who at that time, already looks like a graduating university senior, it’s not supposed to work. But Apink‘s giant maknae has a whole deck of tricks up her sleeve and used it for most of the group’s career, we all fell for it. So you could imagine how Hayoung may have reacted when she first heard I’m So Sick, which references insincere lovers and drunk episodes. But I’m fast-forwarding.      

There’s also Eunji’s voice, which by now, we know is not her natural timbre. Seriously, can you hear her singing Mollayo in the same voice she uses for her latest solo single, AWay? But then, that’s just a testament to her mad vocal skills and technique – that she knows how to adjust the color and “weight” of her voice to suit the entire Apink discography. 

In short, these girls worked their derrieres off in selling the group’s pure and innocent concept to the entire k-pop listening public, and the said public ate it all up, no morsel left behind. I mean, we’ve heard of several stories involving idols complaining about the concepts their companies may require them to do. Some idols do not agree with the image they have to embody, while some put their feet down and speak up about inappropriate wardrobe choices. When you think about it, by their second year, Apink could have already forwarded concerns regarding their concept. But it’s either nothing was heard from them or A Cube (or the members themselves) was just very good in hiding any dissent. The point is, that pure and innocent concept stuck and stayed there until 2019. 

After NoNoNo came more success, which some consider as Apink’s first “golden streak.” By 2014, Apink was down to six, with Yookyung deciding to pursue her studies than staying with the group. After the success of NoNoNo, which became their biggest hit up until that time, they released their fourth EP, Pink Blossom, and the music video for its title track, Mr. Chu, were released on March 31. The song peaked at number 2 on Billboard’s K-Pop Hot 100 and gave Apink six music show trophies. By the end of 2014, Mr. Chu was the eighth best-selling digital song of the year, according to Gaon’s year-end chart. 2014 also saw Bomi and Namjoo forming a sub-unit called Apink BnN, which released the single My Darling for Brave Brothers’ 10th Anniversary Project. 

The year also saw the group debuting in Japan with the Japanese version of NoNoNo, which peaked at number 4 on Oricon’s weekly singles chart. Before the year ended, the group released their fifth EP, Pink Luv with its title song, Luv, which was another Shinsadong Tiger track. Luv dislodged NoNoNo as Apink‘s highest-ranking song as it became their first number 1 on Gaon’s weekly and monthly digital charts, while Pink Luv also topped Gaon’s weekly album chart in its first week of release. The group won first place on all three major Korean music shows two weeks in a row, the only girl group to do so in 2014. The song ended up giving Apink 17 music show wins, which up to this day holds the record for the song with the most wins for a girl group. Only Psy, BTS, and EXO have surpassed this feat, and with GFriend already disbanded and Girls’ Generation not promoting as much anymore, this record is not seen to be broken in the near future. 

The group’s success continued with the release of Remember in 2015 and somewhat a lukewarm (by Apink’s standards) of their 2016 comeback Pink Revolution with the lead track Only One. After the  successes of NoNoNo, Mr. Chu, and LUV, the performance of Only One in the charts, where it peaked at number 5 and sold over 449,000 copies is underwhelming, though still quite commendable in girl group standards. After the record-breaking 17 music show wins for LUV and a respectable three trophies for Remember, Only One won zilch. 

Some blame the timing of the release as it coincided with more hyped releases like GOT7. Moreover, Pink Revolution was released more than a year (14 months to be exact) after Pink Memory, and even during that time, when the this behavior of long hiatuses between releases is only expected of groups that have already established themselves in the industry like Shinhwa, it felt like Apink was already resting on their laurels and not working as hard as groups of their stature should be. Even with The Wave being released to commemorate their fifth anniversary on April 19 to supposedly tide Pink Pandas over until Pink Revolution’s release (plus the fact that The Wave up to now continues to be one the best fan service songs in the history of K-pop, without question), the long gap between those two releases did not sit well with the fandom. 

Finally, it has to be said that the song was not really something that should have silenced those who waited for the group to break their hiatus. I mean, if you have to wait for more than a year for your favorite group to stage a comeback, you somehow expect them to drop a banger, a showstopper to silence the doubters and announce their return to the entire K-pop world, in the same vein when people go crazy when they heard whispers of “Shinee’s back” or “JYP” after a long stretch. Only One did not create this tidal wave people expected; instead, it made a tiny splash with its mellow sounds and its music video filled with dreamy and hazy pastel filters. While the girls claimed in their comeback interviews that the Pink Revolution album and Only One, in particular, signaled a shift in the musical direction of the group from bubblegum pop to a more elegant and sophisticated sound, it was just not an exciting song to represent this change. After all, change should be exciting, right? So, if you’re telling people that you will be implementing changes, at the level of Apink’s popularity, they may have expected something more remarkable, fancier, pronounced – something splashier, perhaps? What they got with the Only One comeback, was, unfortunately, something closer to a whimper. 

With this less-than-stellar comeback – again, by Apink standards, considering that at this point in their careers, they were already up there in the top tier with SNSD, 2NE1, Wonder Girls,  Miss A, SISTAR, 4Minute, Apink figured for their next move to remind people of their heyday by bringing back the chirpy, cutesy sounds reminiscent of 1st gen girl groups (which served as their bread and butter before the boring half-baked image change of the Pink Revolution era). And Five delivered on that, and how. Pink Up the EP and Five the song gave us vintage Apink, old school Apink, the Apink that won 17 music show awards, the Apink with a song that once you’ve heard it, will stay with you for weeks. Song with a catchy earworm chorus, check. A music video drenched in bright pink and the six engaged in cute and fun activities such as gardening and anything to do with pastries (very reminiscent of the NoNoNo, My My and Remember music videos), check. Bomi looking like a children’s anime character with the short blonde hair, check. Apink’s back, Pink Up the EP peaked at #1 in the Gaon charts, Five won six music show trophies, and all that is good and wholesome in the world has ben restored. 

With Apink back to top tier level after the Pink Revolution debauchery, the talk was all about one thing: survival. Apink has successfully gotten past the seven-year curse that has unfortunately sent their contemporaries on the road to disbandment or hiatus. By 2017, SISTAR  and 2NE1 have officially disbanded, while Girl’s Day, After School and f(x) have left their fans out in the cold, constantly assuring them that they have not disbanded but not releasing new material. For Apink, the concerns were more about how they could bring their glory days back than keeping their group intact. 

For some reason, there wasn’t really much speculation about a member wanting to leave the group. While it is true that some groups can pull surprises (e.g., Hoya and his sudden exit from Infinite when everybody was quite sure that if anyone would depart from Infinite, it was going to be rising actor L), the case of Apink members leaving wasn’t really thoroughly considered. True, Naeun, may at times stick out as a sore thumb because of her rather reserved nature which doesn’t at all times mesh well with the chaotic energy levels of Bomi and Namjoo, but then we tend to forget that Chorong is also introverted.  People also believed that with her versatility as a vocalist and success in acting, it was Eunji who may be considering a solo career, but the group’s main vocal has never given any indication that she was going to be the one to succumb to the 7-year curse and leave Apink. So, when news came out that all members re-signed to their company (which at that time was already renamed Plan A, I think) and they all revealed that they have put their trust in their leader Chorong and continued with the group, everyone rejoiced. And to commemorate their re-signing, they released  Five and brought us back to 2011.

And this also ends the first act of Apink’s saga.

Featured Image: Apink Official Twitter

Perhaps one of the most creative launches of a girl group in the history of K-pop, LOONA excited fans and even casual K-pop listeners. Maybe you’ve heard the name, or maybe for the thousandth time, you saw a tweet or YouTube comment that said the words “STAN LOONA” –  it is somewhat inevitable that you would have already encountered the group that have been regarded as one of the most exciting and “up-and-coming” K-pop groups.

And that’s where the problem with LOONA is. The group has been around since 2016, which means they are already in their sixth year. So, for them to already have completed close to six years in the Korean music scene and still be regarded as an “up-and-coming” group like eternal rookies is alarming. Moreover, despite the enormous hype and cult following among international fans, they’re almost an unknown group in Korea. Ask any normal Korean on the street and chances are, they don’t know who LOONA is.

Introduction to Loonaverse

All the way back to March of 2016, a company was formed by the name of BlockBerry Creative with the objective of creating “the most unique girl group.” How are they exactly going to do that? By revealing a girl as part of the group every single month through a solo debut. This pattern would then continue until all 12 girls are introduced and would then debut as a full group. 

