Love her or hate her (or ignore her), U-ie had a huge hand in After School catapulting their way into the consciousness of the Korean GP. From a marketing standpoint, adding U-ie might've been in the top three best decisions in, like, a total of five good decisions that Pledis made for After School. Many of the group's fans (and netizens in general) cite
this viral clip of U-ie dancing to Beyoncé's Single Ladies as the exact moment she became
the IT girl of After School.
U-ie debuted with After School in April 2009 for the release of their first digital single, "Diva". Before becoming Pledis' breadwinner, U-ie was set to debut in the, unknown to them at the time, all-star line-up of Five Girls, a girl group under Good Entertainment. The line-up consisted of Yubin from Wonder Girls, Hyosung from SECRET, Jiwon from SPICA / UNI.T, and soloist G.NA. The group's pre-debut life was chronicled in an episode of MTV's
The Diary of Five Girls, which aired in 2007. Unfortunately, the group never ended up debuting due to financial difficulties faced by their company, and they disbanded later that same year.
U-ie's storyline in the After School lore might be one of the most heartbreaking ones. U-ie, more than probably any of the other members, was the main target of netizen's ire, getting nitpicked and scrutinized for everything she did or said, but most prevalently - and disgustingly - for her body. On top of that, U-ie
has alluded to being lonely for most of her time as a trainee. This loneliness was probably further exacerbated after being thrust into a group with five other women with whom she had no previous relationship and didn't have the time to form a proper bond with because she was so busy being Pledis' workhorse from the second she debuted.
There were probably many instances throughout her 5+ years in After School where U-ie might've considered jumping ship, and capitalizing on her popularity to expand her acting resume. But she didn't and stuck it out with her girlies (or maybe co-workers in her eyes) from the time she debuted in April 2009. Yes, After School was possibly just a stepping stone for U-ie to advance her acting career, but very rarely did U-ie phone it in for her After School activities. Girl
always showed up
(except for "Bang!" nn) and delivered in their live performances.
This write-up would be 5,000 words if we were to detail every acting role that U-ie has landed since she stepped foot into the entertainment industry, but trust us when we say she has quite the fruitful acting career. In fact, she's on her way to receiving more total individual awards than After School ever received as a group. U-ie remains booked and busy to this day with acting roles and variety show appearances. For reasons unbeknownst to us, U-ie didn't participate in After School's 2021 reunion. Perhaps she was just too busy.
~Japanese Bonus Track tidbit~ U-ie was responsible for making up the stage name for one of KPJ's resident beefcakes, NU'EST's Baekho.
With her debut in After School's third single, "Because of you", third generation member Raina undoubtedly became
the voice of the group instantaneously. After School wasn't lacking in singing ability with Kahi and Jung-A taking the reins vocally for the group's early songs, but Raina definitely added a different vocal timbre to the group with her large range and soulful tone. It was evident from her first note on "Because of you" that Raina was the real deal and elevated After School's sound to a whole new level. Although always great in the studio, some of Raina's early live performances were understandably shaky, but she grew into a solid, confident performer during her tenure in the group.
Raina's road to stardom wasn't an easy one, though. Before finally debuting with After School in November 2009, Raina trained at the SM Academy, a school affiliated with SM Entertainment that provides lessons in singing, dancing, and acting. She would then go on to audition for JYP
six different times, but never actually passed and joined the company (maybe because she could
actually sing… nn). In summer 2009, just months before her debut in After School, she also auditioned for the first season of Mnet's Superstar K talent show, but also did not pass. She then auditioned and joined Pledis that same year, and went on to become one of the company's biggest successes, having chart-topping singles as a member of both After School and Orange Caramel and then later with her solo releases.
Raina is perhaps best known as the leader of Orange Caramel, After School's first subunit made up of the group's three third generation members, Raina, Nana, and Lizzy. Upon their debut in June 2010, Orange Caramel's unique blend of quirky cuteness was an instant success. Their debut single, "
Magic Girl", reached the top twenty of Gaon's digital sales chart and sold 1.5 million copies. Orange Caramel was probably the most consistent venture that Pledis embarked on, landing hit after hit in both the Korean and Japanese markets over the following four years. However, for reasons still unknown, Pledis would abruptly halt their activities as a group and put them on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 after the release of their final Korean single album, "My Copycat". If you somehow don't already know all about Orange Caramel,
@Deja-Boo ran an incredibly comprehensive
discography rate for them a few years back that you should definitely check out!!
Raina remained active with After School throughout the duration of their run until Pledis also put them on indefinite hiatus in 2015. After the group halted activities, Raina concentrated on her solo career, releasing a string of singles, OSTs, collaborations, and two mini-albums. Raina remained with Pledis until her contract expired in December 2019. In October 2020, she joined the cast of
MBN's Miss Back, a reality show chronicling the attempted comebacks of several second generation female idols, and released several OST singles associated with the show. In June 2021, Raina was one of the five former After School members to reunite on MMTG and perform "
Bang!" and "
Diva".
Our deadline is technically tomorrow, Sunday the 17th, but a few people have asked us for a bit more time to finish their scores. We're trying to figure out the best date to accommodate any potential voters without stepping on
@junglefish and
@ysev's toes by overlapping our new deadline with the due date for their
WJSN rate. Please stay tuned for a new deadline; we'll let you know what we've decided by Monday here in the thread once we've heard back from these voters. I'll also send out another round of PM reminders around 24 hours before the new deadline. Thanks for your patience with us!! x