Kpop Girl Groups Update July 2015

      So it's the end of the July again.  And I will update my blog once again as usual. Since it's long weekend, and I'm away from home in Seattle on vacation, so I will keep this blog short. However, there's a lot of stuff going on for girl groups in July, like SNSD, APink, Girls' Day comeback, so July was actually the most intense competition for kpop girl groups this year,  so I will try my best to cover all of them as well.


What's the biggest News for kpop girl groups this month?
of course it's SNSD comeback.

                                   Girls' Generation  -   Party

        Since the last single SNSD released "Catch Me If You Can" was really disappointed. At the beginning of July, SNSD once again try to lead the summer theme comeback for all kpop girl groups.
In July 2015, Girls' Generation released a single titled "Party". The single debuted on top the Gaon Digital Chart with first week sales of 256,390 units. It also peaked at number 10 on the Japan Hot 100 and number 4 on the World Digital Songs chart by Billboard. The physical edition of "Party" and its B-side "Check" peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart. And it's much better than the previous single. However, some SONES still thought this single is not goo enough.
         However, SNSD didn't get winner right away after the release of "Party", it was until July 14th, almost two weeks after they released "Party", they got first win on music program, which means the importance and influence of SNSD is not as good as they used to be cuz most other 1st tier popular girl groups could get the same result as well. Also SNSD promote this single only for less than 2 weeks after they got their first win, then they stop promoting that song on many music program. It's a big question there because their previous singles back in 2013/2014 could stay on chart for few month in kpop ranking.(and gee actually top the chart for over 2 month).
         I would say SNSD was still No 1 girl groups in kpop now, but their influence and popularity are decreasing right now, maybe they passed their peak period already?
   

Besides super group SNSD, I will divided all the other girl groups into mainly cute style and sexy style, or ballad group. So Since this week it's my fav girl group now APink comeback, so I will write cute style groups APink, GFriend, MINX first.

                

                

 APink  -  Remember

           Finally, my fav APink girls are back !!!.....I have been waiting for this comeback for few month already. and I actually mark the calendar and watching APink comeback MV  was first thing I did when I woke up that day....APink Panda

           On July 16, the group released their second full-length album, Pink Memory, along with the title track "Remember". I really love this song, from the music, MV, APink members outfit, and of course my Eunji and Bomi Panda, all look so cute. It also had some kind of 90s feel, the only thing I don't like was probably the background music is too similar to the previous "LUV" song.

            Despite very strong competitor like SNSD comeback at the same time, APink managed to get their very first win on Show Champion Music program 5 days ago. Right now, APink was considered the second most popular kpop girl group right now after SNSD.

APink Bomi Panda's pink hair really got most fans' attention this time.....

 G-Friend  -  Me Gusta Tu

               The next group I will talk about is G-Friend. I introduced G-Friend in my very first kpop article this year. I said since the huge success of APink at the beginning of this year, many other similar girl groups debut, I think G-Friend was one of them really stands out, and they actually got full potential to become the next SNSD or APink if their agency could promote them correctly.

               I saw few of their performance and live singing, they definitely got talented. Their dance was actually difficult and all group members have great voice. One member look like Jessica from SNSD, one look like IU, and they got look as well. It's definitely my type of girl group, all look so cute and innocent....and their MV already passed one million views within one week, it's like 1st tier girl group level, and they only debut less than one year....

 MINX - Love Shake

         MINX  are a five member girl group formed under Happy Face Entertainment in 2014. The group consists of Ji-U, Su-A, Siyeon, Yoohyeon & Dami. 

         I don't really know a lot about this group, still new to me.  I actually quite like their song during summer time, all members are good looking and  fit in their style as well.I would recommend this comeback.

     
     
       and as usual, most kpop girl groups still follow the sexy style, so the next section I will talk about  Girl's Day,Nine Muses , Hello Venus , Stellar, Sonamoo, Wanna.B , POTEN 

                                      

Girl's Day - Ring My Bell

            Besides SNSD and APink, another huge comeback for this month is Girl's Day. Similar to APink,, Girl's Day released their second full album Love, along with its title track "Ring My Bell", on July 6, 2015.
             As the first 1tier girl group, Girl's Day released the single "Hello Bubble" previously, and this is considered as Girl's Day major comeback this time. Also the leader singer Minah was focus on her solo career a while ago, it would be really busy for her to focus on both solo and group activity. Unlike APink, Girl's Day transformed into sexy style and gained a lot of success in recent year as well.