In October of 2016, HeeJin, the first girl was revealed along with a solo single and solo album. From October to February 2017, HyunJin, HaSeul, YeoJin, and ViVi all debuted in a similar manner. A sub-unit was formed, called “1/3”. From May to July, JinSoul, KimLip, and Choerry all had solo debuts and formed a subunit called “Odd Eye Circle”. From November to March of 2018, Yves, Chuu, GoWon, and finally, the last girl of the puzzle, Olivia Hye (who holds the record of being a trainee for one day before debuting) had solo debuts, and we’re in the final subunit, “yyxy” (pronounced y y ‘by’ y). In the span of 2.5 years, LOONA has produced 62 songs, 32 of which have music videos. 

As for the amount of money spent, BlockBerry Creative gambled an insane USD 8,900,000. This is not really that shocking as the Ilkwang Group, the umbrella organization where BlockBerry Creative is included, has deep pockets. How deep, you ask? The company provides and manufactures arms and steel for different militaries. As in, they are players in the international military-armed forces game. So, budgets aren’t really a huge concern for the group. 

Even the concept of LOONA is unique and one of the most exciting things to have ever come out of K-pop. You see, LOONA is not just a girl group, but they’re all protagonists in a sci-fi universe known as the LOONAVERSE, which has been revealed in all of the girls’ music videos.

With each MV, we follow a central plot or story that is advanced through each sequential music video. Much like the way each Avenger had his or her own movie but also appears together in those extravaganza MCU blockbusters. To understand the LOONAVERSE easily, think of its similarities with the Bible. There’s the creation, their exile from paradise, and finally their union as twelve with their debut single, Hi High. 

So, what went wrong? 

Asking because the members are obviously talented and hardworking, the concepts are exciting and attention-grabbing, and there are definitely no problems when it comes to funding. So, why has mainstream popularity continued to evade LOONA through their five years as an active group? 

A couple of factors emerge. For one, after all the excitement that the twelve songs and twelve music videos brought from 2016 to 2018 brought us, we got Hi High. Now here’s some real talk: Hi High was so underwhelming. This was supposed to be the first song that has all twelve members in a song, a culmination of the exciting concepts in each of the girl’s solo releases. And we were given a music video with the twelve girls in bright sceneries, running together. That’s it. The song and video just weren’t the highly-anticipated spectacle everybody was hoping for.

If we’re looking for a music video that went all-out in both the song and concept, look no further than WJSN’s Secret, the first song and MV the group had with then-fresh-out-of-IOI Yeonjung in tow. From the amazing mystical concepts that truly embody the Cosmic Girls to the vocal ad-libs the new member provides, fans were just excited. Unfortunately, the LOONAVERSE concept, with all its mystery and sci-fi elements, was not reflected in the way it deserves in the Hi High music video.  

Another factor that continues to plague LOONA to this day is the lack of a fitting marketing campaign for the group. Alas, as mentioned earlier, budget is not a problem at all for BlockBerry Creative. But then, this is really where the breadth of experience among the Big 3 companies comes in. They just know how to market their groups well, giving them substantial opportunities so that they can really get into public consciousness and become household names. So, even if money is out of the question, the marketing arms of these entertainment agencies need to point out which opportunities, whether through reality shows, variety show appearances, or even viral videos,  can maximize the group’s popularity. 

So then, since 2018, LOONA has amassed a very loyal international following while still keeping a low (at almost nugu levels) profile in their native Korea. By 2020, the group has attained steady sales figures with their albums, although their singles have not charted high locally.

In 2020, they released two EPs, [#] and [12:00], with album sales of 83,000+ and 113,000+, respectively. That’s a load of albums considering they only released their first EP as a full 12-member group a couple of years prior to 2020. This also shows that they do have a large fanbase that is ready to buy their albums anytime. But since those albums can be bought even from overseas, their lack of presence in the singles charts does show that they have an unstable Korean fanbase who can stream their songs on Korean music websites like crazy. 

Financial woes

The group finally won its first music show trophy in 2020.  So, I guess that LOONA is already far from being a nugu group, but at the same time is also still far from being a household name in the level of Girl’s Generation, Apink, TWICE, or even (G)-IDLE. Thus, it was quite a surprise when talks of LOONA’s disbandment started surfacing all across social media and the Internet. Manic and obsessive Orbits, most of whom are overseas fans, rang alarms as news items of financial woes being experienced by BlockBerry Creative caught everyone off-guard. 

