1st Gen Female Soloists - The Rate - Who paved the way?

Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
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Hello! I’m glad you are here. I’m delighted we can be here watching how K-pop keeps growing and becoming more popular than ever. However, I’m here to focus on an era that is still overlooked by many K-pop fans: the 1st generation.


The division of generations in K-pop is still unclear; some claim it ended in around 2000, others in 2003. There are also divisions that introduce the “generation 1,5”, which marks the transition between the 1st and the 2nd generations. For this rate, I decided to narrow down the songs in two ways:

1. Only picking female soloists, which means no famous groups or male soloists. BoA was cut off as she already has her own rate. An icon though.
2. All songs up to 2006 are eligible.

Then, I divided between six huge/well-known names from that era (some are still known by today), each of them with 10 songs. Then, I added an extra section with 20 different singers who are one hit wonders, ex-girl group members, singers of OSTs for famous dramas, etc. All in all, we have 80 songs to rate. I tried to make it as diverse as possible sound-wise, so we have hip hop inspired tracks, eurodance inspired tracks, ballads, etc.


Anyway, let’s start.


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10 Minutes
Hey Girl
Remember Me
Cleopatra
Anymotion
Anyclub
Get Ya`
Shall We Dance?
Straight Up
Anystar

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Pupil
Sad Expectation
After Love
Poison
Invitation
Don't Know
Escape
Go Away, Everyone
Eternity
Come2Me

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Come
Change
You
Joolae
Crazy
Half
Dara Dara
Ari Ari
Follow Me
Cheol-soo, I Love You

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Lonely Love
Breakup With Her
Declaration of Freedom
Bruise
You Who Left
Sword (Acoustic)
If It's The End
Solar Energy
Funky Town
Be Strong, Hyun Jung

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Choice
Burden
Dash
Sad Salsa
Fall
Emotion
Smile
No Love No More
Ez do Dance
Love Is Beautiful

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Sky Blue Dream
Steal Away
Precious Love
Go Away
Coming of Age Ceremony
Illusion
I'm A Man
Swan
Can You
DJ

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So Chan Whee: Tears
Yoo Chae Young: Emotion
Chae Jung An: Letter
Bada: Music
Jang Nara: Sweet Dream
Mina: Answer The Phone
Park Jung Ah: Yeah
Lexy: Ae Song
Lee Soo Young: I Believe
Jeon Hye Bin: Love Somebody
Lena Park: P.S. I Love You
Yangpa: Love of Very Young Person
Suh Young Eun: Cocktail Love
Gummy: Childish Adult
Ivy: A-Ha
Seo Yeon: In Summer
Maya: Azalea
Jang Yeon Joo: Something Special
Jang Yoon Jeong: Oh My!
Hye Kyoung Park: Confession

PM-friendly list:

Lee Hyori:

10 Minutes
Hey Girl
Remember Me
Cleopatra
Anymotion
Anyclub
Get Ya`
Shall We Dance?
Straight Up
Anystar

Uhm Jung Hwa:

Pupil
Sad Expectation
After Love
Poison
Invitation
Don't Know
Escape
Go Away, Everyone
Eternity
Come2Me

Lee Jung Hyun:

Come
Change
You
Joolae
Crazy
Half
Dara Dara
Ari Ari
Follow Me
Cheol-soo, I Love You

Kim Hyun Jung:

Lonely Love
Breakup With Her
Declaration of Freedom
Bruise
You Who Left
Sword (Acoustic)
If It's The End
Solar Energy
Funky Town
Be Strong, Hyun Jung

Baek Ji Young:

Choice
Burden
Dash
Sad Salsa
Fall
Emotion
Smile
No Love No More
Ez do Dance
Love Is Beautiful

Park Ji Yoon:

Sky Blue Dream
Steal Away
Precious Love
Go Away
Coming of Age Ceremony
Illusion
I'm A Man
Swan
Can You
DJ

Extras:

So Chan Whee: Tears
Yoo Chae Young: Emotion
Chae Jung An: Letter
Bada: Music
Jang Nara: Sweet Dream
Mina: Answer The Phone
Park Jung Ah: Yeah
Lexy: Ae Song
Lee Soo Young: I Believe
Jeon Hye Bin: Love Somebody
Lena Park: P.S. I Love You
Yangpa: Love of Very Young Person
Suh Young Eun: Cocktail Love
Gummy: Childish Adult
Ivy: A-Ha
Seo Yeon: In Summer
Maya: Azalea
Jang Yeon Joo: Something Special
Jang Yoon Jeong: Oh My!
Hye Kyoung Park: Confession

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

There is not a Spotify playlist this time, because there are almost no songs there. fffff the way we lost.

