Rainbow (South Korean group)

RAINBOW
레인보우
Origin South Korea
Genres K-pop, dance
Years active 2009–present
Labels DSP Media
Universal Sigma
Associated acts Kara
Website rainbow.dspenter.com
Members
Jae Kyung
Seung Ah
No Eul
Yoon Hye
Ji Sook
Hyun Young
Woo Ri

RAINBOW (Hangul: 레인보우, Japanese: レインボー) is a 7-member South Korean girl group under DSP Media. The members are Jae Kyung (Leader, Lead Vocalist, and Main Dancer) Go Woo Ri (Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist) Cho Hyun Young (Main Vocalist) Kim Ji Sook (Main Vocalist) No Eul (Vocalist, Rapper) Oh Seung Ah ( 2nd Lead Vocalist), Jung Yoon Hye (Vocalist, Rapper). On November 12, 2009 the group released their debut single album, "Gossip Girl". The group debuted on November 14, 2009 at Music Core. "Rain-nous" has officially been announced as RAINBOW’s fanclub name. "Rain-nous" (RAINBOW + Luminous) A portmanteau meaning that their fanclub will support RAINBOW members until the members' 7 colours shine brightly.

Contents

History

Pre-debut

Around January 2009, rumors arose about DSP's new girl group, RAINBOW, but it was not confirmed until the group was finally revealed on November 3, 2009. It was rumored to be composed of seven girls. DSP Media reportedly trained some members of the new band for four years.[1][2] In late October and early November DSP Media teased a new picture of Rainbow each day and then released a music video teaser for "Gossip Girl" on November 6, 2009.[3][4]

2009: Debut with Gossip Girl

On November 3, 2009. DSP Entertainment reveals new girl group RAINBOW. DSP is already comparing Rainbow to Fin.K.L, stating, “The members of RAINBOW were picked so that their physical appearances wouldn’t be inferior to Fin.K.L”. As the teaser image suggests, the girls will already be coming out with an album upon their debut titled Gossip Girl.

On November 11, 2009, the music video for "Gossip Girl" was released. On November 12, 2009, the mini album was released which includes 5 songs.[5] On November 14, 2009, they debuted on Music Core with the group's first single "Gossip Girl".[6]

After the promotion of "Gossip Girl", the girls began the promotion of "Not Your Girl", which was a response to SS501's song "U R Man"

2010: Group changes A, Mach and rise of popularity

In early August 2010, DSP Media released a single picture teasing the group's impending comeback, they were seen wearing a plain white dress with weird eye shadows corresponding to their respective colors (in the Rainbow). The picture itself garnered much interest and after a few days their teaser was finally released. On the teaser, the girls were seen wearing two sets of outfits on two different backgrounds. The teaser garnered attention as well because of their sexy concept. On August 11, 2010, the full music video was released and 2 days later they had their first comeback stage on KBS's Music Bank and had their succeeding comeback performances on MBC's Music Core, and SBS's Inkigayo respectively. After almost a month of promotions, they group's "ab dance" not only became a hot topic but was also slammed with a lot of controversies and because of that sole reason, their promotions for "A" were halted indefinitely. They scheduled to have their debut stage performance on KBS Music Bank on August 13.

On October 17, 2010, DSP unleashed some of the girls' concept photos for their impending comeback track after gaining popularity from "A" and 2 days later they released the full single plus all of the girls' concept photos. On October 21, they had their first comeback stage on M.net's M! Countdown and were followed by 3 more performances.

The girls of RAINBOW have been preparing to make their return to the music scene. For this comeback they’re changing up their image.

DSP Media disclosed, “They’ve only shown innocent and sexy sides. They will show an image that will be upgraded. They will transform into the sexy dominatrix image. With a touch of sexy, a hip retro-funk track and some tastefully provocative outfits, RAINBOW has been raising brows and getting much love for their single “Mach.” Promotions for "Mach" ended on November 14, 2010.

2011: So Girls, Sweet Dream and Japanese debut

In April 2011, the girls released their second mini album "SO 女". The title track, titled "To Me", was released to promote the album, and has been charting high on many online music charts.

Embracing the lovely season of Spring for their overall concept, these members blossomed with an ultra-feminine image. For their album photos, they were snapped in white dresses against a field of flowers. However, the girls will be taking a more luxurious image for their title track, “To Me“, in order to better relay the song’s lyrics of exacting revenge on an untrue lover. Rainbow has teamed up with Japan's Daishi Dance for their comeback title track, named “To Me“, and it has Daishi Dance's trade mark. Some parts of the choreography were reportedly adapted from the international box office hit, “Black Swan“. RAINBOW incorporate some of the ballet moves in their performance, which is quite a difficult task to accomplish.

