History of K-Pop: Co-Ed Groups
This month, we are trying something different with the History of K-Pop column! If you are reading this article, you almost certainly are a K-Pop fan and have your own favorite singers and actors. So instead of following a specific musician, this article will be about the history of K-Pop co-ed groups.
Those active in K-Pop circles have likely heard of the co-ed group KARD, who debuted on July 19, 2017 under DSP Media with their extended play Hola Hola. For OG K-Pop fans, the concept was a blast from the past, helping them recall their days cheering for the likes of Roo’ra, Koyote, and S#arp. For newer (and younger) K-Pop fans, on the other hand, seeing two female idols (Jiwoo and Somin) and two male members (J.Seph and BM) in one act was a fresh and new concept. Because the group’s makeup was so unfamiliar, their interviews were riddled with questions about how their team functions. At the time, if you didn’t know KARD because of their music, you knew them because of the novelty of their concept.
But only a short 20 years ago, it was co-ed groups like Roo’ra and Koyote who ruled the charts. So what happened? When did the co-ed drought start, and has it ended? Let’s take a deep dive.
The 1990s
The year is 1994 and a hip-hop group by the name of Roo’ra debuts on July 1 with an album titled Roots of Reggae on the MBC music show Saturday! Happy Saturday! (토요일! 토요일은 즐거워). The album was a hit and went on to sell over one million copies. The group gained unprecedented popularity through their singles “100th day” and “There’s No Secrets.” At the time of their debut, the group consisted of four members: three male and one female. When they returned with their next album in 1995, the group switched up its lineup and settled on a two female, two male member mix. These members were Lee Sangmin, Kim Jihyun, Ko Youngwook, and Chae Rina. Their next album, An Angel Who Lost Their Wings, was another success, and with it they won two Daesangs—one at the SBS Gayo Daejeon and another at the Seoul Music Awards.
That year, Roo’ra had some company in the co-ed group industry. Beginning from their debut, another co-ed group by the name TwoTwo was Roo’ra biggest competition. Only two weeks after Roo’ra’s July 1st debut, another K-Pop group would debut. Cool started in October 1994 as a four piece all-male band. When they came back in October 1995 with their second full album, Love… is waiting, they were a three piece group with two male members and one female member. Although Cool was also a co-ed group, the clean and simple dance songs and ballads they put out were very different from Roo’ra’s hip-hop tracks. The group had considerable success, winning a Daesang at the 2002 Golden Disc Awards for their album 7even.
On December 9, 1998, Koyote, a co-ed hip-hop group, debuted with the single “Genuine.” The song was a massive hit, becoming a staple in the club scene not only in Korea but in China and Taiwan too. In 1999, they released their first full album, Koyote Volume 1, to much fanfare, winning the newcomer award at both the Seoul Music Awards and the SBS Gayo Daejeon. Though Koyote’s lineup underwent multiple changes over the years, the mixed-gender composition always remained. Along with Roo’ra, the group is still “active” to this day. Current members of Koyote are Kim Jongmin, Shin Ji, and Bbaek Ga.
Just a month prior, a five-member group by the name of S#arp debuted with an eponymous full album, The S#arp. As did many other groups of the time, the group underwent structural changes and came back with a new lineup the next year when they released their second album, aptly called The S#arp+2. Their second album’s lead single, “Tell Me Tell Me,” went on to do very well, winning first prizes on music programs Inkigayo and Music Bank.
In the ‘90s, the foundations of K-Pop as we know it were just starting. It was a time of experimentation, and the famed pioneers of K-Pop, Seo Taiji and Boys, only debuted two years into the 1990s. Though the groups discussed above are the most well known co-ed groups of the time, they weren’t the only ones. That being said, music turnaround wasn’t as fast as it is today, and groups had more staying power back then.
These days, Roo’ra member Lee Sangmin and Koyote member Kim Jongmin are better known as popular variety show members.
The 2000s
As the turn of the millennium came, so did industrial changes. Senior artists who are still active today like BoA, TVXQ, and Super Junior, all debuted during the 2000s. It was also in 2000, during their second annual ceremony, that the Mnet Asian Music Awards introduced a “Best Mixed Group” category. With the exception of TwoTwo, all the groups mentioned above have either been nominated for or won this award. Mnet maintained this category until 2009. The final winner of this award was 8Eight, a co-ed balladeer group out of BigHit Entertainment. Though co-ed groups existed after the 1990s, success would be harder to come by.
