Kpop superstar Kyuhun stars in Frankenstein the Musical
Idols have spent anywhere from months to years honing their skills in singing, dancing, and acting—so it’s no surprise that they would be great in many other entertainment fields, including theater. Their amazing stage presence not only light up concert venues; they dazzle on musical stages as well!
Here are 16 (and more!) idols who have found equal success as musical actors:
Kyuhyun debuted in 2006 as the maknae and one of the main vocalists of 2nd generation legend Super Junior. He is one of the best active idol vocalists, so it’s no surprise that his voice would also captivate musical fans.
He made his musical theater debut in 2010 with The Three Musketeers. He was next cast as Frank Abagnale, Jr. in the Korean production of Catch Me If You Can. In 2013, he reprised his roles in re-runs of both musicals. Kyuhyun took on roles in Moon Embracing the Sun, Singin’ in the Rain, The Days, Robin Hood, Werther, and Mozart! from 2014 to 2016, before taking a break to fulfill his mandatory military service.
Upon completing his military duty, Kyuhyun resumed his musical career with The Man Who Laughs in 2020. He was cast in the main role as Gwynplaine, alternating with EXO’s Suho. In the same year, he reprised his role in Werther.
In 2021, Kyuhyun starred in the musical Phantom. He recently capped his performances as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein, where he starred alongside VIXX’s Leo.
Watch Kyuhyun as he performs one of the songs from the musical in this live clip:
Ryeowook (Super Junior)
Just like his fellow SJ member, Ryeowook has been active both as an idol and as a musical actor. He made his musical theater debut in 2011’s Temptation of Wolves. The idol next took on the role of Troy Bolton in the Korean stage adaptation of High School Musical in 2013. Since then, Ryeowook has starred in several more productions—Goddess is Watching, Agatha, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time—before enlisting in the military in 2016.
Ryeowook jumped right back into his idol and musical actor career after being discharged from the military in 2018. He was cast in Flaming Sonata, Around Thirty, and Mary Shelley. His most recent musical is Fan Letter.
Leo (VIXX)
VIXX’s soft-spoken main vocalist, Leo, may look shy and reserved, but once the concert lights come on, he transforms into a powerhouse performer. The same happens whenever he’s on the musical stage.
Leo began his musical career in 2014 with the musical adaptation of the K-drama Full House. Since 2016, he has used his real name, Jung Taek Woon, when being credited in stage productions. Leo starred in five more musicals—Mata Hari, Monte Cristo, The Last Kiss, Elisabeth, and Marie Antoinette—all before his military enlistment in 2019.
In 2021, he took on the dual role of Henri Dupre and Frankenstein’s monster in the musical Frankenstein. The musical completed its run in early 2022.
Ken (VIXX)
VIXX’s “cute main vocal” Ken is one of the most active idol musical actors. He made his musical debut in the Korean adaptation of the musical Chess in 2015. Ken continued to show off his powerful vocals when he took on the lead roles in Cinderella, Boys Over Flowers The Musical, Hamlet, Titanic, Iron Mask, Jack the Ripper, Mefisto, Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes The Musical: The Lost Children.
His amazing talent and stage presence did not go unnoticed. In 2018, Ken won the Male Rookie of the Year award from the 12th Daegu International Musical Festival for his performance in the musical Hamlet.
Ken took a break from his idol and musical activities when he enlisted in the military in 2020. Upon his discharge, he was immediately cast as Arthur in Xcalibur. He recently wrapped up his performances in March 2022.
EXO’s leader is more than just an idol; he’s also a movie and television actor, as well as a musical actor. Suho made his theater debut in the 2015 hologram musical School OZ. He then took on the role of Crown Prince Rudolf in 2017’s The Last Kiss. In 2018, Suho was cast as Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs; he reprised his role in the 2020 run.
Suho completed his mandatory military service as a public service worker in February 2022. Will we see more of musical actor Suho soon? We sure hope so!
See Suho’s performance in the press call for The Man Who Laughs:
Xiumin (EXO)
EXO’s oldest hyung, Xiumin, first got a taste of musical theater when he starred alongside Suho in School OZ. But he hit his stride in musicals when he starred in the army musicals Return: The Promise of That Day and Return in 2019 and 2020.
Post-military service, Xiumin was cast as Orpheus in the 2021 production of Hadestown.
But it seems that there really is no shortage of talent in EXO, as there are also other musical actors among the members! D.O was in the same army musical as Xiumin, Chen performed in the Korean adaptation of In the Heights, and Baekhyun starred in Singin’ in the Rain. Finally, Chanyeol led the cast in another army musical, Meissa’s Song!
Jo Kwon (2AM)
Singer, actor, and television host Jo Kwon is also a bona fide musical star. He made his theater debut as King Herod in the 2013 run of Jesus Christ Superstar. The following year, he took on a daring role in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He also starred in Chess, On A Starry Night, and Shinheung Military Academy.
Jo Kwon’s latest musical appearance was in 2020’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Watch his performance in the musical’s press call:
Luna (f(x))
(f(x))’s Luna debuted as a musical actress in 2011 as Elle Woods in the Korean adaptation of Legally Blonde. She has since starred in several more Korean productions of Coyote Ugly, High School Musical, School OZ, In the Heights, Rebecca, The Last Kiss, Gone With the Wind, and Mamma Mia.
Luna also won a rookie award for her role in the musical Rebecca at the 12th Daegu International Musical Festival. Her most recent musical was the 2020-2021 run of The Days. She will make her Broadway debut in the new musical KPOP in late 2022.
Yoseob (Highlight)
Highlight’s main vocalist Yoseob also shines in musical theater, and has starred in eight productions so far. He debuted in 2011’s Gwanghamun Sonata. Following his first musical, he was casted in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Full House, Zorro, Robin Hood, Cinderella, and Those Days.
Yoseob’s latest musical is the 2021-2022 run of Something Rotten.
Seohyun (Girls’ Generation)
For Girls’ Generation’s maknae Seohyun, a career in musical theater was inevitable. She graduated with a major in theater acting from Dongguk University in 2014, and in that same year, was cast in Moon Embracing the Sun. She went on to star in the stage adaptations of Gone With the Wind and Mamma Mia.
Seohyun is also active as a film and television actress. Her most recent movies include the Netflix film Love and Leashes and Holy Night: Demon Hunters. She is also set to star in the upcoming KBS drama Jinx’s Lover.
Seohyun isn’t the only Girls’ Generation member to grace the musical theater stage. Her TTS sub-unit member, Tiffany, is also a musical actress! Tiffany starred in the 2011-2012 run of Fame and the 2021 run of Chicago. Former member Jessica also dabbled in musical theater, starring in the 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 runs of Legally Blonde.
Junsu (JYJ)
JYJ’s Kim Junsu is another idol and musical powerhouse. Junsu is a much sought after musical actor, who is also nicknamed “the ticket power” because his musical performance dates sell out in minutes.
He starred in his first musical Mozart! in 2010, and has since reprised his roles in the production’s subsequent runs. He has also starred in multiple runs of Elisabeth, Dracula, Death Note, Dorian Gray, and Xcalibur.
His outstanding performances also earned him numerous awards in Korea.
Check out Kim Junsu’s performance in this brief clip from Xcalibur (2021 run):
Sandeul (B1A4)
B1A4’s main vocalist Sandeul is another accomplished idol musical actor. He made his theater debut in 2012 in Brother Were Brave. Since then, the idol has starred in eight more musicals: The Thousandth Man, All Shook Up, Cinderella, The Three Musketeers, Thirty Something, Iron Mask, Sherlock Holmes: The Missing Children, and 1976 Harlan County.
Sunggyu (Infinite)
Infinite’s leader and main vocalist Sunggyu made his musical debut in Gwanghamun Sonata in 2012. His succeeding musicals include Vampire, In the Heights, All Shook Up, Amadeus, and Kinky Boots.
Sunggyu also starred in two army musicals: Shinheung Military School and Return: The Promise of the Day. He continues to be active as a musical actor until the present. His most recent production was the 2022 run of Xcalibur.
Changsub (BTOB)
BTOB’s lead singer Changsub began his musical career in 2017 in the musical adaptation of Boys Over Flowers. Changsub also starred in Napoleon, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dogfight. 2018’s Iron Mask marked his final musical appearance before military enlistment.
In 2021, Changsub starred in three musicals: The Last Empress, Marie Antoinette, and Darwin Young’s Origin of Evil.
Bada (S.E.S)
The first generation idol is one of the first to make their debut in musical theater. Bada made her debut in The Peppermint in 2003. Her next musical appearance was in 2007’s Tell Me on a Sunday. From 2007, she starred in eight more stage productions: Notre-Dame de Paris, 200 Pounds Beauty, Broadway on 42nd Street, Legally Blonde, Mozart!, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Carmen, and Gone with the Wind.
Ock Joo Hyun (Fin K.L.)
Ock Joo Hyun is another first generation idol who also makes waves in musical theater. She debuted in 2005 in the first Korean-language production of Aida in 2005, followed by the first Korean production of Chicago in 2007.
She is now more well-known as a musical actress, and remains very popular in the Korean musical scene. She has appeared in multiple productions of Aida, Chicago, The Count of Monte Cristo, Elisabeth, Rebecca, The Last Kiss, Mata Hari, and Wicked. Ock Joo Hyun also won multiple awards for her musical theater performances.
Bonus: There are also two more idols who have taken their first steps into musical theater! Former 2NE1 member Dara starred in the musical adaptation of the tvN drama Another Oh Hae Young in 2020. And, NCT member Doyoung took on the lead role in the 2021 run of Marie Antoinette.
There are more idols who are great musical talents, and it’s always great to see them explore new ways to hone their craft.
Which idol musical actor is your favorite?
Featured Image: Kpop superstar Kyuhun stars in Frankenstein the Musical, along with VIXX’s Leo. Photo: SM Entertainment
Months ago, the inclusion of IZ*ONE Chaeyeon in the hit reality dancing competition Street Woman Fighter as a member of a dance crew was a hot topic among netizens. Many opined that her inclusion was a disservice to many dancers who breathe, eat, sleep, and live dancing their entire lives while she only has to perform “idol dancing.” In relation to that point, many even questioned her skills in dancing, pointing out that even though Chaeyeon is indeed a skilled dancer, her skill levels are nowhere near the level of the professional dancers participating in the show.
Moreover, show also earned additional flak for having NCT’s Taeyeong act as one of the judges of the show. People questioned what Taeyeong’s qualifications are to judge the competition, knowing that he’s part of a group that hasn’t even been around for ten years. Just like Chaeyeon, both are recognized as very capable dancers in the idol standard, but are definitely out of their depth when it comes to interacting with the legitimate dancers.
But before everybody hates on idols classifying themselves as dancers, there are a select few who may have been and still are active in the pop music scene. They are recognized even by professional dancers as having skills at par with them. Here are six widely-recognized dancers who just happen to be idols, too.
Rain
Even as an auditionee to various entertainment agencies, Rain already tried to present his skills as both a dancer and singer. Unfortunately, he had to face countless rejections because he did not conform to the flower boy image that was then (and still actually is) the preferred standard for hopefuls to be accepted into the Korean entertainment industry. He was once quoted as saying that he failed to make it in auditions because he does not have double eyelids. Eventually, JYP Entertainment recruited him, where he trained and also was a backup dancer for the company’s acts.
Although the company included Jing Jihoon in a boy band called Fanclub in 1998, he eventually debuted as a solo act a couple of years later, as the group disbanded after releasing two albums. It was then that he was introduced as Rain who released the album Bad Guy to moderate success. His second album, How to Avoid the Sun, did not suffer the sophomore slump, allowing him to release his third album It’s Raining, which became his breakthrough album as it topped Korean music charts and allowed Rain to embark on a concert tour in eight Asian countries.
From the start of his solo career, Rain’s songs have constantly been in the R&B genre, which was heavily popular worldwide in the 2000s with the movement being led by artists such as Michael Jackson, Usher, and Justin Timberlake, which served as Rain’s influences. Thus, Rain tweaked the genre to suit his style and allow him to utilize his top-notch dancing skills. Even as he shifted later in his career to more hip-hop-sounding songs, the public has already long accepted that Rain will still make dance a major component of his music. And yes, he may release the most self-indulgent material such as his highly criticized GANG(which somehow saw a resurgence in popularity during the early part of the pandemic), but nobody can deny that 1) any Rain song lets you feel the urge to dance 2) Rain is a good singer, an above-average actor, and an awesome dancer.
