The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 4-3 Fourth generation girl group (2020)

kenternews

2 years ago

In 2020, there were difficulties all over the world because of COVID-19. The same was true of Kpop. Due to social distancing, performances and events were canceled and they had difficulties.

In addition, CD sales increased in the music market, where streaming became the main source of revenue. With the global popularity of K-POP, new girl groups have also actively sought overseas expansion. It has begun targeting not only domestic charts but also overseas charts.

The number of girl groups was also around 10, but the debut flow in 2020 was reduced to four to six.

It is also the year when many online girl groups that did not have the opportunity to breathe with the audience at the concert site debuted.

Girl group activities in 2020

January

On Jan. 8, DreamNote released its third single, “Dream Wish.”
On January 10, Ho1iday changed the group name to API. ANS has released its second digital single, “Say My Name.”

February

On Feb. 3, GFRIEND released their 8th mini album “LABYRINTH.” EVERGLOW has released its first mini album “REMINISCENCE”.
On February 5, LOONA released their second mini album [#].
On February 6, BVNDIT released the New.wav project album “Cool”.
On Feb. 10, Rocket Punch released its second mini album “RED PUNCH.”
On February 11, Cherry Bullet released their first digital single, “Hands Up.”
On Feb. 12, the hot place returned to Bad Kids.
On February 13, Lee Je-yi and Chae Jung from Produce 48 joined ELRIS.
On February 17, IZ*ONE released their first full-length album “BLOOM*IZ”. The album topped the list of girl group albums with more than 350,000 initial albums at the time of its release, and topped the distribution list in the second month of its release. It is the first time for a girl group to surpass 300,000 first-time sales.
On February 18, Dreamcatcher released its first full-length album, “Dystopia: The Tree of Language.”
On February 20, Weki Meki released its second digital single “DAZZLE DAZZLE.”
On Feb. 21, 3YE released its third digital single “QUEEN”.
ELRIS released its fourth mini album “JACKPOT” on Feb. 26.

March

On March 3, CRAXY released their debut mini album “My Universe” and made their official debut on March 6.
On March 9, ITZY released its second mini-album “IT’z ME”
On March 11, FAVORITE released their first single, “LIE Again”
On March 21, Purple Bag released its first mini album “Starry Night”
On March 30, Rosie and Semi joined the Bad Kids.

April

On April 6, (G)I-DLE released their third mini album, “I trust.”
On April 13, Apink released its 9th mini album “LOOK.”
Girlkind released its third digital single “FUTURE” on April 14.
On April 20, BVNDIT released its pre-released single “Children.”
APRIL released its 7th mini album “Da Capo” on April 22.
On April 27, OH MY GIRL released their 7th mini album “NONSTOP.”
On April 28, GWSN released their fourth mini album, “the Keys.”

May

On May 1, Vitamin released its 12th single “Now I Know.”
On May 4, FANATICS released its second mini album “PLUS TWO.”
On May 13, BVNDIT released its second mini album “Carnival.” The Busters released their third single, “Paeonia.”

June

On June 1, TWICE released their 9th mini album “MORE & MORE”. The album topped the distribution list of girl group albums in the first month of its release.
On June 9, WJSN released their 8th mini album “Neverland.”
On June 10, DIA released its sixth mini album, “Flower 4 Seasons.”
On June 11, MOMOLAND released their special album “Starry Night.”
On June 15, IZ*ONE released its third mini album, “Oneiric Diary.” At the time of its release, it beat “BLOOM*IZ” and surpassed 380,000 initial albums, breaking the record for the first place in girl group albums.
On June 17, NATURE released its third single, “NATURE WORLD: CODEM”.
On June 18, Weki Meki released its third mini album, “HIDE and SEEK.”
BLACKPINK released their fourth single, “How You Like That,” on June 26.
On June 29, 3YE released its first mini album “TRIANGLE”.
On June 30, Weekly released their debut mini-album “We are.”

July

On July 6, Red Velvet unit Irene & Seulgi released their first mini album “Monster.”
On July 13, GFRIEND released their 9th mini album “Song of the Sirs.”
On July 14, 3YE released their special single “Summer Special”. Pink Fantasy has released their second single, “Shadow Play”.
On July 21, Precious released their pre-debut single “IT’S ME.”
APRIL released its special single “Hello Summer” on July 29.

August

On Aug. 3, (G)I-DLE released their first single, “DUMDi DUMDi.” Ceraday released her fourth single, “D.B.D.B.DIB”.
On Aug. 4, Rocket Punch released its third mini album “BLUE PUNCH.” Makamaka released its debut digital single “Burning Power.”
On Aug. 6, Chae-yeon of the Busters withdrew. Cherry Bullet has released its second digital single, “Aloha Oe.”
On August 11, the ANS went out of action. Floria released her debut single, “Chitty Chitty”.
On August 14, Brave Girls released their sixth digital single, “We Ride.”
On August 17, ITZY released its third mini album “Not Shy”. Dreamcatcher has released its fifth mini album, “Dystopia: Lose Myself.”
On August 28, BLACKPINK released “Ice Cream” with world-famous celebrity Selena Gomez, ranking 13th on the Billboard Hot 100 chart among Korean girl groups.