           

Nine Muses - Hurt Locker

           As the solid 2ed tier girl grou, Nine Muses was the first girl group to make comeback this month. After watching their comeback, I didn't feel anything new or unique about this group. They probably compete with groups like Dal Shabet , AOA, or Rainbow those 2ed tier girl groups nowadays. Also I watched few of their dance practice videos before, the group members are really good dancers as well.

              Girl group Nine Muses took their sexy concept to another level. 

Nine Muses’ agency Star Empire revealed recently that they changed their stage outfit from ‘retro swimsuit look’ to ‘sporty look’ concept for their song “Hurt Locker.” But for me, I considered them as another AOA, and I personally prefer AOA's "Heart Attack" than this one.

Hello Venus - I'm ill

               Still remember Hello Venus' transformation to sexy style earlier this year?....yes, the "wiggle wiggle" song, which went viral for a bit.  However, compared to EXID, Hello Venus was not actually breaking into 1st tier girl group, they were probably still somewhere between 2ed and 3rd tier girl group.
               Also the dance performance version came before the actual MV of this song, and the music was similar to their previous "Wiggle Wiggle".  This group really needs some song just like "Ah Yeah" to promote themselves, and let's see if their dance version could go viral again?

           

Stellar  - Vibrato

           Speaking of Stellar, people will think about their over exposed MV, and this time they made a comeback with no exception. The MV of this song is rating 19+ in Korea, which is same as their previous single.

            Then I was curious about it cuz very few kpop MV is rating 19+. I think Stellar is trying too hard to expose themselves instead of making better music and their talent, that's one of the reasons they still cannot enter even 2ed tier girl group....

            

(This MV is 19+, if you are under 18, please don't watch this MV)

Sonamoo - Cushion

             If I remember correctly , Sonamoo debut as a fierce girl group, which reminds me of 2NE1 back in old days.  And Sonamoo was one of the girl group I said to watch out this year and also in the future. All group members have talent, and they got a lot of good comment when they just debut last year. This time they moved away from that fierce look , but they got less views from their MV this time.

Wanna B - Attention 

             WANNA.B  is a 6 member South Korean girl group under Zenith Media Contents. They made their debut on November 17, 2014 with the single "My Type". Eunsom and Seoyoon were former members of their sister group LULUZ. And they made comeback with sing;e "Attention" this time.
            I don't know who is Wanna B or LULUZ, never heard any of them before, some random girl groups from small label, it's even outside of 3rd tier...

4TEN - Go Easy

        4Ten, commonly stylized as POTEN, is a South Korean five-member girl group, formed in 2014 by Jungle Entertainment. Its name comes from the word "potential", and consists of Hyeji, Hyejin, Heeo, Yun and Hajeong. And this group had lineup change earlier this year.

         I also considered this group as new, and outside of 3rd tier for now, and the MV is a bit weird too....

          Note: So first of all, after this month, I wish APink could get as many win as possible, but I also wish SNSD could stay their popularity longer. Even though I am a big fan of APink since 2013, I used to like SNSD since 2009, so I was also considered SONE as well, so it's really hard decision for me to prefer APink over SNSD even though I had more bias in APink now.

           Besides that, I think nowadays a lot of small labels try to create a lot of random girl groups like every month, I will introduce a few new girl groups each month in my blog  as well.....

           Also, if anyone are expert or knows a lot about boy groups, you can write the boy group version of this, I will appreciate since I don't know boy groups as much as girl groups.

             

Kpop Girl Groups Update June 2015

         It's the end of the June , so I will update my blog once again.  There are not a lot of girl groups comeback this month, but there's a lot of teasers going on this month. Why?

       1  The girl group comeback season is coming next month , it will be some of the toughest competition ever. Usually, big idol groups  used to  avoid making their comebacks too close to one another, to avoid unneeded competition. But this summer, it seems like all of the top girl groups are making a comeback at the same time staring late June such as Sistar and AOA. So before that, there will not be a lot of comeback at June.

      2   Right now in kpop ,  big boy groups Big Bang and EXO are compete with each other very seriously. It's either Big Bang or EXO got first place throughout the month. Also other boy groups such as SHINee, BTS those groups comeback made June the month of boy groups comeback instead of girl groups comeback. And I'm not interested in boy groups, so I will omit this part....




so let's see which girl group made comeback or any new girl group came out this month....