BoA
Dancing is a common talent among the Kwon siblings, which is what made BoA’s brother audition for SM Entertainment. As with a lot of chance success stories pop idols anywhere in the world, BoA was in the auditions only to accompany her brother who wanted to join the company with his break dancing skills. However, it was the sister who ended up getting signed by the company before audition day ended, and the rest, as they say, is history.
That BoA was also a pan-East Asian star may have also contributed to her reputation as a formidable dancer. Two years after she debuted in Korea to moderate success, she was sent to Japan to establish a singing career there. At age 16, she may have already been trained in the Japanese language, but of course, the level of comfort she may have had with the language upon her arrival in a new country may not have been that high. But of course, since SM Entertainment placed a lot of confidence behind her Japanese debut, she had to present the best of her talents, which ultimately is dancing. The same thing happened when she tried expanding her career in countries such as China, Singapore, and Taiwan. She may not be a native Chinese speaker (in fact, she only recorded Chinese songs without her knowing the llanguage), but anybody can instantly recognize her superior dancing skills the moment they watch her perform.
And these awe-inspiring dancing skills are what really propelled BoA (and everyone on this article, come to think of it) to international stardom. Save for Taeyang who has a lot of involvement in the composition of his songs and is also known for his strong vocal skills, our dancers here, especially BoA and Rain, do have iconic songs – for K-pop’s queen, there’s Atlantis Princess, Hurricane Venus, Only One, Who are You, but more than them being recognized for their amazing vocal abilities like, for example, Taeyeon, Ailee, or Lee Hi, people remember BoA’s songs and more importantly, the unforgettable choreographies tied to them. And that’s quite an indication that BoA is indeed, not just an idol who is good at dancing, but a dancer who happens to have released several hit pop songs.
SHINee is the perfect boy group. You had members who had superior vocal skills in Jonghyun (RIP) and Onew, a very able rapper who’s also the group’s visual center in Minho, all-around entertainer Key, and the holder of the title “golden” maknae before BTS’ Jungkook, Taemin. And since we’re on the topic of main dancers, let’s talk about Taemin, who from his debut, was already considered a top dancer. And he debuted at 14. So, yes, this is a case of a dance prodigy debuting as an idol.
There are a number of factors that set him apart from many of the others that are also considered as excellent dancers. First is his experience in the industry. He has close to 15 years in the industry, which may not be as long as BoA and Rain, but then considering that he’s the first on our list who is a member of a group, then that is indeed a feat. His length of experience in the industry may have contributed to his smooth and precise dancing style, which is distinctly Taemin and pretty much identifiable even if viewers can only see his shadow.
You may argue, well what about dancers like Eunhyuk of Super Junior and Younho of TVXQ? They’ve been in the business longer than Taemin. This is where the other factor about Taemin’s abilities springs up. Even if Eunhyuk and Younho have been in the music industry longer than Taemin, and some may even argue that the two may be more skilled in the technicalities of dance, Taemin, as mentioned earlier, has somehow used his years in the industry to develop his own distinct style of dancing, which is quite different from the rest, even from the most established idol dancers who we have already mentioned, such as BoA and Rain.
That style is tied with his initiative of incorporating elements of contemporary dance and his frequent use of androgynous fashion and heavy make-up. He popularized this starting 2017 with his single Move, where he dressed in androgynous fashion. But more than his appearance on the video, the choreography also reflected a blurring of what is commonly considered as “masculine” or “macho” choreography performed by male idols and the more “feminine” choreography characterized by more slinky moves usually associated to female idols. And it worked, as more people found Taemin’s style captivating rather than a turn-off. Moving forward in his career, he has made this androgynous style his trademark.
Hyoyeon
What’s a girl got to do when she’s the main dancer of the Nation’s Girl Group? Prove your skills to everyone, obviously. Among the main dancers on this list, it was Hyoyeon who, from the start of her career, was pushed into overdrive by SM Entertainment as a main dancer. To be fair to the company, all members were pushed in their roles for easy recognition by the public right from the start of their careers. So, as early as their debut, people already knew that, for example, Tiffany was the American girlfriend, Yoona was the center, Taeyeon was the main vocalist, and Hyoyeon was the main dancer. If that still wasn’t obvious for anyone, they gave her a full 15-second dance break in the music video of their debut track Into the New World. Obviously, after watching that video, the public was only too ready to recognize Hyo’s dancing skills. And if that still wasn’t enough, the group recorded a pre-release song Dancing Queen ahead of their I Got a Boy comeback, a Korean cover of British singer Duffy’s smash hit, Mercy. Ironically, Hyoyeon only had one line in the song and also had minimal exposure on the music video.
Actually, Hyo has had a very diverse career. She may not have become an actress, which is the most popular side job for any idol, but she went on to become a legit DJ and a skier! But back to being a dancer, her dancing skills have made her a mainstay in various dancing shows and competitions such as the second season of the Korean version of Dancing with the Stars, where she placed second with her partner Kim Hyungsuk); Dancing 9 in 2014; Hit the Stage, where she ranked number 1 in the ninth episode; and Good Girl in 2020.
Hoya
Here is another idol who is recognized throughout the entertainment industry as a top dancer: Lee Howon, formerly known as INFINITE’s Hoya. Even before getting into the idol world as a member of one of the 2nd gen’s most popular groups, Hoya was already dead set on entering the entertainment industry with his dancing skills. When he was still supposed to attend middle school, he would cut class and instead go to dance studios, practice dance routines, and check out other dancers to possibly be part of a dance crew.
He eventually joined a dance crew and auditioned for different entertainment agencies such as JYP (you can see a lot of videos of Hoya auditioning with his crew on YouTube). Although his crew unfortunately didn’t pass these auditions, he eventually entered JYP as a trainee, although he left the company and auditioned for the reality program SuperStar K, while Woollim Entertainment was already calling him after they found out that he had left JYP. As soon as he failed to qualify in the next round of SuperStar K, he trained with Woollim and later accepted a spot in the company’s first idol group, INFINITE.
Like Hyo, Hoya has also displayed his dancing skills in reality shows. Hoya was Hyoyeon’s castmate in 2016’s Hit the Stage, where he appeared from Episodes 1 to 4 and ranked first in the final episode he appeared in. He was also the dance coach of a teen dance crew in 2018’s Dancing High, which was won by the team he mentored.
Minzy
Finally, we have legendary group 2NE1’s maknae and main dancer Minzy. Dancing is in Minzy’s blood, having renowned folk dancer Gong Okjin as her gradnmother. When she was young, she moved to Gwangju with her family, but then her mother brought Minzy and her sister back to Seoul while traveling between Seoul and Gwangju to work with Minzy’s father. It was then when she participated in many dance contests and competitions and was recognized for her talents as she won various awards. She then went, as 2010s language goes, viral with a video of her at a dance competition in Gwangju, where many people who watched it immediately recognized her dancing abilities. This video somehow found its way to the hompage of YG Entertainment, which prompted then-CEO Yang Hyun-suk to contact and recruit her (who was then only in sixth grade) to join the agency. She then debuted with 2NE1 in May 2009 at only 15 years old.
Minzy’s love for the craft of dancing was further solidified when in October 2015, while 2NE1 was on hiatus, Minzy founded her own dance studio (not connected to YG) named the “Millennium Dance Academy.” The Seoul-based studio is very much active with various artists, including Hyoyeon (Punk Right Now), GFriend (Sunrise), and Billie (Siyoon is an alumnae of the academy).
It is safe to say that there are idols that indeed can reach the levels of dancers when it comes to dancing. Although it may be true that idols may need more to beef up their dancer cred, the idols on this list prove that it can be done with a lot of hard work, appreciation for the craft, and connections to the dancing world.
Curious to know which among the 4th generation girl groups will dominate the K-pop scene? We are placing our bets on four:
aespa
What we know so far: Scary aespa has incurred a plethora of emotions from both fans and anti-fans. All of their tracks have made it to the top of the country’s music charts, and that’s despite them having only been in the business for just over more than a year. Yes, aespa debuted in November 2020 and has had only five songs and one EP in their discography. But all of these songs have charted pretty well, starting from Black Mamba, their debut track, and Next Leveland Savage, both of which have significantly benefited from social media viral trends. That hook and choreography of Next Level is what marketer’s dreams are made of. Everyone in the music industry just knows that palm flipping move – very reminiscent of TWICE’s “Shy Shy Shy” choreography.
And again, they’ve only been in existence for just more than a year.
How will they slay: As expected, SM Entertainment has once again delivered in terms of the quality of their rookie group’s output. This is not to say that the company becomes lax when it comes to giving high-quality songs and productions to their existing groups, as can be seen in the great songs Super Junior, SHINee, Red Velvet, and NCT continue to release up to now. However, as with any other company, SM really puts extra effort when it comes to the releases of their rookie groups, and it shows in the very strong releases aespa has had so far. And coming from a company that is well-known for producing songs that do not compromise on quality, aespa so far does not disappoint, and if this continues, they are quite assured of being household names in the very near future. So there, a combination of being an SM group and the high quality of releases that follow is more than sufficient reason for the group to be slaying.
Another factor that will assure them of success that’s also related to them being SM talents is the premium exposure they have had even as rookies. Everybody can agree that in this field, five rookies with the same concept and the same quality of songs, the group that will be debuted by either SM, YG, JYP, or BigHit will always have an edge. Not just because of their agency’s name recall but because being from these agencies allows the groups to be exposed to other opportunities that the other rookies from smaller agencies wouldn’t even dare to imagine. As soon as they debuted, aespa became the brand ambassador for the French luxury brand Givenchy. That gives them so much free publicity not only in Korea but in international markets where the French brand is present. And that is definitely not something a mom-and-pop small-time talent agency can do for its talents, particularly rookie groups that haven’t contributed much to their bank.
Alas, we have to talk about the individual members. Giselle is part Japanese and Ningning is Chinese, so that already gives the group a huge advantage in overseas markets. Even if China continues its “ban” on K-pop and other foreign cultural influences, Chinese people will not think twice about supporting their countrymen who are trying to make a name for themselves in a field that is internationally popular such as K-pop.
What could make their star fall: Nothing much, except one thing: If SM Entertainment continues to push the idea of the avatars and KWANGYA. It is no secret that people, even SM talents themselves, find the idea of aespa’s avatars downright creepy and unnecessary. I mean, the four members are enough for people to go gaga over the group, so this concept of them having doppelgangers that live in this wilderness or dimension or whatever it is called KWANGYA is just something a tad too extra. The idea didn’t explode (in terms of popularity) with NCT and sure as hell it won’t with aespa. Even TVXQ’s Changmin has also had a brush with KWANGYA in his solo release, DEVIL. Anyhoo, let me channel the ultimate mean girl Regina George and suggest to SM to stop trying to make ‘KWANGYA’ happen, it’s NOT going to happen!
But then SM is also known to drop concepts and events like they never happened in the first place. Remember Super Junior ‘05? Remember all the sub-units of Super Junior – M, T, KRY, H, and D&E? (well, KRY and D&E are still active, but the rest are practically dead) Remember the push for ballads and songs with slower beats to beef up the Velvet discography of RV? Trust SM to drop anything like a hot potato once they realize something is not working to their advantage.
StayC
What we know so far:StayC is one of those refreshing stories of success in the Korean music industry that come as a bit of a surprise to even casual observers of K-pop, mainly because of the circumstances that the group was in. For one, the group is under a relatively unknown entertainment company, High Up Music. Although the company is associated with mega-successful producer Black Eyed Pisung, it is never an indication that the company will be super successful (e.g., Brave Entertainment which currently only has Grave Girls to present as successful in its 14-year existence). Secondly, they debuted in November 2020, while the world was still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we have been living in COVID times for more than eight months and a number of K-pop acts had already done fairly well considering the situation, but then debuting a girl group was a completely different matter. Alas, High Up took the risk and gambled, and things paid off pretty well.
