Spica (band)

Spica (Hangul: 스피카, stylized as SPICA) is a South Korean girl group formed in 2012 under B2M Entertainment. The group released "Doggedly" (독하게) as a prologue single on January 31, 2012 and officially debuted on February 9 with the mini album Russian Roulette. The group consists of Kim Boa, Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon and Kim Bohyung.

History

2012: Debut, Doggedly, Russian Roulette and Lonely

In the beginning of 2012, B2M Entertainment announced that they would debut a girl group.^[1] Their name is a reference to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo. On January 10, 2012, the group released their first digital single, "Doggedly" (독하게; also translated "Potently"). The music video sparked high interest, as their fellow label-mate Lee Hyori made an appearance.^[2][3]

On January 31, B2M Entertainment announced that the group would have their formal debut with a mini-album, titled Russian Roulette. The full-length music video was released on February 7.^[3] Promotions for "Russian Roulette" began two days later on M! Countdown.^[4] The lyrics of the song were later modified in order to meet MBC's broadcasting standards.^[5] The group released a repackaged extended play entitled Painkiller on March 29, promoting the title track of the same name.^[6]

Spica returned with their second EP titled Lonely on November 21, promoting the title track of the same name.^[7] They worked again with Sweetune, who also produced "Russian Roulette". The group first promoted the song on Music Bank on November 23, and held the "goodbye performance" on January 6 on Inkigayo. Other songs on the album are "With You", written by Kim Boa, "That Night" (그날 밤), written by Kim Bohyung, and "Since You're Out of My Life".^[8] The album peaked at number 8 on Gaon's weekly album chart,^[9] selling 2,113 physical copies.^[10]

2013–present: You Don't Love Me, US debut and Ghost

Spica in the Seoul Square on February 13, 2014

In the summer of 2013, Spica was the subject of OnStyle's TV show Lee Hyori X Unnie in which they sought and received guidance from the former Fin.K.L member, Lee Hyori.^[11] The show was shot following Lee Hyori's promotion period for Monochrome and culminated in the band's comeback in August. On August 27, B2M Entertainment released a digital single, "Tonight", along with a music video which^[12] Lee Hyori and her husband, Lee Sangsun, collaborated and produced.^[13] Tonight's lyrics are written by Boa and Lee Hyori, and the original song was written by Dsign Music. On August 30 Spica had their comeback performance at Music Bank and made Lee Hyori cry for them.^[14] With this single, the group was able to reach the top 10 in the Gaon Music Chart for the week of August 25–31, ranking tenth overall and eighth on the Downloads Chart with 102,297 downloads.^[15]

On January 26, 2014, Spica released "You Don't Love Me",^[16] a single musically and visually influenced by soul music of the 1960s. The song is a continuation of their relationship with the Lee Hyori and her production team, with the lyrics co-written by Kim Boa and Lee Hyori. Spica also released a song for the original soundtrack of the Korean drama Witch's Romance called "Witch's Diary."^[17]

In August, Spica partnered with Billboard to release their first English-language single.^[18] The single, "I Did It", was produced by Oliver Goldstein, Cory Enemy and Daniel Merlot.^[19] The song and its music video were released August 6, and the group made their U.S. debut performance at KCON.^[20] Ryan Book of The Music Times said the song "takes a very Beyoncé attitude, expressing themes of female empowerment with pop music".^[19]

In November 5, the entire group released the digital single "Ghost",^[21] produced by Sweetune.^[22] The music video was directed by Lee Sa-gang and featured scenes of the group during the 2014 Spring/Summer Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza.^[23]

In March 2015, Spica provide the song "Because of You" for the Super Daddy Yeol OST.^[24]

Members

Park Sihyun

Park Sihyun was born Park Juhyun on November 29, 1986 in South Korea.^[25] She was called Sihyun by her family since childhood, but was known as Park Juhyun when she debuted with Spica. In October 2014, B2M Entertainment announced that Park was legally changing her name to Park Sihyun, and would go by that name for all her future activities.^[26] Park has also been involved in acting and modeling such as starring in the music videos for Heo Young Saeng's "Let It Go"^[27] and Lee Hyori's "Bad Girls". On September 17, 2012 it was confirmed she was dating Jun Jin of Shinhwa, but two months later, on November 12, 2012, it was revealed they had broken up.^[28][29]