Comeback:  For all the girl groups comeback this month, SISTAR and AOA symbolized the girl group comeback trend this year. And both groups comeback at the same day, June 22ed 2015.

SISTAR -  Shake It

       Yes, SISTAR make comeback once again. Due to their previous continuous success, SISTAR's new MV Shake it pass 3 million views easily.  And I think Hyorin is trying to show her body in this MV as well. But for some reason, not only their outfits styles or their dance moves, even all SISTAR songs sound very similar, and this single sounds similar to their previous single as well.  However, I don't really like the newest single this time compared to their older songs.
   

A.O.A - Heart Attack

             On the same day when Sistar released "Shake It", another kpop sexy girl group A.O.A released their comeback single "Heart Attack". After few successful release from last year, A.O.A's popularity increased a lot since last year as well. In a summer lacrosse game setting in this MV, A.O.A fully show up their sexy style and also fit the summer season. Their MV already passed 4 million, which is more than Sistar's Shake it . Personally I prefer their MV than Sistar's "Shake It".
(But I feel like the MV and dance step is too similar to SNSD's "Oh" for some reason).

Besides Sistar and AOA , some less well known girl groups made comeback as well such as Melody Day, Mamamoo, Year 7 Class 1 .

                          Melody Day - Love Me

         Melody Day was a 3 member girl group debut under Viewga Entertainment  at 2014, and they add one more member this year, so Melody Day is a 4 member girl group now. Even though they released few songs since last year, but a lot of kpop fans nowadays don't even know this group ever exist. So far, their comeback single "Love Me" ranked Number 14 on chart, which is already the best result they got since their debut. But I like this song, pretty catchy.

Mamamoo - Um Oh Ah Yeh

         Considered one of the best kpop debut  at 2014, among all the rookie groups, Mamamoo was considered one of the successful group among the current new girl group wave. And unlike other girl groups, their MV is always very funny and entertaining, which draws a lot of fans as well. This time Mammoo made the comeback "Um Oh Ah Yeh" is also really funny. Check out the MV and what do you think?....LOL

Year 7 Class 1 -  white wind

             Debut at early 2014, Year 7 Class 1 is 1 7 member girl group debut under DRB Entertainment. And they are typical cute and innocent concept girl group since their debut. There are many cases girl groups similar to this even since 90s with name like "class sth, grade sth". But none of them got popular. Coming from small label, Year 7 Class 1  was the only innocent concept girl group comeback this month, and their MV suits their concept as well, which is actually not bad.

Besides, these 3 comebacks, A KOR sub group A KOR Black amd also there's a girl group called playback also debut this month.

                           A KOR Black  --- HOW WE DO

     A KOR is a 5 member girl group also debut last year.  Since their debut, this group become full of controversy. As a typical hip hop style girl group ,there's rumor says the member Kemy diss senior artists Park Bom from 2NE1, which gains a lot of attention from 2NE1 and blackjacks. This time, A.KOR debut sub group A.KOR black, which is duo Minju and Kemy.  I suspect they copy 2NE1 style, and it's typical hip hop style. (And I am a bit scared of Kemy for some reason, maybe the new CL)

Playback - playback

            Also there's new girl group called PlayBack debut this month. They just released their self-title track "PlayBack" just 4 days ago, so it's a brand new girl group. I checked out their debut MV, it's really catchy, actually really like it, it seems like I want to click the playback button to replay this song "여자애들이뭐해  남자얘기만해 내가어제음 hit the playback" . and SNSD member Soyoung likes it as well,  so good luck to this group to join the competition.

 The next month and this summer will be very exciting. Nine Muses comeback July 2ed, Girl's Day July 6th , APink and SNSD will comeback soon as well, so do many girl groups.....

Note: If anyone have any questions related to kpop girl groups, you could leave a comment below, I could answer with the best knowledge I had, I think I know kpop girl groups  way more than enough .And since I'm not into kpop boy groups nowadays, if anyone want to write the boy group version of the blog, it would be awesome....
   

Kpop Girl Groups Update April/May 2015

             Ok, it's been a while before I update the blog again. Last time I wrote something about new kpop girl groups or comeback are like 2 month ago. So I need to update the information about kpop girl groups in April and May this year once again.



          The first group I will mention is  SNSD. On April 10th 2015, SNSD released  their 9th Japanese  single "Catch Me If You Can" the first time with only 8 members after former member Jessica left the group. After Jessica left the group, some fans are angry about SM Entertainment and this issue was going on for quite a while now. As I expected, the sales of this single is only 20835 at April 28th 2015, which is the lowest sales since SNSD debut.....

