Disbanded but still shining

From artistes like SoBangCha and SeoTaiji and Boys, that existed before the term ‘idol’ was even created, to current superstars BTS and BLACKPINK singing about the weight that the label carries, K-pop has evolved into an undeniable international sensation. But when there a happy start there’s also a sorrowful end in the world of K-pop. Every K-pop group has to be disbanded at one point. Yes, the sorrowful truth is that in the future, bands like BTS, TWICE, EXO and BLACKPINK will also have to disband.

Still, there are many disbanded K-pop groups who are still alive with the help of their members and their fans. These are the top three K-pop groups which are disbanded and it’s already been many years but they are still not forgotten. They still shine in our hearts.

2NE1

2NE1 debuted on May 17, 2009, under YG Entertainment with the song “Fire”. In the time when streaming wasn’t really a thing and wreckers being broke every single time a big group comes back, the ‘Fire’ music video hit 1 million views in a day. That doesn’t seem like a lot of numbers but back then that was crazy. 2NE1 was really different than other girl groups because they weren’t producing cute, bubbly, typical girl group types of songs. And in the same year they debuted, their song “I Don’t Care” became ‘Song of the Year’. In 2014, they started blowing up. 2NE1 was getting worldwide recognition, one of the best 40 best albums, and ranking number one in billboards ‘Top K-pop albums of 2014’.

At the time when 2NE1 was riding high in hopes, the member CL, Dara, Park Bom, and Minzy started to build their solo careers as well. Dara started acting, Minzy started her dance academy, and Cl going solo with her own songs and albums. And suddenly in April 2016, Minzy left the band. On 25 November 2016, YG announced that 2NE1 will be disbanded. They unexpectedly departed in 2017, with their final song “Goodbye”, which was actually a part of a goodbye letter CL wrote to Minzy as the group was going to be disbanded after 8 years together.

The former members of the once-legendary girl group 2NE1 have all found and forged different paths for themselves throughout the years they’ve been apart. And now, Minzy has struck a deal with Philippine talent agency Viva and is now one of their local music talents. Cl is still working on her solo albums and her new mini-album titled Alpha will be released next year. Park Bom also debuted solo with her song ‘spring’. Dara is still going on with her acting career by working on many famous Korean dramas like, “Cheese in the Trap”, “My Love from the star” and “Dinner mate”. Happy thing is that they all reunited at their 11th anniversary and spend the special day happily.

SISTAR

This group was originally known as summer queens, SISTAR. In 2010, ‘Starship Entertainment’ was an entertainment company that only has solo artist ‘K.Will’ under their name, but known today as having ‘Cosmic girls’ and ‘Monsta X’. But Starships first-ever group was SISTAR, made up of four members: Hyorin, Bora, Soyou, and Dasom. SISTAR was first introduced to the public as a magazine shoot with ‘CeCi’. They made their official debut on June 3rd, 2010 with the song ‘Push push’. SISTAR being a new face in K-pop saw the girls invited to perform in Japan and Thailand to help spread the Hallyu wave. ‘How dare you’ was their new single that got SISTAR their first-ever win in music bank which we know is huge for K-pop groups. Later that, Starship entertainment announced that SISTAR is going to have a sub-unit named SISTAR 19 with Hyorin and Bora.

SISTAR came back as a whole group with their first solo album ‘So Cool’. It was their first song to hit it big when it entered Billboards Top 100 in Korea. In 2012, SISTAR was a rising star and one to look out for in K-pop. Then starship entertainment gave Hyorin to go solo. Which was also a great hit. 2015, SISTAR went on a little break as Hyorin was performing on a show called ‘Unpretty Rapstar’. In 2017, Starship Entertainment announced that their song ‘Lonely’ is their last song as SISTAR. A group who came and made a name for themselves with no scandals, no problems no shutters, and then we were gone.

SISTAR actually had a secret pact between them that if any of the members want to leave the group they all will leave together. Beautiful right? The strong bond was the thing that kept the girls together for 7 years. Even after they were disbanded Hyorin and Soyou remained in Starship by working on their solos and on the other side Bora and Dasom found their new talent in acting. To be honest, most of the K-pop fans think that SISTAR did more than what people give them credit for.

I.O.I

In 2016, the first teasers aired on Korean TV explaining that the show called ‘Produced 101’ would have trainees from dozens of companies, there will be no judges and all decisions will be made by the viewers. All of the contestants were given an initial grade of A to F. It’s basically the same grading scale your algebra teacher would use. In which 11 members: Some, Sejeong, Yoojung, Chungha, Sohye, Kyulkyung, Chaeyeon, Doyeon, Mina, Nayoung, and Yunjung lasted. Needless to say, the show was a smash hit but with this new K-pop girl group be as popular as the show. The name I.O.I was chosen meaning Ideal of Idols. Their debut song was ‘Dream Girls’.

Since debut, all of their title tracks were in charge by different producers and for their next release JYP was in charge of the song ‘Very VeryVery’. This song became insanely popular around Korea and other global countries. Also with this song, I.O.I sat on the number 1 spot in Gaon Digital Charts. Sadly, I.O.I’s contract with CJ ENM was coming to an end. In their last days, they appeared in numerous Korean shows, brand deals, a final concert, and one last song ‘Downpour’. And the title was perfect because that was what everyone’s eyes were doing. Almost like a scripted farewell, ‘Downpour’ became the number one win in INKIGAYO on the same day they disbanded.

After their disbandment, Yunjung joined a group named ‘Cosmic Girls’ as the lead vocalist and has been promoting with them. Nayoung and Kyulkyung went back to their company ‘Pledges’ where they debuted in a group names ‘Pristin’. Mina and Sejeong are still slaying with their new group ‘Gugudan’. Doyeon and Yoojung debuted with ‘WekiMeki’. Sohye went back to acting with Sejeong. And lastly, Chungha and Somi became hit solo artists as they deserve.

Producing, managing, and promoting a K-pop group is very expensive as expected. Companies invest a lot of money into their idol groups in hopes that they would take off and hit it big. Sadly, in this highly competitive idol world where it’s oversaturated with groups and companies cranking them out in waves, most of them don’t hit it big. Larger companies with money or other reputable groups have the finances to do larger promotions and can afford to support a new group longer thus giving the group more chances to build a fan base. But these three groups didn’t have problems like that. Though, they still had to disband for their own good.

Even when they were disbanded they all were shining in their own ways which many people can’t. When they achieve something they still thank to their former group for being a part of their lives. And that’s why their fans still love them unconditionally from the bottom of their hearts. Hopefully, they will keep shining forever.

Rumaiysa M Rahman is a 9th grader at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka