Last month, there are not really any major comeback, but there are a lot of girl groups who made a comeback last month. I will start with the well known first again. (I assume anyone who listen to kpop for a while knows all the groups I mentioned in first article).
APink - Always
At April 18th 2017 , it was revealed that Apink would be giving Pink Pandas a special gift in honor of their sixth debut anniversary. Apink debuted on April 19, 2011 with their EP “Seven Springs of Apink” and title track “I Don’t Know.” Over the past six years, the group has received a great deal of love for their consistently innocent, youthful image and undeniable talent.
The members also thoughtfully dedicated handwritten letters to their fans, thanking them for their love and support over the past six years. Apink Says They Will “Always” Be With Their Fans In MV Commemorating 6th Anniversary
Rabbit APink leader Chorong
EXID - Night rather than day
Besides APink, the other relatively major comeback is from EXID. Due to Solji's remaining health issues, the group's comeback was delayed until April. On April 10, EXID officially released their third mini album Eclipse and their title song "Night Rather Than Day." The album peaked at number one on the Vietnam iTunes album chart, number two on the Hong Kong iTunes album chart, and within the top ten on the iTunes album charts in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. Eclipse debuted at number four on the Billboard World Albums chart, becoming the group's best-charting — and first top-five — album on the chart to date. On April 25, 2017, EXID won first place on The Show with "Night Rather Than Day". This was followed by their second win with this song on Show Champion the following day.
Oh My Girl - Coloring Books
On March 13, WM Entertainment announced on Oh My Girl's fancafe that their next album is scheduled to be released in April. JinE will not be taking part in upcoming album promotions and activities in favor of continued treatment and recovery. WM has also stated that JinE's health has improved since last year, and WM is focusing on long-term treatment for JinE.Oh My Girl's fifth EP, Coloring Book, was released on April 3, along with the title track of the same name
Dream Catcher - Good Night
I introduced Dream Catcher in my previous article, so I won't repeat again. On April 5, 2017 Dreamcatcher made their comeback with the single album "Fall Asleep In The Mirror" and its title track "Good Night".
The very first time I watched the MV 'Good Night", I got a bit scared, actually. Then I listened to their whole albums, it sounds like the music from some horror movie, but overall they did have few really good ballad songs. It's their unique style ,very different from all other girl groups.
Laboum -Hwi Hwi
On April 17, 2017 their second mini album 'Miss This Kiss' was released with the music video for the lead track 'Hwi Hwi'. They took home their first ever music show win on Music Bank on April 28, 2017 with 'Hwi Hwi'.
I actually like this group for a while back in 2015, they are so funny at that time. Later their popularity gets better, and they moved from 4th or even 5th tier group to somewhere between 2th and 3rd tier group now, gradually becomes well known by most kpop fans, they even took home their very first win recently.
Berry Good - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo
I also introduced this group for my previous article, so I won't repeat again. A third Makestar project was launched on March 9, 2017 to finance their sixth digital single "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo". While the song was released on April 16, its music video was uploaded to the group's YouTube channel the day after.
Berry Good has very similar style to Laboum, and the difference is that Berry Good is slightly more focused on vocal, but they are not as famous as Laboum. Recently, Berry Good adds EDM element into their music as well.
Next article(Part 2), I will introduce not well known girl group and some new girl groups debut at April 2017...
This is the second half of the blog. I will talk about few new girl groups and also some very new concept in kpop last month.
Loona - Love&Live
LOONA, (in Korean 이달의 소녀 "Girl of the Month") is a pre-debut girl group project created by Blcokberry Creative., a subsidairy of Polaris Entertainment.
Each month, beginning in October 2016, a new member is revealed and releases a single featuring one solo song, and one or more songs including the previously revealed members, with all songs accompanied by music videos. This will continue for a whole year, and at the end of the project the twelve girls will debut as one group. And this is a brand new interesting concept in kpop.
The sub-unitLOONA1/3 consisting of members Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul and new member, Vivi, released Love&Live, accompanied by the single of the same name on March 13
Six bomb - Becoming Prettier After/Becoming Prettier Before
If you ever thought plastic surgery can change someone's life, or even a business, Six Bomb will be the group which might interest you.
