Kpop Girl Groups Update July 2016

    Ok, it's end of July 2016 now, so I'm gonna update my blog  again. There are many kpop girl groups comeback at  July 2016, so I will try my best to cover all the kpop girl groups comeback for this month....

     As usual, I divide the girl groups into cute style and sexy style, and some other ballad groups or other concept as well.

    First of all, congratulations to GFriend to get 7th win on Music Bank last night, so GFriend trend is back again. Because of this, I will start with cute concept girl group this time...


                                       

                                Gfriend - Navillera

         On June 29 2016 , Source Music started teasing for GFriend's first studio album LOL, signifying at the same time "Laughing Out Loud" and "Lots of Love". LOL was released on July 11 with the title track "Navillera" , and reportedly had more than 60,000 pre-ordered copies worldwide.On July 19, GFriend earned their first music show win for the album's single "Navillera" on The Show. Until July 29th, GFriend earned 7th win already on various music program.
           " Navillera"  is a reference to Cho Chi-hun's poem "The Nun's Dance" , and is a phrase used to describe a fluttering action similar to the movement of a butterfly.The song's lyrics describe a girl's feeling of wanting to fly like a butterfly to be with the person she loves
          Influence:  The album was a commercial success in South Korea, reportedly selling more than 60,000 physical copies in pre-orders before release. It entered the Gaon Album Chart at number three, while "Navillera" topped the Gaon Digital Chart. "In the United States, LOL charted at number seven on the Billboard World Albums chart, while "Navillera" was number 12 on the World Digital Songs chart.

              

   GFriend in Roller Skates in the MV teaser...

GFriend Navillera dance also becomes a trend for kpop girl group dance right now.....

          the other 3 girl groups I will talk about are Oh My Girl, C.I.V.A and Matilda 

Oh My Girl - A-ing

          For all the relatively new girl groups, I think Oh My Girl is the most similar to APink. These days, their popularity seems to be good than before, I would say Oh My Girl is probably ranks pretty good in second tier right now.
              On August 1, they released a special summer album containing four remake songs, including Papaya's "Listen to My Story" featuring Skull and Haha.

           

              Before I move on, I have to mention about the original version of this song, it's from Papaya(파파야) back in 2000, this one was popular once a while at that time. And 4 years later at 2004, there was one Chinese version of this song as well by Taiwanese singer Cyndi Wang，and this song became really popular , so most people actually recognize this song from either the original Korean version and Chinese version.

 C.I.V.A - Why

           Following the post from last month, after both I.O.I and Gugudan , C.I.V.A will be another girl group debut from the music program The God of Music 2.

            C.I.V.A is a three member girl group under LTE Entertainment, they made their debut on July 8th, 2016 with their first single Why and made their debut stage on July 7th, 2016 with the title track of the same name on M! Countdown.The three members from this group are Lee Sang Min, Kim So Hee and Yoon Chae Kyung.

           (However, there are some bad rumor about this group after they debut,C.Bar (also stylized as CIVA), sounds eerily similar to popular Korean curse word 시발 ,  a word often used to insult someone. In Korean, the group’s name C.Bar is written as 씨바, With the two words being so close, Korean fans can’t help but to wonder if the name was chosen on purpose to gain attention.)

       Besides their group name, their debut single "Why" is also highly controversial, this song is actually the remake of another popular 90s kpop girl group DIVA'S song, the Korean name of this song is called 왜불러( from DIVA'S 1998 hit single) . After just listen to 30 seconds, I quickly realize that....

                  The original song and MV from DIVA 1998 왜불러( DIVA was one of the most popular girl group back in late 90s, they debut even before S.E.S. , after S.E.S. debut, DIVA was considered one of the major rival from my fav girl group S.E.S at very early days. At both 2009 and 2012 Korean audience  ranking, DIVA both rank in top 10 of the most influential kpop girl group of all time.(even better than 4 Minutes, T-ara those groups)  C.I.V.A really copy the wrong artist, most old kpop fans will know that)....

Matilda - summer again

          MATILDA (마틸다) is a four-member South Korean girl group under Box Media. They debuted on March 17th, 2016, so it's also a relatively new group within half a year.

            next section, I will talk about the major part of this blog, the sexy style girl groups are still the majorities, I talk about cute concept girl group first only because of the success of GFriend.

Wonder Girls - why so lonely

           Yes, the Wonder Girls are back again. On July 5, Wonder Girls released the second single "Why So Lonely". The song is a reggae-pop dance track written by members Hyelim, Sunmi, and Yubin,  It is the first Wonder Girls single not written by JYP Entertainment producer Park Jin-young, and marks their tenth anniversary as a group.

                The single was commercially successful in South Korea, the digital download topped the Gaon Digital Chart, while the CD single charted at number three on the Gaon Album ChartTo promote the single, Wonder Girls performed "Why So Lonely" on South Korean music programs, winning awards on The Show, M! Countdown, and Inkigayo.  With certain degree of success, however they lost the competition to GFriend for the most recent M CountDown and Music Bank as well.