Kim Boa

Kim Boa was born in South Korea on January 14, 1987.^[25] Before debuting with Spica, she worked with producing team Sweetune, providing background vocals and harmonization for several Korean artists and groups. She was also a vocal coach for Kara, Rainbow and Infinite under Sweetune.^[20][30] In January 2014, Boa and Eric Nam recorded a cover of the song "Say Something".

Park Narae

Park Narae was born in Incheon, South Korea on February 23, 1988.^[25] After high school she attended Kyung Hee University, where she joined the Postmodern Music department. In 2009, she was involved in the talent show Superstar K^[2] and got eighth place in the top 10 contestants of the show. The top 10 contestants had songs released on the studio album, Love, including Park's "I Love You". In 2013, she featured in Mando & Chigi's song titled "He Says, She Says", and joined them to promote the song on several music shows.

Yang Jiwon

Yang Jiwon was born in Seoul, South Korea on April 5, 1988.^[25] In 2007, she was part of the girl group Five Girls under Good Entertainment,^[2] which also included After School's Uee, Secret's Hyoseong, Wonder Girls' Yubin and G.NA. The group starred in a reality show on MTV called Diary of Five Girls, but never debuted due to financial problems.^[31] Jiwon then moved to Core Contents Media and was slated to debut in the girl group T-ara in 2009. Before debuting, the group provided a soundtrack for the Korean drama Cinderella Man called "Good Person". However, Jiwon was dropped from the group's line-up in early June 2009 due to creative differences. She left Core Contents Media in 2010,^[32] and moved to B2M Entertainment in 2011.

Jiwon has also been involved in acting and modeling, starring in the Korean movie Death Bell as well as various music videos. She starred in Boyfriend's music video "I'll Be There" in December 2011, and with Kim Kyu-jong in the "Yesterday" music video from his Turn Me On album.^[33] In 2013, she appeared on Korean hip hop duo Baechigi's music video for "Shower of Tears" featuring singer Ailee. In the video, she is shown singing the song but with Ailee's vocals playing instead. Due to schedule conflicts, Jiwon filled in for her as a vocalist to promote the song on music programs with Baechigi. The song won a K-Chart award from M! Countdown on January 31, during the time when she was promoting with the duo.^[34]

Kim Bohyung

Kim Bohyung was born in South Korea on March 31, 1989.^[25] When she was nineteen years old, she was involved in Central Multi Broadband's music show named Chin Chin Singing Festival. She sang the song "Such a Thing",^[35] which was included in Hwayobi's first studio album, My All, and got many praises for her ability to sing. She was awarded the Gold Award (1st Place) for the CMB Chin Chin Singing Competition. She auditioned to be a part of JYP Entertainment in 2007, then left the agency company due to personal circumstances. In 2008, she joined YG Entertainment and was preparing to debut as a member of girl group 2NE1.^[36] However, in early May 2009, she was dropped from the group's line-up because of differences in music style. Before she left the agency company, Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO of YG Entertainment, wrote a recommendation letter and introduced her to B2M Entertainment. In 2013, Bohyung released a solo single, "Crazy Girl", composed by Lee Hyori.^[37]

Subgroup

In September 2014, B2M Entertainment formed a subgroup of Spica named Spica.S (Spica Special). The subgroup composed of four-member: Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon, and Kim Bohyung.^[38] In September 11, 2014, the subgroup release their debut single, "Give Your Love" produced by Brave Brothers.^[39]

Discography

Korean discography

EPs

• 2012: Russian Roulette
• 2012: Lonely

US discography

single

• 2014: I Did It

Filmography

Television's Drama

Variety Shows

Awards and nominations

Mnet Asian Music Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spica.

• Official Korean Website
• Official U.S. Website