Girl's Day and the DAI5Y

Editor’s Note: This is the first part of what will be a long series of biographies for the most popular and biggest 2nd and 3rd generation Kpop groups. The order will be decided randomly after the first two biographies.. First up, wisely1300’s bias in which wisely1300 will be writing.

 

Girl’s Day

 
 

Members:

Sojin 소진(Park So-jin 박소진)

– Leader, Lead Vocalist
– Honesly, Sojin noona best noona
– Probably one of the smartest idol out there, considering she was a Mechanical Engineering major (one of the toughest major to get into, especially in Korea, where you have to score a certain score on your college admissions test to even have a chance to get into the majors you want/the schools you want) at Yeungnam University
– Claimed she can’t do ageyo but uhh that’s obviously a lie because let’s look: Here. Also this: (peeps Sojin leaving at the end out of embarrassment ahaha)

Yura유라 (Real Name: Kim Ah Young 김아영)

– Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Vocalist/Sub-vocalist, Visual
– Has the best laugh in Kpop (like actually just listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H15DrL19ao)
– Owns the most expensive pair of legs in Kpop (worth 500 million won)
– Owns the most iconic moment in Idol Room when she literally ran into the wall of the room ahahah: (moment is at 21:08)

Minah 민아 (Bang Minah: 방민아)

– Main Vocalist
– Has a voice so good, the principal of the singing school she was enrolled in decided to sell his house to start an entertainment agency to help her debut.
– Best eye-smile in Kpop (like actually:)
– Let’s all appreciate the fact that for years before Girl’s Day finally broke through, Minah worked her butts off. She went on every single variety show that would have her, did whatever she was asked to, garnered so much hate for her antics and supposed “ageyo”, all for the sake of putting her group (and best friends) on the map. Minah straight up hard-carried the group at the beginning, and then everyone else took turns over the years as their popularities all rose.

Hyeri 혜리 (Lee Hyeri 이혜리)

– Main Dancer, Maknae, Face of the Group
– Second best laugh in Kpop (please refer to the video above)
– Realest idol honestly who always goes all out without caring about her image. This is why she got so popular off Real Men (the ageyo that melted all Korean men helped of course: ), why she’s generally beloved on variety and by her co-stars , and she continued to be a CF queen.
– One of the most well-known idol in Korea because of Reply 1988 (and the fact that actors/actresses are much more well-known and popular in Korea than an idol).

Forever my favorite, Girl’s Day is often severely underappreciated, especially by international fans, despite a peak that put them among the top of the girl groups for more than 2 years. Often known for being at the forefront of the sexy concept of Kpop, Girl’s Day arguably has the most individual members’ success and popularity among all 2nd generation girl groups with the exception of SNSD, and even to this day Hyeri is probably still one of the most-well known idol with the Korean public due to Reply 1988 and her status as a CF queen. Let’s go on a journey to see how they got here.
Girl’s Day debuted in July 2010 with a five-membered lineup: Jihae, Jisun, Jiin, Sojin, and Minah. Unfortunately, their debut song, “Tilt My Head” (“갸우뚱”) ranked among the top….of the worst debut songs ever. Their debut EP, Girl’s Day Party #1 did not do much. Their second single, “How About Me” (“나어때”) didn’t fare much better. Two months after debuting, Jisun and Jiin left the group to “pursue individual interests” (translation: they thought the group was a sure flop). It was probably for the best that they left, because that made it possible for Yura and Hyeri to be added to the group, and I can’t imagine Girl’s Day without those two (also Kpop would also be deprived of two of the greatest laughs in history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H15DrL19ao). With their new lineup, Girl’s Day’s next came out with the EP Girl’s Day Party #2, with the lead single “Nothing Lasts Forever” (“잘해줘봐야”) (in which Minah unleashed on the Kpop industry one of the longest and best high note it has ever heard), a song that was significantly better, both in terms of music quality (in my opinions, at least), and commercial success. That song honestly probably saved their careers.

Their year in 2011 hinted towards a bright future. The three singles that were released in this year by them, “Twinkle Twinkle” (“반짝반짝”), “Hug Me Once” (“한번만 안아줘”), and “Don’t Flirt” (“너, 한눈 팔지마!”) all did well commercially, with the first two becoming Girl’s Day first ever songs to break the one million mark, with ”Twinkle Twinkle” soaring past that to land past the 2 million mark.
Unfortunately for them (and sadly for Dai5y everywhere), they couldn’t keep that momentum going in 2012. None of the songs they released in this year came close to matching the commercial success of either “Twinkle Twinkle” or “Hug Me Once” (though the single “Don’t Forget Me” (“나를 잊지마요”) that was released this year is honestly one of Girl’s Day all-time greatest songs for me). This fact solidified their status as “nugus” in the industry, and perhaps that is why Jihae also left the group in October 2013, finalizing the current fearsome quartet of Girl’s Day to this day.
It took them until the middle of 2013 with the release of their first studio album, Expectation, that Girl’s Day finally found mainstream popularity. The title-track of that album is the (now-iconic) song “Expectations” (“기대해”), which marked their transition from their long-running cute concept to the sexy concept.