RAINBOW recently unleashed their mini-album “SO女“, and since the release, the girls have been doing well on various music charts.RAINBOW has just started to promote their album, but ‘To Me‘ has been entering the top 5 on many digital music websites already. On the Mnet music chart, RAINBOW is placed 4th, and on Melon, Soribada, and Daum, ‘To Me’ is placed in 2nd, proving the song’s great popularity.

On June 20, a 43-second teaser of RAINBOW's "Sweet Dream" was uploaded onto DSP Media's YouTube channel. The full music video was released a day later.

The repackaged version of "SO 女" was released on June 22 and contains the new title track "Sweet Dream", an acoustic version of "Kiss" from their Gossip Girl mini album, "To Me", a club version of "To Me", and an instrumental of "Sweet Dream". On June 23 they will perform on Mnet's "M! Countdown" for their comeback.

The “Sweet Dream” music video was filmed using a special motion control camera (MCC) worth $1 million USD. The camera allows for a natural meshing between the background and the girls even with different angles. The camera’s full potential can be seen in the scene where seven Woori’s appear on screen.

DSP Media explained, “We brought in special equipment like this to really emphasize the fantasy-like atmosphere of the music video.”

On September 7, RAINBOW topped Recochoku's weekly download rankings for the short version of their Japanese "A" PV. The group held their first event at the Tokyo's Ikebukuro district which drew an enthusiastic crowd of 2,000 fans. The girls performed “A” and had a 15-minute talk session.[7]

On September 14, RAINBOW released their debut single, "A", which ranked #3 on Oricon's daily single chart with 10,141 copies sold.[8] The single includes a Japanese remake of their debut single, "Gossip Girl", as well as a special DVD.

RAINBOW made their Japanese TV debut through the show Sukkiri, performing "A" and impressing the hosts with their Japanese skills.

In December 7, the girls released their second Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song "Mach" (Japanese: マッハ). The song ranked #9 in Oricon's Weekly chart.

2012: Sub-unit

On January 3rd, it was revealed by their agency, DSP Media, that a unit of the group will be formed as a trio. On the same day, a teaser image was revealed on DSP Media's website with the name of the unit, called "Rainbow Pixie". On January 4, another image was revealed with the members of the group, the unit is composed of SeungAh, Jisook and HyunYoung. The unit will debut on January 12.[9]

Members

Member Birth Date Position Color Notes
Kim Jaekyung (김재경) December 24, 1988 (1988-12-24) (age 23) Leader, Lead Vocalist, and Main Dancer Red
  • Education – Dongduk Women’s University
  • Special Talents – Sexy Dance & Nail Art
  • Former JYPE trainee – Switched to DSP.
Go Woori (고우리) February 22, 1988 (1988-02-22) (age 24) Vocalist, Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Visual Orange
  • Education – Korea National Sports University
  • Special Talents – Ballet, Modern Dance & Rap
  • Former S.M. Entertainment trainee
  • One of Invincible Youth season 2 variety show members
Oh Seungah (오승아) September 13, 1988 (1988-09-13) (age 23) Lead Vocalist Indigo
  • Education – Sangmyung University
  • Special Talents – Voice Imitation
  • Auditioned for DSP Media the same day as Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung.
  • Rainbow Pixie member
No Eul (노을) May 10, 1989 (1989-05-10) (age 22) Vocalist & Rapper Blue
  • Education – Sungdong Women’s Business School
  • Special Talents – Voice Imitation
  • Is a childhood friend of Girls' Generation's Taeyeon
Jung Yoonhye (정윤혜) April 14, 1990 (1990-04-14) (age 21) Vocalist & Lead Rapper Violet
  • Education – Dongduk Women’s University
  • Special Talents – Facial Expressions
  • Both of her parents are classical musicians.
Kim Jisook (김지숙) July 18, 1990 (1990-07-18) (age 21) Main Vocalist Green
  • Education – Hanyang Women's University
  • Special Talents – Nail Art
  • Was in a pre-debut rock band that won numerous competitions.
  • Her mother died of chronic disease on July 4, 2011
  • Rainbow Pixie member
Cho Hyunyoung (조현영) August 11, 1991 (1991-08-11) (age 20) Main Vocalist & Maknae Yellow
  • Education – Shingwang
  • Special Talents – Chinese & Voice Imitation
  • Former S.M. Entertainment trainee
  • Rainbow Pixie member

Discography

Korean Discography

Mini Albums (EPs)