September

On September 1, Lovelyz released its 7th mini album “Unforgetable” in about a year and four months.
On September 2, Luna Solar released her debut single, “SOLAR: flare.” CLC has released its first single, “HELICOPTER”.
On September 7, Oh My Girl’s YooA released her solo mini-album “Bon Voyage.”
On September 16, fromis_9 released its third mini album, “My Little Society.”
On September 21, EVERGLOW released its second mini album “-77.82X-78.29.”
On September 23, Precious released their first digital single, “Let It Shine!”
On September 24, Neon Punch’s Baek Ah, Dayeon and Ian re-debuted with XUM, releasing their debut single “DDALALLA”, and Neon Punch disbanded.

October

BLACKPINK released their first full-length album “THE ALBUM” on Oct. 2. It sold 680,000 first-time albums, beating IZ*ONE’s “Oneiric Diary” to break the record number one for a girl group album.
On Oct. 7, WJSN’s unit, WJSN’s CHOCOME, released their first single album, “Hmph!”
On October 8, Weki Meki released its fourth mini album, “NEW RULES.”
On October 13, Weekly released its second mini album, “We Can.”
On October 19, LOONA released their third mini album, “12:00.”
On October 20, Mamamoo released “Dingga,” a pre-release song from its 10th mini album “TRAVEL.”
On October 26, BLACKPINK’s first full-length album THE ALBUM sold more than 1.2 million copies, becoming the first million seller in Korean girl group history with only a single album, which remains the best K-POP female singer album ever.
On October 26, TWICE released its second full-length album, “Eyes wide open.”

November

On Nov. 3, Mamamoo released their 10th mini album “TRAVEL.”
Girlkind released its fourth digital single “PSYCHO4U” on Nov. 4.
On November 5, Berry Good released its sixth digital single, “Acio.”
On Nov. 9, GFRIEND released “Walpurgis Night,” the first full-length third album by a third-generation girl group.
On November 12, STAYC released their debut single “Star To A Young Culture”.
On November 17, MOMOLAND released its digital single “Ready Or Not.” SM Entertainment’s new girl group aespa made their debut by releasing their debut single “Black Mamba” Bling bling released its debut digital single “G.G.B.”
On November 26, Purple Kiss released their debut digital single, “My Heart Skip a Beat”
On Nov. 30, Girlkind XJR, a unit of Girlkind, released its debut mini-album “Life is Diamond”

December

On December 7, IZ*ONE released its fourth mini album, “One-reeler / Act IV.”
On December 15, Rusty released his special album “Merry Lusty”.
On December 18, TWICE released their digital single “CRY FOR ME”.
On December 24, Laboum released its fourth digital single “Cheese.”

News of disbandment and withdrawal in 2020

The Earth contract expired on Feb. 12.(Officially disbanded around June)
On February 17, Ladies Code terminated its contract with Polaris Entertainment.
On March 6, Hyerim of Lime Soda withdrew.
On March 24, Girlkind’s Sun J temporarily withdrew.
On March 29, Busters’ prison term was withdrawn.
On April 12, Pink Fantasy’s Aini withdrew.
On June 27, Yubin of Pink Fantasy withdrew.
On July 5, AOA’s Jimin withdrew.
On July 13, Nina and Ellie, the first and second generation members of WeGirls, left.
On July 31, Chae-yeon of the Busters stopped working and Ji-Soo and Yeseo left.
HINAPIA disbanded on August 21.
Lime Soda disbanded on Aug. 22.
On September 15, Lee Yoo, a first- and second-generation member of WeGirls, withdrew.
On Oct. 15, Bad Kids temporarily suspended their activities.
On Oct. 20, Pink Fantasy’s Sangah withdrew.
On December 30, Gugudan’s agency Jellyfish Entertainment announced the end of Gugudan’s activities through its official cafe.

Characteristics of the 4th generation girl group.

Girl groups making their debut in Korea are growing in such fierce competition. After 2020, girl groups often make their debut as a 4-member or 6-member group by downsizing their size. In addition, member configurations are often multinational. Most of them are in the form of additional foreign members being put into one or two Korean members.

The surge in album sales such as CDs seems to be largely due to the influence of COVID-19. People who couldn’t go to the concert hall relieved their desire by purchasing the album. If consumers had difficulty not being able to see the performance, girl groups had girl groups that they had never seen on stage with audiences.

n fact, Espa once gave an interview in 2022 that it felt different to stand in front of the audience for the first time on an offline stage. There is still a controversy over his singing ability. It may seem surprising to see him performing a difficult song while dancing the intense choreography, but he may have been helped by mechanical tuning.

Thanks to BTS’ global success, girl groups are also enjoying global popularity. Among the 4th generation girl groups, BLACKPINK is the most successful girl group in the global market. It is also listed in the Billboard rankings, and fandom is forming around the world.

The success of the girl group may be the success of the entire group, but I think it may be more important for the group members to personally feel success and happiness.

K-Pop Groups that Debuted in 2020

Poll: Which is your favorite girl group debut in 2020?

The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 1 – First generation girl group (1997 ~ 2006)

The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 2 – Second generation girl group (2007 ~ 2012)

The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 3 – Third generation girl group (2013 ~ 2017)

The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 4-1 Fourth generation girl group (2018)

The history of KPOP girl groups, Part 4-2 Fourth generation girl group (2019)