If any video is deleted on Youtube, please let me know so that I can replace it as soon as possible!


Here are the rules:

1. Score all the songs between 0-10. Decimals are allowed but keep it simple. In short:

8,5 - allowed!
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- not allowed!

2. One and only one song may get your 11. Choose wisely!
3. Commentary is not mandatory but appreciated. I actually would appreciate it a lot, because I might not have much information for writeups. At least, try to write something about your 11 and your scores under 3. (but again, it's not mandatory)
4. Send your ballot to me in a conversation by JULY 15TH, 23:59 BRT. If you need an extension, let me know.


Thank you for coming! I hope you can join us on this ride.
​
 
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Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
RESULTS

80. Illusion
79. Can You
78. Love of Very Young Person
76-1. DJ
76-2. After Love
75. Cocktail Love
74. No Love No More
73. Love Is Beautiful
72. Lonely Love
71. P.S. I Love You
70. Anyclub
69. Joolae
68. Remember Me
67. Hey Girl
66. Funky Town
65. Confession
64. Shall We Dance?
63. Solar Energy
62. Oh My!
60-1. Choice
60-2. Cleopatra
59. Azalea
58. Childish Adult
57. Ez Do Dance
56. Come2Me
55. Swan
54. Half
53. Go Away
52. Sky Blue Dream
51. In Summer
50. A-Ha
49. Follow Me
48. Precious Love
47. Straight Up
46. Sad Salsa
45. Ae Song
44. Dash
43. Something Special
40-1. Get Ya`
40-2. Go Away, Everyone
40-3. Anymotion
39. Love Somebody
37-1. I Believe
37-2. Escape
35-1. Sweet Dream
35-2. Be Strong, Hyun Jung
33-1. Breakup With Her
33-2. Anystar
32. Fall
31. Declaration of Freedom
28-1. Bruise
28-2. Change
28-3. 10 Minutes
27. Dara Dara
26. Crazy
24-1. Answer The Phone
24-2. Steal Away
23. Letter
22. Emotion (Yoo Chae Young)
21. You
20. You Who Left
19. Pupil
18. Yeah
17. Cheol-soo, I Love You
14-1. I'm A Man
14-2. If It's The End
14-3. Sword (Acoustic)
13. Don't Know
12. Ari Ari
11. Emotion (Baek Ji Young)
10. Burden
9. Eternity
8. Tears
7. Come
5-1. Smile
5-2. Sad Expectation
4. Poison
3. Invitation
2. Music
1. Coming of Age Ceremony
 
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Crisp X

Crisp X

she/her
Count me in! I've been familiar with Lee Hyori, Park Ji Yoon and Uhm Jung Hwa for years, but your initial announcement led me to check out a few of the other artists rated in the meantime. So far, I've loved what I've heard, so I'm looking forward to diving into these discographies and to getting to know all these soloists more! It has been one hell of a struggle to find many albums in the first place too fff


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Ezz

Ezz

Thanks for the tag! Nice long deadline so I'm definitely curious, especially knowing your impeccable taste in song contest submissions! Could you tag me in any reminder posts please?
Ana Raquel said:
And lemme first invite some users that aren't active on this subforum:

@DJHazey @iheartpoptarts @Ezz - since the three of you are usually eurodance/techno supporters, there are some songs here I believe you guys might enjoy a lot.

@Kneehigh Girl - I don't know if you take part in rates, but as you have an avatar of AVA, you might be into this?
Click to expand...
 
Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
Good news, we will have short write-ups! as it's what I can do with my lack of time organization.

R1024x0

(with gifs not made by me of course)

Lee Hyori
(이효리)

Born on May 10th, 1979, Lee Hyori started her singing career in the girl group Fin.K.L, one of the most popular GGs of the 1st generation, along with S.E.S., and Baby V.O.X (later, you can add Jewelry to the group). Fin.K.L. was formed by DSP Media (also responsible for KARA and Rainbow). Fun fact: according to the reliable source wikipedia, Hyori was found at the mall taking sticker pictures with her friends. ddd she wasn’t her first for the group: Lee Soo-a (artist name: Annie Lee, was part of Tashannie with Yoon Mi-rae) first accepted to be part of the group but ended up leaving the group before its debut.


