History of K-Pop: Red Velvet
Considered one of the most, if not the most popular girl group of K-Pop today, Red Velvet has continued to take the world by storm as recently as just a few days ago, achieving another certified all-kill with “Psycho.” Casual and hardcore fans alike are familiar with the differing “Red” and “Velvet” concepts that the group have coined and many credit their ability to flawlessly execute these differing themes as the key to their success. Now in their fifth year in the industry, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the start of this behemoth girl group.
The Beginning
The preparations for the group later to be known as Red Velvet began in 2013. Seulgi and Irene were introduced to the public early via SM Rookies, with Wendy joining them in 2014 and rumors beginning to surface of a debut of the trio during the summer of that year. SM Entertainment confirmed the news, with the addition of member Joy into the debut lineup, signalling the first girl group debut of the agency since f(x) five years prior. The quartet was brought onto the K-Pop scene in August 2014 with digital single “Happiness,” kicking off their career in the “Red” category. The single marked the first time a K-Pop girl group debuted on the Billboard charts, peaking at number 4.
The group’s second digital single “Be Natural” was released in October of that year, featuring future rapper Taeyong of NCT. The track was a remake of senior group S.E.S’s song of the same title. “Be Natural” would mark the first “Velvet” title, showcasing Red Velvet’s natural talent for R&B influenced tracks. By the end of the year, the group had achieved the “Rookie of the Year” award at the Golden Disk Awards and the Seoul Music Awards after only four months as an active group.
Believe it or not, there was a bit of a “scandal” surrounding the group in 2015, when SM announced that they would be adding maknae Yeri to the lineup. Some fans were concerned that the addition of a member would mess up the already skyrocketing success of the quartet thus far, but that proved to be nothing more than a baseless concern with the release of their first mini-album Ice Cream Cake featuring dual titles “Ice Cream Cake” (your “Red” choice) and “Automatic” (the “Velvet” choice). The group picked up their first music show win at Music Bank thanks to the comeback, with the album going on to become the best selling album by a girl group in South Korea in the first half of 2015 on the Hanteo chart. Much like their first two titles, “Ice Cream Cake” shows the bright and playful side of the girls, while “Automatic” shows the more mature and sultry side. Based on views, “Ice Cream Cake” performed better in the public, but “Automatic” is a beloved track for many Reveluvs.
The group's first full album The Red was released in September of 2015 with lead single "Dumb Dumb" and the album debuting at no. 1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart as well as Korea's Gaon Albums Chart. Both the album and title received significant critical acclaim and landed on a number of top lists for the year of 2015, including the only non-English entry on Rolling Stone’s “10 Best Music Videos of 2015.” Only just a year and a half into their career and Red Velvet had solidified themselves as the group to beat.
Switching to the “Velvet” theme, 2016 kicked off with the release of mini-album The Velvet and title track “One of These Nights,” which admittedly did not follow in the footsteps of the group’s previous title releases. The title itself was a tried-and-true ballad track, showcasing the beautiful vocals of the group but ultimately not charting as well as they had in the past. Bouncing back to the “Red” territory, September 2016 saw the release of Russian Roulette, the lead title by the same name bumping the group back up onto the charts with a peak hit at no. 2 on the Gaon Digital Chart and Billboard’s World Digital Songs chart.
Capitalizing on the popularity of the “Red” concepts rather than continuing their previous pattern of switching between the two, early 2017 saw the release of Rookie and the usual commercial success. Summer 2017 brought possibly their most beloved title track yet in “Red Flavor,” which became a national sensation in Korea during its run. The Red Summer marked the group’s third no. 1 album on both Gaon and Billboard, setting the record for the most number 1 albums on the chart by a K-Pop girl group.
By this point, it didn’t seem that the group could fly much higher, but they proved that wrong almost immediately with the next release. They switched back to the “Velvet” concept with the release of Perfect Velvet and lead title “Peek-a-Boo,” both of which were considered a commercial success. This marks a turning point for the group in that it was the first time their “Velvet” concept had done as well as a “Red” concept, further solidifying their talent and appeal.
If “Peek-A-Boo” seemed like the peak, we were proven wrong once again with the early 2018 release “Bad Boy.” Capitalizing on the popularity of a “Velvet” concept, the quintet released a repackage of the album, The Perfect Red Velvet, featuring lead title “Bad Boy.” “Bad Boy” was an undisputed international hit, gaining the group their first ever spot on the Canadian Hot 100 and the Billboard Social 50 as fans of the track flocked to learn more about the group. Despite coming out in February, Billboard still chose “Bad Boy” as the best song of 2018.
So, where do we go from here? Back to “Red!” In July of 2018, the group released Summer Magic, with lead title “Power Up” bringing the group their first perfect all-kill.
Things did get a bit bumpy toward the end of 2018 with the release of “RBB (Really Bad Boy),” another “Velvet” concept that was extremely hit-or-miss with fans and failed to live up to the artistry of its predecessor “Bad Boy.” Compared to the immense success of “Velvet” concepts “Peek-a-Boo” and “Bad Boy,” “RBB (Really Bad Boy)” didn’t come close to living up to the hype. Some complained that the song seemed to be a blatant move for International mass appeal, showcased in the simplicity of the melody and lyrics.
2019 marked the beginning of the group’s first full length U.S. tour, the first of any girl group to do so in three years. 2019 also saw the release of The ReVe Festival trilogy, beginning with the title “Zimzalabim” (another hit-or-miss track), followed by “Umpah Umpah” (which did win a daesang for “Song of the Year” at the Asia Artist Awards) and the finale “Psycho,” which re-introduced the “Velvet” concept back into the mix. “Psycho” is quickly becoming a crowd favorite, already about to beat out “Umpah Umpah” in music video views.
The Key to Success
Red Velvet has been considered a true commodity since the beginning of their reign, and a lot of that is due to their different concepts that are credited for breaking stereotypes that are often associated with female acts in Korea. While many girl groups are confined to the concept realm of cute (school girl, innocent, pure, that kind of thing) and sexy (girl crush, pure sexy, bad girl, etc.), there tends to be some more depth in Red Velvet’s concepts. A perfect example of this is the recent comeback “Psycho,” which does have elements of sexy, but also features heavy inspiration from popular horror movies and places much heavier focus on those elements in the concept. Even with “Red” concepts like “Dumb Dumb” that tend to have elements of the cute trope with a more unique twist, in this case a doll manufacturing concept. In addition, the fanbases for most girl groups in Korea are decidedly male, which would also explain the prominence of the simpler concepts. However, it’s noted that Red Velvet’s fanbase is made up of young women, showcasing the mass appeal of the group toward all genders rather than a focus on the male fantasy.
It’s hard to argue that Red Velvet is not one of the greatest musical acts in K-Pop for many different reasons. After finishing out 2019 on a strong note, we can only hope Red Velvet will continue their domination going into the new decade.