How will they slay: So far, they have slayed since their debut, with the EP Star to a Young Culture peaking the charts at number 6 and selling over 70,000 copies, a very strong number for any debuting group, be it a boy group or a girl group. Their follow-up album Staydom, released close to five months after their debut album may have only reached #9 in the Gaon Album Chart, but sold more than 105,000 copies, which is absolutely more albums than most groups can only hope for in their dreams. Not only that, but their single ASAP, reached number 9 in the digital chart, cementing the group’s success on both digital and album sales. And they did with only two releases!
The group’s next two EPs only solidified StayC‘s position as a monster rookie, as Stereotype, released in September last year and Young-Luv.com, released last February, peaked on the album charts at numbers 2 and 1 and sold more than 179,000 and 212,000 copies respectively. Those are really some impressive figures not just for amateur groups, but for Korean pop acts in general.
During their debut, it may also have helped that two of the members (who happen to have similar names) were no strangers to the public. Sieun was already popular prior to the group’s debut as the daughter of veteran singer Park Namjung and a teen actress. She was already seen in her appearances in dramas such as the Korean remake of The Good Wife, Queen for Seven Days, and The Crowned Clown. Her acting skills were even recognized as she bagged the Youth Acting Award in 2018 SBS Drama Awards for her role in Still 17, where she played the young Seori, the show’s female protagonist (the adult version was played by Mr. Queen‘s Shin Hyesun).
Another actress prior to the group’s debut and was already known to the public is Seeun. Her acting credits prior to joining StayC include Circle and The Guardians. Prior to joining High Up Entertainment, Seeun also trained in Plan A Entertainment, which means had she not left the agency, she would have been a member of a group we will talk about later instead of being in StayC.
What could make their star fall: All StayC members are good at singing, good in rapping, good in dancing, which is great considering that we are past the era of groups with members that are just there for display. But that may also be the problem for StayC. So far, Sieun is the one being pushed as the group’s main vocalist and sometimes-center because she may be the most popular. But listening to their songs, you can’t really recognize Sieun’s vocals as superior and standing out from the rest. For easy “identifiability”, groups usually employ the positions for fans to easily point out which member is which. StayC is so popular, but somehow we still have to consult Google to know which member is which. This, we cannot say is the same with aespa.
Itzy
What we know so far: Definitely one of the top contenders for the title “leaders of the 4th Gen,” Itzy has continued the tradition of excellence by JYP Entertainment when it comes to producing girl groups. With the sterling track record of Wonder Girls, miss A, and TWICE, Itzy was destined for success. And if anything else, Itzy’s also a testament to the loyalty of one Lee Chaeryeong. Imagine not getting into TWICE because you and your sister got eliminated in Sixteen, the show that brought together the group. All eliminated contestants started leaving JYP after being told to go back to the training room. Even after her sister left the company, she remained. Her loyalty paid off when she and four other girls were selected to make up the group Itzy, which also has its share of high-profile quitters, allegedly including IOI center Somi, who opted to leave JYP (and thus defaulting her chances of being included in Itzy) for a solo career with the Black Label, a YG subsidiary.
Anyway, as the group is a JYP group, they were off to an inevitably phenomenal start when they debuted on February 12, 2019, with the single album, It’z Different, led by the single Dalla Dalla. The group brushed off rookie jitters as it scored one of the biggest Billboard debuts for a new K-pop act in years, with their song entering at number three and peaking at number two on the World Digital Song Sales chart. The music video surpassed 17.1 million views within 24 hours of its release and broke the record for the most viewed K-pop debut music video within 24 hours. After only eight days since their debut, Itzy received their first music show win on M Countdown, breaking the record for the fastest time for a girl group to achieve their first music show win. The song went on to win nine more music show trophies while the music video became the fastest K-pop debut music video to reach 100 million views on YouTube at the time.
Five months later, the group’s first EP, It’z Icy, was released and met critical and commercial success anew, as it peaked at number three on the Gaon Album Chart. Icy, the EP’s lead single won 12 music show #1s, including a triple crown on Show Champion. As expected, by the end of the year, the group won numerous rookie of the year awards, including the Best New Female Artist awards at the 2019 Melon Music Awards and the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The music videos for Dalla Dalla and Icyplaced on the list of South Korea’s most popular music videos on YouTube at numbers two and seven, respectively.
How will they slay:Itzy has, for three years, proven how hard JYP girl groups slap at their peak. The sales figures for their EPs look like they’re from a veteran girl group. The interest of the fans in the five members is also quite evenly distributed and no one is made to feel they’re less popular or less talented than the others. There’s also the viral choreography that most of the time serves as a passport to the success of 4th gen groups. From the finger crowns that have been through several variations for each Itzy release to the iconic shoulder dance of Ryujin, it’s safe to say that the girls have engrained themselves in Korean pop culture.
What could make their star fall:The JYP disease. This condition differs between girl and boy groups. For boy groups, it’s just being dropped when Asiansoul JYP doesn’t really like the songs the group comes up with (e.g., JB’s songs). For girl groups, it’s where the company abandons everything and treats all other talents like yesterday’s newspaper to focus all energies and resources for the favored rookie group.
This is what happened to Wonder Girls when miss A emerged, which was eventually replaced by TWICE, which has now taken a back seat for Itzy. And now that Nmixx has been introduced to the public, we can only watch and brace ourselves as it projected that Itzy will start its slow and steady decline. Basing on the group’s last two releases, the much maligned (Mafia) In the Morning and Loco, which only managed to chart at numbers 10 and 26, respectively, we can say that the decline may already be starting.
(G)-IDLE
What we know so far: At last, we go to the “pioneers” of the 4th generation of girl groups, (G)I-dle. After the “success” of the Cube trainees’ exposure in Produce 101 (success in quotes because even though the two Cube trainees didn’t qualify for the project group IOI, Kwon Eunbin and Jeon Soyeon did generate a lot of buzz and were recognized as very talented contestants), the company decided to add Eunbin to the lineup of CLC, an underperforming group under the company. As for the more successful Soyeon, the company gave her a solo single release and allowing her to join project releases like Wow Thing with Seulgi, SinB, and her PD101 castmate Chungha and Unpretty Rapstar, which added to her credentials as a legit rapper. Finally, in 2018, she was introduced as the leader of Cube Entertainment’s new girl group, (G)I-dle, with Miyeon (a former YG trainee who was reportedly supposed to be a member of Blackpink), Minnie, Soojin, Shuhua and Yuqi.
How will they slay: From the get-go, the group slayed as (G)I-dle released Latata on May 2 of that year. Latata‘s music video exceeded 5.9 million views within the first week, and the EP debuted at number 13 on the Gaon Album Chart issued on May 10. One week after release, “Latata” debuted at number 35 on Gaon Digital Chart on May 17.(G)I-dle received their first-ever music show win on SBS MTV’s The Show on May 22, solidifying the success of the debut.
On August 14, (G)I-dle’s first digital single Hann (Alone)was released. Within 24 hours, the music video surpassed 4.9 million views on YouTube. The song topped domestic music charts including Bugs, Genie and Olleh Music on August 16 and peaked at number two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. The following week, (G)I-dle received their first music show win for the song on Show Champion on August 29.
Throughout the rest of 2018, (G)I-dle won several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Gaon Chart Music Awards, Genie Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Korea Popular Music Awards and Melon Music Awards.
In 2019, they participated in the first season of Queendom, which pitted them against more experienced artists and groups such as Mamamoo, AOA, Park Bom, and Oh My Girl. They may have only ended up in third place, but their performances and releases from the show garnered a lot of attention, acclaim, and even sales. The group’s success went on despite the pandemic and just in March, the group finally had their long-awaited comeback with their first full-length studio album I Never Die and the lead single, Tomboy dominating the charts and earning them a rare PAK (perfect all-kill).
Finally, (G)I-dle slaying is quite inevitable, considering they have established a reputation of being directly involved in the creation of their music. Soyeon particularly has helped write and produce a majority of the group’s songs, and Minnie and Yuqi have also co-written numerous album tracks. With all the highlights of just one year that since extended to their second, third, and fourth year, (G)I-dle have since been considered one of the most successful South Korean girl groups from outside of the “big three” record labels. This also rehabilitated Cube’s slightly damaged reputation after the not-so-lustrous career of CLC, which as of 2021, was verified by the members as being a “discontinued” group.
Message from (G)I-DLE to the fans attending KPOP.FLEX 💕
What could make their star fall: We are talking about Cube Entertainment, the company that Be2st, 4Minute, HyunA, and e-Dawn left because of poor treatment. The company has a reputation of producing very successful groups that they eventually mismanage (as seen in 4Minute and Be2st) or artists that they leave out in the darkness when push comes to shove . So, when eagle-eyed fans saw Soyeon having the business card of someone from Psy’s P.Nation during one of her live sessions, people started speculating that (G)I-dle might be on their way to CLC-dom. But then, Soyeon has produced songs for other artists, so it might be that she was just exploring collab opportunities with P.Nation artists. But then, last year, it was announced that Soojin would temporarily halt all activities following allegations of bullying by former classmates. On August 14, Cube Entertainment announced that Soojin had officially withdrawn from (G)I-dle, though she will remain under the same agency. In March this year, Cube Entertainment announced that they have officially terminated Soojin’s contract after police investigations concluded that the accusers were not guilty of spreading false information. With Cube’s characteristically lackadaisical handling of the Soojin “scandal”, we can safely conclude that should there be any scandals among the remaining (G)I-dle members in the future, we should expect the same treatment from the company. So, really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the group will disband in the future.
By how things are unfolding, it does look like these four groups are following in the long line of girl groups whom went on to become the leaders of their own generations – S.E.S., Fin. K.L, and Baby Vox for the first generation, SNSD, SISTAR, 2NE1, Wonder Girls, and Apink for the 2nd gen, and Blackpink, TWICE, Red Velvet, and MAMAMOO for the third generation. It would be interesting to see how these monster groups will reign in the years to come.
Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, the first challenge of the second season of Queendom 2had the competing groups perform their “signature song”. Hyolyn selected SISTAR’s Touch My Body, Brave Girls opted to mix Chi Mat Ba Ramwith (obviously) Rollin’, Kep1er didn’t seem to have a choice but to perform Wa Da Da, Viviz, aka GFriend Lite chose a remix of Time for the Moon Night and Rough, and Loona was supposed to have PTT as their entry, which they, unfortunately, missed because they all contracted COVID in the day of competition.
But for WJSN, the task presented them with a bit of a challenge. The group seemed lost as to which song they will perform, as they felt that despite having really good songs, they don’t have that single breakout hit that exploded and made them household names. Even for casual viewers, it was a bit heartbreaking to see the Cosmic Girls facing their first “challenge” in the competition. But then, does the group not really have a signature song? Let’s review their lead releases and see if they indeed are challenged when it comes to picking the single song that represents them.
“Mo Mo Mo” (모모모)
For a debut track, Mo Mo Mo suffices. But then, considering a number of factors, you can say it is a bit underwhelming. These factors include:
That WJSN is the dongsaeng group to SISTAR. As in THE SISTAR, the group that has only known single digits in the charts, from the debut track Push Push that peaked at #9 to the farewell song Lonely that topped the charts. As in the group of Hyorin, their competition in Queendom 2. In hindsight, that record was only established because it can’t be denied that Every. Single. SISTAR. Track. Rocks. That is an indisputable fact and Mo Mo Mo, unfortunately, doesn’t hold a candle against even a SISTAR b-side track.
In relation to the first point, WJSN is produced by Starship Entertainment, which has a track record of producing S-tier groups. Until WJSN debuted, the other group Starship created aside from SISTAR was Monsta X, which debuted with Trespass, a song that a lot of boy group trainees still perform for evaluations up to this day. Well, there was Boyfriend, but every company is allowed one huge fail, right?
The song itself is not outstanding. It is cloyingly sweet, even with the inclusion of Exy’s rap verses. The visuals were maximized in the music video, but the dancing skills of the Chinese line and the abilities of the vocal line were underutilized. Considering that the year also saw the debut of Blackpink, the girls really needed to pull out all the stops for them to get some attention. And this song didn’t do them factors.
