K-Pop

Girl group LABOUM with 9 years of experience: members’ pregnancy and withdrawals → third time meeting with Yoo Jae-seok

The girl group LABOUM, which has been through many ups and downs throughout 9 years of their career, is still seeking a chance to achieve success.

So-yeon of LABOUM met with Yoo Jae-seok. She joined the project group WSG Wannabe produced by Yoo Jae-seok through the show “Hangout with Yoo”. Although LABOUM did climb up on charts and win No.1 on music shows, such achievements were not enough to help them make a breakthrough to become a leading girl group. LABOUM debuted 9 years ago. Netizens are getting more curious about whether the teaming up of So-yeon and Yoo Jae-seok will gain explosive reactions this time.

LABOUM

So-yeon appeared on MBC’s entertainment program “Hangout with Yoo”, which aired on the evening of June 4th, and met WSG Wannabe members for the first time. When asked, “Do you want to become more famous through WSG Wannabe?”, So-yeon confessed her ambition, saying “I hope this group would do better than LABOUM”, adding, “LABOUM members are all working hard with individual activities, so I hope I would also do well with this project.”

LABOUM

As So-yeon said, LABOUM’s situation was really desperate. LABOUM won No.1 on weekly music shows in 2017 with the title song “Hwi Hwi” from their second mini-album. At that time, they made headlines for beating IU. However, the public doubted the unexpected result. It was hard to find an article congratulating them but only suspicions and criticisms against LABOUM kept being raised. It was the way the music show calculated scores that caused the problem. As a result of a mistake without their intention, LABOUM had to hear lots of harsh words.

LABOUM jinye - soyeon - yoo jae suk

This was not the only obstacle that prevented LABOUM from success. In the same year, the most famous member Yul-hee announced her departure from the group because she got pregnant. Yul-hee was secretly dating FT Island’s Choi Min-hwan at that time. Yul-hee’s withdrawal eventually hurt the group’s image and name. 

Laboum

LABOUM members then turned to focus on individual activities. Sol-bin continued to work as an MC on a music show and also guested on entertainment programs. 

In particular, Yu-jeong, Hae-in, and Jin-ye entered KBS2’s survival audition show “The Unit”. As contestants with debut experience, they received favorable reviews from the public for their solid vocals and dance skills. Although they showed a good performance, there were eventually no achievements in their individual activities, because the girl group formed through “The Unit” failed to gain popularity. The three then returned to LABOUM.

brave girls - laboum

LABOUM could not really achieve significant success by having their song climb back up the charts. Last year, Brave Girls’ song “Rollin’” suddenly went viral and saw a resurgence on the charts. This helped Brave Girls overcome the crisis of disbandment. The group is now dubbed the new “summer queen of K-pop”.

brave girls

LABOUM, who has not had a hit for two years, also rode on the “reverse trend” that brought popularity to Brave Girls. Through “Hangout With Yoo”, which also revives songs that were slept on, LABOUM’s “Journey to Atlantis” was played and started climbing up the charts. But eventually, their moment passed without any impactful results.

This is the third time Yoo Jae-seok and LABOUM have met. He covered “Journey to Atlantis”  through “Hangout With Yoo” and Jinye appeared. Jin-ye was also impressed with Yoo Jae-seok’s cheerful appearance.

LABOUM

LABOUM members are connected to Yoo Jae-seok one after another. It remains to be seen whether what So-yeon said, “I hope it works out,” will become a reality. LABOUM has continued their activities by renewing their contracts with their agency despite former members’ pregnancy, suspension of activities, and controversy over their first-ever music show win.

It is no coincidence that So-yeon’s answer comes with honesty rather than pleasure. LABOUM is once again on Yoo Jae-seok’s back. In their ninth year since debut, LABOUM is showing eagerness for success.

Source: naver

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