Each story starts with the first page, and over ten years ago,
there was a group that wrote it for all girl groups in Korea -
and, for the first time, in Japan; A group that had enormous pressure on them to succeed: this group was KARA.
Today. we're covering where KARA came from, how they inspired a whole generation, and what happened to them.
But before looking forward, I always like to look back
Back in 2007,
DSP media arranged the debut of their next girl group.
Pressure was high, as this new group was following the famous Fin.K.L,
A first-generaiton K-pop girl group that was competing for the biggest at the time with SES.
DSP media finally debuted this new girl group on March 29th, and this group was called KARA
"Break It" was KARA's debut song, and even back then it sounded... outdated.
Something ALREADY had to be changed.
Originally, KARA was more of an R&B style group,
And if you notice, the members are a bit different than what most of us remember.
KARA started as a 4 member group with Gyuri, Seungyeon, Seunghee, and Nicole.
But, it seemed that this rookie group would still be overshadowed by Fin.K.L.'s legacy.
I mean, what do you expect?
DSP literally wanted KARA to be the next Fin.K.L., making direct parallels between the members of both groups.
Maybe that is why KARA's debut was underachieving.
In fact, member Seungyeon had to work double time, appearing on tons of variety shows
to keep the name KARA from being forgotten by the public.
In order to find some sort of progress,
DSP were attempting to have KARA come back for the first time, but this wasn't possible.
Member Sunghee was 18 years old, and her family believed it was difficult for her to promote with KARA
and maintain her grades in school.
Sunghee made a promise to her parents to focus on school, as it was her father's wish.
and so leaving KARA with one less member.
DSP then went on a hunt for the addition of two new members.
Holding numerous auditions, they ultimately added the young Kang Jiyoung and Goo Hara.
I say "young" because Jiyoung was only 14 when she joined.
This new-formed KARA would make their first return with the song "Rock U"
Completely dropping the serious debut concept for a more lighthearted and cute one
Slowly, KARA was getting back on track, and getting used to their new lineup
Embracing this new look, KARA teased a new single, "Pretty Girl".
The teaser ALONE started to get buzz among the Internet.
[singing] "If you want a pretty, everyone a pretty"
I mean, it makes absolutely no sense... but, it still speaks to me.
"Pretty Girl" was a mini hit for KARA, and received even more attention when during a performance on Music Bank,
Hara slipped on the mountain of confetti on the stage and screamed in frustration.
I mean, look at that! How many confettis? That's at least twelve!!
Instead of getting criticism from the Korean public,
Hara was comforted, and they saw she was so upset about messing up the performance.
Finally, the media were giving KARA much-needed attention for finding their own way in K-pop,
but also for their natural, beautiful looks - notably the leader, Gyuri.
But, it was kind of a blessing in disguise;
Because KARA was getting so popular, many members got sick and exhausted from trying to keep up with their intense schedule.
And so, they took a small break until 2009, where DSP did something really different in K-Pop:
They asked the fans for THEIR opinion on what should be the follow-up to "Pretty Girl".
The song called "Honey" was chosen, and after some production rework, KARA came back with that fan favorite.
And believe it or not, the fans were spot-on with their choice...
...as "Honey" became KARA's first number one song, and claimed their first music show wins.
Staying on top for 3 weeks, "Honey" was the song picked by fans, and... look what happened!
It makes you think... maybe companies should listen to fans more nowadays.
From there, KARA featured on some TV shows to continue to enhance their image.
Later, KARA said something that made everyone anxious: They would be returning with an "upgraded" concept, and... they weren't lying.
"Wanna" was NOT what people were expecting as... oh, wait.
Oh yeah, uh, because the real title track was none other than...
Mr.
Known for it's iconic "butt dance",
"Mr." skyrocketed KARA's popularity, and you can still bop this song till the end of time.
The simple "butt dance" plus "Nananananana"...
I mean, it was a formula KARA used to book tons of advertisement deals,
More than they've ever done in the past two years.
"Mr." was the weapon KARA used to make a move to a tough market... but, a rewarding one.
DSP had to make sure it was worth having KARA to debut in Japan,
and with over 3,000 Japanese fans registering for a fan meeting, I think they had their answer.
But before that, KARA had to follow up "Mr." with a new comeback - would KARA rise up to the challenge?
Uh... yes. Yes they did.
"Lupin" was KARA's 2010 comeback, and this is a KARA never before seen:
darker, mature, and attacked fangirl and fanboy hearts alike
Crashing music shows, KARA won 3 first wins, and remained on top for 3 weeks again
As mentioned before,
KARA was preparing to debut in Japan by holding some fan meetings and handshake events across the country,
building up that fan base until debuting with a Japanese remake of the hit "Mr."
It performed really well on charts, and became as popular - if not more than - it did in Korea
"Mr." was the most downloaded song of all time by a Korean group in Japan,
with over 2 Million by 2012.
This, of course. made possible by the success of BoA years before.
If you haven't seen my last video on what happened to BoA, click up here.
From there, KARA took off in Japan, dropping a new single "Jumping" and a compilation album of their biggest hits.
KARA would be certified gold, and eventually, certified platinum,
selling over a quarter of a million copies in this foreign country. think that's impressive
Think that's impressive? You haven't seen anything yet.
KARA continued to promote in Japan with a completely new Japanese album, "Girl Talk".
Upon a week of the release, they already sold 100,000 copies, going on to destroy their previous record;
KARA was now a double platinum artist.
Without being in Korea for 9 months, KARA was still able to release "Jumping" as a single for the Korean market.
It was soon revealed at the end of the year statistics that KARA, while in Japan mostly, made a total of
$15,400,000 dollars - all of this was done within one year.
Continuing to lead the charge of K-Pop in Japan,
It wasn't until 2011 where we would see KARA have a full comeback back home in Korea.
Finding time between Japanese activities, KARA recorded for their new album,
but they only had enough time to promote for three weeks in Korea -
And that's all the time they needed to "Step" on everyone.
"Step" was another huge step forward in KARA's career... how many times can I say "step"??
This retro-sounding anthem quickly topped charts within hours, claimed more wins,
landed on Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100 - beating out Girls Generation, 2NE1, and Wonder Girls.
KARA was a force to be reckoned with.
And, to do this in both countries simultaneously;
How... how is it humanly possible?
Apparently, there was still more KARA could put on their already full plate,
as DSP media announced KARA's first Independent Asia tour.
KARASIA was the most anticipated tour of the year;
the BIGGEST girl group would be making stops in Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and more....
But they ended up only going to Korea and Japan for some reason.
Still, KARA was able to bring in hundreds of thousands of fans with every single seat being sold,
and they even had the concert live streamed across theaters... which were also sold out.
Then, KARA ended 2012 with a bang
And, as expected, "Pandora" reigned supreme for weeks and months to come;
It topped charts, won more first place wins, and sold over 70,000 copies.
And, by representing K-Pop to the world, KARA won the Best Global Group award at MAMA 2012.
In 2013, KARA celebrated the new year with a concert at the Tokyo Dome.
Selling out in 5 minutes, KARA was the first K-Pop group to even perform there.
KARA did much more Japanese activities, and I will not cover it all, 'cause, I mean... it's a LOT.
They then showed dangerous beauty, as they came back in Korea with "Damaged Lady".
This time, KARA wore suits and played a dominant role.
...yes, those are bowl haircuts.
"Damaged Lady" is SO incredible, like I just want all of them to step on me and throw sand in my eyes and call me worthless......
What?
As all great stories have conflict... so did KARA's.
Back in 2011, KARA hired lawyers to help them terminate their contract with DSP Media,
which... had a back and forth with a lot of false information, leading them to stay with DSP media.
But now, in 2014, KARA lost not 1, but 2 members - Nicole and Jiyoung left, as their contracts expired.
"Yo, so I heard that Nicole is leaving KARA...
Nicole, you aren't, right?"
[person 2, offscreen] "Yeah, she is."
"....No, nonono."
[person 2] "yeah, I read it somewhere-"
"NUH-UH! NO WAY!! AIN'T HAPPENING!! NO!!!! WAY!!!!!!!"
KARA was now down to only 3... but, DSP media wasn't gonna leave it like that.
They took this opportunity to have their own survival show called "KARA Project" to find the next member.
Here is where we see Youngji, a trainee that had many missed opportunities to join a group,
but now... she finally found one.
Now, would KARA be better or worse after the loss of two members? I'll let you be the judge.
"Mamma Mia" proved KARA can't be kept down.
KARA greeted Japanese fans again with their new member in a triple single album that sold well,
and almost took the number one spot in Oricon charts.
And in 2015, KARA, without knowing it, released their last song in "Cupid".
With one last stint in Japan, KARA in 2016 officially disbanded.
As the members contracts expired, the only one to remain is Youngji, who is now pursuing a solo career.
Looking back over KARA's time in K-Pop, it is safe to say they beat the odds.
Starting already in the shadow of Fin.K.L., they persevered,
had a rough day debut and first year,
paved the way for girl groups in Japan,
worked hard to maintain a presence in 2 different countries,
lost members and STILL persevered.
They continue to live on through the members who are still here,
and those who are no longer with us.
KARA will go down as the most influential and inspiring K-Pop group, maybe of all time.
Their story will live on through us - the people around the world they touched with their music, smiles, and kind hearts.
And, needless to say,
their story will continue to be written.
That's it for this one and that's it for me, hopefully you enjoyed;
if you did
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I wanted to talk about KARA for the longest time and,
you know, to share their story, because they're such a monumental group in K-Pop.
When you talk about the greatest, you know, you talk about Girls Generation, 2NE1,
but KARA was there too.
If you want to check out more of my content, click over here to check out what happened to BoA like I mentioned in the
video and what happened to PSY, much more than just Gangnam Style. But that's it for me Wave,
Thank you so much for watching, have a fantastic weekend and I'll catch you guys in the next one.