The creepy music video had the group holding a welcome party where they invited an astronaut who turned out to be Lee Kwangsoo. As in Running Man Lee Kwangsoo. The girls, who were at most in their late teens or early 20s, had to gush over Kwangsoo when his identity was revealed. That was weird. But all 12 were super pretty though.
Finally, it has to be said that this rather cutesy concept is not something the group will likely hold on to or establish as their image for the rest of their career. So, as much as Mo Mo Mo indeed suffices as a debut track*, it’s not strong enough to be a signature song.
*Sidenote: A lot of debut tracks have gone on to be important items in some groups’ discographies. Into the New World by Girls’ Generation, Push Push by SISTAR, Mollayo by Apink, Hot Issue by 4Minute, Fireby 2NE1, Boombayah by BlackPink, Latata by G-IDLE… need we say more? The point is, there are strong debut songs and there are those that aren’t. Mo Mo Moisn’t.
“Catch Me” (캐치미)
After Mo Mo Mo comes Catch Me, which is practically a 180-degree turn from their saccharinely sweet image in their debut track. This time, the girls donned short black outfits that looked like they were going on an intense workout routine but ended up filming a sexy music video. It felt weird to see the girls performing choreography that can be described as “racy” so early in their careers, with a lot of booty popping and floorwork reminiscent of Hyoryn’s solo dance moves.
Maybe we can change this to growing pains, but admittedly, the song didn’t do much to advance the group’s popularity. They may have shown their range in terms of pulling off totally different concepts, but upon first listen (and first viewing of the music video), many did hope for better songs and better fitting concepts for the group.
“Secret” (비밀이야)
Finally! Without a doubt what should have been the group’s debut song had they wanted to present themselves with a bang! Released later in the same year as Mo Mo Moand Catch Me, the song was the first of the group as 13, with the then-recent inclusion of Yeonjung who just finished her contract with Produce 101 project group I.O.I. People also noted that this was their first release that had a music video that more or less adhered to their supposed image of cosmic girls, as it features the girls in a somehow mystical wilderness with a falling star (or comet?) falling with the newest member inside. Well, unless you count Lee Kwangsoo in an astronaut costume as “cosmic”, the music video to Secret was really the most mystical and cosmic as the group can get in their careers that then has only spanned six months.
Many opined that it was rather unfortunate that it had to take Yeonjung’s inclusion to WJSN for Starship to get its act together and really push the group with both a solid song and concept. Why didn’t they do this from the start so that the group has an easier time building a fanbase, as it wasn’t really sure whether Mo Mo Moand Catch Me did the group any favors. While it goes without saying that Yeonjung definitely did her part as a former I.O.I member to raise WJSN’s profile, many were also concerned that the group would be too dependent on the amount of fame the new member would bring to the group.
Considering that WJSN already had a strong line-up even before the late entry of I.O.I’s former main vocal, people felt that the group got the chopped liver treatment during the recent sequence of events. Moreover, they also feared that Yeonjung’s recognized vocal talents may cause the other main vocalists to give way and make space for the new maknae. Which unfortunately did happen in the next few releases as many noted the obvious decrease in the number of lines for one of the group’s main vocalists, Dawon.
Otherwise, this song is everything you’d imagine a WJSN song to be. Definitely a great gateway song for those who want to join Ujung.
I Wish is light and fun, WJSN style. This was one of those WJSN where it feels like Yeonjung was just in every verse. Which of course, works for fans of the I.O.I alum but a rather sad plight of things for fans of members like Change Xiao who only had to repeat the line “tell me why” and its variation “just tell me why” in every chorus and Dawon who went from the main vocalist to someone who only sang for 11 seconds the entire song. Still, it is a good song though, because the message of love and admiration isn’t as saccharine-ly worded as expected in most innocent girl group concept songs.
Although not too intense in the cosmic treatment, the music video still employs a bit of the mystical and cosmic elements the group has started to own since they released the Secret music video. We have the girls finding their way through a maze and in some scenes, dancing in a field of pink grass under a rainbow. That still counts for something in the cosmic world, eh?
“Happy” (해피)
Another light and fun track, many did appreciate Happy because it’s a song about… happiness, obviously. The song itself sounds quite refreshing as it’s super bright. But then, please do not be deceived by the overly bright rendition of the girls as the high energy does not hinder Yeonjung from doing the vocal runs that would be hard for other groups to copy. This reminds me of Queendom’s Episode 2 when Kep1er apparently set their sights on covering Happy, which made me wonder how they would arrange it in such a way that would omit Yeonjung’s vocal calisthenics. Because seriously, who in Kep1er can do it?
The music video had the girls play cheerleaders in some scenes and highly competitive dodgeball players. Serious fun ensues. Both the song and the music video veer away from cosmic references, but it’s okay since they’ve established the strength of their concept inspired by their group’s name. So, this one’s a win as well.
“Dreams Come True” (꿈꾸는 마음으로)
Disclaimer: This song is the author’s personal favorite, so expect inevitable bias ahead.
Any song that starts with a drumroll and leads to a bass guitar that sounds like the opening credits of an anime will forever be a superior song. And that’s what Dreams Come True is. Since it conjures images of anime characters that are basically superheroes and or people whose concerns are very out of this world, then yes, the song is pretty much faithful to the group’s cosmic concept. The song’s lyrics are also big on things like dreams, trust, and destiny (that the singer and the subject of the song will realize their seemingly challenged love). The chorus goes: Trust, trust me
Hold tight to this moment, give me more courage
With a dreaming heart
I’ll go into your embrace that I dreamed about
I make the impossible, possible
Trust in me Trust in you
Whatever it takes, we will meet
I’ll find you, I’ll run to you
I’m stronger because of you
And with the heavy drum accompaniment, it really sounds like a song only WJSN, with the group’s concept, can justify.
As for the music video, the overly filtered footage with the planets or other celestial bodies shown, the girl’s faces shown in rapid succession at the start of the video (again, very anime-inspired), Bona in a bed floating in the clouds, Eunseo seeing a shooting star (or was that a comet?) flashing across the sky as she looks up from texting on her phone, Mei Qi holding and releasing balls of light, Dayoung (and later, Soobin) running as soon as she saw a cosmic alert message on her phone and tripping, as everyone fathered to a helipad amidst a lightning storm, then Bona falling off from her floating bed to unite the girls who have gathered in a field this time (maybe they teleported from the helipad to the field?), then everybody holding hands as they send the same cosmic image, which may represent their reunion, to the sky. Then, Bona wakes up, realizing it was just a dream, but no! Her phone shows that cosmic storm image again. So maybe everything did happen. But yes, the entire music video hammered the entire cosmic concept to its viewers, that is if we’re not yet convinced that they are the Cosmic Girls.
P.S. This has been the last WJSN with the three Chinese members included. Chengxiao, Meiqi, and Xuanyi have been pursuing individual activities in China since.
Sexy-ish schoolgirl? A few songs after the anomalous release that was Catch Me, which had the then-rookies in rather risque outfits, the girls returned with another song that had a music video that can make any viewer wonder, “Why do I feel like the video is suggesting things to me?”
Anyway, back to the song. By now, the group has practically cornered the market for singing songs about distant lovers who believe in destiny and wonder about the day when they will finally be reunited. Intersperse that with lines about dreams and the future, that is your template for a WJSN song. And there’s something about the song’s arrangement and instrumentation that can make any long-time follower of k-pop, in general, recognize this as a typical track from the girls.
The sexy vibes are mostly pushed by the music video that calls to mind Harry Potter in a not-so-innocent setting. You have the girls attend what looks like a school of magic where you can see them perform some magical things with flowers and butterflies. Nothing weird about that, right? Well, maybe there’s one where they transform from wearing their uniforms to black and white ensembles with fishnet socks (yes, socks, not stockings) while dancing in some antique study hall.
So the storyline is not particularly risque, so what gives this music video some serious sexy vibes? Along with the live performances, it is the choreography that is the culprit! Lots of moves where the girls touch each other and clapping in weird areas just give the song this uniquely strange and sexy vibe. And when you have the girls in those black and white outfits doing the weird clapping move, it does make you think.
Then, you have a section of the video where everything is burning, including a scene where everybody leaves an auditorium except Bona who stays while the chairs in the rows before her are burning. And Seola is also left by herself in a classroom while crying a single silver tear. Altogether a weird music video. But hey we can’t really be mad at the song, as this gave the girls their first music show win two years after their debut.
This was one confusing WJSN release that went by and did not really gain any traction or buzz for some reason. The song is okay, the music video is okay, and both didn’t really bring anything new to the table. The music video starts with Luda typing something, then the girls dancing and doing things in a carnival, like dancing in the carnival, watching a horse (I don’t know why they didn’t feature an elephant instead), Yeorum making cotton candy, Dawon reading a newspaper (beats me as to why she is doing that in a carnival), Eunseo, Bona, and Exy riding those huge circus loops, and some members inspecting light bulbs and empty birdcages. They also have a scene where they are all seated around a table, playing Uno (or some game with really colorful cards) and in some scenes, a member standing on top of the table, which may lead the viewer to believe these ladies had a bit too much to drink.
But after a two-song absence (with Dreams Come True and Save Me Save You not charting which is just pure injustice), La La Love brought WJSN back to the Gaon Singles Charts. I guess the song has its charms, after all.
“Boogie Up”
This is the Cosmic Girls doing an impression of SISTAR. By the time Boogie Up was released, it has been two years since the Queens of Summer surrendered their tiaras, so it may be that WJSN felt that the field is open for aspirants to the position. Boogie Up conjures sunny feelings that songs like Shake It, Touch My Body, and I Swearsuccessfully accomplished with SISTAR, and so it makes sense that the new queens of Starship would also be on point in this. Besides, Boogie Up is the lead single of the group’s EP titled For the Summer, so if there’s still any doubt that the group wanted some of that summer music chart action, then those should have already been quashed.
The music video is also pretty much SISTAR in 2019. Filmed in Okinawa, the girls were shown lounging in the pool, lounging on the beach, going to buildings with English signs; the only thing missing is for the group to leave their “jobs” and ride in a convertible with the top down and this would have been another SISTAR video. But of course, since there are ten people, they couldn’t possibly fit in a convertible, so they instead had a party in a club where they were the only ones in attendance, very reminiscent of the Girls GenerationParty music video. But instead of drinks, the cosmic girls partied with glow sticks. Still pretty wholesome, eh?
“As You Wish” (이루리)
Finally, another song for WJSN to really stamp their trademark on. Both the song and the music video are quite earnest and are not as flashy as their other songs that adhere more to their cosmic concept. The lyrics are about wanting to be that person who makes the dreams and wishes of your loved ones come true. The music video is quite interesting too, as it has the girls working in some facility where they are operating phones and reading letters, which we may interpret as an office that receives people’s wishes, as we see a little girl sending one of those wishing sky lanterns at the start of the video. Of course, we also see the girls dance in the office and have coffee breaks in cable cars. Finally, towards the end of the video, the girls rush outside to watch a display of fireworks.
As the song was released before 2019 ended, the song did give strong holiday vibes. True enough, when the new year of 2020 rang, Koreans listened to the song, making it chart at the top of Melon’s 5-minute realtime chart (it eventually settled at #4 and Bugs in January 2020. It also reached number 4 on Genie and number 2 on FLO on the same day. This has continued for the past two New Years, with the song topping the MelOn, Bugs, and Genie real-time charts in January 2021 and the MelOn, Bugs, and Genie real-time charts. It goes without saying that this is definitely WJSN’s signature song, so it is a bit worrying that the girls up to now still do not feel like they have a signature song.
“Butterfly”
While most of the songs WJSN has released stick to the cosmic concept save for a few stray tracks like Happy, Chase Me, and Boogie Up, this one belongs to the latter. Butterfly, which is included in the group’s ninth (9th! You read that right!) EP, Neverland, has the group go the ethereal fairytale route. Lots of free-flowing fabric, lots of arm flailing movements, and obviously, lots of butterflies in the music video. The song is solid, and the music video is great, but definitely, not a contender for WJSN signature song for the simple reason that it doesn’t really support a concept the group has invested in / may have plans to invest in. Nevertheless, it is a solid item in the group’s discography.