BlockBerry Creative, a subsidiary of Polaris Group, suddenly in financial turmoil? (A little background: Polaris Group was formerly a subsidiary of arms-trade company Ilgwang Group; They are now a subsidiary of Levite United, which was founded by Lee Jong-myung, whose father is Ilgwang Group’s founder.) Where did these rumors of financial woes begin? Is there even truth to this? Apparently, the company had some issues with their payroll and leave it to employees not getting their salary on time to complain on social media in no time. Those who were affected by it weren’t exactly those directly hired by the company, but ”external” employees like choreographers, consultants, and other companies they have contracts with. These parties have not gotten paid for months, culminating in some of them to finally voicing their complaints on social media in late September of 2021.

With the company’s other payables such as taxes, IOUs, and insurances, the company had to come up with KRW 900 million (equivalent to USD 760,000) fast. It came to a point where these companies were asked by BlockBerry Creative to halt all work. The company eventually released a statement saying they are trying their best to honor all their obligations, while fans were terrified of how this challenge faced by the company would affect LOONA’s future comebacks. 

Alas, speculations subsided when the group released Not Friends, a song featuring them but is actually included from Ryan Jhun’s “Maxis By Ryan Jhun” project. This means that the song, although it had Kim Lip listed as one of its composers, was not released by BlockBerry Creative. The song, which actually only featured JinSoul, HeeJin, KimLip, and Yves, may have been a contributing factor to the album’s success, as it did chart both in the Gaon Album Chart and the Billboard US World Digital Songs Chart (as with all LOONA singles).  And although it may not have proven that BlockBerry Creative is indeed out of the woods when it comes to their financial woes, the release may have been effective in placating the Orbit fandom, at the very least assuring them that the group has not disbanded yet, given the sorry state of their record label.

What is happening now?

This brings us to the group’s current situation. Most members have been quite active in most of their activities (except Chuu who had to beg off from their Loonaverse concert in February due to health concerns) and on social media, posting frequently on VLive for updates. To the delight of the Orbits, LOONA was also announced as part of the official lineup for the second season of Mnet’s highly successful Queendom. The show has proven to be part blessing, part curse to its participants as a few groups really reaped the rewards of their participation with heightened profiles (OH MY GIRL, Mamamoo, and (G)-IDLE), while some practically had Queendom as their sort of swan song before disintegrating or fading off into the sunset (AOA and Lovelyz), while some groups really just used to show the fans that they were still active despite lineup changes (as in the cases of iKON and BtoB in their participation in Kingdom, the male group equivalent). 

As for LOONA’s chances of winning the entire thing, I would say they are quite high. The group undoubtedly has the largest fandom out of all the participating acts and ultimately, fanbase size plays a big role in voting the winner of the competition. But then again, if the voting public would be objective (this is a very unlikely scenario since we’re talking about an Mnet competition) and base their votes on the performance levels and discography of the participants, it is most likely that the Cosmic Girls, VIVIZ (should they be allowed to use the GFriend catalog), and even Hyolyn (who may pull a surprise if she relies heavily on the SISTAR catalog) will trump the competition. But if LOONA plays its cards right, then maybe Queendom will usher in the real era of LOONA. 

Featured Image: Official Loona Twitter

Are you one of those people who get frustrated when you’re told that you’ll listen to music from a “boy band” and what you get is a bunch of pretty boys with flawless skin and jaw-dropping dance skills? Where are the guitar riffs and the noisy percussion, you ask? Well, wonder no more as we present to you four Korean bands with members who actually play musical instruments.

Warning: No dance breaks and dance version MVs for these acts, though.

F.T. Island

During the time when K-pop was all about boy groups (TVXQ! Super Junior! SHINHWA! H.O.T! Sech.Kies!) and a smattering of girl groups (Fin.KL! S.E.S! Baby Vox!), bands – not “boy bands”, but bands with members playing musical instruments were mostly relegated into the Korean music indie scene. That was until FNC Entertainment released F.T. Island, a band that made its mark in the country’s music landscape. Suddenly, being in a band that just rocks — no elaborate choreography, no members who may just bank on their looks — became accepted and prompted even the rise of more rock bands into mainstream Korean music.  