Debut at early 2012, Six Bomb is a 4 member girl group created under Pacemaker Entertainment.(I don't know who they are actually). One thing unique about this group, their company spend so much on plastic surgery on this group.
Six Bomb revealed, "Plastic surgery cost about 100 million KRW (~ $88,000 USD) for the 4 members. We can't explain exactly where we got procedures but you can basically say that we got work done in parts above our waists.
Oh, wait...so 88000 USD for plastic surgery for this 4 members girl group???..what
This is their picture before the plastic surgery.
This is their picture after the plastic surgery.
Not only this, not long after, the news reported that one member in six bomb involved in a 19+ movie. I don't know if this is true or just try to draw attention from fans again, but overall this is pretty bad, also speaking the truth about the kpop industry plastic surgery issue...
BABA - Funky Music
Before I introduce the group, the name of the group is not normal already....anyways
Accorind to kpopinfor114 (which cannot even find in wikipedia anymore), BABA is a 6 member kpop girl group debut at 2015 under PR Entertainment.(I don't know them either)
Since it's a comeback single, I didn't see their MV, or they might delete it due to low budget, which I am not sure either, but it actually exists last month.
(the kpop wiki says this group had 6 people, but I only see 5 members, I don't know too)
LipBubble - Popcore
Ok, now it's time to introduce some new girl group each month. LipBubble is a 7 member kpop girl group debut under Zenith Media at March 22th 2017. They are too new, so I don't know much about them, just know they had debut single "popcore".
Same as BABA, I can't find MV, maybe the company run out of the money to even film an MV, I am not sure, but they have a dance practice version.
HINT - tang tang tang
Ok, this is NOT Gfriend tang tang tang, it's a different group, called HINT.
Debut date: Unknown.
Company : Unknown
However, their debut single was out on last day of March, which means this group will debut very soon. No further information about this group.
So it's time for me to update the blog once again every month...Compare to previous month, there are not many girl groups comeback(still some, just not as many as previous 2 month).
For March 2017, 3 major girl groups comeback, GFriend, Girl's Day and Red Velvet, with a few other groups.
GFriend - FingerTip
As most buddy expect, GFriend didn't disappoint them. They released the 4th EP The Awakening both digitally and physically at Source Music on March 6th 2017.The album consists of six songs, including the single "Fingertip".
The title song "Fingertip" is composed by Lee Gi and Yong Bae, who have been writing all their hits since their debut, and it talks about how strong women love. It's a dance song with a funky disco genre and G-Friend's own rock sound.
And How popular is this track? Since they released the MV, They've already reached over 2 million views with almost 150,000 likes as well in just 14 hours. And G-Friend got their 1st #1 with their comeback title, which made them the most successful girl group comeback at March 2017.
Girl's Day - I'll Be Yours
Besides GFriend, another major girl group comeback will be Girl's Day. On March 2, 2017, Dream T Entertainment announced that Girl's Day was set to comeback after 21-month long hiatus during which the members focused on solo activities. The agency revealed that the group is in the process of wrapping up recording for their title track, and the comeback was set for late March 2017.On March 17, Dream T Entertainment released the group's comeback schedule and revealed that the new album would be the fifth part of the "Everyday" series.
On the day of their comeback, the official music video for "I'll Be Yours" was released simultaneously on the official Girl's Day YouTube channel and 1theK's channel at 12pm Korean Standard Time.
Red Velvet - Would You
At the same time, SM Girl group Red Velvet also made a comeback after Rookie. On March 31st, 2017, the group released the first single for SM Station 2, titled "Would You".
The song is a medium tempo pop song depicting the moment a girl's love comes true. The MV stars Red Velvet's Irene opposite actor Kim Min Jae, looking great together in the warm, spring atmosphere. And recently, besides cute dance tracks, Red Velvet made few good ballad songs as well, and some of them in their previous albums as well.
