Korean Music Discussion - Page 3212

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In times where several teams debut and disappear within a day, in 2011 there’s a girl group that claimed this year. It’s A Pink. Debuting last April A Pink received the rookie award at 2011 MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) and made their place.

At the 2011 MAMA Rookie awards, “Tried best not to cry”.

Not even been 24 hours since their return from Singapore, we meet A Pink on the 1st on <Oh My Star. From a mischievous question by a reporter, “You didn’t even cry” they said “We were holding them back, because it starts it becomes uncontrollable” and “We tried to not shed black tears”.

“In Singapore the fans yelled out each of our names, that gave me goosebumps. They recognize us more than Korea. Honestly in Korea if we don’t have makeup on and are alone, they don’t know. But in Singapore without makeup they still recognize us.” - Park Chorong.

We maybe ‘fairy-dols’ but “at first it was awkward to even smile.”

A Pink became popular through their cute debut song “I don’t know”. Since there were many groups that promoted through Sexy and Charisma filled concepts, A Pink gained the nickname ‘Fairy-dol’. But they say it wasn’t natural at first. Yoon Bomi says, “During ‘I don’t know’ laughing felt awkward but now I can even wink’, and “on the other hand, I think being sexy has become awkward now”.

Their recent new song ‘My My’ is the result of trying to emulate 1990’s groups like S.E.S and Finkl. Faint and sad ballad, 'Like in the middle of a dream' and hook song ‘Yeah’ can also feel the surprise esthetics in ‘Prince’ showing a growth in their emotional expression, their 2nd mini album is pack filled.

“Do we know S.E.S, Finkl? Honestly we have not seen a live stage by them. After becoming trainees we looked them up with other trainees. Before debut we divided into 3 and 4 person groups and practiced lots of S.E.S and Finkl.” – (Kim Namjoo, Oh Hayoung).

“Sleeping 1-2 hours a day, I don’t remember where we live”.



In their non-promotion time, “Staying up all night is okay, we want to be active” saying it like out of habit A Pink. Did it come true? To digest their tough schedules they say they sleep 1-2 hours a day. Also mentioning they stayed awake overnight up to a week. Music Programs, Radio, and live broadcasts are basic. For A Pink recently they are on KBS 2TV’s <Freedom Saturday>’s <Birth of a family> they became mothers for abandoned dogs.

“Recently we had continuous overseas schedules so our office unnies are taking care of them. You can’t leave puppies alone. When we go out, if we don’t close a door that room’s items are all have bite marks. It’s becomes crazy. We probably have to change our sofa. It’s our first major variety so we have to watch what we say, and thought we have to deeply move the viewers. But now the camera is slowly becoming comfortable. Since we’re doing it in our group, it’s okay but trying to progress onwards by ourselves is one of the difficult parts.”

“CEO-nim, if we get the rookie awards we were promised cell phones”



During the 4 months break, also other junior singers increased. A Pink says, “When they call us ‘sunbaenim’ it feels awkward”. In an unforgiving battleground called the music industry, what could be the strong points to help A Pink survive?

“I think it’s doing music that fits our age is the biggest thing. Honestly it’s not that we can’t do it, we’re hiding it. Forcefully doing a sexy concept, it doesn’t turn out right. Steadily become mature, I think it’s not late. Fans even said ‘If you become sexy I’m leaving’."

[These fail pandas gtfo]

"Even if we wear shorts they say it’s ‘too short’, if we lower zipper just slightly they say ‘raise it back up’. Our body, heart, and our music will all grow.” – (Yoon Bomi).

In 2012 A Pink’s goal is a music program 1st place. A Pink, and after letting each member’s name sink into the public, they showed their aspirations to win musically.

Choi Jin Ho CEO, who treats A Pink like his own daughters promised, “If they get rookie wards I’ll give them cellphones”. But A Pink complains, “Whenever we ask him he changes”. Also to definitely put that within the interview.

A Pink first solo concert! Just thinking about it doesn’t it make you happy? (Interview)

‘Fairy-dol’ A Pink released their official 1st album ‘Une Annee’ and returned to their fans.

Within this album ‘Une Annee’, their title song ‘Hush’ is dual produced by rookie star producer Lado and Hugh, with the song filled with thoughts of confessing but too shy to follow through.

This especially is a cheer song for people who dream of a sweet love, which showcases each member’s vocal qualities well. Additionally with elegance and more innocent beauty, it makes the entire male audience’s hearts become love-struck. Also music charts they are in the top tier, with their own color they are become a stable entity in the difficult music world.