Girl’s Day now took off. “Expectations” was followed by “Female President”, a song that was named as one of the top 20 Kpop songs of 2013 by Billboard. The song also net them their first show win (on Inkigayo) though the airing was canceled. But if “Expectations” and “Female President” (“”여자대통령”) peeled back the curtain for them, then “Something” (“썸씽”), the lead single of their fourth EP, Everyday #3, kicked down the door and set it on fire. The song was immensely popular (just ask Jungkook), netting them their first BROADCASTED show win on Mnet Countdown (6 show wins in total), and staying the Korea K-Pop Top 100 for 8 straight weeks. Suddenly, Girl’s Day was now being assigned to that tier of girl groups just below SNSD and 2NE1. Their summer release, “Darling” (“달링“), was also a commercial success, becoming their 5th song to crack one million digital sales. Their immense success in 2014 saw them ranked 13th when the 2015 Forbes Korea Power Celebrity List came out (3rd overall among girl groups). Girl’s Day have finally arrived.

Fresh off their brilliant success in 2014, it took Girl’s Day a full year before their next comeback with the release of their second full-length studio album, Love, along with its lead single, “Ring My Bell” (“링마벨”). Unfortunately, during the promotions for the single and the album, Girl’s Day ran into an “attitude” controversy during a promotion appearance. They quickly apologized and were generally forgiven, allowing “Ring My Bell” to do well commercially.
Girl’s Day then took a 21-months long hiatus to focus on solo activities, a brilliant-in-hindsight decision. Hyeri’s brilliant turn as the main heroine Duk Seon in Reply 1988, the second highest rated cable drama in Korean history shot her to mainstream fame, turning her overnight into one of the most recognizable idol faces with the entire Korean populace, from teens who follow K-pop avidly to grandmas who doesn’t know one bit about K-pop. After this drama, Hyeri received tons of CFs offers, turning her into a CF queen. Minah’s equally brilliant turn as the titular heroine in Beautiful Gong Shim, a series that averaged double-digit ratings it entire run, net her a New Star Award at the 2016 SBS Drama Awards as well as a nomination for Best New Actress at the 2018 Baeksang Arts Awards (equivalent to American Golden Globe). Yura became an in-demand MCs, hosting shows after shows, from the music competitions shows to various eating shows.

Finally, in March 2017, they came back to the music scene with the EP Everyday #5 with the lead single, “I’ll be Yours” (“걸스데이”) was released. Due to the long layoff however, the track didn’t quite do as well as their previous hits. Though they planned to come back again in 2018, the plan kept getting push back, due to the members being busy with their solo activities, or because the group was trying not to coincide with another group’s comeback. And so, in March 2019, Sojin became the first to leave Dream T Entertainment, while announcing that Girl’s Day will be on an indefinite hiatus while all four focus on their acting careers, though still leaving the door open for a day all four can come together again as part of one of the sleeper giant of the second generation, Girl’s Day. Everyday will forever be Girl’s Day in my heart.

Random Fan Thoughts:
– I will forever be salty at the fact that at the peak of their popularity in around 2014-2015, they had a one year hiatus between “Darling” and “Ring My Bell” instead of continuously pumping out music.
– I will also be forever salty at the fact that in 2016, literally at the peak of Hyeri’s popularity, when she was ranked 3rd on Forbes Power List for Korea with her face on every products, advertisements, and billboards everywhere, that Dream T did not drop an album or even a single for Girl’s Day. Hyeri’s popularity alone would have ensured a huge success.
– Weirdest and loudest and awesomest girl group I’ve ever followed. Just watch “One Fine Day” series or the times when they were on “Weekly Idol” and you’ll know what I’m talking about (the moment when Yura ran into a wall will forever be an iconic moment).
– One of the few girl groups (and Kpop groups in general) where all members are actually very close to each other. Probably because it took them forever to get to popular, and they each took turn being the most popular member.
– Also one of the only Kpop groups where each member has very established solo career outside of the group.
-Honestly one of the best introductory lines in Kpop: Everyday, Girl’s Day!

Lead Tracks:

– Expectations:

– Don’t Forget Me:
– Something:
– Darling:

B-Sides:

– Thirsty:

– White Day (Korea version of Valentine Day):
– Top Girl:
– Don’t Trust Her:

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