Red Velvet member Irene
Brave Girls - Rolling
Other than the big 3, Brave Girls comeback draw some attention, On March 17, it was announced that member Yujeong will halt activities due to health issues and the group will promote as a four-member group for the time being. She returned back to the group promotions on March 21 on 'The Show'.
the group performed "Rollin'" on several South Korean music programs, including M Countdown and Inkigayo. A music video for the title track of the same name, was also released on March 7. The EP was a moderate success peaking at number 30 on the Gaon Album Chart,which is not too bad for a relatively unknown girl group.
Pristin - Wee Woo
Pristin are not that famous, but most people who follow kpop regularly knows who they are, so I decide to include in the first part of my blog.
Pristin , formerly known as Pledis Girlz, is a 10 member kpop girl group formed by Pledis Entertainment in 2016. Several members of the group appeared on the television show Produce 101 and, as the prize for becoming two of the top contestants, members Nayoung and Kyulkyung went on to debut as part of the project girl group I.O.I.
The group officially debuted on March 21, 2017 with their first EP Hi! Pristin.
So here is the part one of the blog, the part 2 I will focus more on the new girl group or less famous girl groups....
Ok, so this is the second half of the article...I will introduce kpop girl groups who is either not famous come back or brand new girl groups debut last month.
Gavy NJ - An Obvious Melo
First I need to introduce a little bit about the girl group Gavy NJ. Thought I talked about their history before, so Gavy NJ debut at 2005, right now they were the seoncd longest running kpop girl group(2005 - now) , the first one being Jewelry.(2001 - 2015).
Gavy NJ at 2005
Gavy NJ at 2017 (of course they changed few members during 12 years)
Moving away their previous ballad concept, Gavy NJ turns to an all new sexy approach. The members themselves participated in writing the lyrics to the new song, and it's a minor medium tempo song with a retro sound.
Since their long history, I won't list their previous work in details. If you are interested in their past, check out: http://www.generasia.com/wiki/Gavy_NJ
H.U.B - Our Time Together.
So this is a new girl group H.U.B – Hope U Bounce (허브), is a 4 member new kpop girl group debut under New Planet Entertainment at Feb 28th 2017. Until now, they released 2 singles, which is Girl Gang and Our Time Together.
Because they are too new, I have no comment for them so far.
PIT A PAT- Sign
Ok, today I will introduce the second new girl group PIT A PAT ,(피터패트), PIT A PAT is a five member girl group under pit a pat entertainment who debuted on february 7, 2017 with their debut song sign.
Don't think they have a MV so far, but they have dance version for the song already. I also have no comment for this group because they are too new, but it seems like they come from a dance studio called HY Dance studio.
Rubber Soul - Freedom
This is not a new group, but relatively unknown to the most kpop fans. Rubber Soul
(러버 소울) is a 3 member kpop girl group debut under HC Entertainment at 2015. And I don't have much information about them either.
Various - Barbie Girl
Various (베리어스) is a 5 member girl group debut at April 2016 under Cowl Entertainment. I don't think they are famous, so I have no comment about this group either.
Ok. It seems like more and more and more girl groups are in kpop right now. So from now on, I need to write two blogs every month. So the first one is for more well known girl groups, the second one is for like less well known girl groups.
Twice- Knock Knock
On January 18, 2017, JYP Entertainment also announced that Twice would release a special album in February after the Korean leg of the concert tour. The special album, named Twicecoaster:Lane 2, is the reissue of Twicecoaster: Lane 1. Lane 2 and its lead single, "Knock Knock", were both released on February 20, 2017. After its release, it was reported that the new album sold more than 310,000 copies in pre-orders within a week. Just after few hours, the song achieved an all-kill by placing #1 on 8 real-time charts including Melon, Mnet, Bugs, Naver, Olleh, Genie, Monkey3, and Soribada.
Because of the high popularity, and due to the enormous response from fans. the agency is considering lengthening their promotions A rep from JYPE stated in an interview on March 4, "This comeback was for a special album, so we planned for the promotions to end after 2 or 3 weeks. However, due to an explosive response from fans and requests from broadcast networks, we're carefully considering an extension."
Red Velvet - Rookie Rookie
On January 20, 2017 SM Entertainment announced that Red Velvet will have a comeback in February.