— ali ali 🇵🇷 | inactive account 🙁 (@alililiyabbay) March 31, 2021
Here’s another strong contender for WJSN signature song. The latest WJSN release has the group entering their sophisticated and elegant era. The song is in a key only extremely talented people can execute and it seems their stylists for the music video were given million-dollar budgets for the girls to look that polished. And yes, for anyone who still needs convincing that the group’s vocal line is one of the most talented in k-pop, please look for the video of the group performing the song with a live band. That they make it look so easy is just the icing on the cake.
So, to answer the girls’ concern about what their signature song is, I shall offer my suggestions:
As You Wish
Secret
Dreams Come True
Unnatural
Save Me, Save You
As they did perform As You Wish for the challenge in Queendom, I am very pleased. And I hope the girls go easy on their insecurities and be kinder to themselves as it’s a sure thing that they will face more challenges in the course of the competition.
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.
Me:Us (9MUSES' Hyemi and Hyuna) have released the MV Teaser for their upcoming unit debut track 'Memories' set to release on April 17th, 12PM KST. pic.twitter.com/OASK5wKsfS
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.
No wonder JYPE debuted Suzy so fast! She’s really talented! 😘 Uri Talented Visual Bae Suzy! pic.twitter.com/v5xVWveHRx
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.
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.
i can't believe it's already 11th, i can still remember watching you from the television when i was a kid, that was apink news era. i've seen your growth and it's safe to say that y'all are my first love and my everything. i love you apink happy 11th anniversary💙🥰 @Apink_2011pic.twitter.com/xuqH7MgvJ7
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 Dobefore 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:
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.
Poor Yookyung having to say those cringe-y lyrics, reminiscent of grade school students daring each other to give the other their first kiss.
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 Mollayowas 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.
After the release of Five and despite its success, everybody knew that Apink is ripe for a concept change. By 2018, all members were already in their mid-20s, which makes the group’s pure and innocent concept a stretch and unsustainable. Five was a bit of a fluke, as the group had to remind the public of their strength, but the same public can only have so much of watching a 6-year group continue to sing songs about first love and hesitating to make the first move. Five served its purpose well, but it was time for a change.
When reports of how drastic Apink’s 2018 comeback concept will be, there apparently was substantial resistance from the fandom. A good number of fans backed their conservative preferences, especially with the success of Five. To make long story short, they were okay with Apink continuing to sing teenybopper bops as they stay active in the music industry and any changes to the group’s image will be met with a withdrawal of support.
Alas, when teasers for the group’s comeback emerged on July 1, people were scared. Bomi throwing paper at the camera? Namjoo stabbing a mountain of fries that she covered with ketchup? Eunji crying outside a bathtub while unrolling film negatives? Naeun throwing a show? This is definitely not the same group that sang about daydreams of walking side by side with Mr. Chu while wearing couple rings.
And just when you think the individual teasers are scary, the rolling music teaser is more alarming. The first song I’m So Sick has lyrics such as “Not a single bit of the feelings from before, Not a single bit of those emotions are left.” And they have a song titled I Like That Kiss. How can the nation’s Fairy Idols be this… brazen? People were shocked, fans were scared, and industry observers excitedly speculated on how this image change will affect the group. Will this be accepted or will this be the beginning of the end?
Alas, the pessimistic speculations were laid to rest as Apink did not turn into pillars of salt, broadcast stations did not implement bans, and no petitions to the Blue House for indecency and immorality were submitted. The song I’m So Sick is definitely the most mature track the group has ever released, but it retained the distinct Apink sound that the group has imbibed since their debut. The catchy chorus is still there, the killing parts in English – now spoken by Naeun – are still there, the distinct choreography is still there. All in all, I’m So Sick is very much an Apink song, and what’s great about it is that the group is now singing songs that match their age. Remembering the times they spent together ala LUV is still good, singing about taking 5-second breaks is still good and considering the era when they sang those songs, they were pretty much appropriate for Apink at that time. But now, singing about getting sick of lying and getting drunk calls from your ex is also age-appropriate. Nothing wrong with that.
The Taste of Success
And the public agreed. 1 & Six debuted at number 1 on South Korea’s Gaon Album Chart, becoming Apink‘s third chart-topping album in the country. The single I’m So Sick entered the Gaon Digital Chart at #7 and peaked at #3. The song gave the group five music show wins, including one from Inkigayo, their first in four years since LUV. The international music publication Dazed named I’m So Sickone of the best K-pop songs of 2018. I’m So Sick‘s music video is the group’s most-watched, amassing more than 86 million views on 1theK and close to 5 million views on the group’s official YouTube channel. As for the album, 1 & Six has outsold the group’s previous EP Pink Up (the one with Five as its title track).
[ DECEMBER 2021 ] Top 8 Most Liked #APINK Title Music Video Combined (2011-2021)
So, wait. What happened to that boycott by conservative fans? What was the difference between this concept change and the previous one, the less-successful Pink Revolution and Only One? On the matter of the fans who weren’t on board with the concept change, a new generation of fans got to replace them, and these new fans, having been exposed to strong girl crush concepts, are more accepting of more sophisticated concepts for the groups they stan. So, the conservative fan fallout did not prove successful.
As for the discrepancy between the success of Only One and I’m Sick/ Pink Revolution vs. 1 & Six, a number of factors may be considered. For one, people may not have warmed up to the subtleness Only Onepresented, while the shift in the group’s image was more distinct, which is more appreciated by the fans. It is also interesting to note that both Only Oneand I’m So Sick were both produced by Black Eyed Pilsung. In other words, it can be argued that overall, I’m So Sick is just more dynamic, and thus more interesting a song than Only One, which sounded too mellow and chill and thus, was not exciting at all. Fans were anticipating a wave for Apink‘s concept change, and they got that with I’m So Sick, not with Only One.
One popular question asked by industry analysts regarding Apink‘s second wind is, if I’m So Sick was the song released in 2016 instead of Only One to signal the band’s change in musical direction, would it have been as successful as it became in 2018? We cannot really conclude this to be the case, because we also need to consider the competition Only One had in 2016 and the degree of preparation Pandas had in 2016. Were the Pandas emotionally prepared and accepting of I’m So Sick in 2016 as they were in 2018? That’s a very interesting scenario to think about, but unfortunately, we cannot answer with finality unless A Cube / Plan A / IST Entertainment builds a time machine that we can use to change particular events in 2016.
A New Direction
After the group’s successful concept change via I’m So Sick, Pandas were ready for a comeback with Apink sticking to this more sophisticated and elegant sound and image. On January 7, seven months after the group reintroduced themselves to the public with a mature image, Apink released their eighth mini-album Percent, along with the single %% (Eung Eung). For those who thought that the group will pull off something similar to what they did with Five after Only One, they were gladly mistaken as the single continued the new direction taken by the group with I’m So Sick. Their new collaboration with Black Eyed Pilseung and Jeon Goon topped several music charts in South Korea after its release. It peaked at No. 17 on the Gaon Digital Chart, while the album reached No. 3 on the Korean chart and No. 14 on the Billboard World Albums Chart. Finally, Eung Eung won three music shows – in Show Champion, M Countdown, and Inkigayo.
Both the song and the music video found a following with anime fans and those who dig retro sounds. In the music video, we see the women of Apink appear on a dark and stormy night at a “Pink Factory” as they assemble a variety of what appears like representations of body parts – such as lips made of vinyl and a glittery heart (not the cutesy shaped but a giant bean-shaped one). They dunk all this into a bright pink brew, raising to life a guy’s suit. Now, if that reminds you of Fullmetal Alchemist and the transmutation circle, then you will definitely appreciate the music video.
As for the song, the ‘80s influence dance track with snapping beats, fizzy synths, and percussion that slaps extra hard is simply an auditory treat. In their end-of-the-year lists, Billboard joined Dazed in acknowledging the strength of the songs of the “new” Apink, including Eung Eung as one of the best K-Pop Songs of the year.
After Eung Eung, Apink took a break for a year and three months – the longest of their careers before releasing Look, their ninth EP, which contains the lead single Dumhdurum. The last time the group had a comparable long “sabbatical”, the comeback ended up being a flop by their standards. The fear was real that the Look comeback was going to fare worse, also considering that the entire world was at the early months of what was the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting your music when people should be at home and getting paranoid with everything that’s going on in the world is definitely one huge risk.
The risk paid off – maybe because everyone needed all the comfort they can get, and if buying music assures them of some normality in the crazy times they are living in, then so be it. Besides, music these days is one of those things anyone can enjoy without leaving the comforts of their home, so why not? The album debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart, while the lead track Dumhdurum topped the Gaon Download Chart. The song entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number four and peaked at number two in its second week. Two months after its release, Look has sold close to 48,000 physical copies.
Apink releases digital single 'I want you to be happy' for their 11th debut anniversary 💞 @Apink_2011
The song proved to be a hit with the fans, as it won eight music show wins, with the group having an all-kill by winning in all six music shows and twice in Inkigayo and Show! Music Core, the latter they last won three years ago with Five. Both Look and Dumhdurumalso received international critical acclaim, having been included by Billboard, Buzzfeed, Dazed, Paper, and Time Magazine in their year-end lists of best K-pop songs of 2020.
With the group a year away from celebrating the 10th anniversary since their debut, what could go wrong? Stay tuned for the third act of Apink.
Kpop idol turned Kpop actor Park Hyung Sik with Wooga Squad
We’ve seen them own the stage as idols, but now it seems they’re focusing on honing their thespian skills. Here are five K-pop celebrities who we now know more as Kpop actors:
1. Baro
Who can ever forget the super adorable Binggrae in the second installment of the Reply Series, Reply 1994? Whether it was because we all somewhat related to his struggles of keeping a positive, cheerful appearance despite his inner struggles or because he’s just adorable, or because the character feels so far from the tough, fast-rapping image of the actor who played him when he is in his idol group, Baro’s debut as an actor was quite a success. Considering that the Reply series also successfully launched the acting careers of Apink’s Eunji and Hoya, who was then with INFINITE, it was inevitable that Baro would also fare well in his first foray into acting.
But then, aside from having the right project, people did notice Baro’s exceptional abilities in acting, which at that time was considered special as people have been quick to classify idols who get acting jobs as undeserving. They were usually believed to be hired so that the dramas can bank on their built-in popularity to also raise the public’s awareness of the show. Moreover, there were (and actually, there are still) critics who claim that idols only serve visuals and don’t really have the skills to act.
But with Reply 1994 under his belt, a film debut in the short film Misaeng: Prequel (that also featured an idol-actor we will talk about later) the same year, and another critically-acclaimed drama God’s Gift: 14 Days with Cho Seungwoo, Baro proved himself as a very capable actor. For God’s Gift: 14 Days, he was nominated in various award-giving bodies for the Best New Actor award.
Aside from lending his voice to an animated movie and appearing in another short film in 2015, Baro finally appeared in a full-length feature, the teenage horror-thriller Close Your Eyes in 2017 with Seol Inah. As for his TV roles, he booked regular acting jobs with Angry Mom, Loss: Time: Life, and The Master of Revenge before leaving WM Entertainment in 2018. Though he declined to re-sign a new contract with the agency of his idol group B1A4, he claimed that he wasn’t leaving the group and would be open to working with them in the future.
Since leaving WM Entertainment, Baro has mostly focused on his acting career, bagging more roles in dramas like Less Than Evil in 2018 and Two Hearts, Level Up, and Melting Me Softly in 2019, which was also the year he started his conscription in the military. He only finished his mandatory service in February, and he has since then been busy with new acting projects.
Last Kpop idol activity: 2017’s Rollin’ with B1A4
Latest Kpop acting activities:Fearsome, a horror thriller movie based on the true story of a band getting lost, and Disney+’s Grid, a mystery thriller with Seo Kangjoon to be released in 2022.
2. Jung Jin-young
Speaking of B1A4, the group did not only “lose” Baro in 2018 as all of the members’ contracts were up for negotiation. Sandeul, CNU, and Gongchan re-signed with WM Entertainment, while Baro didn’t. But leader Jinyoung didn’t as well, although it was said that the two were open to working with the group for a reunion project in the future. Thus, B1A4 is still supposed to be five members, although the group has had two comebacks that only had the three remaining WM members. But we digress.
