On June 7, Cosmic Girls released their first full length studio album Happy Moment composed of 10 new songs, including the title track "Happy"
Stellar - Archangels of the Sephiroth
On May 17, it was reported that their new mini-album was to be released in late June. It was also revealed that a new member could possibly join the line-up with their new release. On May 18, The Entertainment Pascal confirmed the addition of new member, So-young, via Stellar's Makestar Project.
Stellar new member So-Young.
On June 20, The Entertainment Pascal announced that the group's 3rd mini-album was set to be released on June 27 and was titled Stellar Into the World, with the title track "Archangels of the Sephiroth"
ELRIS - We, first
This is the new group, I will briefly introduce this group here. Elris is a kpop girl group formed by Hunus Entertainment in May 2017. The group consist of 5 members: Kim Sohee, Yukyung, Bella, Hyeseong and Karin being the maknae. The group concept of each member will be representing an embodiment of natural elements - Sohee as the sky, Karin as the forest, Hyeseong as the wind, Yukyung as the water, and finally Bella as the heart.
On the 1st of June, ELRIS released their first official mini album called "We, first", consisting of 5 songs, including the title song of the same name
Before ELRIS debut, member Kim SooHee already debuted as a solo artist at the age of 17 , with her solo single spotlight, she will be the person to watch out from this group in the future.
G-reyish - Johnny Gogo
Now I will introduce second new girl group debut last month:“G-reyish” is a kpop girl group under Elijah Entertainment. They debuted on June 01, 2017 with single “Johnny Gogo“.
S.E.T - Nalari
Now, I will introduce 3rd new girl group debut last month, S.E.T, or also spelled like S3T, is a 3 member kpop girl group debut under Hoonstar Ent & will release their 1st Single album on June 3rd 2017.
Ramisu - Oh Boy
The 4th new girl group I will introduce here is Ramisu. Ramisu is a 3 member girl group debut under MinSoundStory Entertainment on on June 22, 2017 with their debut single “Oh! Boy”
For people who listen to kpop, you don't need to know most of the girl group in my second half of the blog, the second half is basically expand your knowledge about kpop girl groups in general, there are way too many girl groups nowadays...
Ok, good month for kpop girl group comeback last month, Not many kpop girl groups comeback at May 2017, so there's a lot to expect at June 2017, I will focus on talking about huge success of BlackPink, APink comeback death threats, and disband of As One, and few others. I will start here....(there's second half of the article, since many girl groups comeback/debut last month)
BlackPink - As If It's Your Last
On June 22, Black Pink released a new digital single titled "As If It's Your Last". The song was described as a "mixed genre of house, reggae and moombahton music", a change of sound from their previous releases. Within 17 hours after release, the music video for "As If It's Your Last" gained more than 11 million views on YouTube, becoming the fastest music video to exceed 10 million views by a K-pop group, which broke the record previously held by BTS's "Not Today" of 10 million views within 21 hours.
Furthermore, the music video became the second most viewed online video in the first 24 hours by a Korean act, with more than 13.3 million views within 24 hours after release, second only to Psy's "Gentleman".
Ok, now I do think BlackPink is like 2NE1 level now, wow, they even pass the BTS record.
BLACKPINK is not only topping Korean music charts, but also showing significant success on international charts!
By 9 p.m. KST on June 22, just three hours after the release, BLACKPINK’s comeback track “As If It’s Your Last” placed first on the iTunes Worldwide Singles Charts in 15 countries. Not long after, they took over three more countries for a total of 18, breaking their previous personal record of 14 countries for “Whistle.”
Black Pink member Lisa is pretty as always....
If you haven't watch this MV, one of the most popular kpop song right now, click the MV below...
APink - Five
On June 26 at midnight KST, Apink dropped a cute highlight medley for their upcoming sixth mini album, “Pink UP.”Unlike other highlight medleys, the new teaser is titled a “rolling music teaser” and features short clips of the members in a “girlfriend-style” cam video.
“Pink UP” is scheduled to be released on June 26 at 6 p.m. KST. The album features the title track “Five” as well as their previous special release, “Always.”
