History of K-Pop: LOONA
Since Blockberry Creative announced the girl group project launching in 2016 for a span of 18 months, LOONA has been making waves in the K-Pop industry for their unique setup and pushing boundaries of what encompasses K-Pop. With 18 months to prepare for the full group to make an “official” debut, LOONA built hype around their group in a way no other group has achieved in that time.
The announcement for the debut project of LOONA came on October 2, 2016. Between October and January of 2017, members Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul, and Yeojin were revealed, with each girl releasing a single album that often featured one of the othe revealed members (such as Hyunjin’s album featuring a duet with Heejin). At that time, the girls were releasing singles under the moniker “이달의 소녀,” which literally translates to “Girl of the Month.” March 2017 brought the first subunit release in LOONA 1/3. Interestingly enough, Yeojin was not part of this album, but ViVi was, and later was named the fifth member of LOONA in April.
Rolling into May 2017, Kim Lip was the next member to be revealed for LOONA to round out the first half of members. Jinsoul and Choerry followed to create the second subunit of LOONA/ODD EYE CIRCLE in September. Meanwhile, Heejin and Hyunjin passed the audition for MIXNINE, where Heejin placed fourth to make the final lineup while Hyunjin finished at number 18. ODD EYE CIRCLE’s first mini-album Mix & Match was released on September 17, with repackage Max & Match following in October. Max & Match peaked at No. 7 on the Gaon Album Chart, with title “Sweet Crazy Love” being a sub-unit’s first charting on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart (the first LOONA song to chart in the U.S. was Haseul’s solo “Let Me In”).
By this point, the revealed members of LOONA had been gaining a good amount of attention from K-Pop fans, and many waited for the next round of “Girl of the Month” to reveal the final four. Keeping up with the monthly releases, Yves came in November, followed by Chuu in December, Gowon in January, and finally Olivia Hye in March of 2018. Excitement built for a full-group debut, but first came the final sub-unit LOONA/yyxy. Contrary to the darker tones set by ODD EYE CIRCLE, yyxy returned to a more youthful and innocent look in the “love4eva” release, which also happened to feature Canadian pop singer Grimes.
Finally, after 18 long months with constant releases, the full 12-member group of LOONA made their official debut in August with lead single “favOriTe,” followed by the title track “Hi High.” The debut project proved to be a major success, with album sales for [ + + ] nearly quadrupling any other release, be it solo or sub-unit album. “Hi High” ran with the concept used for yyxy, bringing an upbeat and sweet sound for the group’s official debut. It’s worth noting that [ + + ] was the second best-selling debut album by a girl group in 2018.
Repackage album [ X X ] was released on February 19, 2019, featuring six additional tracks and title “Butterfly.” While “Butterfly” did not chart as well as the previous title, the song and music video left a particularly strong impression for the breathtaking cinematography and emphasis on diversity, self-love, and female empowerment.
It would be nearly a year until the next release, with news that leader Haseul would be taking a hiatus due to mental health concerns. While the previous title tracks showed a softer side to LOONA, the newest comeback in 2020 highlighted a stark contrast. “So What” was a dark and rebellious track that showed a more intense side of LOONA, and proved to be a popular change that brought in more album sales. Mini-album [#] managed to chart in new countries, including the UK and Hungary.
LOONA would make their next comeback in October 2020 with [12:00] and lead single “Why Not?,” their best-selling album to date. This release gave the group their first chart on the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart, where it broke at No. 1.
The latest comeback from LOONA marked the return of leader Haseul to the lineup after a year and a half hiatus. [&] and lead title “PTT (Paint the Town)” showed the group moving in a new direction, this time introducing Bollywood elements into their title track. The title marked the group’s first ever entry onto the Gaon Digital Chart, as for most of their career the group had always been more popular internationally than in Korea.
One thing LOONA has become well-known for is their concept of the LOONAVERSE, where all things in each release are interconnected. Hardcore and casual fans alike enjoy reading up on theories of the LOONAVERSE, which may be the most intricate of all K-Pop theories out there. It’s widely considered one of the best aspects of the group, and for those who enjoy deeper plotlines, the group will be a great investment. They have also been widely praised for their music video cinematography, which is almost exclusively done by Digipedi. The music video composition has surely stood out from day one, so it is a well-earned title.
While LOONA is definitely considered more popular internationally, there’s no question they’ve had a huge impact on K-Pop as a whole for their unique universe building, long-term debut project, and overall stellar cinematography. If you have yet to check out this stellar girl group, take this as a sign to do so.