In 2008, the
Wonder Girls
knocked on the door of the U.S. market and embarked on a long journey
of self-discovery and growth. Though they were top stars in Korea, the
girls were forced to start from the very bottom again with street
performances.
Fast forward three years later, and we see the Wonder Girls return to
Korea with some solid achievements under their belts. They’ve placed
76th on the Billboard Chart and became the first Korean artists to rank
on the world-famous music barometer. They also completed a successful
U.S. Tour, and filmed a movie with TV network,
Teen Nick.
Prior to the official release of their 2nd album, the Wonder Girls sat down for an interview with
MBN News to talk about their U.S. venture and their latest work.
The girls were first asked to elaborate on their thoughts about their U.S. venture. Leader
Sunye stated,
“To be honest, going to the U.S. was a rushed decision… There are many
people who say that we’ve failed. However, we think of the past two
years and a half as a period of preparation for our [actual] U.S.
venture.”
Ye Eun added, “
There
was never a day where something wasn’t new [to us]… We were able to
continuously grow and learn through exchanges with world-famous
musicians. The experience in the U.S. has led to a dramatic
transformation of Wonder Girls.”
The members revealed that the title track of the new album,
“Be My Baby”, is one that everyone can enjoy. The melody is easy on the ears (like with
“Tell Me”, “So Hot”, and
“Nobody”), while the tempo is upbeat and the lyrics are easy to sing along to.
When the album is listened to as a whole, it’s apparent that their
experiences in the U.S. seeped into their new sound. The song that Ye
Eun composed for their album,
“G.N.O.”, is a song that’s reminiscent of music heard in clubs.
“Super B”, a track sung by
Yubin and
Sohee, also allows us to get a feel for the new type of sound that the girls have brought.
Ye Eun commented,
“When I went to a club, I heard songs from Rihanna and LMFAO… We thought it would be nice if we could make club music, done right, in Korean.”
When asked to talk about their growth, Sohee commented,
“In the
U.S., all the members lived together in one building… Due to the
situation, we had more chances to converse with one another, and we
became even closer.”
For the first time, the girls will be up against
SNSD for their comeback. Although both groups debuted in 2007, their promotion periods somehow never overlapped.
Sunye revealed,
“We don’t really think of ourselves as rivals
with SNSD. There are things they can do, and we have things we can do… I
hope each can become a group that can be a source of strength and
consolation for many people.”
The Wonder Girls will be promoting more actively in the U.S. next
year. Their first U.S. album will be released in sync with their feature
movie,
‘Wonder Girls at the Apollo’, which will be aired through
Teen Nick.