Continue Success and Death Threat:
Until July 5th, APink already got two wins on both SBS The Show and Show Champion.
Apink has been through their fair share of hardships recently, as they have become a target of not only multiple death threats but also of a recent bomb threat made before their comeback showcase.
The man responsible for both the death threats and the bomb threat called Plan A Entertainment to say that he had placed a bomb at Apink’s showcase venue just a few hours before the press showcase. The agency contacted the police and a special unit was sent to the venue to investigate
The police are currently investigating the threats but have still yet to catch a culprit.
One thing to note that, only APink received death threats, but not other girl groups. And Police and law enforcement should take this very seriously and find out who did this.
As One - Goodbye For now
Not only APink bomb threat caught the headline, another very disappoint fact is that after 18 years, the longest running girl duo As One will disband.
Brief history about As One : Debut at 1999, even not debut under SM Entertainment, fans still refer them as female version of "Fly To The Sky". As One quickly becomes one of the most well known girl group in kpop from late 90s to early 2000s along with S.E.S. Fin K.L, Baby Vox etc.Later on from 2001 to 2004 , they released 3 albums with consistent success, SM entertainment debut few duo groups, but all failed to compete with As One during that period, they reached peak of their career until they moved to EMI Korea at 2006.
They made comeback last year and they announce they will disband after 18 years of their career.
(I wrote a very detailed article about them at OneHallyu around 2014, if anyone interested in their past especially early 2000s , you can check it here:
Their debut song is still one of my fav song from them, Day by Day, the MV was so cute back then, it's released at 1999
As One at 2017
T-ara - what's my name
On March 6, 2017, MBK Entertainment announced that T-ara will be releasing their final album in May, with Soyeon and Boram terminating their contracts after its release. Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon will stay with the label until December 2017. On May 7, MBK Entertainment revealed the group's plans had changed and that the group would disband following the release of the album, and that the final album had been re-scheduled to release in June 2017, with members Boram and Soyeon not being able to partake due to the expiry of their contracts. On May 8, it was announced that T-ara's last performance as six-members will be in Taiwan concert on May 13.
On June 14, 2017, T-ara released their first album as 4 members 'What's My Name?'. After a 5 years period without receiving any awards on music shows, T-ara won first place on The Show on June 20th.
Mamamoo - Yes, I am
Mamamoo announced the release of their fifth mini album Purple on June 22, 2017, with the title track "Yes I Am". The title track quickly climbed to the number one spot on the Melon real-time chart . After 1 day, Mamamoo sets the record for the highest first 24-hours unique listeners with "Yes I Am" on Melon for girl group.On June 27, they received their first music show win on The Show, followed by wins on Show Champion, Mcountdown and Music Core which they didn't expect at all.
Nine Muses - Remember
On May 31, A teaser through Nine Muses' channel on naver and youtube has been released and was stated that their comeback would be on June 19, 2017. Star Empire Entertainment revealed via a Twitter post that member Sungah will not be participating in the comeback as she pursues work as a DJ for the time being.
On June 13, the girls announced their future concert, a concert entitled 'RE:MINE' and which will take place on 29 July next.
It's early June 2017 now, as usual, I will write a blog about kpop girl groups comeback at May 2017.
There are two major event for kpop girl groups last month. The release of Twice Signal and Disbandment of Sistar. Overall, there are only 6 girl groups comeback last month, which is far less than previous month, most girl groups enter inactive period.
Twice - Signal
Yes, Twice is back again with their hit single "Signal". On May 1, Twice confirmed the release of their fourth EP titled Signal with the lead track of the same name produced by Park Jin-young. This marked their first collaboration with Park. The EP, along with the music video for "Signal" was released on May 15 at . It contains six tracks, including "Eye Eye Eyes" co-written by members Jihyo and Chaeyoung, and "Only You" written by former Wonder Girls' member Park Ye-Eun.