Last year in May, putting forth their innocent qualities in front that made themselves known in the music industry, they recently celebrated their 1 year debut anniversary. To A Pink, 1st year anniversary is a special word for them.


" ‘Une Annee’ means for 1st anniversary in French. I wanted to spread the truth we released our album meeting the anniversary. (laugh) After our debut, time passed by too quickly. I still feel like a rookie, but it seems a lot of my juniors debuted.” – (Chorong).



“Personally it seems our responsibility for the stage became bigger. Also since there are lots of juniors and our seniors who produced high quality music, I feel we have to do even better.” – (Eunji).


A Pink amongst the flood of girl groups, confidently holding their ground for a year they accomplished many things. Including Mnet MAMA, Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disk, in the important national award ceremonies, they received a total of 6 rookie awards and spread their name.


“Exactly a year ago our goal was the rookie award and gaining recognition, I’m happy we accomplished this. Now we have a new goal. Of course it is getting the mainstream music program 1st place.” – (Yookyung).

“Even if it’s not this year, I really want for us to have a solo concert. Still the word concert feels far away, one day we want to meet our numerous fans. To enjoy the stage close with our fans, I want to know how that feels.” – (Hayoung).

“If you look at the rest of the tracks, there are lots of fun and lively songs. Like this, it is for us to someday to perform in our concert. The louder our fan’s cheers, I believe we are getting closer to performing in a concert.” – (Bomi).


Particularly for this album, A Pink says they hatched a plot to change their concept. After continuing their innocent concept persistently, added sophistication to show off a different quality. But they raised their voice it’s not throwing away the innocent concept.


“During ‘Hush’ promotions, many people said we became sexy a lot. We just changed our innocent concept a little, but it seems like that the people watching felt that way. At first people might feel a bit negative feedback, but fortunately they said our innocence is still there.” – (Naeun).

“So far it feels like we’re hearing, ‘it’s like A Pink’ a lot. I was worried this would not match our established group concept. From onwards what we’ll show is a secret, but we’ll maintain a concept only for A Pink.

To being recognized as artists, now A Pink is expanding into acting. Especially Naeun and Eunji, separately be in SBS Historical Drama ‘Dae Poong Soo’ and tvN’s Sitcom ‘Answer 1997’ (Working title) was casted and now finding living room audience.

"Because it’s a historical drama, it is burdensome. At least it’s a fusion historical drama, so they don’t use lots of old language so I’m glad for that. Still I feel worrisome. Currently while I’m taking acting lessons, and getting advice from my surroundings. The character I got picked has overflowing cuteness but it’s so different from my real personality, I’m contemplating how to deal with this.” – (Naeun).

“This sitcom is special to me. It is my first acting attempt. Luckily I can still use my dialect, so the pressure is a bit less. I’m worried I won’t be good, but I can only try my best.” – (Eunji).

“Many people ask about the 2nd year jinx, but we’re not worried. We’re only thinking of doing our best. We won’t put our attention on those kinds of jinx, and we’ll become a more hardworking A Pink. Please look forward to us with an affectionate viewpoint."

‘Next generation fairy-dol’ Girl Group A Pink (Park Chorong, Jung Eunji, Yoon Bomi, Oh Hayoung, Hong Yukyung, Kim Namjoo, Son Naeun) have returned. Last May they released their first album ‘Une Annee’, the seven fairies are still cute but changed into ‘snooty ladies’.

In an idol entrenched music industry, it is hard for anyone to survive. In this fierce competition, after their debut A Pink showed good results sweeping the rookie awards in several award shows.

Debuting in 2011 with ‘I don’t know’, ‘My My’ in their early days receiving much love from fans, they mastered the cute girl’s image and created a close fandom was key. Comparing fan cafe members they’re not too far behind Secret, Afterschool etc.

However they still say they feel inadequate appealing to the general public. So this official album’s title song ‘Hush’ attempted a slight change. The pure white outfits that symbolize innocence changed into a variety of primary colors, and layered a haughty quality upon it.

Of course they did not throw away the cute and lively image. The seven fairies soon approaching the start of their 2nd year, they say “This transform is just a taste” and put on a bright smile.

-Receiving the rookie awards, and now your 2nd year. Thoughts?

▶(Naeun) One year passed by too fast. I felt like we did so much, but time went by too fast I can’t remember well. Maybe because we got many rookie awards, starting the 2nd year feels burdensome. It’s an encouraging award, so I think we have to do even better.

