K-pop Mega Star Hyuna
Oh Dear ! ! ! The Guardian has discovered K-pop ! ! !
This week there are two articles about it over on on the Mothership ! ! ! Of course one is about learning the Gangham Style dance and the other is about Girls Generation. The Guardian seem to think Girls Generation will be able to break into the western market, and as usual they have gone for the K-pop Lite option. But actually if a K-pop artist will make it long term in west, it will probably be HyunA.
She is smart, funny, sexy, fluent in English and Japanese a great singer and dancer and a charismatic live performer.
You will all hate her ! ! !
Wonder Girl HyunA ! ! !
Wonder Girls
HyunA started in the pop business at 15 in 2007 with the girl group Wonder Girls. This was an outfit aimed at younger teens and HyunA was the lead singer and rapper in the group.
She had to leave Wonder Girls before they had their massive international hit Nobody because of her parents withdrew her from the group because of health issues.
So here is Wonder Girl HyunA in action with her first group ! ! !
Wondergirls – Irony
What Can You Do In 4 Minutes ? ? ?
4 Minute
HyunA returned to the music business in 2009 as a member of the more adult and older teen focused girl group 4 Minute. The group were very successful and as leader of the group of course HyunA attracted a lot of attention. However, there was a certain amount of controversy in Korea about 4 Minute.
Korea has a much more strict attitude to sex than most Asian countries, maybe because the cultural influence of the west is much stronger and 30% of the population is Christian, but what ever the reason, one of their songs was banned from Korea broadcasting for overly sexual content, which of course is great marketing ! ! ! They also had a dance routine censored by the TV producers for a TV show in Korea which also added to the sexy image they have and several of their videos have had R15 ratings made on them.
4Minute have had succession of huge hits and really successful tours in Asia. But the attention was focussing on HyunA as the leader and she has used that attention well, building a wide range of commercial endorsements and a very successful fashion label in her name also. On her TV appearances she is intelligent and funny and quick witted. In fact she is one of the few TV personalities to have a personality ! ! !
4 Minute are still a huge act in Asia and HyunA is still the leader, but she has now started to have a parrallel solo career which is really taking off ! ! !
4Minute – I My Me Mine
It Is All About Bubble Pop . . .
HuynA’s first solo single was called Change and it sold 2.5 million copies. It sales were helped of course by the fact that the
Bubble Pop ! ! !
video was given an R19 rating in Korea and could only be seen on view on demand TV there. The money from the pay for view she donated to charity. However it was released un-edited in most other Asian countries with no problems. But it was Bubble Pop that really established her as an international solo artist in Asia.
Bubble Pop was released as part of a solo EP and the video had 5 million views on YouTube in the first week and the single sold more than 3 million copies. I really like this track. It is a fun and cheerful pop track that is totally a real earworm ! ! !
Bubble Pop ! ! !
HyunA Riding The K-pop Wave ! ! !
Smart, Sexy, Funny
and Lovely Hair ! ! !
HyunA is maybe the typical K-pop singer in many ways, but she is has real star quality and charisma, she is a great singer and dancer and I honestly believe if she will be the first Korean singer to make it in the USA and Europe.
She is still only 20 years old and including her sales in Wonder Girls and 4 Minute she has already sold more then 2o million records which is quite an achievement.
The PSY and Gangnam Style phenomena created a lot of interest in K-pop in the west amongst more traditional media like the Guardian and of course HyunA, as one of the biggest female stars in K-pop, is riding the wave as well.
The Gangnam Style version with HyunA is really the best version of this track in my opinion and she is great in it. She is quite funny imitating the squeaky style of speaking the girls in Gangnam use. I actually think this is a much better version than the original.
So I will leave you this video and if you have teenage sons . . . well I have warned you ! ! !
Gangnam Style with HyunA
I hope you have enjoyed the post and as HyunA conquers the world, as I am sure she will - remember you heard it here first ! ! !
A fragrant Oriental flower to be sure, not sure I like the overly Westernised look myself but she certainly has talent.
Interesting culture point Sakura makes. I don’t think this kind of music will appeal much to teenage boys over here. Far too “girly”. I suspect the market would be with other girls more.
We shall see if K-pop resontates with our youths. I suspect it won’t have the same impact as Gangnam style. The crucial ingredient there was the humour.
Hi Mr P ! ! !
It is interesting – I had never thought about her appealing to girls – in Japan she is too directly sexy for girls to really associate with . . maybe . . I need to think about it. Wonder Girls was definitely aimed at your teenage girls.
She speaks very good English and so she could make English Language tracks and that and do TV and stuff in English. I think that will be route she will try . . . .maybe . . .
I think she’s fine, but not being “in” with the young things, it’s not easy for me to judge her appeal there.
Hi SR ! ! !
Thank you so much for reading and listening and taking the time to comment as always ! ! !
My favourite K-pop girls are Kara actually (I sent in Step for earworms I sure you remember ! ! !) and they have a more stylish and less sexy image, but the image is really designed by the record companies and management in K-pop and they build the image of the band for specific groups of people.
But the thing I like most about HyunA is not so much the music and image it is actually her interviews and TV appearances as that is when you can see her real personality and she is really very intelligent and very funny and natural also. In her videos you forget she is only 20, but when you see her being normal on TV or something she is really very charming ! ! !