Jinyoung, like Baro, also started his acting career in 2013, with the tvN drama, She is Wow, where he played the troubled son of an actress who has also been struggling because she was losing roles to younger actresses. The following year, he made a splash with his movie debut in Miss Granny, where he shared the screen with industry veterans Na Moonhee, Sung Dongil, and Shim Eunkyung. He continued appearing in more TV dramas like Persevere, Goo Hae-ra (where Baro also made a cameo appearance), Warm and Cozy, and Love Detective Sherlock K. In 2016, he appeared in what has been his biggest TV drama so far, Love in the Moonlight, where he worked with Park Bogum and Kim Yoojung and won numerous awards.
Jinyoung also started his mandatory military service in 2019 and was discharged in April 2021. He immediately went back to work, starring in Police University with Krystal Jung and Cha Taehyun. The drama ran from August to October and was considered very successful for KBS, as the drama peaked at an 8.5% audience share, whereas its predecessors were only averaging 2% audience share weekly.
Last Kpop idol activity: Jinyoung has not been holding promotional activities as an idol since his departure from B1A4 apart from the occasional OST contributions, including a song he recorded for the webtoon Morning Kiss at Tiffany’s OST. However, he is still very active in the music industry as a songwriter and producer, having started with producing songs for B1A4. He has penned numerous songs for his former group and for other artists as well.
Latest Kpop acting activities: No news yet of any drama or movie Jinyoung has signed up for after Police University.
3. Seo Inguk
Here is one actor who not a lot of people know actually started out as a legit singer. Seo Inguk did not only compete in the inaugural season of Mnet’s singing competition Superstar K in 2019 – he actually won the whole thing. His subsequent albums and singles sold well and charted high, although rumors and criticism followed him as he steadily rose in popularity, including claims that he had too much plastic surgery done on his face and getting cold shoulder treatment from SBS, KBS, and MBC because he was a product of a cable TV reality competition. The rumors were downplayed though as he started his acting career with a supporting role in the KBS drama Love Rain, which has Girl’s Generation YoonA and Jang Geunseuk.
His first starring role though was in the first Reply installment, Reply 1997, in 2012, which also had other idols – Eunji, Hoya, and Sech Kies’ Eun Jiwon. He has since appeared in dramas for the three free public channels – 2012’s The Sons and 2016’s Shopahlic King Louis for MBC, 2014’s The King’s Face and 2015’s Hello, Monster with KBS, and 2013’s Master’s Sun for SBS. However, he is still quite known for appearing in a lot of dramas shown on tvN, such as High School King of Savvy, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, and Doom at Your Service (with Park Boyoung).
Seo Inguk was supposed to start his mandatory military service in 2017. But as he was diagnosed with Osteochondritis dissecans, a bone and cartilage condition, he was exempted from military duty.
Last Kpop idol activity: Seo Inguk’s last album was released in 2014, after which he has released a single every year until 2017. The song Distant Fate for the Doom atYour Service OST was his first music-related activity in three years.
Latest Kpop acting activities: After his latest series Doom at Your Service premiered on May 10, his latest movie Pipeline also opened in theaters on May 26 up in June. His next movie is Wolf Hunting with School 2017 star Jang Dong Yoon, which has yet to have a release date. Rumors in June claimed that has also been offered a role in a TV adaptation of the webtoon ‘Minamdang: Case Note’ (literal title), but nothing has been confirmed yet.
4. Im Siwan
Siwan’s road to acting was quite long, as he had to train for three years after getting recruited by a talent scout of entertainment company Star Empire. After those three long years as a trainee, he finally debited with eight fellow members that would make up his group, ZE:A in 2010. After debuting with his group, it took another four years before he would be tapped as an actor. For those two years, he had a number of cameo appearances in a couple of dramas before finally appearing in a more substantial role. But his debut television role happened to be the young Master Ho Yeom in the historical drama Moon Embracing the Sun (which also starred Kin Soohyun, Han Gain, Kim Minseo, and Yeo Jingoo) that up to now still holds records for audience share, ratings, and viewership, making it one of the country’s most popular dramas in history. Thus, while ZE:A may not have become one of the country’s most popular groups, but Siwan’s participation in Moon Embracing the Sun did propel his celebrity to household name status almost overnight.
Siwan’s impressive TV debut was followed up with another career highlight in Man from the Equator, which premiered the week after Moon Embracing the Sun’s final episode. Siwan’s second drama was also his second appearance as the teenage version of one of the show’s main character, as this time, he played the teenage version of the eventual antagonist of the drama. Unlike Moon Embracing the Sun, though, Man from the Equator started out a bit weak in the ratings and generated less buzz compared to its competitors Rooftop Prince and The King 2 Hearts (which replaced Moon Embracing the Sun on its Wednesday – Thursday 9:55 timeslot), although through good word of mouth, it eventually beat the competition in some weeks throughout its run.
Siwan’s film debut was also as impressive the following year. He first movie was The Attorney, a contemporary historical drama inspired by the Burm Case of the 1980s starring Song Kangho and Oh Dalsu. This high-profile debut actually won Siwan a number of New Actor awards, cementing him as an actor so effectively that a lot of people tended to forget that he was still actually promoting with ZE:A.
Siwan has not looked back on his successful acting career, even if his activities as an idol have altogether stopped since 2015. He still continues to sing by contributing songs on his dramas’ OSTs once in a while.
Im Siwan, ZE:A
– moon embracing the sun – misaeng – man from the equator – stranger from hell – the king loves pic.twitter.com/T0pHIGvoYa
Last Kpop idol activity: Singing I and You, a song part of the Run On OST, while his last activity with ZE:A was in 2016 with the compilation album Continue.
Latest Kpop acting activities: Siwan’s latest movie project, Emergency Declaration, which stars Song Kangho, Jeon Doyeon, and Lee Byunghun, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival last July. TV-wise, his last drama was Run On with Girl’s Generations Sooyoung, which ran from December 2020 to February this year, and the soon-to-be-released Tracer with Ko Ahsung.
5. Park Hyungsik
Another ZE:A member who has also been bitten by the acting bug is the group’s other visual, Hyungsik. Actually, like the rest of ZE:A (something which we failed to mention earlier with Siwan, the entire group had their film “debut” with the movie Ronin Pop, a Korean and Japanese collaboration project which revolves around the power struggle between youths in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Well, I bet most, if not all members of ZE:A, are not particularly proud of this movie, as most of them would attribute their acting debuts with other projects. In the case of Hyungsik, the SBS drama special I Remember You in 2012 is commonly referred to as his acting debut. This was followed months later by a supporting role in another SBS drama, Dummy Mommy, which starred Ha Heera and Kim Hyunjoo. Many more acting roles followed for Hyunsik, such as tvN’s Nine, SBS’ The Heirs, and KBS’ What’s With This Family.
There has been no stopping Hyungsik with his TV career then, as he has bagged leading roles in dramas such as High Society (which also starred idol-actress Uee), the idol-filled Hwarang with Shinee’s Minho, and his fellow Wooga Squad members BTS’ V plus Park Seojun, Strong Girl Bong-soon with Jisoo and Park Boyoung, and the Korean adaptation of the US drama Suits with Jang Donggun.
As for movies, aside from the very forgettable ROnin Pop, Hyungsik has done voice roles for animated features like Justin and the Knights of Valor and Trolls before starring in the short film Two Lights: Relumino and finally, his first major film role in 2019’s Juror 8.
As for his idol career, he has also contributed to OSTs of some of the shows he has starred in, but he hasn’t debuted as a solo artist like his bandmate Siwan. Come to think of it, the only ZE:A member who has had an active career as a soloist is Dongjun, who also happens to be the third member who has also established an acting career.
Last Kpop idol activity: Two Lights, part of the OST to his short film Two Light: Relumino and Because of You, a song he sang for the OST of Strong Girl Bong-soon and charted in the Gaon Download Charts.
han sohee and mc hong jinkyung were so amazed by park hyungsik singing 😭 sohee said “it’s so cool” at the end everyone’s forgetting he debuted as an idol pLS#SoundtrackNo1pic.twitter.com/kRuJzZanTe
Latest Kpop acting activities:Happiness, an apocalyptic thriller on tvN that marks Hyungsik’s return to TV since his military discharge on January 4 and premiered on November 5. In support of his bandmate, Siwan brought a coffee cart to the drama’s filming location.
Of course, there are still idols who are successfully balancing their singing and acting careers. But for these five, here’s hoping we can see them on stage again in the near future.
Featured image: Kpop idol turned Kpop actor Park Hyung Sik with fellow Wooga Squad members V and Park Seo Joon. Photo: 씩꾸릿Kharictye/YouTube.
Listen to these Apink songs to celebrate the wildly successful Kpop girl group's 11th anniversary!
In just a few days, Apink will be ushering in their 11th year as a Kpop girl group. One of the most successful idol groups to do so.
It has been a decade since the sweet and innocent fairies of Acube Entertainment (which later became Plan A, and now, Play M Entertainment) debuted and made their own unique niche in the rather competitive world of K-pop. With girl groups surviving for ten years being a rare feat, Apink deserves all the recognition they can get.
So here it is, a rundown of Apink songs and title tracks, plus a trivia for each song about its music video:
2011: I Don’t Know
So we start off with the song that started it all: the song that made guys’ hearts flutter and girls want to be sweet innocent fairies. Mollayo was quite unique at that time because most girl groups at that time have already established themselves in different images and concepts that were far from the sweet and innocent image Apink manifested in their debut song. 2NE1 was girl crush, Girls’ Generation was getting more glammed up with The Boys, the Wonder Girls‘ sound became Americanized after staying in the US for an extended period, Kara was still sophisticated, After School had their gimmicks, and T-Ara was going full retro.
It came as no surprise that Apink quickly captured their market because there wasn’t really a reigning group that owned a very wholesome image. It can be argued that Rainbow tried, but still not as cutesy as Apink. Thus, with no direct competition, Apink was THE quintessential innocent fairies of K-pop. For a debuting girls group that’s not from the Big 3, I Don’t Know and Seven Springs of Apink, the EP where the single is from, both fared well in the charts, with the song selling more than a million copies (quite a rare feat for a debit single) and more than 25,000 copies for the EP.
And the music video! Definitely, something that brings us back to a different time, when we allow strangers who pass out (in the case of the music video, it was BEAST‘s Gikwang) in our front porch into our house to recuperate. Before you scream stranger danger, the girls actually nursed him back to health, with the music video ending with the guy leaving a thank you note as he exited the house.
Question:
Who gave Gikwang a cookie?
Yookyung
Hayoung
Naeun
No cookies were given. It was Eunji who gave him a bookmark.
2011: My My
My My was one memorable song for both the Pink Pandas and the group. After all, it is the song that gave them their first-ever music show trophy. The group started 2012 great when they won their first music show award on Mnet’s M Countdown for this particular show. Suffice to say, the announcement was met with a mix of disbelief and tears by the group. As it didn’t take the group a year since their debut in April of 2011 before they got their first music show win was telling – it showed that they indeed have a solid fanbase and they were not some nugu group. The next month, the group received the Rookie of the Year award at the first Gaon Chart Awards, which cemented their position as a promising K-pop girl group.
My My was also memorable for fans because it was the first time they saw the members’ parents through Apink News. On the episode that showed the group filming for the music video of the song, all their family members came to watch them behind the scenes. In season one of Apink News, only Namjoo’s mom made an appearance, but for this episode, all family members came, with Hayoung’s grandma crying upon seeing her in front of the camera, Eunji’s mom and brother Minki (who everyone will get to know more in a later Apink News episode) calling her by her birthname Hyerim, and Yookyung crying because she won’t be able to celebrate her mom’s birthday with her at home. My My continues to be one of the group’s well-loved title tracks.
Question:
Who wore the Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey in the My My music video?
Bomi
Yukyung
Chorong
Naeun
2012: Hush
For those who were still unconvinced that Apink is more than just a cutesy, innocent girl group that they perfectly showed in their debut single, Hush should have been a more successful effort. My My was still very wholesome, and although Hush still maintains this level of wholesomeness in the group, it also showed a different side of Apink. The song is faster, beat-wise, and the lyrics are a tad more mature than the first few songs of the group. Yes, it still talks about a girl’s hesitation to reveal or voice out her true feelings to the person she likes, but there’s something about the song that tells the listener that the group has definitely graduated from just singing cutesy, teenybopper tracks.