On January 24, the group's comeback was confirmed with the release of their fourth mini album Rookie, on February 1. The EP contains new six tracks, with the title track "Rookie" and a solo song of Wendy entitled "Last Love" (마지막 사랑). The album topped the Weekly Gaon Album Chart and also become their next album to topped the Billboard World Albums Chart. Red Velvet took home their first music show win for "Rookie" on The Show on February 7, followed by a wins on the Show Champion, M Countdown and Music Bank
Oh, and by the way, I won one of their poster from VPP meeting, they look funny, lol...
Gugudan - A Girl Like
On January 20, 2017, it was reported that gugudan was set for a February comeback. On February 3, 2017, Jellyfish Entertainment announced that Gugudan would make their first comeback since debut with their second mini-album, on February 28.
On February 15, 2017, Jellyfish Entertainment released a teaser annoucing the titles for the mini-album Act. 2 Narcissus and the title track "A Girl Like Me". On February 19, 2017, a group teaser image and the album cover were revealed. On February 21, 2017, the album tracklist composed of five songs, as well as the highlight medley were revealed. On February 24, 2017, Jellyfish Entertainment released the first MV teaser and annouced that the release of the album was changed to February 27.
LovelyZ - Wow
Woollim Entertainment announced that Lovelyz was set to release their second studio album "R U READY?" on February 27. Woollim Entertainment announced that Yein had injured her ankle during practice for comeback and maybe unable to promotion.
The song definitely sounds catchy and the MV is so bright and colorful. You could also say the visuals in this MV are quite lovely.
Melody Day- Kiss on the lips
Assume Melody Day is well known enough to most readers if you follow kpop constantly. On February 8, Viewga Entertainment announced that Melody Day was set to release their second mini-album, Kiss On The Lips and its title track of the same name, on February 15, 2017.
I will write the rest of the groups for my next blog, thanks for reading.
Ok, here is the second part of the blog.
So all the famous groups I already talked about in part one, I will talk about the rest in this blog.
April - April Story
April is a kpop girl group formed by DSP Media in 2015. They debuted on August 24, 2015, with the mini-album Dreaming and its title track "Dream Candy".
On February 9 2015, DSP Media announced that they will debut a new girl group, April, in the first half of 2015. They would be labeled as sister group to Fin.K.L and Kara. The name April is a combination of "A" which means the best, and "Pril" stands for a lovely woman you can't help but love
April released their third mini-album Prelude, on January 4, 2017. The title of the album Prelude represent the group's new beginning, with their new line-up consisting of Chaekyung, Chaewon, Naeun, Yena, Rachel and Jinsol
Dream Catcher - Chase Me
Dreamcatcher (Korean: 드림캐쳐), formerly known as Minx (Korean: 밍스), is a South Korean girl group formed by Happy Face Entertainment. The group consists of seven members: JiU, SuA, Siyeon, Handong, Yoohyeon, Dami and Gahyeon. They officially debuted in January 13, 2017 with the single album Nightmare.
Basically this group was Minx(which I talked about last year), which was 5 member girl group before. In November 2016, they announced that they were to re-debut under the new name, Dreamcatcher, with the addition of two new members and plans to debut in 2017
Minx (2014 - 2015)
Dream Catcher
Melody Day: U Seem Busy
First of all, I think Melody Day is well known enough, so I won't give introduction here.
Melody Day released their third digital single You Seem Busy featuring BtoB's main rapper, Ilhoon, on January 24, 2017. The song was produced by Polar Bear and its lyrics were penned by JQ and Ilhoon
Year 7 Class 1 - Please remember me
I also mentioned about this group before. Year 7 Class 1 was a 7 member kpop girl group debut under Dareun Byeol Entertainment. They were not well known. Until Jan 2017, fans guess this would be their very last release, perhaps a farewell song for the fans. Fans just got to wait for more info from the girls' agency.
Even they are not famous, some of their songs are really good, you can check them out if you are interested.
MIXX - Love is a Sudden
I used to think MIXN and MIXX are the same group, but they are actually not the same group.