▶(Eunji) I don’t want to recognize yet that we’re not rookies anymore. (laugh) It feels like we finally entered the real race, there are so many strong sunbaes, it is scary. I feel that we have to do work harder.

-After debuting, this is your first full album.

▶(Eunji) That’s right. After a year since A Pink’s debut, it is the first album we are releasing. In French it means one year, ‘Une Annee’, we wanted to invest a meaning into our title.

▶(Naeun) Until now we had songs that expresses girl-like images, in this album we put a diverse number of songs. Differing from our standard image, we put a powerful song in it as well. ‘Skyhigh’ or ‘I got you’ are those types of songs. It is fun to pick and choose.

-With the title song ‘Hush’ you can feel the change in concept. Did you feel any burden from the changes?

▶(Eunji) Through ‘I don’t know’ and ‘My My’ with the pure and cheerful image, trying to put a bit of snootiness, it is true it was a burden. It’s different from our existing image so I was worried if our fans might change. Fortunately after seeing the stage and song, they said ‘it’s like A Pink’.

▶(Namjoo) Slowly we have to attempt more change, I believe this album is a taste test. We can’t have A Pink’s image set in stone, gradually we’re trying to put in changes. You can feel that difference in this album.

▶(Bomi) Through this promotion I think our fan’s age range became more diverse. In the past they were mostly around 10’s and 20’s, now we even have 50’s fans. They say this song fits well with retro dance. I think there are people feeling the past fragrances of the past.

-In your trainee days, they say everyone’s strong point was powerful dance.

▶(Bomi) That’s right. But now everyone is accustomed to cute gestures. This time we saved the snooty feel, but it feels rather awkward now. I felt like we changed too suddenly. Fans are very ‘conservative’ so they say we can’t change even a little bit. (laugh)

-The point dance ‘Compass dance’, we heard you had trouble learning it.

▶(Yookyung) It’s a dance that uses one leg to draw a circle, depending on the floor surface there are times it’s hard to do. When practicing the dance in the studio it was okay, but during the Music Video shooting everyone’s legs had cramps so we struggled. So before the comeback we even practiced on the parking lot asphalt. Now we’re adjusted so it’s okay.

-Do you feel the 2nd year curse?

▶(Namjoo) Not at all. We hear this question everywhere, for us we first learned about this going around the interviews. We did not start off convincingly good in the beginning. (laugh) I feel like we’re a group that’s slowly growing, so I don’t think that exists for us [Implying the 2nd year curse]. Like climbing the stairs step by step. Instead of doing well in the beginning and worrying about the later albums, I think this is much better.

-Your fandom is very solid.

▶(Eunji) I saw the results on some article, compared to the same year debuting groups I could see a lot more. During that time after seeing many sexy concepts, seeing us probably felt fresh and piqued people’s interests so many people became fans.

▶(Namjoo) Compared to other girl groups, we still lack mass appeal. Since we’ve done music that feels like flowing and classic, instead of saying we have general appeal we have fans that looks for comfortable music. From now on we have to work hard to raise our appeal. In my leisure time I go out to watch movies, but they only recognize us when we’re in a group. If we go around individually, we’re regular people. They don’t recognize us. (laugh)

-Recently you have more variety appearances.

▶(Eunji) MBC ‘Gender Exploration’ and ‘Birth of a Family’ I was in the main cast. These variety programs are in the weekend timeslot, the viewership age groups are diverse so compared to last year we could gain more recognition. Of course our skills have to back it up, if we raise our recognition through variety I feel they listen more to our music. Especially for the older people, when they see us they refer to us ‘Ah the kids who raise those dogs’ and recognize us.



-Differences from last year?

▶(Hayoung) The waiting room atmosphere changed. Our cars changed. It was Starex but now upgraded to a Starex Limousine. Inside we also started to have DVDs, and curtains as well. The roof of the car raised, even the lights changed to incandescent lights. (laugh)

▶(Bomi) The feeling when we’re on the stage changed a lot too. If we were nervous in the past, now it’s a bit more comfortable. Now I can feel more composed to even look where our fans are. I can even see their faces. (laugh) Stage experience is important.

-Lastly tell us about your promotion plans, and a goal for this year?

▶(Eunji) This year we’re going to continue promoting to meet the fans. Last year we got the rookie award, this year the goal is a music program 1st place. Even better a triple crown. With more follow-up promoting, I hope we could spread our A Pink’s name even more.

▶(Bomi) Our final goal is a solo concert. We’ll do our best spreading our name, and I hope that day comes soon.