          PS: I don't have much to comment on Jessica left SNSD issue, just from the MV "Catch Me If You Can", it's really poorly made. It's like in the middle of nowhere in a construction zone. It really looks like a low budget MV. The dance is pretty decent, but overall I don't really like it. Also SNSD didn't get any award from this comeback, which is definitely not right....

         

 






Different from last kpop girl group update, I will write sexy concept girl group first, since cute concept girl group didn't do really well in recent two month....

 Miss A - Only You

            Since last year, Miss A became solid 1st tier kpop girl group, and the most popular girl group from JYP Entertainment right now.  On March 29th 2015, Miss A made a major comeback with their hit single "Only You". Miss A continue their old mature style, which gains a lot of fans before. This time Suzy wrote the lyrics for the whole albums for just 2 hours, which shows her talent.  This time Miss A comeback is really successful, they were compete with big boy groups like Big Bang at the same time.

            If you know kpop girl group fashion really well, there's the only thing I don't like about JYP girl groups. Their outfit always look really old style, like always go for 60s(like old Wonder Girls), Miss A was like 80s outfit back then. This single is a bit better, but still behind the fashion trend, and only JYP girl groups have this issue.

                                         

KARA -  Cupid

                     And I am a bit surprised here, since KARA actually made a comeback few days ago. Since KARA members change, I didn't see any news related to KARA recently. KARA was definitely 1st tier girl group back then, they could compete with SNSD back in days. But they are not doing so well in recent years.  and KARA just released their new songs few days ago, which shows a new KARA image with 4 member girl group now.

                   

                               

EXID - Ah Yeah

                    Since "Up and Down", EXID got really popular, finally they  got out of 3rd tier group, and possibly become one of the 1st tier girl group. And this time, EXID  released "Ah Yeah" at April 13th 2015, and became a huge hit once again. Until now, "Ah Yeah" already won several live performance, now I believe EXID is one of the top tier kpop girl group right now. And there's a member called Hyerin, looks so cute, and leave blonde hair now, I like her new hairstyle.

             

Bestie - Excuse Me

                       Speaking of Bestie, I thought about EXID again. Actually most Bestie members are from the old EXID.  Then they left EXID and formed another girl group called Bestie. Even though Bestie and EXID have very similar concept, unlike EXID , Bestie was still stuck at 3rd tier girl group zone. Personally I think Bestie could do much better than that, but they don't have opportunity like EXID right now. On May 8th 2015, they made the comeback with single "Excuse Me".

                     

Dal Shabet - Joker

               Speaking of Dal Shabet, they are like typical 2ed tier girl group. They did better than those average 3rd tier girl group, but not famous enough to enter top tier girl group. They made comeback at April 15th 2015, with the title track "Joker". However, the music video was banned by KBS because of its explicit choreography, and the song's lyrics were censored by the network. I actually think their MV is unique, but I'm not a big fan of girl gorup overly exposed themselves. And Dal Shabet had this problem before as well.

blady - come to me

              Blady is a five member  girl group formed by SY6 Entertainment that debuted May 16, 2011. So they are actually not new group, but I don't know much about this group. They are probably even worse than 3rd tier girl groups. But after I watched their new MV, I think they are probably just some random girl group, not famous at all.


               

            

         Compared to sexy concept girl groups, cute concept girl groups not really do very well in recent two month. And honestly,  Besides Girl's Day, I don't think any group could compare to APink in this concept....

                                    Girl's Day - Hello Bubble

             Girl's Day  released the project single "Hello Bubble" On May 12, 2015, They still have the same style as their previous single "Darling", as the summer theme. And they all got new hairstyle now. especially Minah, she looks so cute, OMG. The song is also really good, just a bit short, hope it would be a bit longer as usual.

                       

                    

       

 Crayon Pop - FM

                  Ok, so the "Bar Bar Bar" song got this group famous last year. They use different concept outfit, which reminds me of sailor moon back in childhood. So people thought they will become big again after the FM song. Actually they didn't win any award this time.....

                             

       CLC -  Pepe

               CLC is a 5 member girl group debut under Cube Entertainment. so wait....APink is under ACube, and CLC is under Cube, so fans are wondering is it another APink?. They probably have similar concept, and their debut image is really similar to APink, but I don't think CLC could catch up APink in the near future or even possible.

