Looking for some refreshing K-pop tunes from sub-units that you might have missed? Here are four of them.

Hi Suhyun and Bom&Hi

It must be because Lee Hi debuted in YG Entertainment at a time where the trend was (still is) is for idols to be in groups all the time that the company paired him with Suhyun of the sibling duo Akdong Musician and Park Bom of the phenomenal girl group 2NE1. Bom, Suhyun, and Hi were at the top of their game during the times they collaborated, so it goes without saying that the project “sub-unit” collabs were all hits.  First was the cover by Lee Hi and Bom of Mariah Carey’s Christmas staple, All I Want for Christmas is You, released on December 20, 2013, which peaked at #17 in the charts. It was accompanied by a very moody music video with a sort of Scandinavian aesthetic. 

Eleven months later, in November 2014, Lee and AKMU‘s Suhyun formed the sub-unit Hi Suhyun and released the digital single I’m Different featuring iKON‘s Bobby in both the song and the music video. The duo’s first stage was at SBS’ Inkigayo on November 16, following their first win the following week. Such an iconic song and music video, where we see the two having a “friendly competition” over Bobby’s affections, for them only to realize that our boy already has a girlfriend, none other the beautiful still-had-to-debut Jisoo before Blackpink exploded. One fun and cute music video where everyone just looked their most attractive. 

Playlist musts: Both I’m Different and the All I Want for Christmas cover are musts! 

Girls’ Generation – TTS

The first official sub-unit of Girls’ Generation was composed of the groups’ three main vocalists, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. Now, you may be asking, why weren’t the other two main vocalists, Jessica and Sunny,  not included? No official statement regarding this, but some speculate that they were the three members who were the most available and did not have other projects. Others suggest that the sub-unit was actually Tiffany’s idea, that she originally wanted only Taeyeon and the rest of the slots were available for everyone and Sica and Sunny weren’t available. Finally, there’s the theory that the three voices were the most matched with other: Taeyeon has complete control, Tiffany supplies the emotions, and Seohyun has the technical merit, making a perfect and complete combination that doesn’t really require Sica’s nasality and Sunny’s overly high pitch. 

TaTiSeo‘s debut EP, Twinkle, was released in April 2012 and secured its place in K-pop history as the first album by a Korean artist to rank number 1 on the Billboard World Albums chart. At the time, it was also the highest charting K-pop album on the Billboard 200, reaching number 126. TTS became the first subgroup to achieve a “triple crown” on South Korean music shows, reigning in the number 1 spot for three weeks in a row. Suffice to say Twinkle was the undisputed top song during its release.

It took more than two years for the group to release their follow-up effort to Twinkle. Holler was released in September 2014. The album continued the sub-unit’s success as it debuted at number 1 on South Korea’s Gaon Album Chart and the Billboard World Albums chart. With this achievement, TTS become the third Korean artist, and the first female artist, to have more than one number 1 on the Billboard World Albums chart. During promotions, the three singers were featured in the reality show The TaeTiSeo. In December 2015, TTS released their third EP, a Christmas special album titled Dear Santa. The album debuted at number 2 on South Korea’s Gaon Albums Chart and has sold at least 60,456 copies to date. Like the Twinkle EP, Seohyun contributed to the composition of a couple of songs. 

As the group is very Tiffany-heavy, GG-TTS was sparkling all the time. From the very bright sound of all their songs to the glittery outfits on their stages and music videos. It’s a bit sad that there isn’t much of a hope for a reunion since Ti and Seo aren’t with SM Entertainment anymore. But since the entire GG group is reuniting, we can still hope, yeah?

Playlist musts: Dear Santa, if you’re on a holiday mood, but otherwise, Holler and Twinkle will definitely give you instant sparkles if you happen to have a blah day. 

JJ Project

The first and perhaps only sub-unit of the hapless GOT7, the JJ Project started out even before the debut of their group. They started off adapting the stage names of JB and Jr. as there were already established singers who share their names, including Park Jinyoung, their boss in JYP Entertainment. On May 8, 2013, JYP Entertainment announced the new duo JJ Project, which debuted with the single album Bounce on May 20. The single album also features another song Hooked and a collaboration with Miss A‘s Suzy titled Before This Song Ends. 

In April 2013, the duo appeared once again as actors for the MBC’s drama When a Man Falls in Love. While they were preparing for the second album, they were reintegrated into JYPE’s new boy band project group, and on January 16, 2014, they debuted as members of GOT7.

On July 31, 2017, they released Verse 2, an EP of self-composed, self-written songs about the anxieties of youth. At the end of the year, Verse 2 was chosen as the fifth best K-pop album of 2017 by Billboard and was nominated in the album division at the Golden Disc Awards. JJ Project also got a nomination for the popularity award. Further activities of the duo have been muddled by Got7‘s internal troubles (aka lack of effort on JYPE’s part to promote the group). Finally, on January 19, 2021, following the expiration of their contract, they left JYP Entertainment. Since then, Got7 has reunited for an album outside the tutelage of JYPE, but there hasn’t been any news on JJ Project activities.  

Playlist musts: If you’re into the mindless anything goes fun songs JYPE produces (e.g., 2PM’s Go Crazy), then Bounce is for you. Otherwise, make sure to check out Tomorrow, Today with its breathtaking picturesque roadtrip music video.

ToHeart

ToHeart is a bit of an anomaly in K-pop because this unit is composed of two members who not only come from different groups, but different entertainment companies. Well, it can be said that Woolim Entertainment is already connected with SM Entertainment via its merger with SM Contents & Culture, but it is still an independent company, so the establishment of SHINee’s Key and Infinite’s Woohyun as ToHeart is quite a refreshing development, up to this day. 

On February 20, 2014 SM Entertainment released a teaser announcing ToHeart, which debuted three weeks later with the mini album Delicious and the music video for the title track was released on March 10. On the same day, the duo held their first showcase in the Coex Artium, hosted by bandmates Minho and Sunggyu. Both Woohyun and Key stated that it was their idea to create this unit, since both are friends and had an interest in working with each other. They didn’t expect to do a singing collaboration project, instead thinking of photoshoots and something similar. Close to two months after the release of Delicious, the duo followed up their promotions with Tell Me Why featuring Infinite Sungyeol’s little brother, Lee Daeyeol (who later joined Golden Child) as well as actress Mun Kayoung. The song was requested most by fans and is produced by Sweetune. It tells the story of a man’s unwillingness to let a lover go.

The sub-unit’s career was short and sweet, having produced only those two singles and that one mini album. During the year they were active, the two were also flooded with controversy, primary among them were rumors claiming that the two were more than just friends and co-workers. Fashion magazine photoshoots of the two that could be best described as bordering on homoerotic only added fuel to the fire. However, rumors of a lover’s spat exploded when the two just ceased activities as ToHeart and also unfollowed each other on social media. The rumors were later quashed as the two followed each other again on Instagram and Key actually asking Woohyun to go with him to fulfill his mandatory military duty in 2019. But then, many pointed out that the two haven’t been as close as they used to be, and there hasn’t been any news of the duo reuniting to work together again or release new music. But then, if the degree of the duo’s closeness is best defined by those hot magazine photoshoots, those levels may never return. However, based on recent activity, it would be safe to guess that the two are still very close even outside of showbusiness. 

Playlist musts: Delicious and Tell Me Why are second generation K-pop gems that nobody can deny.

Make sure to check their songs out so you won’t wonder how you been living on this earth without knowing them!

Featured Image: Youtube Screengrab from ToHeart’s music video “Delicious”