The band has undergone three changes in its member lineup – the first being guitarist Oh Wonbin leaving the group two years after their debut to try his luck with a solo career and play other genres of music. He eventually became a soloist and actor and just in January, announced his marriage plans and his impending fatherhood. The second change introduced Seunghyuin as Wonbin’s replacement as the band’s guitarist, a position he held for more than 10 years, after which he left FNC and subsequently the group so he could focus on his acting career. The band’s leader and one of its founding members, Junghoon, had to quit the band and his career in the entertainment industry after it was revealed that he was involved in the Burning Sun scandal, where he was part of a group chat that had members exchange videos of sexual activities without the consent of the other party.

This brings the current band lineup down to three, with the remaining members enlisting and getting discharged more or less at the same time.  Drummer Minhwan was discharged in September 2021, main vocalist Hongki was discharged in April 2021, and bassist Jaejin was discharged on August 1, 2021. In December 2021, the band released Unthinkable, their first song as a trio. 

All throughout their now close to 15-year career, the band has had chart-topping albums, EPs, and singles not only in Korea, but also in Japan. With the emergence of actual bands like Day6 and Wonder Girls (later in their careers) of JYP Entertainment and CNBlue and N.Flying also from FNC, we can safely say that it was F. T. Island that pioneered the concept and made bands trendy.   

Top 3 F.T. Island Songs

The thing about F.T. Island is that they are actually more known as a band that plays power ballads, not the dark and hard rock songs bands are usually known for. Think Meatloaf or Journey versus Metallica. So, a trademark F.T. Island song is more centered towards Hongki’s soaring vocals that only a few K-pop male vocalists can challenge – only the late Jonghyun of SHINee, Yeoseob of Highlight, Woohyun of INFINITE, and lately, Hwesung of N.FLying come to mind. For a mind-blowing extravaganza that will leave you speechless, look for the track Still Love You with the two power vocalists of FNC’s two bands. 

But I digress. The power ballad Severely is definitely the first song that comes to mind when we’re talking about F.T. Island. The 10-year-old song (yes, the song was released on January 30, 2012) also has an iconic music video featuring AOA’s Seolhyun. So you can see two of FNC’s talents that have also ventured into acting – Hongki and Seolhyun. Otherwise, you will experience Hongki’s heart wrenching vocals in this track that feels like a decades-old Korean standard ballad. 

If you’re looking for something a bit hard-hitting in the thread of hard rocks, Take Me Now is the song for you. The heavy guitar riffs alone will really convince you that F.T. Island can rock it with the best of them. 2009’s Bad Woman features a balance of haunting melodies and Hongki’s vocal range, making it a perfect gateway F.T. Island song.  

CNBLUE

Following the massive success of F.T. Island, FNC Entertainment may have felt the need to corner this niche market they have created with groups that have members that actually play musical instruments. Thus, two years after debuting F.T. Island, the company introduced another band to the public, CNBLUE. True enough, the company was rewarded with success anew as Yonghwa, Minhyuk, Jungshin, and Jonghyun experienced success in both Japan and Korea from the get-go. 

As with a number of acts in this period in K-pop that were exposed to the Japanese market first before debuting in Korea, CNBLUE also had their debut stage in Tokyo. After finally charting decently in Japan with their second EP (their first release was completely in English and did not chart in Oricon) and with original bassist Kwangjin replaced by Jungshin before the year ended, the band finally made their Korean debut in January 2010 with the EP Bluetory and the single I’m a Loner. The rest, as the old adage goes, is history. 

All of the band’s title tracks until 2017 have charted high and all their EPs and albums until 2017 have sold over 50,000 copies, a rare feat for a band. Even F.T. Island only averages 40,000 copies sold with their releases. All members also started to venture into acting only a year after their debut and were nominated and won accolades for their television work. Not only were they successful in their home country and Japan (having been the first band since 1971 to top the Oricon charts), but also charted well in Taiwan. While it took F.T. Island 53 days from debut to win in a music program, CNBLUE for a time held the record for winning in a music show in the shortest time since debut, with I’m a Loner winning in Music Bank 15 days after their debut. 