           

Oh My Girl -  Cupid

             Oh My Girl is a 8 member girl group debut under WM Entertainment. This is another APink wannabe girl group.  Different from CLC, Oh My Girl actually have 8 members, I think it's a bit too many. Also one member from this group try to be NaEun from APink, but I'm a bit confused about all other 7 members. So similar to CLC, personally I don't think this group could get really popular.

LaBoum - Sugar Sugar

               Laboum is a 6 member girl group that debuted in 2014 under NH Media and Nega Network. Their name means "the party" in French. After I watch their MV, I can tell they are at most 3rd tier group girl, probably even worse. However, I do enjoy their songs, it's really cute, especially the bear thing in the MV, and it's really funny too. And personally I actually prefer LaBoum than CLC and Oh My Girl those two groups.

               

                     Besides those girl groups I mentioned above, there's a ballad girl group made a comeback in recent two month as well, Gavy NJ.

                                 Gavy NJ - Ju Ju Ju

                   Speaking of Gavy NJ. I heard of them over the years. They actually debut at 2005, so 10 years ago, and a lot of ballad groups are old school now, and they are even older than Davichi, and should be the same generation with SeeYa, which debut at 2006. From what I remember, when Gavy NJ just debut 10 years ago, they are related to some SM Town project, but I don't think they ever involved in SM Entertainment activity,I did remember they performed with SM artists back in 2005. They all look so old now, but their voice, still really good singers.

         

Besides those girl groups I mentioned above, BoA made a comeback as well, but since it's not group, so I won't mention here, but BoA is famous enough to mention here.

          Also I try to watch some boy groups MV today, like SHINee, BTS those stuff, don't feel like it. And SHINee member Taemin are always with APink Queen NaEun now....

                         

                 

My Top 10 Most Famous Female Kpop Ballad Singers

        It seems like I didn't write a blog for a while, so I decided to write a new post today....
        Today I will talk about my top 10 of the most famous female kpop ballad singers. So before I start, I will make some clarification  here.

1 I will only talk about female ballad singers here since I listen to female singers most of the time. I do know some really famous male ballad singers as well, but I won't talk about here.
2  I will only talk about solo singers here, like pure ballad/R&B singers, anyone from  girl group will not be included here as well, such as Eunji from APink, Taeyeon from SNSD.
3  I will rank my top 10 singers only based on their influence in kpop and actual talent, not their look, so if someone looks not pretty or looks old , I don't judge based on that

                                                     APink lead singer Eunji

1   Lee Soo Young

       I really want to make No 1 as IU since it's my bias, but I need to rank Lee Soo Young as No 1. Debut at 1999, Lee Soo Young released  nine released albums and five mini-albums until today. And

she's recognized in Korea for her powerful voice and although she rarely appears in her own music videos, she has earned a lot of popularity. She has also recently appeared on a number of variety shows, displaying her sense of humour and her ability to be comical and carefree, adding to her popularity. Today she is considered one of Korea’s most famous and accomplished ballad singers.  Especially at 2003-2004, she held sales record as  780,000 and 770,000 respectively, beat Queen of kpop Lee Hyori twice and won MBC best female singer award for  two consecutive years. After that, She was considered the Queen of Korean Ballads.

       At least in the past 20 years, no other ballad singers have such accomplishment as Lee Soo Young. (I used to think Lee Soo Young looks pretty back in early 2000s, but only in early 2000s, she's in her mid 30s, and looks old now)

     

2 IU

         No need to mention more, assume everyone who listen to kpop nowadays knows who is IU. As nation's little Sister, right now IU still enjoyed her popularity and busy composing her own music. Her stage name is derived from the phrase "I and You", symbolizing that people can become one through music.  

         As my ultimate  bias, IU looks so cute and really innocent, and I'm sure she was a really good kid. and IU was also  really talented, her 3 high notes in the song "Good Day" really made her stands out from other average singers. 

         And I always ask myself :"IU or Eunji ???"

3  Beak Ji Young

            Speaking of old school female ballad singers, the first one came to my mind is Beak Ji Young, she was really famous when I was in middle school....

            Actually Beak Ji Young was not only  a  ballad singer before, she was also a great dancer and idol singer  type , then some scandal happened to her. When she made comeback, she became what is Beak Ji Young we know right now. Also debut at 1999, Beak Ji Young won many awards through out the year, and  she was considered the Queen of Korean Drama OST right now.