Year Album information Tracklisting Peak
positions
Sales
2009 Gossip Girl
  • Released: November 17, 2009
  • Length: 16:07
  • Language: Korean
  • Label: DSP Media
  1. "Not Your Girl"
  2. "Gossip Girl"
  3. "I Believe"
  4. "Kiss"
  5. "참아볼께요 (Let's Put It Up)"
2 15,000+
2011 SO 女 (So Girl)
  1. "So Cool"
  2. "To Me (내게로..)"
  3. "너뿐 이라고"
  4. "Mach"
  5. "A"
3 25,000+ (Still Charting)
Sweet Dream (Repackage Album)
  1. "Sweet Dream"
  2. "Kiss (Acoustic Ver.)"
  3. "To Me (내게로..)"
  4. "To Me (내게로..) (Club Ver.)"
  5. "Sweet Dream (Inst.)"
6 12,000+

Singles

Year Single Peak Chart Position Album
2009 "Gossip Girl" 62 Gossip Girl
"Not Your Girl" 84
2010 "A" 8 SO 女
"Mach" 16
2011 "To Me" 3
"Sweet Dream" 5 Sweet Dream

Other Chart Songs

Year Single Peak Chart Position Album
2009 "슬퍼도 로맨틱" 62 The Sparkling OST Part.1
"Kiss" 115 Gossip Girl
2011 "So Cool" 124 SO 女
"너뿐이라고" 111
"그대와 난" 61 시티헌터 OST Part.6
(City Hunter OST)

Music Videos

Year Music video Length
2009 "Gossip Girl" 3:12
2010 "A" 3:27
2011 "To Me" 4:19
"Sweet Dream" 3:40
"A (Japanese version)" 3:29
"Mach (Japanese version)" 3:29

Japanese discography

Singles

Year Single information Tracklisting Peak chart positions Debut Sales Sales Total
Oricon Weekly Chart[10] Oricon Monthly Chart[11] Billboard Japan Hot 100[12] RIAJ Digital Track[13]
2011 A (Japanese version)
  • Release Date: September 14, 2011
  • Length: 10:07
  • Language: Japanese
3 18 4 17
24,082
45,000+
Mach (Japanese version)
  • Release Date: December 7, 2011
  • Length: 9:58
  • Language: Japanese
9 15 69
15,506
19,058+
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Awards

Years Awards
2010
2011
  • 12th Korean Video Daejun's Award: Most Photogenic of the Year[15]

References

  1. ^ (Korean) DSP, 카라 잇는 대형 신인 걸그룹 RAINBOW(레인보우) 공개!. The Star. November 4, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2010
  2. ^ (Korean) 레인보우(Rainbow) at Bugs.co.kr. Retrieved July 5, 2010
  3. ^ (Korean) 신예 걸그룹 Rainbow(레인보우), 데뷔곡 티저 영상 공개!. The Star. November 6, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  4. ^ (Korean) 걸그룹 레인보우 ‘가쉽걸’ 티저공개 ‘청순+깜찍+섹시 매력발산’. Newsen. November 6, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2010
  5. ^ (Korean) 레인보우 (Rainbow) - 미니앨범 : Gossip Girl. YES24. Retrieved July 5, 2010
  6. ^ (Korean) ‘음악중심’ 레인보우, 상큼한 데뷔무대 선봬! ‘제2의 카라될까?’ (RAINBOW's fresh debut stage at Music Core! Will they become the 2nd Kara?). jknews.co.kr. November 14, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2010
  7. ^ http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=shm&sid1=106&oid=108&aid=0002098654
  8. ^ http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=106&oid=009&aid=0002537365
  9. ^ (Korean) 레인보우, 3인조 ‘픽시’로 유닛 활동. Naver. January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2012
  10. ^ (Japanese){{cite web |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/
  11. ^ (Japanese){{cite web |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/525095/products/release/
  12. ^ (Japanese)"Billboard JAPAN Hot 100". Billboard Japan. http://www.billboard-japan.com/system/jp_charts/hot100/. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  13. ^ (Japanese)"一般社団法人 日本レコード協会|各種統計". RIAJ. http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/weekly_chart/index.html. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  14. ^ "Rookie of the Month (September)". cyworld. http://music.cyworld.com/chart/chart_dma_last_award.asp?curPage=1. Retrieved 2011-12-29. 
  15. ^ "U-KISS and Rainbow win the ‘Most Photogenic of the Year’ award". allkpop. http://www.allkpop.com/2011/12/u-kiss-and-rainbow-win-the-most-photogenic-of-the-year-award. Retrieved 2011-12-29. 

External links