April 26, 2013
Welcome ladies, gentlemen and embarrassing 12-year old others I have to say are fellow K-Pop fans. Don't know what this segment is yet because of the too complicated and undeniably mesmerizing title? Fine, I'll tell you. It's the 3rd episode of the weekly 'Flash to the Past', where I tell you about K-Pop history step-by-step, and if you haven't checked out any of the previous segments, you can here. Backtracking on the chronological timeline from our previous lesson of the Big 3, we're moving towards the time period of 1997 to 2002 when girl group power entered the image.
Today's Lesson: 3 G's - Girl Group Growth
SM hit big with groups such as H.O.T, SHINHWA and Fly to the Sky however, in 1998, they again hit another home run with their new project S.E.S. With the 3 members Bada, Eugene and Shoo, S.E.S. hoped to slay the charts and passother competitors YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and DSP Media in the race of popularity and revenue... and they did. Their debut song was 'I'm Your Girl'.
With SM Entertainment hitting success with their group S.E.S., they continue to press their luck on girl power with their solo artist BoA debuting in 2000. At the time, being famous worldwide was not as much of an issue as being new and unique. From ol' R&B and Hip-hop came a new style of electro sounds where unnirs and oppars from all over relinquished themselves to the hype. At the age of 13, this young girl surprised everyone with smooth dance moves on her debut single "ID; Peace B".
Another growing power in the K-Pop industry was DSP Media's group, Fin K.L, DSP Media not being new to the contribution of the birth of K-Pop, having groups like Click B and Sechs Kies still under their control. Fin K.L became unarguably one of the most popular groups during this time period, their first debut song being 'Blue Rain' and hitting more than a quarter million sales. Though disbanding in 2002 (and regrouping 2005 for their last song), the individual members are pursuing their own entertainment-related activities, Hyori being a solo artist, Joohyun being a teacher at Dong Seoul College and the last two members Jin and Yuri being an actresses.
Lastly, the 5 members as well as the 4 previous members EZ, Hee Jin (now television actress), Kan Mi Youn (now solo artist), EunJin (now solo artist, actress and even has her own clothing line!), EunHye (now big screen actress), YuMi, HyunJung, SiWoon and Gai kicked ass in their now irrelevant company, DR Music. Though with their debut song '머리하는 날' being a failure, the group came back with their song 'Ya Ya Ya' which caused their popularity to rise supremely.
Other great groups you should check out:
Jewelry
Formed under Star Empire Entertainment in 2001, this originally four member group kicked butt and gave Korean K-Pop lovers a huge surprise with their debut song "Superstar" written by Minwoo from SHINHWA. Though undergoing numerous member changes (the original members aren't even there anymore), Jewelry is also the longest lasting girl group in Korea and the more famous, former members Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah have began solo activities.
M.I.L.K
Haven't heard of this group? Probably because they're just another product of SM and were disbanded in only 2 years time! Their debut song was WILD (literally, it was called 'Wild) but disbanded after the withdrawal of Bae Yumi in 2003.
SWI.T
The first YG girl group on this list, SWI.T debuted back in 2002 with their kick ass song "Everybody Get Down" which made everyone love them... however, when they were at their height, they disbanded in 2005.