             I was never a big fan of Beak Ji Young, maybe because she looks a bit old, but her songs were really good, especially her early singles, I can name most of them.

           

4   Lyn

          Anyone who listen to kpop around 10 years knows who is Lyn.

          Debut at 2001, she was not quite successful at the beginning. When she made a comeback at 2002,  It was very successful and was able to shoot her up to one of the top R&B female solo singer of the year.  After a surprise two years hiatus, Lyn released her second album Can U See The Bright. The album was very successful, surpassing her previous album with her popular single, "사랑했잖아" (Used To Love). Due to its popularity, the song was eventually covered on another successful singer Lee Seung-gi's album, released in late 2006. After that, Lyn released her third album, The Pride of the Morning, on March 7, 2007, and sold 15,358 copies in that month, placing second in the Music Industry Association of Korea's monthly chart. Again, it was a success and was once again reclaim her title as one of the best R&B female singer in kpop.

          Lyn was definitely not my type of singer,but she was famous enough back in days to know who is Lyn.

5 Wax

               Debut at 2000, until today, Wax released ten albums and digital single albums. Because of the hit song "Fix My MakeUp", She has won three Golden Disk Awards(the highest award in kpop), one each year from 2001 to 2003, made her one of the most well known female ballad singer back in early 2000s.

               I actually know Wax back in middle school already as well,  some of her old songs were really popular during that time, but I never knew what Wax actually looks like back then, only know until recently, and she looks a bit too old.

            

                             

6  Lena Park

                Just don't judge what Lena Park looks like, her voice is amazing. If I actually rank the real talent, I would definitely rank Lena Park as at least top 3 of all time....

                 Lena Park was Korean American, and typical R&B singer. In 2002, her song "꿈에" (In a Dream) was a big success and enabled her to enter foreign markets, such as Singapore. The South Korean government select Park to represent South Korea in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At the end of 2002, a "best of" album was released and she played a series of concerts. Live recordings from these concerts were compiled into her first special live album in CDs and DVD. Park,

                I especially like her early singles, such a talented singer. and I think her voice is actually better than most singers I list here.

               

7   Ailee

                Similar to Lena Park, Ailee is also Korean American R&B singer.

                Debut at 2012, Ailee was considered one of the top talent singer in kpop nowadays. Not only in singing, Ailee was also a great dancer and idol type singer. There are people saying:" Ailee is one of the best singer in kpop nowadays, and have very bright future."

                 Also she looks younger than most of  those old singers as above. Ailee looks so cute here...

                  

8   HwaYoBi

                 HwaYoBi was one of the most underrated Korean R&B singer.  She was considered the female version of HwanHee from Fly To The Sky.

                 Hwayobi is regarded South Korea’s “Queen of R&B,” renowned for her beautiful, soulful voice and powerful performances. Not just a singer, but a lyricist and composer, she makes many of her own songs. Hwayobi’s talent earned her awards for Best Female R&B artist and Best Female Ballad Singer from the Korean Entertainment Art Awards in 2005 and 2006. Having been in the industry since her debut in 2000,

                 I don't really know much about HwaYoBi before. I heard about this singer, and knows she's a R&B singer back then, and that's it. But don't know she was actually on top for a while before.

              

9   J.ae

            Also known as stage name J . She was also Korean American, and  a famous R&B/Soul singer-songwriter. Debut at 1998, her popularity rises when she released her second album, which achieved great success.  The lead single, a mellow, mid-tempo R&B ballad number "어제처럼" (Like Yesterday) shot to #1 on various Korean TV network charts.

           J.ae was also a early 2000s singer, she was also a great R&B singer just like Lena Park, and she wrote her own songs as well.

           I thought J looks old back then already, but her voice and talent really stands out at that time.

         

                               

                               

10   YangPa

              YangPa was probably the first female kpop ballad singer I know. Debut at 1997, she was one of very few female ballad singers made their name in kpop when male ballad singers dominate kpop scene at that time. In Korean Drama Reply 1997, she was mentioned many times and on Eunji's kiss scene.

              From what I remember, YangPa looks really cute back then, and I thought she would be a good kid too , and she was also a great singer, her songs were really difficult to sing as well. But she looks old now too, but still a great singer even compare to most other kpop singer nowadays.

           

          Besides those singers I list above, I know way more female ballad singers than I listed above. For example, old singers like Byul , Park Ji Yoon, and many others, or singers like Lee Hi nowadays. There were a lot, but I only list my top 10 list here.