With the band’s massive success came controversies and intrigue, with the first being their awkward rivalry with their labelmates F.T. Island. Since they were the only two bands that dominated the “mainstream” K-pop scene in the late 2000s to early 2010s, it was a bit inevitable that the two groups were always pitted against each other. Primadonnas (F.T. Island’s fandom name) assert the superiority of Hongki’s vocal skills and the fact that F.T. Island is the more senior group that blazed the trail for acts like CNBLUE to follow. Through the years, news about competition between the two groups have not died down. From the alleged preference of FNC towards the more junior group, Hongki claiming he earns more than Yonghwa and again, Hongki accidentally spilling that Jonghyun has had plastic surgery to make his ears prettier, BOICE (CNBLUE’s fandom) had to endure quite a lot. 

As for their music, CNBLUE’s music sounds more pop, which makes it more radio-friendly, and thus, more successful commercially. It also doesn’t hurt that all members took on acting jobs way early in their careers, making the group popular to more people, not just to followers of K-pop. But then, the group has also gone through a lot in terms of controversies involving the members, particularly Yonghwa and Jonghyun. And no, these doesn’t involve Hongki, although Jonghyun and F.T. Island’s Junghoon suffered the same fate later. 

In 2016, both Jonghyun and Yonghwa were accused of obstruction of business / insider trading, aka the illegal act of buying a company’s stocks after being given beneficial information by people inside the company. In this case, the two were supposedly tipped to buy stocks of their own company, FNC Entertainment, when the price is low before they dramatically increase in value as they will be welcoming a high-profile celebrity in their talent stable. It was revealed later that it was Yonghwa’s mom who bought the stocks on his behalf, as she has been managing his son’s finances for years already. On the other hand, Jonghyun held on to his stocks even though he was advised that having them would result in legal issues for him. He was fined for this offense and the public’s perception of CNBLUE unfortunately took a bit of a hit. 

A couple of years later, Yonghwa was involved in another scandal, this time regarding his admission to Kyunghee University’s PhD program. It appears that during the time he was applying to the program, he invited his professor to his studio to catch up with him and show him his work. In hindsight, that was a wrong move considering that one of the requirements to the PhD program is an interview with a faculty member. Thus, it looked like Yonghwa was trying to influence his professor into admitting him to the program. Alas, some speculated that Yonghwa was trying to get in the PhD program so that he could avoid his military enlistment schedule. Yonghwa explained in a handwritten letter that the entire professor-PhD affair was a miscommunication and he was not aware that part of the PhD application process was an interview with one of the faculty members and that he has not plans of ever avoiding his conscription. 

Finally, the Burning Sun scandal dealt a huge blow to the careers of everyone involved, including F.T. Island’s Junghoon and CNBLUE’s Jonghyun. Jonghyun immediately left CNBLUE after he was named as one of the parties in that controversial chatroom, although he did not release a statement about his status in the entertainment industry. He has not appeared on TV since then, though. Since his departure, the band has had two Korean comebacks and one Japanese comeback.

Top 3 CNBLUE Songs

Not considering their banging debut track I’m a Loner, which the group and FNC had to pay fines when it was proven that it was plagiarized from an indie band’s song, CNBLUE’s singles discography features one catchy tune after another. Intuition, Hey You, and Can’t Stop are stand-outs and if you haven’t heard any of these, it’s high time you do. 

N.Flying

After immersing ourselves in the world of K-pop’s first two mainstream bands, let’s talk about the maknaes of FNC Entertainment, the company of the two aforementioned “pioneers”. N. Flying is the product of FC feeling they have caught lightning in a bottle with the success of F.T. Island and CNBLUE, so why not tempt fate by producing a third band, because after all, third time’s the charm? Like their senior CNBLUE, N. Flying also started their careers in Japan where they first performed and released an indie single album in 2013. They also served as F.T. Island’s front act in their 2013 Japan tour. And just like their predecessors, N. Flying’s Japanese activities were met with success.  

In May 2015, N. Flying finally debuted in Korea, which was postponed for a bit as the band’s leader, Seunghyub, got injured in July 2014. The music video for their Korean debut single, Awesome, also featured FNC labelmate Seolhyun of AOA. But alas, unlike F.T. Island and CNBLUE’s high-profile Korean debuts, this did not do as well. True, the EP peaked at #4, but it only eventually sold close to 4,000 copies. Considering Cheerful Sensibility, F’T. Island’s debut album, sold over 83,000 copies in 2007 and CBBLUE’s Bluetory sold a whopping 219,000 copies, the 4,000 copies N. Flying’s debut EP sold significantly pales in comparison.