Returning with their title song ‘Hush’, A Pink added stuck-up attitude to that girly emotions and swayed the hearts of uncle fans even more. Before they knew it, it has been a year since they debuted.

Lasting through the insecure future they had as trainees, the reason A Pink has risen up to become the music industry’s fairies was the strong bonds of the members built through their training.

To prove this, ‘we’re doing a history battle’ the members started to talk about their precious memories, as time passed on funny stories came out from here and there. Let’s listen~



1st – Namjoo [Hectic first debut stage]

“The day we debuted on ‘M Countdown’ was the most memorable. On that stage, because we reached the start of our dreams it was a happy day for us. Also that day 4 Minute sunbaes got 1st place too, so our happiness doubled. But it passed by so fast, I feel regret not enjoying the moment enough. Still it was the first days for our dreams coming true; it is the most important day or us.”

Reason picked: “Seeing fans that cheer us on for the first time, on the stage, and felt thrilling to show the fruits of our training.” (Bomi)



2nd – Yookyung [The day we got our debut confirmation by our boss]

“When our boss called us to make a group I remember it clearly. It was a day we had individual lessons, I was told ‘You go down to the 3rd floor’, I was scared to hear that. That time we took tests and trainees were being cut so I thought ‘maybe I’m being cut’ and became worried. After going down minus Eunji who joined us late, the current members were down there. We all realized then. When he said ‘You girls are debuting’, I felt really happy.”

Reason picked: “That was the most anxious day. It was a day where the atmosphere was negative, so we couldn’t even imagine this could happen so it became more memorable.” (Namjoo)



3rd – Eunji [When we got the rookie award at Mnet’s ‘MAMA’ awards]

“The ‘MAMA’ awards that opened in Singapore were our first rookie award so it is the most memorable for me. I got the chills. After our group was named for the rookie award, when I was saying my feelings on winning I was shaking so much it was hard to stay standing. In interviews I’m usually talkative but that moment I couldn’t think of anything, I was that shaky.

Reason picked: “Instead of the rookie award, getting a 1st place is better but it was our first goal so it was picked. Also our company family Huhgak oppa also got the rookie award so it had more meaning” (Yookyung).



4th – Hayoung [Birth of a family final episode]

“In the KBS 2 ‘Freedom Saturday – Birth of a Family’ program, we lived together with two 4 month old puppies. Quick and Dal-ee were their names, on the last recording of the show we had to send them off to new families, we became so attached to them we all cried. It’s memorable that I think we cried to the point of fainting.

Reason picked: “Personally it was the first time I raised a puppy, it was a short time but I became attached to them. Being separated like that was the first time also, I felt really sad.” (Eunji).



5th – Chorong [Debut song ‘I Don’t Know’ MV and teaser outdoors recording day]

“When recording for our debut song’s teaser ‘I Don’t Know’, it was a really harsh day so it’s left in my memory. In February wearing only a white one-piece we were recording while shaking. It was so cold we couldn’t make full smiles; looking at our faces again it’s so awkward. Each member recorded around 2-3 hours’ worth of personal cuts, we tried tricking ourselves thinking ‘It’s not cold’ while shooting. After that gruesome recording, it came out pretty so it was okay but I was frustrated the result came out looking so warm.

Reason picked: “Because of that struggling memory, we picked it as 5th. After the shooting, the meal we ate afterwards was the most memorable (laugh).” (Hayoung)



6th – Naeun [2011 December 31st]

“During the end of year award ceremonies, during the new year’s countdown the members formed a circle shoulder to shoulder and made a wish together, that moment was memorable. It was short, but meeting the new year after our debut left a big impression on me. That day we took a photo together, it came out really pretty.”

Reason picked: “We felt getting one year older together, and feeling our strong bond that moment was really nice. It was wonderful to perform at the award ceremonies too.” (Chorong)



7th – Bomi [Hiding in the bathroom, and getting nervous eating roasted chicken and ice cream]

“When we were busy practicing ‘I Don’t Know’, we couldn’t go outside without our manager’s permission. For our diet we could only eat salad and lived a contained [nicely put] lifestyle. It was so strenuous I ordered food secretly and made a plan. I ordered chicken and ice cream, but thinking I’ll get caught I hid them in the bathroom and we went to eat in pairs. It was difficult getting the smell out to erase any evidence.

Reason picked: “It’s bad behavior when our company sees this, our CEO could also see this so put this as last. Also back then there were some members not present.” (Naeun)