Sulli’s Career: In videos

Officially on Kpop Profile and on Wikipedia, f(x) has four members, but I don’t know abut you, but I have always believe in the OT5 f(x), the prime version that produced 4 number 1 albums and 4 number 1 singles, including all-time classics “Electric Shock” and “Hot Summer”. And at the center of all of that success was the tall girl nicknamed “giant baby” with the million-dollar smiles, Sulli.

“My name is Sulli. Sul means snow and Li means a pear flower, so I’ll probably be reborn as a flower that is small but full of strong vitality.” (Instytle March edition, 2012). When Sulli first debuted, branded as the giant innocent baby of f(x), the Korean public showered her with love. Sulli had everything for that image, the smile, the baby face, the somewhat shy and awkward demeanor in variety shows (but always smiling and going all-in to participate). She had the Korean public eating out of her palms. But that was probably why she felt so constricted, portraying an image that was not her, to the detriment of her mental health. And when she began portraying her true self, the public turned on her. She was too outspoken, too individualistic, in an industry that prefers people to be molded exactly the way they are supposed to be and in a society that would prefer people to be quiet and “know their place”. So in this post, I just want to pay tributes to Sulli, who lived her life how she wanted to, and received endless hate for it despite never committing any crime.

Tape #1 side A: People say Sulli changed, but at the end of the day she’s still the little sister everyone initially fell in love with. But, it’s just that this little sister just so desperately wanted to be accepted for who she is, and not the image of who she is. You can see how much Taeyeon visiting her means to her, and how she had so much so say to her and how she ran to her like a little sister who just wants love from her unnie, an unnie who literally lived with her for years in the same room, and raised her as she was away from families. (Wendy came too but the highlight of that video is Taeyeon obviously)

Tape #1 side B: I would be remiss to talk about Sulli and not mention what is probably Kpop’s most iconic rain performance of all time. Krystal herself have stated before that this performance of “La Cha Ta” in the rain, before f(x) was big. Before the glamor and nastiness of showbiz caught up with them, f(x) was just a group of five girls who loved to sing and dance. Even in this pouring rain, you can see that love, that enjoyment, that joy in them; those are some of the most genuine performance smiles you will ever see in an industry filled with illusions.

Tape #2 side A: A fun video with the three youngest of f(x) just being weirdos. Let’s remember that even after she left f(x), not a single soul of the SM family or any other celebrities ditched her. Something about her personality inspired people to be loyal to her.

Tape #2 Side B: Sulli singing the song that IU (one of her best friend) wrote for her (the full song is here:)

Tape #3 Side A: Laughs and smiles like this are why Sulli was bestowed with the nickname “million-dollar smile” when she debuted. This clip of her unable to stop laughing is forever iconic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50QtJvQIPxw: a compilation of random Sulli moments. You can watch the entire thing, but let’s give a shoutout to the clip starting from 2:10 of Sulli being a fucking boss at soccer like holy shit.

Tape #3 Side B: this is the entire series Awesome f(x), which features f(x) going on a vacation and being weird like always.

Rest in peace, Choi Jin Ri. Your star burned so brightly, but unfortunately so quickly. I hope you can find a better life in your next life, where people will appreciate you for the star that you are.