The band entered 2017 with promise as they welcomed a new member in Yoo Hweseung, who despite looking like a formidable contestant/trainee in the second season of Produce 101, got axed quite early in the show’s second elimination round. In his limited exposure in the show, Hweseung was shown to be a very competent trainee, knowing the full choreography to INFINITE’s Be Mine while doing vocal runs. It, unfortunately, did not do his team a lot of favors as the opposing team had Kenta (who eventually debuted under the project group JBJ) who snatched a whole lot of popularity votes. Eventually, he was eliminated in the 35-conterstant cut-off (aka Episode 8) where it was revealed he was ranked 39th, four places short of continuing with the show. It was later revealed that FNC did not really plan on having Hweseung go all the way to the finals and only wanted him in the show for a bit of exposure. 

Thus, close to a month after his last PD101 episode was released, Hweseung was announced as N. Flying’s newest member and would be the band’s other main vocal on their second EP, The Real. This was followed by two other EPs in 2018, The Hottest in January and How Are You? in May. The sales of the three EPs with Hweseung did not experience major increases with only 6,000 units sold for The Hottest and 7,900 units for How Are You? 

The Real, Hot Potato, and How R U Today, the band’s three singles did not really make a splash commercially, with the music video for The Real generating some buzz as it featured a cameo of Jang Moonbok, a popular PD101 S2 contestant. People continued recognizing Hweseung’s superior singing skills but unfortunately, the band struggled in amassing a solid fanbase. An EP that sells less than 10,000 units is something both F.T. Island and CNBLUE have not experienced in their entire careers! Those are sales figures only nugu (that term for obscure groups from new entertainment labels) groups would be familiar with. N. Flying needed a breakthrough. 

If the lack of significant success wasn’t enough, later in 2018, bassist Kwangjin (before you scratch your head, yes, he is the same Kwangjin that Jungshin replaced in CNBLUE) was embroiled in a scandal where people accused him of acting inappropriately towards fans. Initially, he said he would be taking a break from group activities before officially leaving the group a day after Christmas, 2018.

Almost three years to the day he officially left N. Flying, Kwangjin announced that he has been freed of all harassment allegations against him. He explained that it was true that he dated a fan who later became her girlfriend, causing N. Flying fans to request his removal from the group. To protect his band and then-girlfriend, he did quit the group, but rumors persisted that he sexually harassed fans. So, he spent three years taking legal action to clear his name. Days before posting this announcement, he also posted pictures of his marriage.    

Anyway, back to the breakthrough. Probably derailed by the Kwangjin drama, the band had to wait until the New Year of 2019 before releasing Rooftop which they promoted on music programs, and by holding a concert series starting January 19. The song charted in the lower 100s before going viral on social media when the group was already in the final days of promoting it in the last week of February. The song then shot up to the top of most Korean music charts, including the Gaon Digital Charts where it took the top spot for two consecutive weeks. The band also took their first music show win on March 5, close to four years since their Korean debut. 

https://twitter.com/gummy_smiless/status/1413027716601847809?s=20&t=Z_s4KjsRqZ8lASecJOBdjw

Rooftop became that single break the band needed to sustain their career. They haven’t had a massive song to match Rooftop’s popularity since then, but their songs have continued to chart and more importantly, their albums (one full-length studio album, one reissue album, and two EPs from 2019 to 2021) boast of five-figure sales, a far cry from the anemic average 5,000 units average their previous releases sold. 

Top 3 N. Flying Songs

N. Flying’s discography is filled with bops, but if we have to choose three standouts, we shall go for three that were released in the different stages of the band’s career: Obviously, Rooftop, during the time when the band was reduced to four members and they didn’t have a bassist (although Dongsung was already present as the band’s bassist during the song’s recording, he was still not an official member); Oh, Really? with the current line-up; and The Real with the original line-up (this one is really catchy).