Even their outfits in the music video were a shift from the expected fairy-like attires they have worn on their previous videos. Half of the video had the girls wearing skintight baby tees and white jeans. Definitely not your “typical” wholesome Apink music video.
Question:
What was the letter printed on the girl’s baby tees that they wore on most of the music video?
Trick question: The baby tees were plain white with no print.
A for Apink
P for pink
H for the song’s title
2013: NoNoNo
NoNoNo is pretty iconic. If you are going to ask any Korean which song they can relate to the group the most, they will most probably answer NoNoNo, for a number of factors. Some will say the unforgettable choreography where the members form a straight line then appear one by one, while some just love the unrelenting positive message of the song that has several idols choosing to cover it when they are assigned to sing an Apink song, including some people you won’t expect to cover a song from the innocent fairy group like Heize.
NoNoNo is also the first song the group released after the withdrawal of Yukyung from the group. Although there wasn’t much of a controversy regarding Yukyung’s decision, as she opted to focus on finishing her studies rather than continue on her career as an idol, people were a bit anxious if her departure would result in a bit of the backlash for the group.
Alas, this didn’t happen for a number of reasons. One, after My My which won them their first music show, the group was already on a steady rise to stardom. This was validated with the second reason when Eunji launched a career in acting with a lead role in the series Reply 1997, which eventually became a certified hit. Moreover, the group’s center, Naeun went on to new heights of popularity in 2013, when she appeared with SHINee’s maknae Taemin in the wildly popular reality show We Got Married, where they pretended to be a couple.
So, despite apprehensions, the group’s popularity went on to skyrocket with this song. NoNoNo became the group’s highest-charting single until then, peaking at number 2 on Billboard’s K-Pop Hot 100. In November 2013, at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Apink received the Next Generation Global Star award.
There was really no holding Apink back since the release of NoNoNo. Even leader Chorong said in interviews that it was during the release of NoNoNo that she felt that she was really serious in her career as an idol. While she felt in the past that they were still room for fun and games, the NoNoNo era was really the time for them to get serious at work.
Question:
The candles on the cake that the members blew before the last repetition of the chorus spells:
A P I N K
I ❤ Y O U
P I N K P A N D A
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y
2014: Mr. Chu
Who doesn’t know this song? Who doesn’t remember the dance to this song? Mr. Chuwas simply Apink at the top of their game. During that era that started from Luv to Remember, everything that the group touched turned into gold. Apink won six music show trophies for this song, and the song went on to become the eighth bestselling digital song of the year 2014, selling close to 1.6 million copies.
Pink Blossom, which was the EP Mr. Chu was part of, went on to sell more than 76,000 copies. If you’re a fan of Korean variety shows that have idols as special guests, Mr. Chu continues to be one of the most covered and danced to songs by any K-pop group. Who wouldn’t be addicted to this song anyway? It is the perfect representation of what an Apink song should be – sweetness and innocence mixed with a wholesome view of young love.
The music video doesn’t disappoint either as it is more or less a great representation of the song. The girls all decked in tennis player outfits trying to outshine each other by stuffing gifts in the locker of the boy they all apparently like. If you are not familiar with the song, or the video, your K-pop fan card will be indefinitely revoked until you watch it (or know the answer to the question below).
Question:
Which statement about the song and the video is correct?
The girls give Mr. Chu gifts in boxes colored purple and white.
The member responsible for the high note on the song’s bridge is Eunji.
The D-Day in the calendar on the video is March 31, the release date of the song and EP.
It was Chorong who stuffed the locker with a big white teddy bear.
2014: Luv
One of Apink’s most iconic songs, Luv was released when the group was at the peak of their popularity. After the wildly popular Mr. Chu, the group’s next comeback featured them in a mid-tempo song that is actually more sad than upbeat, as it narrates the singer’s longing for the days when their love was new. Though it is definitely not the usual uplifting and bright song Apink is known for, K-pop fans fell in love with the song, and the girls looked good singing it while adapting to this slight change in concept.
luv era is so iconic… 17 consecutive music show wins and it STILL hasn’t been beaten for a girl group? OKAY APINK pic.twitter.com/xYr9ENMtDJ
Maybe it was the lack of competition, or it may be because people just loved the song, but Luv holds the record of being the girl group song with the most music show wins at 17. The entire December 2014 had Apink win almost all music shows. It won twice in M Countdown, thrice in Inkigayo and The Show, four times in Music Bank, and a whopping five times in MBC’s Show! Music Core. Even up to now, only two male groups, EXO and BTS have surpassed this record.
Sales-wise, Pink LUV, the EP where Luv is from, has sold over 79,000 copies, while LUV has accumulated more than 1,490,000+ in digital sales.
Question:
In the video, Namjoo wrote which initials in a tree:
NJ and HS
NJ and AP
NJ and PP
NJ and EJ
2015: Remember
After the successive chart-toppers Mr. Chu and Luv, Apink staged their 2015 comeback via Remember, which completed the group’s triumvirate of hits in only their 4th year as a group. Pink Pandas were a bit scared after Mr. Chu and Luv both blew up, as those two were tough acts to follow. But as an old adage goes, the third time’s a charm, and Remember did not disappoint.
Remember is actually the title track of the group’s second full-length album entitled Pink Memory. Pink Memory is to date Apink‘s most successful multi-track release, selling over 90,000 copies and peaking at number 2 in Gaon’s album charts. The song also sold more than 1.1 million copies and also peaked at number 2 in the national digital charts.
As for the video, it is considered Apink‘s most experimental in an unexpected way – in terms of their hair! All members had orange hair, Hayoung sported short shoulder-length hair, and Bomi not only became wheat blonde but also pink in some parts! It was the peak of Apink hair supremacy, I dare say.
Question:
Spreaking of pink-haired Bomi, in some scenes, she is seen wearing with _______________ printed in front.
I ❤ COLD BEER
APINK ❤ PANDA
DO YOU REMEMBER?
HAYOUNG HAS SHORT ACHILLES TENDONS
2016: Cause You’re My Star
The first special album of the group, Dear, had Cause You’re My Star as its title track. Play M (Plan A during that time) stated that the album “would commend the unwavering love and invaluable support from their fans since their debut.”
Although it’s not said, the move may have been brought about by the underperformance of the full-length album that Dear preceded, Pink Revolution, which had Only Oneas its title track. It was tragic that Only One did not perform well that the company felt like it had to erase that sad episode from everybody’s memory by releasing a “special album.”
The song is sweet and okay and the music video may have continued the hazy filter the group first used in Only One, but that’s pretty much all that can be said about the song. Not particularly one of the most outstanding Apink tracks, but for us Pink Panda, we can’t really complain when we’re given any new music by the group. Full stop.
Question:
While Namjoo was carrying a pile of pancakes in the Only One video, what food was in front of her this time?
Two cakes
A samgyeopsal
Jokbal (pig’s trotters), Apink’s favorite food
French fries, which she again encounters on a different video
2016: Only One
Alas, we have come to the song that cast doubts on Apink‘s longevity. The song that didn’t win a single music show trophy. The song that Pink Pandas waited for more than a year to be released (a year and two months, to be exact). The song that made the members cry because of how beautiful the song was, supposedly (or so they claimed in their Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook interview – or maybe they were just relieved of having a comeback at last). The same song that made Chorong cry because they felt they let their fans down because it didn’t win anything and had a lukewarm reception in the charts.
So, what went wrong with this era of Apink? A number of things, actually. For one, the song was pretty, I’ll give them that, but it doesn’t have the catchiness all Apink songs are known for. The song is standard Apink, all right, with the group’s trademark mix of sweetness, femininity, and innocence, but quite frankly, Only One sounds like a B track. Well, Apink is one group known for having excellent B tracks, and Only One unfortunately sounds like one. Moreover, when Only One was released, other big hitters like Got7, Infinite, BTS, Monsta X, and Shinee released new music only days before and after Apink had their comeback. With the fandoms of these groups obsessed with giving their groups music show wins, it was not that feasible for Apink to squeeze in a win, especially since the song was not that strong in K-pop standards.
All of that said, the music video had the girls at their prettiest. And yes, die-hard Pink Pandas will argue that Only One is the most underrated song in Apink‘s career.
Question:
The Gothic-style rooftop featured in the video, which was also featured in 2PM’s I’ll Be music video released only weeks earlier, is located in
Kyung Hee University
COEX Convention and Exhibition Center
Myeongdong Cathedral
Seoul City Hall
2017: Five
Five was the song that brought back Apink to public consciousness after the two 2016 comebacks after Remember, namely Only One from the Pink Revolution album and You’re My Star from the “special” album Dear performed below expectations. The song has Apink written all over it – the sweetness, innocence, and catchy chorus that harkens back to old school K-pop popularized by first-generation groups like Fin.K.L and S.E.S.
Fans who may have probably been alienated by the lack of catchy hook in Only One and the lack of promotions for the Dear album were too eager to embrace the distinct Apink sound that they felt went missing in 2016. Pink Up, the EP that had Five as its lead track, sold more than 50,000 units. After the dismal performances of both Only One and Cause You’re My Star that only sold 449,000+ and 121,000+ copies, Five peaked at number 4 in the Gaon Download Charts with more than 800,000 copies sold.
Question:
What was the color of the cake that Chorong was decorating and putting the icing on?
Blue
Pink
White
ROYGBIV
2018: I’m So Sick
After the success of Five, which brought the group back to its default sweet and innocent concept, Apink staged their 2018 comeback in a rather surprising fashion. Goodbye, cutesy wholesome concept, hello more daring (with an unavoidable Apink twist) image with I’m So Sick. Casual observers pointed out that the slight tweak of the group’s image in 2016 during the Only One era was unsuccessful, so it was recommended for the group to return to their most popular concept for a couple more comebacks before risking alienating fans again with even the slightest of concept changes.
Even a number of full-fledged Pandas (it was around this time that the fandom dropped “pink” from their fandom monicker and just go with Panda instead) threatened to leave the fandom if the group would go with even just a slight image revamp. Luckily, the disappointment of some fans did not cause a mass exodus, and the image change was well-received by everyone, from the majority of the Panda fandom to critics and even casual K-pop listeners.
From singing about wishing to walk with a boy while wearing couple rings to receiving insincere phone calls from a drunk lover is a huge shift, but there wasn’t a huge disdain for the song. In fact, it was well-received and reintroduced Apink to a new generation of fans who prefer their girl groups with more spunk and who tone down on having saccharinely sweet public images.
Question:
What did Eunji do to the negatives of the pictures from her camera?
She submerged them in water.
She burned them.
She cut them into small pieces.
She gave them to the members.
2019: %% (Eung Eung)
After the wildly successful I’m So Sick, the pressure was on again for Apink to follow up their success with more success. Actually, the group was in their 8th year already and pretty much had nothing to prove already after surviving both the seven-year curse and the “drastic” concept and image change. But then, Apink is one of those groups that have always somehow felt that it had to prove something. After all, they are not from a Big 3 company, their innocent fairy concept has always been seen as a rather weak and easy way to maintain a fandom, and their songs do not actually require intense choreography like GFriend or intricate harmonization ala Mamamoo.
But then, trust Apink to deliver. When fans expected them to go further with a more adult image, the group opted to continue with their sublime elegant concepts with a distinctly Apink flavor. That may be one of the secrets to the group’s steady popularity. Whether they sing of nostalgia in Luv, daydreaming of an ideal man in Mr. Chu, or an earnest declaration of love and encouragement with NoNoNo, there’s always something they always put their trademark Apink flair that other groups cannot copy.
The song was a bop and underperformed in the charts, peaking only at number 17, but it was universally and critically acclaimed and loved. None other than Billboard Magazine ranked %% second in their annual list of the 25 Best K-pop Songs of 2019. As for the song, the high level of production from I’m So Sick was maintained. It is a retro throwback track with very sublime beat drops and a pinch of trap and a dash of house. Very satisfying to the ears.