        

How many girl groups ever exist in Kpop?

         Ok, today I want to write something interesting here, so actually how many girl groups ever exist in Kpop?


         so before I answer this question, I need to make some important points here. I had this question since around September 2014, there are so many girl groups nowadays, but exactly how many? so I start to search some evidence on Internet and plus some of my own knowledge in the past. At the beginning I thought about Wikipedia since I believe they should have information of everything. But quickly I found out some girl groups I actually know back in late 90s to early 2000s are not listed in Wikipedia, but those girl groups did exist, I had cassette tape and CD of these groups as evidence before.
          Then few weeks ago, I found out one very interesting article on Internet, this person starts a project since 2005, and which tracks all the kpop idol groups since 1980s until today, which is much better than Wikipedia. I was very curious about it, then I read through her article about old school kpop groups back in late 90s, I actually found out those groups I had cassette tape and CD before. Vast World of Kpop  (I give full credits from that person here)
          However in her article, it includes both boy groups and girl groups and mixed groups, and I don't really know boy groups as girl groups that much, so I extracted all the information about all girl groups from her article, and provide the evidence for my article.


    Before I did serious research and count, I estimed I know probably around 100 girl groups.


Ok, so here we go:
         1 The groups I marked as Red Bold are top tier girl groups which are really popular.
         2 The groups I marked as Pink are girl groups I heard about it at some point , but don't know them quite well. 
         3  Normal font are girl groups do ever exist at some point in kpop history, but I never heard of.
         4  I started since the first widely recognized girl group at 1996 and until 2014 last year.(since we are still at 2015 right now)
         5  Any sub-unit/group will not be considered here. For Example: SNSD and TTS are considered as one group.
       


                                       
                                          B.B(비비) was considered the 1st ever kpop girl group.(1996)

                         The 1st generation (debut from 1996 until 2001)

                                          S.E.S at year 1997 

1996: B.B, BOSS, ECO

1997: Baby Vox, Diva,  Enue,  Juliet, S.E.S, Sue, Tutti, Hans Band

1998: Circle, Cooki, Fin K.L

1999: AIDA,  As One, Chakra, CLEO, F.O.X, Hush, See U, O-24, T.T.MA ,Tashannie

2000: HoneyBee, MINT, Papaya, Shamony, SZ, TINY

2001: AL, C.O.C ,D.U.B, Daisy,  G.U.Y , Girl Fand, Jewelry, K.I.S.S, M.I.L.K, Nazka, S, Toya, VioxCo


For all the 1st generation kpop idol groups, I know 24 out of 43 groups, so 56%, which is not bad, especially almost all the kpop girl groups debut at year 1999, and that matches the time I am actually really into kpop.

 The 2ed generation (debut from 2002 until 2006)

                                          CSJH The Grace at year 2005

2002: BUDDY, Dejavu, FEVER, Isak N Jiyeon, J.S, LUV,  ShinVi,  Sugar,  Swi.T

2003: Big Mama, Bubble Sisters, Lorelei, Morning, The Color, WID

2004: 7 Princess, ELF, Girls Friend, Heart, Shyne

2005: Almoner, Apple Jam, Casa& Nova, Dami & Junior, Gavy NJ, i-13, IRIS, KisFive, LADY, LPG, Orange, Perfume, Red Sox, S.Blush, CSJH The Grace, XR


2006: 2NB, ASIA, B.U.T,  Baby B, BGH4, Brown Eyed Girls, CARA, Chapter 2, Foxy, ICE, J Lady's, Kirots, Maronie Girls, SeeYa


For all the second generation girl groups, I only know 16 out of 50 groups, which is only 16%, which is correct since I stop following kpop for a while since 2003 until SNSD came out, but I still know all the well known ones from this period. The only kpop CD I had from this period is Lee Hyori, but no groups.