Day6

Finally, let’s talk about a band that’s not from FNC! Day6 actually started off as 5LIVE in 2014 with Sungjin (main vocals and guitar), Jae (guitar), Young K (bass and vocals), Junhyeok (keyboard), and Wonpil (synthesizer), performing in the Mnet reality show Who is Next Win (aka the show that produced Winner and iKon) before drummer Dowoon joined the line-up in mid-2015. The band was then renamed Day6 and debuted in September with the single Congratulations from the EP The Day. Both the song and the EP met considerable success, with the EP selling more than 10,000 copies and the single peaking at #48. Internationally, the EP peaked at the second spot on Billboard’s World Album Chart. The band spent the rest of 2015 promoting overseas in Singapore and Taiwan while also holding their first live concert in Seoul in November.

The band was about to make their first comeback in March 2016 when JYP announced that Junhyeok has left the group in February “for personal reasons”. However, rumors revealed that Junhyeok had decided to date a fan, which is in violation of JYP Entertainment’s rule that their artists are banned from dating in the first three years of their career. Whether it was Junhyeok’s decision to leave the company or JYPE’s decision to let go of him once they found out of the violation is unclear, but the band was left without a keyboardist when Letting Go was released on March 30. This comeback was the band’s music show stage debut on M Countdown, as they only relied on live performances and their music video to promote their debut single. 

2017 was a very productive year for Day6 as they kicked off the Every Day6 project, where the band would be releasing a couple of songs every month with concerts and music videos. In the middle of the year, they also released their first full-length studio album, Sunrise which contained the first five releases they had for the year plus versions of their singles Congratulations and Letting Go and two new tracks.  They concluded the year with another full-length album Moonrise, which contains their releases from June to December, three new songs, and final versions of their B-sides from their debut EP. The year-round project raised the profile of the band, with the two albums faring better in terms of sales, reaching more than 48,000 copies for both releases. 

The band spent 2018 launching their career in Japan while releasing two EPs in Korea: Shoot Me: Youth Part 1 in June and Remember Us: Youth Part 2 in December.  July 2019 had the group release The Book of Us: Gravity, their first (and so far still their only) EP that peaked at number 1 in the Gaon Album Chart. The band also had its first music show win while promoting Time of Our Life, four years after debuting. In May 2020, the band released The Book of Us: The Demon that contained the lead single Zombie, which peaked at No. 4 on Melon’s real-time chart and went up to the No. 1 spot in Bugs. Zombie continues to be the band’s most successful single to date, as it peaked at number 18 on the Gaon Digital Chart. In August of 2020, the band’s first sub-unit, Even of Day composed of Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon, debuted. 

In 2021, Sunjin and Young K have enlisted in the Korean military. In the absence of the two, the remaining members launched their solo releases one after the other. However, on December 31, 2021, Jae announced via Twitter that he will be taking a hiatus from his promotions as a member of the band. However, JYPE announced on the same day that he has already been released from his exclusive contract with JYP Entertainment and therefore, from the group. 

Jae complaining about JYP is nothing new. Through the years, he has been vocal about the company’s lack of support when it comes to his solo efforts, including his personal YouTube channel where he has also posted his rants. But then, a lot of artists (all GOT7 members come to mind) have been direct about their dissatisfaction with the way JYPE runs things. But this, along with Jae’s seemingly personal problems, has caught the attention of fans and casual observers alike. In one of his live broadcasts this year, Jae used a derogatory term against Jamie, one of her closest female friends, and his former co-hosts in the Arirang music show, After School Club. This has made people think that Jae has more issues than just his dissatisfaction over JYPE’s poor treatment of him. 

But back to the group – not a lot of activity these days as three members are already in the middle of serving their military enlistment. Wonpil has dropped his solo release, Pilmography in February.      

Top 3 Day6 Songs

Day6 doesn’t come short when it comes to releasing high-quality material. In terms of commercial success, the band’s highest-charting songs are Zombie (peaked at #18 in Gaon), their debut track Congratulations (peaked at #58 in Gaon), and their latest single as a complete band, 2011’s You Make Me (peaked at #73 in Gaon). 

If you’re into music videos with a continuing storyline, check out the MVs of Congratulations and You Were Beautiful, which features Choi Wooshik of Parasite and Our Beloved Summer fame. 

Here’s hoping we’ve given you your fill of Korean boys who rock with this list. And we’re also hoping more bands with members who actually play instruments will join mainstream K-pop in the years to come.  

Featured Image: CNBLUE official Japan Twitter