#MarchForWomen — Celebrating the milestones of our fave K-female artists
Women’s History Month is celebrated annually every March to honor the women who have made a difference in our lives, and in our world. TKBL wants to dedicate something special for the undeniably strong and talented Korean women who put in the work (and the sparkly outfits and heels) to help K-music and K-culture become what it is today.
Here are six of the best milestones and moments from our fave K-women in the Hallyu industry.
Undisputed “Queen of Kpop”: BoA — ‘Better’
Perhaps my best memory of the dreaded year of 2020 was BoA’s ‘Better’. Funnily enough, hearing AWA’s ‘Like I Do’ sampled in a Kpop track was weird — AWA’s song was one of my most overplayed tunes during the pandemic. So yeah…you can imagine the sheer confusion on my face when I listened to this BoA single.
Downloading title track ‘Better’ on Spotify, I happened to stumble upon the full album, and decided to just download it. I barely listen to full albums, but who cares. It’s BoA.
But one Spotify session was enough to make me hooked with the album— a few minutes pass by, and I’ve fallen in love with everything. ‘Temptations’, ‘L.O.V.E’, and ‘Cut Me Off’ were my favorite of the bunch, but every song in ‘Better’ was absolutely gold.
Thankfully, Billboard and SeoulBeats agree with me.
What a way to celebrate the Queen of Kpop’s 20th anniversary in the industry!
A generation of women in pop: Girls on Top (GOT) — ‘Step Back’
One of the biggest crossovers of 2022 was seeing all four generations of SM Entertainment’s girl groups. When we got male all-star league SuperM last 2019, fans were avidly waiting for its female counterpart — and finally, we have it. From K-pop pioneer BoA to rising rookies æspa, everything about GOT and ‘Step Back’ was mesmerizing. If you’re looking for more real-life Wonder Women, feel free to add BoA, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet’s Wendy and Seulgi, and æspa’s Winter and Karina on your list.
This is history in the making, and we hope GOT has more projects in the future.
Hidden gems — vocal powerhouse SPICA
If there was an award for ‘most underrated group that didn’t deserve to be’, it’s SPICA. Much like fan-favorite MAMAMOO, Spica was one of the best vocal groups that grazed the K-music scene. The quintet, composed of members BoA, Sihyun, Narae, Jiwon, and Bohyung, has proven time and time again that all of them can kill live performances with just their voices. Even group rapper Sihyun and resident visual Jiwon can belt out impressive notes!
While better known for their hits like ‘Tonight’, ‘You Don’t Love Me’, and their Pitch Perfect ‘Cup Song’ cover in Weekly Idol, SPICA caught my attention with their renditions of ‘It’s Raining Men’ (‘Men came down from the sky like rain’) and the Big Mama classic ‘Break Away’.
Before they officially disbanded, they released an all-English track ‘I Did It’ as their US debut single and performed for K-Con 2014 in LA and KCON 2016 in Abu Dhabi. Bohyung also appeared in the Mnet show ‘Countdown Vocal War 100 Seconds Before’ (‘100 Seconds Before’), delivering a fresh and energetic spin to Kim Wan Sun’s ‘Pierrot Smiles at Us’.
Where are they now? Group visual Jiwon joined ‘The Unit’, eventually gaining a spot in Uni.T, the final female line-up of the said survival show. BoA and Jiwon debuted in vocal duo Keembo and released ‘Thank You, Anyway’ last 2020.
I highly recommend checking out their live covers and discography, especially ‘Russian Roulette’, which I linked above. These rare gems deserve a spotlight even if they’re no longer together. Those harmonies and vocal colors are timeless!
She’s still got it — MAMADOL
Who says moms can’t be idols?
Mamadol (M.M.D) is a project group composed of Sunye (ex-Wonder Girls), Kahi (ex-After School), Jungah (ex-Jewelry), Yang Eunji (ex-Baby V.O.X Re.V), Byul (soloist), and Hyun Jyuni (actress) —all former entertainment industry stars who had to give up the limelight to become full-time mothers. Through the 2021 tvN show ‘Mama The Idol’, all six members had to gather fanclub members and social media followers, as well as go through rigorous vocal and dance performance missions, before being able to debut (again).
Now, I don’t know about you, but I think these women never lost the star power inside of them. Exuding sexiness and confidence, these badass babes are showing us how it’s done and that age is definitely just a number!
Check out their performance for ‘WooAh HIP’ with 1M’s Dabin, JJ, and Lia Kim, are just as incredible as the women on this list.
All spice and sweetness — ‘Street Woman Fighter’
You know you were deeply invested in this show. Admit it.
Or if you weren’t, maybe you’ve at least heard of ‘Street Woman Fighter’. Who doesn’t get the hype over 7 all-female dance crews each with their own styles and personalities?
Hosted by soloist Kang Daniel, together with NCT’s Taeyong, BoA, and choreographer Hwang Sanghoon as the judges— watch WANT, WayB, YGX, CocaNButter, HOOK, HolyBang, LACHICA, and Prowdmon — fight for the title of “Dancing Queens”.
Street Woman Fighter has everything you’re looking for in a binge-worthy series: stylish and powerful women, diverse dance performances, must-see dance battles, and good laughs.
Can’t get enough of these girls? SWF spin-off ‘Street Dance Girls Fighter’ starring teenage dance crews is available on Viu! Upcoming ‘Street Man Fighter’ is set to debut real soon, too!
Empowered — Refund Sisters
Supergroup Refund Sisters (Refund Revolution) was only temporary, but we were just glad to see Chun Ok (Lee Hyori), Man Ok (Uhm Jung Hwa), Eun Bi (Jessi), and Sil Bi (Hwasa) together. Sweeping the music charts with their debut single ‘Don’t Touch Me’ last October 2020, the quartet — who say their name was mirrored “after their image as strong women who would have no problem obtaining refunds” — emanated nothing but power, talent, and beauty throughout their short promotion time.
And if you want to feel even happier, all proceeds of the group’s single were donated to charity.
Representation: History with CL
Former 2ne1 leader and current soloist CL is the only Korean artist to be featured in Google’s Women’s History Month 2021 video.
Google’s campaign, named ‘First of Many’, celebrated Sha-Rock, the first woman rapper, and showed a clip from CL’s “+HWA+” music video, alongside other rap artists such as Missy Elliot and Cardi B to celebrate the world’s female rappers.
[Soompi] Watch: CL Is Chosen As Only Korean Artist To Feature In Google’s Women’s History Month Video
To all the women we love
All these women have inspired us to become the very best version of ourselves. And while we’ve only named a few of them, this article was made to pay homage to all of the women who have continuously fought for themselves and for others. This is for the women who have struggled to make their voice heard at home and at work, who continue to cultivate progressive change and pursue their purpose, whatever they may be.
There is much love to give to all the women in our lives. Celebrate the last day of March by giving them a gift, a warm hug, a kiss — anything really. An expression of genuine gratitude is all this world needs.
Happy Women’s Month from the TKBL!
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Next up — Meeting Milena: WAVY’s first female artist