Hello Venus - Paradise

                 Hello Venus is back as well. On July 10, Fantagio Music announced that the group will be releasing a second collaboration song with Devine Channel, called Paradise. The song was officially released on July 18 as a digital download and a music video for the song was released on the same day.

Stellar - Cry

        Yes, if you still remember the group Stellar, the group was criticized of being too sexy for some MVs before.
            On July 10, 2016, it was officially announced that the group will be releasing their seventh single album called "Cry" on July 18.In order to promote the song, Stellar appeared in several South Korean music programs, including Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo. A music video for the song was released in conjunction with the single. However, The title track "Crying" failed to enter any major chart. 
          

                

Melody Day - Color

             Melody Day was one of the relatively unknown girl group I really like before.On July 1, 2016, the group released their EP Color with the title track of the same name.

               And I saw their performance version, every time have a different color of outfit.

D.Holic - Color Me Red

          D.Holic (디홀릭) is a four-member kpop girl group under H.Mate Entertainment. They debuted on October 23, 2014.Color Me Rad is the second digital single by D.Holic. It was released on July 7, 2016.

   

PPL - Watch Me

           PPL is a six-member South Korean girl group formed by Parksal Entertainment in 2015. They made their debut on October 30, 2015 with their single Rush. Their name stands for 'Perfect Performance Lady'.

           Now, I will talk about some other girl groups also made comeback this month, f(x), Gavy NJ and Unicore.

f(x) - all mine

         As one of the SM Entertainment seniors, On July 20, 2016, SM Entertainment confirmed that the group was set to be releasing an EDM track and its MV titled "All Mine" through SM Station on July 22., It was announced that f(x) would be the next artist to release a single for the SM Station project, with the title "All Mine".

        Even not a group specific song, the MV also managed to have more than 2 million views. So we still could see the popularity of f(x) as first tier girl group.

Gavy NJ - Shubirubiru

          I talked about Gavy NJ in details and their brief history at one of my old blog,so I won't repeat here. Gavy NJ was considered the second longest running kpop girl group.(2005 until today)
              The girls are cute and innocent as they talk about their crush on Jota from MadTown because of his smile and how their hearts melt when he looks at them. 

First generation Gavy NJ at 2008

Unicorn - Blink Blink

           who is Unicore? Unicorn is a four-member K-pop girl group produced by veteran R&B singer Kim Jo-han under Show Brothers Entertainment. According to Kim, “the name refers to the group’s goal to heal people with music, just like a unicorn’s horn is said to have the power of therapy.” The band debuted on September 3, 2015.

         who is Kim Jo han? He's  stage name as George Han Kim, was one of the original member of SOLID which was  first R&B group and one of the biggest idol group in Korea back in mid 90s,record sales exceeding 4 million.(when I start to listen to kpop back in 1998, their songs were still really popular at that time) After SOLID disbanded, he became solo R&B singer which was popular back in early 2000s, some of his songs are really classic. I won't go much in details about him, but if you want to know more about him, you can ask me as well. 

                                                     

          Now, he produce the girl group Unicore. So this group probably have one of the best producer among all of them.

                                                      The Boss George Han Kim

                               

       

Kpop Girl Groups Update June 2016

        Ok, it's start of July 2016 now, so I'm gonna update my blog  again. There are quite a few kpop girl groups comeback at  June 2016, so I will try my best to cover all the kpop girl groups comeback for the past month....

      As usual, I divide the girl groups into sexy style and cute style.And for this month comeback, I will add another section ballad song girl group, I will talk more about one girl group called As One, if you are interested, just go to the end part of my article.

      I will talk about sexy style girl group first since more popular girl groups in this category....

                                 

                                      Sistar - I like that

           On June 1 2016, it was revealed that Sistar will be coming back in June with a title track produced by Black Eyed Pilseung who also produced Sistar's song, "Touch My Body".  On the same day, Sistar released the first teaser for their fourth EP, then releasing two riddle images the next day.

  On June 4, Sistar and their fans celebrated Sistar's 6th Anniversary, displaying a picture of the girls with the gifts and cakes that they received.

     On June 10, Starship released a mash up collaboration of Sistar and DJ Soda. On June 14, it was revealed that the title song of their fourth EP, 몰아애 Insane Love, is called "I Like That" On June 20, Sistar had a live countdown for their music video and album release. On June 21, Starship released the "I Like That" music video on their official YouTube channel and officially released 몰아애 Insane Love physically and digitally.

         

                                       EXID- L.I.E

                  On June 1, 2016, the group released their first full-length studio album titled Street with the title track "L.I.E". On the 8th of June, EXID won first place with L.I.E on Show Champion and not much later, they the won first place on Inkigayo and The Show as well.
                EXID are back and sexier than ever; maybe a bit too sexy.  On May 31, EXID released the MV of their new title song "L.I.E". The girls are already topping several music charts, while also recording more than 1 million MV views in less 24 hours.
                Unfortunately, not everyone welcomes EXID's sexy return. In fact, many netizens have targeted the group for the numerous sexual references found in their new MV.