MIXX is a five-member girl group under Chiko Bros Entertainment. They debuted on May 3, 2016 with the single "Oh Ma Mind". The meaning of their name is 'M' for Motivate, 'I' for Impression, and 'XX' for the female chromosome.
They made a comeback Love is a Sudden at Jan 2017.
Laysha - Party Tonight
Laysha is a 4 member girl group under JS Entertainment. They are Chae Jin, Som, Hyeri, And GoEun. They released their first digital single "Turn Up The Music" on June 13th, 2015. They are the sister group to label mates BAMBINO.
A- Daily - White Snow Day
I mentioned about this group like probably last year, so A-Daily was a 4 member kpop girl group debut under DK Entertainment at 2014. And they made a comeback at early Jan 2017 with White Snow Day.
H2L - Winter Story
H2L is a three-member girl group under Regolith Entertainment. They debuted as SUS4(see my previous blog about SUS4) on March 18, 2015 with the single "Shake It" before leaving their previous agency, TK Entertainment, in November 2016.
They re-debuted as H2L on January 16, 2017 with their first digital single "Winter Story".
At Jan 2017, there are quite a few big event happened. 1 Comeback of first generation girl group S.E.S. 2 Disband of YG girl group 2NE1. 3 Disband of Produce 101 girl group I.O.I
Since there are many kpop girl groups comeback at Jan 2017, so I will write two posts. The first one I will focus on the few most popular one, the second post I will focus on less known group and new debut.
S.E.S.: Remember, Paradise
Since late 2016, there are various rumor about first generation kpop girl group S.E.S. will make comeback in early 2017. And eventually , they chose Jan 1st 2017 as their comeback day.
So who is S.E.S. ? a lot of new kpop fans never heard of them....
S.E.S. is a South Korean girl group trio formed by S.M. Entertainment in 1997, consisting of members Bada, Eugene, and Shoo. In their early years, they were also known as the female counterpart of H.O.T., and raised phenomenal popularity at the time.
S.E.S. is considered one of K-pop's first highly successful girl groups. They were challenged by groups like Fin.K.L and Baby V.O.X, which debuted soon after S.E.S. and also enjoyed success.
From the general vote in Korea back in 2011,S.E.S. was considered the second most popular kpop girl group of all time, only next to SNSD. One thing I did mention here is around year 1999 to 2000, so S.E.S. 3rd album LOVE, which released at 1999 was the best physical selling album of all time, even any single SNSD album doesn't sell that much.
Also S.E.S. got many awards during their active year, 1998 New Artist of the year award. From 2000, 2001,2002, S.E.S. won Best Female group of the year award 3 years straight. They were definitely the most popular girl group back in early 2000s.
The lead singer and dancer of S.E.S. is the well known Bada. Even before the S.E.S. reunion, Bada was already famous on Immortal Song and various Korean entertainment program.
2NE1: Goodbye
As many people won't believe, the most successful girl group 2NE1 will disband very soon.
Yes.the
Ever since Minzy's departure, YG Entertainment stated that the group will carry on as a trio. Later on November 25, 2016, YG Entertainment announced the disbandment of the group, with CL and Sandara signed their contract as a solo artist, while Park Bom left the agency and did not re-sign her contract.
On January 5, 2017, it was announced that 2NE1 would be releasing a final single, titled "Goodbye", as a farewell song to their fans. It was released on January 21, with lyrics being credited to CL, who had originally written the song as a letter for Minzy. The song topped Billboard World Digital Songs.
Similar to S.E.S. I mentioned before. 2NE1 also had big impact on kpop, they could easily rank the 4th most popular kpop girl group of all time as well.(After SNSD, S.E.S. and Fin K.L)
2NE1 had very impressive result in the past:
2NE1 got 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Cyworld Digital Music Awards for top Selling artis, Best Rookie Group, Bonsang Award. Also 2009 Golden Disk Awards. The group was one and the only rookie of the Top 10 artists in South Korea and the Best New Artist.[ They won This Year’s Stage, This Year's Album, This Year's Song on 2009 GQ Awards. They received 4 out of 10 nominations on Rhythmer Awards 2009 including Rookie of the Year, R&B Artist of the Year, R&B Single of the Year for "I Don't Care" and R&B Album of the Year for their 1st Mini Album.
