After topping the charts and bagging awards with their debut, miss A kept the momentum going with the summer party song “Breathe.”

miss A hit it big early in their career with their debut “Bad Girl, Good Girl,” leaving people wanting another sensual girl power track from the four-member group. Just two months after the July release, miss A stepped back on the scene with “Breathe” on September 28, 2010. The hip-shaking dancehall-inspired dance track was a team up between record producer J.Y. Park and singer-songwriter Sunday Brunch, who also penned the group’s B-side ballad “Dazed.” 

The quartet’s second single served a complete 180 from their first release. Unlike the melodic synths and fierce lyrics of “Bad Girl, Good Girl,” “Breathe” brought an eccentric mix of air horns, subtle bells, and rapid clapping beats with a story of a girl lamenting about not knowing how to approach a crush. After coming up as the “sassy girl group,” miss A proved they had dimension by going the flirty and playful route for their follow-up single. 

In the music video, we’re brought into a fun house where nothing matches, everything clashes, and it couldn’t be more fun. Keeping up with the song’s upbeat and fast-paced sound, miss A serves a bouncy and booty-popping choreography in a mishmash of patterned outfits including multicolored stripes, metallics, florals, sparkles, and feathers. The members show off their acrobatic handstands against bright, rainbow-colored walls and flashing cubics, with solo shots against vivid, mod-style wallpapers. In the nonsensical world of the music video, Fei has a gaping heart-shaped hole in her chest, and the members shoot their shot through a human cannon. 

miss A brought the party to M!COUNTDOWN for their comeback stage on October 7, 2010. Although the performance isn’t listed by the Mnet YouTube channel, a video uploaded by another channel shows the members framed by giant letters reading “miss A” and dancing under a ceiling of colorful cubed lights. They stand out from the set in black and white striped outfits with pops of color on their pockets and zips. To make it even more fun, they surprised fans with a show stopping dance break after Fei’s rap verse and invited the audience to join in on a call and response. 

The group kept every comeback stage fresh and unique, leaving viewers wondering what they’d do next. For a later performance on Music Core, miss A hopped on a rainbow decorated stage with an extended dance opening. This time, before Fei’s rap verse, backup dancers joined them on stage during extended huff and puff moments between the chorus. One by one, the members pretended to faint while their backup dancers dragged them away. 

miss A successfully completed a month of promotions, despite their youngest member Suzy suffering from an ankle injury and having to change the choreography. The members admitted they were under a lot of pressure to surpass the popularity of “Bad Girl, Good Girl,” but “Breathe” became a dance hit that debuted at No. 2 on the Gaon Digital Song Chart and gave miss A an M!COUNTDOWN award as well as a nomination for the “Hot Trend Song Award” at the MelOn Music Awards. The group became known as monster rookies in 2010 and took home the “MBC Music Star Award” at the MelOn Music Awards and “Best New Female Artist” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. 

miss A rounded out their successful first year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, treating fans to a mash up of “Bad Girl, Good Girl” and “Breathe.” The special stage featured a hip-hop dance break and played to the members’ multilingual strengths by including verses in Chinese, English, and Korean. Although miss A later disbanded in 2017, their bold lyrics continue to be female power anthem favorites.

Edited by Meighan Peters