After winning the first season of MBC’s Show Survival, 8Eight debuted on August 25, 2007 with the song “Forget about Love and Sing.” The group was made up of two male and one female members: Baek Chan, Lee Hyun, and Joo Hee. Their first album, The First, achieved moderate success in Korea, peaking at No. 19 according to the RIAA’s charts. Another 2000s-era co-ed group is Urban Zakapa, known now for their soulful R&B songs and OSTs. The group originally debuted in 2007 under Fluxus Media as a nine piece group but is now a three piece consisting of one female and two male members.
Although there was a lack of co-ed group activity in the 2000s, an interesting development was group collaborations. An example of this is “Lollipop,” the 2009 song released by BIGBANG and the then yet-to-be-debuted 2NE1 for the LG Cyon cell phone. Even though the song was not eligible on music shows, it was a huge hit and went on to sell more than three million downloads. Other co-ed group collaborations occurred on special performance stages at year-end award shows. This includes Lee Hyori’s collaboration with Big Bang at the 2009 MAMAs (which was where that infamous kiss happened!) and Wonder Girls’s joint stage with Big Bang at MBC’s 2008 end-of-year stage.
If the 1990s were the foundations of K-Pop, the 2000s were when structure was brought in to build up those foundations. Choreography and complex concepts became a staple. During this time, there was a strengthening in gender norms that we still see now, but there was also a lot of expansion. Korean music continued to branch out and became more defined in itself. From pop and hip-hop to indie and balladeers, there was truly something for everybody.
The 2010s
The changes that happened in the 2010s were varied yet similar to the happenings of the 2000s. The past 10 years have seen K-Pop expand exponentially, and this is reflected in the industry’s developments. So much happened that it makes most sense to break the years up into “early 2010s” and “late 2010s.”
Co-Ed School debuted in 2010. If the group name sounds familiar, that’s because it is! The co-ed group didn’t last long, and in 2011 was split up into two groups—Speed and F-ve Dolls, the latter of which found more success.
In November 2011, 4Minute’s HyunA debuted in a co-ed group with labelmate Hyunseung, formerly of BEAST. The duo was first billed as JS & HyunA and rebranded as Troublemaker the following month when they debuted their eponymous single. The sexually suggestive song did very well, winning a triple crown on M! Countdown. It was also the setting for several on-stage kisses, the most infamous at MAMA’s 2013 performance. Hyuna would go on to be in another co-ed group, Triple H, with then labelmates Hui and E’Dawn of PENTAGON. The trio debuted in 2017 with a retro-esque comeback that would follow their next and last comeback. Both Troublemaker and Triple H have been dissolved since Hyuna’s departure from Cube Entertainment in 2018.
Akdong Musician (AKMU), a brother and sister duo who gained notoriety through the second season of survival show K-Pop Star, debuted from YG Entertainment in November 2014. The group is known for their self-composed music and unique song topics. Though the duo had been inactive for several years due to Chanyuk’s time in the military, his sister Soohyun continued to work, and the duo is still popular.
Another co-ed group that debuted in 2014 was Lucky J. Consisting of members J’Kyun, J-Yo, and Jessi, the YMC Entertainment group debuted with the single “Can You Hear Me?”. The group went on hiatus in 2015, during which time member Jessi gained notoriety from appearing on survival show Unpretty Rapstar. In 2016, J-yo left and the group quickly fizzled out, disbanding only two years after their debut.
And thus, we have reached 2017, which is when KARD debuted. Though the group was first known for their novelty, they have proved to have staying power, especially with Latin American K-Pop fans.
Other more recent noteworthy collaborations include the 2016 Baekhyun and Suzy chart-topping collaboration “Dream,” Super Junior’s 2018 “Lo Siento,” which featured the ladies of KARD, and SHINee’s Key’s “I Wanna Be,” which includes a couple of verses from (G)I-DLE’s Soyeon.
This year, the group SSAK3 debuted through the MBC variety show Hangout with Yoo. The group brings together veteran Hallyu stars Lee Hyori and Rain with popular variety star Yoo Jaeseok. After documenting their debut process through the show, on July 25 the group performed their ‘90s style “Beach Again” on Show! Music Core. It’s like we’ve come full circle, huh? Their releases did very well, only being dethroned by BTS’s history-making “Dynamite.”
A lot has changed in the K-Pop industry and tracking this gender balance is one way to see it. Yes, gender policing still exists, and you could probably write an entirely different article about how dating culture in Korea has influenced this need for gender seperation, but we won’t do that today.