Doing Sexy Like No Other, It’s Girl’s Day!
A while back in an interview, the members of Girl's Day were asked how they want to be remembered by fans years from now, and they simply answered that they want to be remembered as a girl group that can represent an era of K-Pop. It took quite a while for me to realize it, but I think the group has achieved their goal when you look at the bigger picture. When speaking of 2013 and 2014, no other girl group comes to my mind faster than Girl's Day. Those were the years that the group rose to the top of the pack after years of activity, and besides SISTAR, they’re the only girl group that delivers great sexy concepts comeback after comeback. I’d go as far as saying that they were one of the leaders of the sexy girl group craze in 2014.
From Bright to Black
But before the flashy lights and million digital sales, the group struggled for quite a long time. They were the perfect example of a group that tried a lot of things before settling for what truly worked for them. At first, the group focused on releasing light and poppy tracks, eventually continuing this for a good three years. By the time they had the first hint of sexy in “Expectation,” the group faced the public head-on with more mature twists to their concepts.
A great part of their success they achieved because they listen to the market, thus having their supply matching what the public demands. When “Expectation” was released, it had the most positive reaction from the public out of everything they had done so far, which is probably why the management and the group decided to stick to a similar concept. I probably speak for many when I say that "Something" is definitely one of the best sexy comebacks that happened in recent years, if not the best ever.
Everyday...Girl’s Day!
Girl's Day is one of the most well-rounded groups out there today. Besides their tremendous skills in singing and dancing, almost everyone has experience in MC-ing, as well as acting, so it’s no surprise that we get to see the group here and there from time to time. However, their lineup early on wasn’t the most stable with the numerous changes that happened through the years.
Hyeri has to be the most popular member of the group because of her quirky roles in Reply 1988 and Entertainer. She actually debuted with the least training experience out of the four of them, but that definitely doesn’t hold back her amazing stage presence as the lead dancer. Yura is the main rapper of the group, originally being a vocalist. I’d say she has one of the best visuals in the Hallyu world, plus she has an amazing skill of expressing sensuality (take a look at her jaw-dropping shots for the Everyday III mini-album.)
However, that being said, she still doesn’t beat sexy leader Sojin who’s the most confident every time they come out with a sexy concept. To add to her skills, since she studied engineering in school, she knows how to put together a car. Dude, what an amazing woman. Minah, the main vocalist, also has an exceptional talent for acting. Being the lead in the drama Beautiful Gong-shim, she even won a rookie award for it last year. The members say that she’s actually the reason why Girl’s Day exists, as her CEO started to think of making a group because he loved her singing voice so much.
Their Most Recent Hit
Early this year, the group finally made their long-awaited comeback with "I'll be yours," off of their 5th mini album, Everyday 5. Through this comeback, the girls switched up their sound from Duble Sidekick-produced music to songs made by Marcan Music's Ryan Jhun.
For starters, "I'll be yours" actually sounds very different from what the girls usually do. Despite being uptempo like a lot of their past works, this track was very piano and synth driven, and it had a very punchy sound; in fact this might be their most aggressive title track to date, pushing "Female President" to second place. If you think it’s not aggressive enough, watch them punch the hell out of a bunch of guys in the music video. Or maybe watch Yura play the piano so hard that it caught fire.
The mini-album that came with the single is actually the most solid mini that the group has put out. It featured laid-back tunes “Truth” and “Kumbaya,” which were written and sung by Minah and Sojin, respectively. The main highlights would have to be “Don’t be shy” and “THIRSTY,” which are very thumpy and catchy. Personally, I can’t decide which b-side is my favorite out of the two because I dig them both a lot.
What to Listen to First
For people new to Girl's Day, "Something," "Expectation," "Ring Ma Bell," and "Female President" are the four tracks you MUST hear first from the group. These are the best tracks to showcase the current musical direction of the group, and these are probably the four best title tracks done by the group so far. These tracks best showcase the group's more mature charms, which you should first check out because it is the group's best selling point.
Earlier in their career, the group did some very light and cute concepts. If you are more into that type of K-Pop sound, then "Twinkle Twinkle," "Hug Me Once," and "Oh! My God" are the three songs you must first check out. The music videos for these tracks are also some of their most fun ones, which were all done by METAOLOZ, a video production team founded by BoA's brother. Just a warning though, these songs are too far from the concepts that the girls currently do, so chances are, you won't be seeing more of these types of songs from the girls anytime soon.
If you're curious about the group's best b-sides, here are some you should also check out:
Found in their first album Expectation, "Don't Trust Her" is my favorite Girl's Day b-side of all time. It's a playful and catchy track that's honestly good enough to be a title track. In no time, you'll also be singing the "nanana" part as you listen.
"Whistle" is also another great b-side. It was part of the Everyday III mini and was produced by Duble Sidekick. It features a play on a whistle sound, all arranged with an escalating rhythm that's perfect for the straightforward chorus lines.
One of the group's catchiest efforts ever is "Macaron," which you'll love if you're into that 60’s pop, theater-infused sound. It makes me think of the film Moulin Rouge, only this time cuter.
There’s More
I think one of the greatest reasons that the group has seen the success they see now is because of their determination individually and as a group. They currently hold the record for taking the longest time before winning a music show award, winning 1094 days after their debut, so that should already be proof of their dedication. On top of that, they renewed their contracts two years before they even ended.
That being said, we’ll definitely be seeing more from the group in the coming months. Minah is being considered for a drama already, so fingers crossed we’ll be seeing her soon on TV. Hyeri is currently filming for her big screen debut with Monster, and Yura’s web drama Hip Hop Teacher is set to hit the online screen in August. While Sojin doesn’t have much on her plate, I’m sure their agency is in talks with her future projects. Personally though, I’d love to see another Girl’s Day comeback before the year ends, but if that would be a stretch, I’d be cool with early next year. Just don’t be gone for too long, girls!