2NE1 won their first Artist of the Year and Album of the Year award for To Anyone at the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards, in addition to awards for Best Female Group and Best music video for "Can't Nobody".They are the first artist who has won all 3 grand awards at Mnet Asian Music Awards.
On November 29, 2011, 2NE1 won the Best Vocal Performance by a Group for their song "Lonely" and was awarded their 2nd Song of the Year for "I Am the Best" at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards. After 2011, 2NE1 has won the most grand awards, for a female artist, in MAMA history with 4 wins (2 Song of the Years, 1 Album of the Year and 1 Artist of the Year).
Goodbye, 2NE1 !!!
I.O.I : Downpour
Compare to 2NE1, they probably won't have loyal fans, but the disband of I.O.I still breaks a lot of some recent kpop fans' heart as well. As I mentioned before, I.O.I was a South Korean girl group formed by CJ E&M through the 2016 reality show Produce 101 on Mnet. The group's concert titled Time Slip – I.O.I, which was held on January 20 to 22, 2017, marked their last group activity on stage. They officially disbanded at the end of January 2017 and returned to their respective agencies...
However such a girl group like this, I.O.I. was considered one of the most popular girl group at 2016 in Korea. There are a lot of news and commercial related to them, and also popular on Internet as well, and their dance skills of course...
After the release of the song, the single "Downpour" achieves all kill.
On January 18 (KST), IOI released their much-anticipated track "Downpour" and it's anything from down as the track is sitting on top of 8 real-time music charts: Melon, Mnet, Bugs, olleh, Soribada, Genie, Naver, and Monkey3.
After these 3 big events, the next section I will talk about major comeback for Jan 2017.
AOA: Excuse Me, Bing Bing
AOA released their first Korean studio album titled Angel's Knock on January 2, 2017 through digital and physical platforms, which came more than four years after the group's debut back in July 2012. Various teasers were revealed from December 21, 2016 to January 1, 2017 through a special web page designed for the group and various social media networks. Double title tracks, "Excuse Me" and "Bing Bing," which represent two distinctive concepts, were released and promoted simultaneously on the music programs during their comeback week. However, many Netizens say AOA is going downhill now, and criticize their new release as well.
CLC: Hobgoblin
On December 27, 2016, Cube Entertainment announced that CLC would be releasing a new album in January, with a revamped image, different concept from the group's existing image. It was also stated that CLC's new album aims to show a more charismatic, hip-hop and chic image. On January 4, 2017, CLC released an album art for their 5th mini album titled Crystyle which was released on January 17, 2017, with the title song Hobgoblin. In the making of this album, they were assisted by their senior labelmate HyunA.
And I feel like their MV is a combination of both 2NE1 and 4 minute...
Hello Venus : Mysterious
On December 29, 2016 it was reported that the group will be making a comeback with a mini-album on January 11. Mystery of Venus was released on January 11, 2017, in conjunction with the music video for the title track "Mysterious".
The album was a commercial success entering at number 12 on the Gaon Album Chart.
Sonamoo - I think I love you
From the legendary TS Entertainment, Sonamoo is back again. On December 21st 2016, TS Entertainment announced that group will return with their 1st single album on January 9th, 2017. The lead single is a brighter dance track produced by hit-maker Shin Hyuk.
Cosmic Girls(WJSN) - I Wish
On January 4 2017, Cosmic Girls released their third extended play From. WJSN composed of 6 new songs, including the title track "I Wish" . On January 11, Starship Entertainment unveiled their official fanclub name, Ujung (Hangul: 우정, Friendship).
Remember the girl always make very difficult move move in Cosmic Girl? One member I need to mention about this group is one Chinese member called Cheng Xiao. So after she showed her special move and took very difficult dancer roles in this group, Both Chinese and Korean media call her "Gymnastics girl". And She was compared to f(x) leader Victoria, became one of the most well known kpop star in China very recently.
So this is the end of Part 1, I will continue writing about Part 2 next.