The group disbanded in 2005, but Lee Hyori started her solo career beforehand, back in 2003. She released her first two albums under DSP Media; after that, she jumped from label to label: Mnet Media (now Stone Music Entertainment - fun fact: she was the highest-paid female singer in South Korea back then, receiving ₩2.2 billion/year), B2M Entertainment (Spica, Eric Nam) and Kiwi Media Group. Nowadays, she is the only Fin.K.L. member to have an active music career - the other members decided to dedicate themselves to acting.


Hyori had a moment with acting when she debuted in 2005 in the tv drama “Three Leaf Clover”. However, the reception was… not so good. There was another drama, “Perhaps Love” that she acted in, but it was banned in South Korea after several occasions of violating advertising guidelines. There were even accidents while filming the show. Sis was not lucky in the acting career. She has successfully hosted several tv shows to this day.

Songs we could have rated:

Actually… she was the one that I had to look for album tracks to fill in the songs. Enjoy this Fin.K.L. song instead.



Where is she now:

She releases songs here and there. Her latest solo album, “Black”, was released in 2017. You can listen to her latest solo single below:



That being said, she has taken part in two projects last year: SSAK3 and Refund Sisters. The former is a co-ed group with Rain, and Yoo Jae-suk. The most known song is “Beach Again”, but there were other song releases - many of them reminiscing of the “1st gen sound”. The latter is a girlgroup with Uhm Jung Hwa (coming up next), Jessi, and Hwasa. Only one song, “Don’t Touch Me” was released. Both groups were created on the variety show Hangout with Yoo, and, yes, they are related.





Oh, Hyori was also #canceled by blinks after this statement a few months ago.


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Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
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(sorry for the big gif, again not mine!!!)

Uhm Jung Hwa
(엄정화)

Born in 1969, Uhm Jung Hwa is the oldest - and possibly the most well-known - of the main girls. I mean not every woman can be over 50 and still have a stable career in the still etarist k-pop industry. Not surprisingly she has become the role model to many women, including After School’s Uee and 2NE1’s Dara.

Before joining the entertainment industry, her family did not live in the most favorable conditions; after the death of her father, when she was only six, they had to go through financial struggles.

Her career started in the 80s, actually, as part of a choir. However, her first solo album was released in 1993, a year after her acting debut. She was already a reference by the mid-90s. Is this possibly an odd case, given that many artists first become singers before going acting? I might be wrong, as I don’t follow the acting scene.

She has worked in over 20 movies - including 2020’s “Okay Madam”, plus dozens of TV shows. She has won several prizes of best actress (and one of best friendship dddd) in award shows. When it comes to music, she also has wins from MAMA, KMA, Golden Disk, Gayo Daejejeon…

During her music journey, our star has jumped from label to label - Samsung, E&E, Nuri, EMI, Istar, YBM, Sony, YG, and Mystic. She has also two compilations… apparently released one year apart? That’s according to wikipedia, though; I’ve seen distinct dates in shops. sowhatsthetruth.gif.

She has spent a long time on hiatus on music. Part of it due to her thyroid cancer, back in 2010. She revealed that, during the surgery, her nerves had been damaged, and part of her vocal cords had become paralyzed to the point she couldn’t talk for months. Gladly, she overcame this! Let’s celebrate that.

Songs we could have rated:

The first one that comes to mind is "Rose of Betrayal", from her third album. It even charted on Gaon!



I thought of putting this one on the rate instead of "Steal Away", but ended up picking the latter because of diversity of sounds.

Then, "Festival".



A summer hit that is common in karaoke challenges.

Last, but not least, "Cross", from one of her compilations.



This one was PAINFUL to cut because it's an instant 10 if I ever see one. However, Hwa has released nine albums until 2006; eight of them are represented by one song. The exception was... invitation, which is being represented by... "Poison" and "Invitation"... so, in order to have "Cross" in, I had to cut one of her two biggest hits... yeah, it was not happening.

Where is she now:

Other than the movie we mentioned earlier, and Refund Sisters (see: Lee Hyori), she also released "Hop In", at the end of 2020, with PJ-fan favorite Hwasa and DPR LIVE.



Right now, she is part of the second season of "On and Off", a tv show where it is shown the professional (on) and the private (off) life of the ones in the season. She has appeared in a few episodes, including the latest one, which aired yesterday!

Enjoy a clip of our surfing sensation:

​
 
Crisp X

Crisp X

she/her
I was only familiar with her most recent album until last year when I took the dive into her discography. I was stunned by her evolution as an artist, and eventually found myself gravitating towards Self Control the most. An double album that doesn't feel like it overstays its welcome is not an easy feat.

Overall, these two songs are probably my favorites:


 
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