                   

       And I really like the performance of this song and their dance MV as well:(if anyone wants to learn this dance, you can let me know as well, I can help you find a good dance instructor)

                           

      The only thing I don't like about EXID comeback is my fav member Hyelin's hairstyle, I don't know why she cut her hair so short, it's a bit too short I guess,lol....
                 

Brave Girls- High Heels

          In February 2016, It was announced that Brave Girls will be comeback as 7-members group with five new members and two original member, Hyeran and Yoojin after a two and a half year hiatus. Brave Girls release their digital single "Deepened" on February 16, 2016. On June 19, it was revealed that the group will be releasing their third mini-album, High Heels on June 27. They released their third mini album on June 27, along with the music video for the title track of the same name.

                                      Wanna.B - Why

           WANNA.B (워너비) is a South Korean girl group under Zenith Media Contents. A pre-debut was made on November 17, 2014 with the single "My Type". On July 20, 2015, the girl group officially debuted with "Attention"

           And at June 2016, they made a comeback with single "Why".

                                        O21- Show me

              O21 (O To One) is a six-member South Korean-Chinese girl group under Houxiu TV. They debuted on June 20, 2016 with the single "Show Me". So it's a brand new girl group.

Now, I will talk about the cute concept girl groups for the next section,

                             Gugudan - wonderland

              So first of all,I will introduce one new girl group called Gugudan. So how is this group formed?

         According to Wikipedia, In January 2016, Kim Na-young, Kim Se-jeong and Kang Mi-na were introduced as Jellyfish Entertainment's first female trainees on the Mnet survival show Produce 101 where 101 female trainees from various companies competed to debut in an 11-member girl group that would promote for a year under YMC Entertainment. After placing 2nd and 9th respectively in the final episode, Sejeong and Mina eventually debuted as members of I.O.I in May 2016.  

          Despite denying earlier reports about Sejeong and Mina debuting in a 7-member girl group in June, the company confirmed on June 7 that the two I.O.I members would debut within the month in what would be the company's first girl group. Because of YMC Entertainment's special terms in which I.O.I's members are allowed to do activities under their respective companies while IOI was on break or while the group promoted in sub-units, there were no complications with the plan.

         So this is another girl group which members come from survival show after I.O.I.

     

                          Sonamoo - I like u too much

            As I said before, the girl group version of "B.A.P" is back. But this time, they changed the image completely to become a cute concept girl group. On June 10, 2016 TS Entertainment announced to group have a comeback with third mini-album I Like U Too Much.

                                     DIA  - on the road

            Still as a rookie group, I really like their debut song before. Now, DIA's first mini album Happy Ending was released on June 14. The group will be release three version music video for lead single On The Road consists of main version, drama version and dance version.

Pledis Girlz - We

                  Who is Pledis Girlz?

                     Pledis Girlz is one of the new kpop girl group under the creation of Pledis Entertainment. All 7 members of Pledis Girlz have been introduced to fans through Mnet's 'Produce 101'. So it's the third girl group I list here which comes from Produce 101, (also I.O.I and GuguDan)

     The very last section I will talk about one of my fav comeback for July 2016, it's As One.

As One - The Pain I Caused

             So before I talked about As One comeback, I will briefly introduce this group and talks a bit of their history in case many kpop fan nowadays don't know much about them.

       

          As One is a South Korean R&B duo consisting of Korean-American singers Lee Min-young (known as Lee Min) and Chae Da-hee (known as Crystal). They are currently signed to record label Brand New Music

(As One picture at 1999)

          Debut at 1999, As One was definitely one of the best female R&B duo I ever know since then. As One debut at the same time with Fly To The Sky(FTTS), many old kpop fans considered them as the female version of FTTS, which is considered one of the best male R&B duo in the history of kpop....

        As One were discovered by well known Korean R&B group Solid back in late 90s, they officially debuted at 1999 under Rock Record. They released the First album Day By Day at the same year with two hit singles " Day By Day" and " 너만은 모르길". The first single "Day By Day" was a huge hit , and As One became a hot topic during that time. The second single  " 너만은 모르길"was also very popular until today, a lot of kpop artists still covered this song nowadays.

         From 1999 to 2006, As One released 5 albums in total, they also moved from Rock Record to EMI Korea at 2004, but they didn't their music style through out the years. I personally recommend their 3rd album Never Too Far  which released at 2003.

                                           

(As One picture at 2003, at peak of their career)

           After 2006, similar to Fly To The Sky, As One disappear from the kpop music industry, fans gradually forgot once really popular duo.

          Exactly after 10 years, As One finally came back with their 6th album Outlast, with the single The Pain I Caused

                              

(As One picture at 2016)

          If you are interested, you can check out the below video, As One basically talked about their past and why they didn't change their music style for 17 years even after kpop evolves after so many years, and some of their opinions about current kpop as seniors. 

          One thing I like about them is they start from friends to group, so they are friends first, then music career next, this is probably one of the reason why they lasted for 17 years and still keep good relationship with each other even nowadays.(They don't look that old today, actually)