                           

 The 3rd generation (debut from 2007 until 2011)

                                            Girls' Generation aka SNSD at 2007
                               

2007: Baby Vox RE.V , Black Pearl, CATS, Gavy Queens, Girls Generation, Illumina, KARA,Storm, TaeSaBiAe,  Wonder Girls, Yes Girls  


2008: Belle Epoque, Davichi,  Eve&Sat, i-Coffee, Miss$ ,S5en, Swan,Wink


2009: 2NE1,4 Minute, 7Size, After School, Brand New Day, Cutie,Devil&Angel ,f(x), Flying Girls, HAM, Jewelry S, JQT, Lady Collection, Pink Heart, Rainbow, Secret, T-ara

2010: Aurora, B.Dolls, Bebe Mignon, BlackList, Chocolate, City Lady, Cutie-L, D.Heaven, EVAS, EZM, Fit Girls, Free Star, Girl Story, Girl's Day, Girl2School, GP Basic, HoneyDew , Miss A, Nine Muses, Queens, Sistar, Song Cry Girlz, Soul Lady, T-Angel, TEN, Troty, Twiny, VNT

2011: 2Boram, 5Dolls, APink, April Kiss, As Blue, As Red, BBAN, Bella, BGH To, Black Eye, Blady, Brave Girls, C-Real,Carcard Girl,Chi Chi, Chokolat, Coin Jackson, Dal Shabel, Ei Yo, Elizabeth, Eye To Eye, G.IAM, HaraSora, INY, Leaders, NEW P.O, Ocean Girls, Piggy Dolls, Rania, Stellar, Swincle, Swing Girls,Woman Power


I would say the 3rd generation girl groups are the most important girl groups, also the most popular ones nowadays are from this generation. Starts at year 2007,SNSD, KARA, Wonder Girls , the girl groups become a trend in kpop.  Also, all my fav girl groups such as APink, Girl's Day are also from later in this generation. And I know 31 out of  98 groups, which is 32%, which is not bad. But some Groups I just never heard of here.



                     

The 4th generation (debut from 2012 until now)

                                 
                                          EXID at 2014

2012: 15& , 84LY, A.Cian, AOA, Bbde Girls, Bikiny, Black Queen, BT-Swing, Chic Chu, Crayon Pop, D-Unit, D.Q , Diamond Queen, DR.K, E2RE, Evol,EXID,Fiester,Flashe,GangKiz,GLAM,Goddess, Hello Venues, High Lady, HuntTeria, i-Cutie,ILIPS, Jevice, LA_TIE, LAY.T, LXIA,M-Tiful, MaskOT, NEP,Ninety One, One Piece,P.O.P Con
PameLA ,Pandora, PlayA , Puertty ,Ruby,S The One, SHE'Z , Six Bomb, Skarf, Spica, Sunny Days,
Superarls, TAHITI, The SeeYa, TINUS, Tiny-G, Two X, Valiant,Wow


2013: 2 Yoon,2EYES ,A-Dean,AGirls,ALTHEA, BESTie, BH  BPPOP, DASONi, Delight, Duo Flow, F.W.S, Global Icon, Heart Rabbit Girls,Hidden Fantasy,K-Girls, Ladies' Code,Littles, Live High,LUSH, M&N , PASCOL,Peach Girls,Peernine, Pixie, Purplay, Queen BZ, Rainy,TINT, Tren-D, Turan,Veloce,WassUp


2014: 1PS, 4G,4L, 4TEN, A.KOR, AiRi, Alice White, BAD Kidz, BAY.B , Berry Good,Billion, BoB Girls,D.Holic, G-Friend, Girl Hood, Kiss&Cry, Laboum, Lip Service, Lodia, Lovelyz, LPG Chaness,Mamamoo, Melody Day, Minx,MOA, N*White, OuiGee, PRITZ, Purfles, Red Velvet, Step, Scarlet, Sonamoo ,  Strawberry MILH, SWITCH, Taurine,The Unnies, Vetty L, Wings,YE.A, Year Seven Class 1,

 We are still at this generation right now, so even though I know a lot of girl groups from this period. But way too many girl groups right now, just way too many. only from 2012 to 2014 these 3 years alone, there are 129 new girl groups debut in 3 years, and 70% I don't even know. I know 31 out of 129 new debut girl groups.which is only 24% , but I think it's already pretty good.

so Let's do the simple math. all the kpop girl groups I know since 1996 until now are 24 + 16 + 31 + 31 = 102, so I am correct. And all the girl groups ever exist are 43 + 50 + 98 + 129 = 320, which means there are at least 320 kpop girl groups ever exist from 1996 until 2014.

       
Note: Based on this, I know there will be around over 800 boy groups ever exist, since there are way more boy groups than girl groups, especially back in old times, I believe there are only slightly less than 3 times the number of girl groups . (I can't count this since there are just way too many and I'm not really into boy groups  ) And plus mixed groups, the total number should be somewhere between 1250 to 1300....



You could use my information to count how many girl groups do you know ?  If you know over 50 out of 320 , it's pretty much a lot already.