Anime fans will definitely appreciate the music video because its entirety is a reference, making it a tribute to Fullmetal Alchemist. The video has each of the members put a body part or an item like a watch, some honey, and a heart locket to a sort of altar and Chorong (in pink hair) and Eunji putting all of these in a clear container filled with pink liquid. Transmutation device alert. Finally, the members, housed in the “Pink Factory” produce a man. Based on the song’s lyrics, it may seem to be a man who possesses qualities of their own liking. Sounds like these six are just reminding everyone of how empowered they are. That’s the power of an 8-year group!
And yet, they were still disrespected. In a year-end TV station concert, the group’s performance of Eung Eungwas cut short because the concert’s floor director allegedly thought the performance was running a tad long. So much disrespect for a senior group. Korean and even international Twitterverse expressed disappointment and even fandoms of other groups could not believe what the group experienced. The TV station public apologized the next day.
Question:
Who was responsible for bringing the heart of the man they were making?
Eunji
Bomi
Chorong
Namjoo
2020: Dumhdurum
What is there to say about Apink‘s latest release? Suffice to say that the group has done it again – releasing bops thrice in a row, just like what they did in 2014 to 2015, when they released Mr. Chu, Luv, and Remember one after another. To paraphrase a popular YouTube K-pop commenter, it is indeed a feat for a nine-year-old group like Apink to seemingly have caught lightning in a bottle not once, not twice, but three times. But then again, for Apink, good things come in three’s, so it’s not really a mystery why the group maintained their success after releasing I’m So Sick and Eung Eung.
What was so special about Dumhdurum, anyway? The song for one is catchy as hell. Moreover, it’s something that will grow on you, making you want to keep on tapping the replay button countless times. Alas, the peculiar sound effects sprinkled throughout the song are so interesting that it makes you want to keep on replaying the song to know what those sounds are. Right from the start, there’s this instrumentation that starts off sounding almost like background noise until it grows louder and louder until the beat drops. Then, there’s this unique sound when the song transitions between verses that sounds like an alarm mixed with an ambulance siren.
Then, there’s the music video where so many colors were used that almost look like they took inspiration from some Wes Anderson film. The ladies start off the dance segment by power catwalking! The yellow eyeliner and eye shadow used on Chorong! Naeun in cornrows! A blonde Namjoo wearing a black Gucci tee! Hayoung wearing Gucci literally from head to toe (a Gucci hair clip to Gucci stockings) when the song hasn’t even started! Eunji is in a room full of lamps with her Chanel earrings and a corset dress in the dance sequence! Too much luxury. Too much sophistication.
Everyone’s make up is definitely on point in this video. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I felt the extra sound effects from the train on the music video (bell clanging, the sound of trains running on the tracks, to name a few) added more charm to the song that I sort of wished the sounds would be featured in a remix version.
The song was well-received and charted high as well. The girls repeated their 2019 feat by ranking at number 2 in Billboard’s top 25 K-pop songs for 2020 with Dumhdurum. And the choreography, particularly the twisted arms of Bomi and Naeun, went viral on Tiktok.
Question:
Where did Bomi perform her dance break?
In a dark room with exploding light bulbs
In a room full of flickering lampshades
In a train car that has gone underwater
In a warm-lighted room with shallow water
So after the fan service song Thank You, released last April to commemorate Apink’s tenth anniversary, the group hasn’t had a proper comeback. It may be because of Naeun’s transfer to YG Entertainment as she pursues more acting opportunities, maybe it’s because of Chorong’s involvement in a bullying scandal. But since Naeun is still active with some Apink activities and the police has released a statement claiming there is insufficient evidence to implicate the group’s leader to the incidents, here’s hoping that comeback will happen soon.
Answer key:
2011: I Don’t Know
Who gave Gikwang a cookie?
Hayoung. Eunji did give him a bookmark, but Hayoung also gave a cookie..
2011: My My
In the dance break for the music video of My My, the girls wore basketball jerseys. Who wore the Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey?
Naeun. Bomi also wore a yellow jersey, but it was an Apink jersey. Yukyung wore a dark blue jersey and Chorong wore a NY Knicks Carmelo Anthony jersey.
2012: Hush
What was the letter printed on the girl’s baby tees that they wore on most of the music video?
A for Apink
2013: NoNoNo
The candles on the cake that the members blew before the last repetition of the chorus spells
I ❤ Y O U
2014: Mr. Chu
Which statement about the song and the video is correct?
The D-Day in the calendar on the video is March 31, the release date of the song and EP. The girls give Mr. Chu gifts in boxes colored purple and yellow, not purple and white. The member responsible for the high note on the song’s bridge is Namjoo. Finally, it was Eunji who stuffed the locker with a big white teddy bear.
2014: Luv
In the video, Namjoo wrote which initials in a tree:
NJ and EJ. Not sure if it was Eunji.
2015: Remember
Spreaking of pink-haired Bomi, in some scenes, she is seen wearing with _______________ printed in front.
I ❤ COLD BEER. Who doesn’t?
2016: Cause You’re My Star
While Namjoo was carrying a pile of pancakes in the Only One video, what food was in front of her this time?
Two cakes, which our Healthy Girl would have probably finished.
2016: Only One
The Gothic-style rooftop featured in the video, which was also featured in 2PM’s I’ll Be music video released only weeks earlier, is located in
Kyung Hee University, whose Cyber University has been attended by some EXO and Super Junior members. The university is also the alma mater of two Korean presidents, including the current one, Pres. Moon Jaein.
2017: Five
What was the color of the cake that Chorong was decorating and putting the icing on?
Blue. Namjoo had a rainbow cake in the You’re My Star music video, though.
2018: I’m So Sick
What did Eunji do to the negatives of the pictures from her camera?
She submerged them in water, making them unusable. Or maybe they were blackmail pictures.
2019: %% (Eung Eung)
Who was responsible for bringing the heart of the man they were making?
Eunji brought the heart from the container with the pink liquid (where she dropped a heart-shaped locket which apparently turned into a glittered heart) to the table where a suit was laid.
2020: Dumhdurum
Where did Bomi perform her dance break?
In a warm-lighted room with shallow water. The darkroom with exploding light bulbs was where she got stuck in the end, the room full of flickering lampshades is Eunji’s, and the train car that has gone underwater was where Hayoung was and had no choice but to look at fishes passing by like she was inside an aquarium.
Featured image: Listen to these Apink songs to celebrate the wildly successful Kpop girl group’s 11th anniversary! Photo:@Apink_2011/Apink Official Twitter
It’s a bit difficult to believe that it has only been four years and a month since BIG BANG’s last release, Flower Road. For VIPs, it has felt like forever since they last heard GDragon, Taeyang, TOP, and Daesung singing anything new, as I’m sure they’ve overused the loop feature of their preferred streaming platforms in repeating the entire MADE albums, or Fantastic Baby, or Last Farewell, for a trip, rather treat, down memory lane. But alas the years of anticipation and waiting have finally come to an end on April 5, 2022, as the (erstwhile) Kings of K-pop have returned with the single Still Life (봄여름가을겨울, which literally translates to Spring Summer Fall Winter).
The release is bittersweet, though, in a number of ways. First, this is BIG BANG’s first release as a quartet. In the four years that they have been out of circulation, so much has happened. Everyone has finished their mandatory military service, Taeyang has gotten married to Min Hyorin and just last year become a father, TOP was prosecuted for marijuana use while in the military and overdosed on anti-anxiety medication, and Seungri was discovered to be a part of the Burning Sun prostitution and embezzlement scandal.
So, what’s a group that has been so embattled despite their absence from the public scene going to do for a comeback? We need to remember that before their hiatus that started in 2017, BIG BANG was at the peak of their popularity. So, when all the unfortunate events unfolded one after another, it was actually Seungri who was still active in the entertainment scene, having just released his solo album in 2018. So, now that the group is back, we’ve been only too eager to forgive TOP, and Seungri had officially quit the entertainment industry in 2020, will they be successful in reclaiming the level of success they had prior to their 2017 break?
Yes, most definitely. The degree of affinity the Korean public had for BIG BANG remains to be very high that it would take so much to happen before that will be lost. And with everything that has happened to the group for the past four years, adding to that TOP’s recent announcement in February that he has left YG Entertainment, the song has acquired added layers and meanings that, for VIPs and even for those who have followed the group’s career, may sound like the group is already bidding their farewells. From Taeyang’s almost-nasal but consistently sweet (even in his high notes) vocals, Daesung’s warm and reliably emotion-drenched tones, GDragon’s smooth transitions from singing to rapping, and TOP’s tempo-defying raps rendered in his trademark baritone, listeners are treated to these familiar voices and wonder how they’ve survived more than four years without them. At the same time, the feeling present in their interpretation of Still Life has not been heard that often in their discography, only in songs like Last Farewell, If You, and 2016’s Last Dance.
But it’s not just the delivery that gives listeners the feeling that the song is the group’s equivalent to 2NE1’s 2017 release Goodbye, which from the title alone was pretty much on-the-nose as to what it is about. The lyrics sound very personal and as sentimental as Big Bang can get.
It only took two verses before the theme of changes and letting go are revealed. Daesung sings, “Goodbye now to my beloved young days / Our beautiful spring, summer, autumn, and winter.”
When it came to GDragon’s turn, he raps his struggles to grow as he forged into adulthood, “A seven-colored rainbow slanted like a sneer / Passed the seasons without maturing / I can’t mature (Still).”
Finally, TOP takes the cake with the most personal lyrics as he raps, “I’m leaving inspiration’s Amazon / Burying all the trauma from past nights. A round-trip ship running, risking its life to start anew / I’m going to change more than before.”
The music video definitely adds to this bittersweet feeling, as viewers surely waited for the four to reunite in a verse to no avail. Instead, all we see are four chairs lined up. Taeyang seems to represent spring as he sings in a ship filled with yellow flowers, obviously respecting the yellow VIPs, Taeyang may also be the aptest member to represent spring, as he has since started a family and with his baby born last year, he has brought forth new life.
Daesung is the only member to receive a black and white edit, as he is captured with his long locks covering his eyes which are then turned into more unruly and shaggier curls as color hits him. The warm colors of summer and fall in oranges, pinks, and blues are combined in GDragon as he dances on what is later revealed as a stage, carrying an umbrella with those colors. When he later looks out to the audience, he sees yellow light sticks of the VIP crowd seemingly cheering him on. Unfortunately, towards the end of the video, he walks off the stage, leaving a director’s chair with his real name on it.
Alas, we see TOP wearing a rabbit mask, walking in the cold and lonely snowy background. It may at first look like he is in a snowy desert, but in the later scenes, he is seen watching planet Earth in front of him. Apparently, TOP is on the moon as a rabbit.
"Burying all the trauma from past nights, A round-trip ship running, risking its life to start anew, I’m going to change more than before,
In East Asian folklore, a rabbit seen on the moon’s surface is a symbol of selfless sacrifice and growth, as a Buddhist tale reveals that a rabbit threw himself into a fire when an old man was in need of food. Touched by the rabbit’s selflessness, the old man who turned out to be Sakra, the ruler of heaven, drew an image of the rabbit on the moon to serve as a reminder of its virtues. In his years out of the limelight, TOP may have to experience some more growth and maturity on the moon before he goes back to earth in a boat named life, which we also see in the video. So, yes, moon = growth and maturity, life in the public eye = earth. This is TOP telling us he is taking time off again to grow and mature before facing us again.
— monsieur G-Dragon best friend (@cleyeliner) April 11, 2022
I feel like the song is telling about growing up. Time, season, people changes. In life it's not always rainbow and butterflies but rain and storm too. We have to put aside the sadness and deal with it and cheer and remember the happy moment to stay alive #StillLife@YG_GlobalVIP
Is this indeed the end of the BIG BANG’s flower road? With the way things are in Korean pop music nowadays, we can’t really conclude for sure. The song may have a million indications that hint at the members pursuing different paths in the near future, but towards the end, Daesung and GD also sing,
언젠가 다시 올 그날 그때를 위하여
(그대를 위하여)
아름다울 우리의 봄 여름 가을 겨울
For the day, the moment that will come again someday
(for you)
Our beautiful spring summer fall winter.
We VIPs can surely take a rain check (weather/season pun intended), yes?
Watch BIG BANG’s Still Life music video here:
Featured image: After their 2017 hiatus, BIG BANG returns with the sentimental track Still Life. Photo: BIGBANG GLOBAL VIP/Twitter.
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