Once are receiving the message loud and clear as TWICE's newest title track, "Signal" has achieved an all-kill on all 6 major music charts shortly after its debut! Their title song "Signal" managed to snag the #1 spot on all 6 real-time music charts, making for a clean all-kill despite strong contenders like Psy and Unnies.
Sistar - Lonely
In May 2017, Sistar released a teaser photo revealing that they will be making a comeback at the end of May. Their new track titled "Lonely" which was composed by Black Eyed Pilseung will be released on May 31. On May 22, Starship Entertainment confirmed that the project will be the last comeback for Sistar and they will officially disband after their 7-year promotions as a group. All the members wrote their own personal letters of farewell to their fans, confirming their later disbandment.
The girls had been discussing renewing their contracts with Starship Entertainment. According to insiders, however, they ultimately decided to go their separate ways after their upcoming single on the 31st.
For more information about Sistar disband and their history, please read this in detail.
Shortly after the release of their goodbye single "Lonely" on May 31, SISTAR have achieved an all-kill on major music charts! The single claimed the #1 spot on the realtime segment on all 6 major music charts, which include Melon, Mnet, Bugs, Soribada, Genie, and Naver. The girls have decided to disband as a group after 7 years together, and released the single album as a parting gift to fans, with the album containing both "Lonely" and "For You".
Lovelyz - now we
Following their second studio album release, they made a speedy comeback with their second repackaged album titled "Now, We" on May 2. They also won their first music broadcast trophy on May 16, through SBS MTV's The Show.
For new single “Now We“, the girls have continued to work with production team OnePiece. This results in a song that sounds very much like the rest of their work, though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of their best singles.
April - May Day
Recently, April's activity and comeback increases a lot. On May 8, the group started their second reality program titled "April Secret" on Naver TV. On May 15, DSP Media announced that the group's comeback was set for May 29 with their second single album titled Mayday.
Year 7 Class 1 - Oppa virus
I have introduced this group twice in my previous article, so I won't repeat. There were rumors about they will disband, but it's not confirmed and they still continue the activity now, but they are not well known. And this group is typical school girl type girl group.
Girls' Alert - Dreamgirls
I will introduce this group since they are brand new last month.“Girls Alert is a kpop girl group formed under Apha Music in 2017. they are expected to debut in 2017. They released their first single Dreamgirls at May 25th, 2017.
If anyone didn't get the information about Momoland, I will repeat here again.
They debuted on November 10, 2016, with the mini-album "Welcome To Momoland". The members are the winners of survival program Finding Momoland on Mnet. MOMOLAND announced to have their first comeback with a single sometime in late April with a new member, Daisy. On April 9, 2017, former Produce One contestant, Kim Taeha was announced to have been added to the group as well.
And they released their very first album Wonderful Love at April 26th, 2017.
Wassup - Color TV
Even though this group is not famous, I introduced them a few times before, so I won't repeat. On March 31, Wassup pre-released the track "Dominant Woman" a single part of their third mini-album titledColorTV set to be released, on April 13, 2017
Loona - Sonatine
I just introduced this group from my blog last month, so I won't repeat again.
On April 5, it was confirmed that Vivi would be the next to release a single album. Her album was released on April 17, featuring the next member, Jinsoul. On April 23, Loona 1/3's repackaged mini-album "Love&Evil" was announced with a teaser for the single, "Sonatine"; it was released on April 27.
A-seed - Shake It
Now I will introduce some new kpop girl groups who debut at April 2017. A-seed is a 4 member kpop girl group debut under Luminant Entertainment at April 5th 2017. Because they are too new, no further information can be provided now, just know this group is a typical sexy style girl group.
Bonus Baby - If I become an adult
Since I never mentioned this group before, so I will do a brief introduction here.Bonus Baby is a six-member kpop girl group formed by Maroo Entertainment in December 2016.
They made their debut on January 1, 2017, with the single "We". At the time of the debut, they are the youngest girl group ever in Korea by average age. The group's eldest two members originate from an idol group of the same company, MyB, which disbanded in late 2016. (the eldest here means born on 1997 and 1998, omg, they are all so young)
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....
