After being neglected and mistreated, these Kpop groups slowly lost their popularity and even disbanded.
Despite earning decent achievements, several Kpop groups like f(x), Miss A, Pristin, etc were abandoned by their own agencies, eventually disappearing from the limelight. Some were even forced to disband.
B.A.P
Many Kpop idols have taken their companies to court, but B.A.P remains the most iconic example. Their lawsuit happened In 2014, with all six members of the group demanding contract termination from TS Entertainment. According to the idols, they barely received any payment and were forced to work like horses. The contract between B.A.P and TS had so many unreasonable and harsh conditions, it could even be described as a “slave contract”. As a result of the lawsuit, B.A.P had to enter a one-year hiatus.
What’s more tragic was that the issue exploded right during B.A.P’s golden era. Released in 2014, their first studio album “First Sensibility” topped the Billboard World Album chart, and even won Best Korean Artist at MTV EMA. In 2015, B.A.P returned to TS after reaching a mutual agreement, but their lost fame could not be regained.
In 2019, the idol group officially disbanded, leaving a bitter taste among the Kpop fan community.
f(x)
Despite having decent popularity, f(x) was sent to the SM dungeon after the departure of member Sulli and the release of their album “4 Walls”. The indefinite hiatus enraged fans, who accused SM Entertainment of intentionally neglecting this prospective girl group. It didn’t help that all members admitted that while they wanted to make a comeback, it was impossible due to certain “circumstances”.
In 2020, f(x)’s main vocalist Luna reassured fans that the group hasn’t disbanded. However, with all 4 remaining members leaving SM Entertainment and focusing on their solo careers, the public see slim chances for a future reunion.
CLC
Debuted under Cube Entertainment in 2015, CLC wasn’t quite successful in their initial comebacks. It was not until 2017, after they released “Hobgoblin”, did the girl group finally achieve international fame. However, their next title track “Where Are You” was a complete failure, with reviews deeming the song as bland and unoriginal.
Eventually, CLC faded from the public’s eyes. Their breaks between comebacks started to get longer and longer, before they completely stopped after the 2020 single “Helicopter”. While there’s no official confirmation that the group has disbanded, several members already left Cube to pursue their solo careers.
Pristin
As most members in the group already gained recognition via survival show “Produce 101”, Pristin quickly became well-known to the Korean public right after their 2017 debut. Two of the group’s members – Im Na Young and Joo KyulKyung (Pinky), were even a part of famous girl group I.O.I, so Pristin’s future seemed to be looking up. And just as expected, their first release “Wee Woo” was well-received.
However, after dropping their next song “We Like” in August 2017, Pristin suddenly ceased all activities. Fans started to become enraged, and accused the group’s agency Pledis Entertainment of limiting Pristin’s growth.
In 2018, Pledis debuted the subunit Pristin V, which somewhat appeased fans. However, many were still worried, and their fears came true in 2019, when Pristin officially disbanded, with only 3 out of 10 members staying in Pledis.
Miss A
The 2010 girl group Miss A was regarded as a monster rookie of JYP Entertainment, even winning the grand prize Daesang with their debut track “Bad Girl Good Girl”. However, as the member Suzy became popular due to her acting projects, the rest of the group also completely fell off the Kpop map. They became known as “Suzy and friends”, and started to cease all activities in 2015. To the great disappointment of fans, Miss A ended up parting ways in 2017 as JYP announced the group’s disbandment.
