Baby Vox

Baby V.O.X (Korean: 베이비복스) was a South Korean K-pop group formed in 1997,^[1] whose final and best-known line-up consisted of Kim E-Z, Lee Hee-jin, Kan Mi-youn, Shim Eun-jin, and Yoon Eun-hye. It is considered one of the most prominent "first generation" K-pop girl groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, along with S.E.S and Fin.K.L,^[2] and is recognized as one of the groups at the forefront of the Korean Wave, having broken into the Chinese market.^[3] The group released seven studio albums and disbanded in 2006.^[1]

Baby V.O.X
Baby V.O.X in 2000 From left to right: Heejin, E-Z, Eunhye, Miyoun, and Eunjin
Background information
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop, R&B
Years active	1997 (1997)–2004 (2004)
Labels	DR
Past members	Kim E-Z Lee Hee-jin Kan Mi-youn Shim Eun-jin Yoon Eun-hye Cha Yu-mi Jung Hyun-jeon Jung Shi-woon Lee Gai

Korean name
Hangul	베이비복스
Revised Romanization	Beibi Bokseu
McCune–Reischauer	Peipi Poksŭ

History

Debut and early years (1997–1999)

Baby V.O.X began in 1997 as a five-member group consisting of Kim E-Z, Lee Hee-jin, Jung Hyun-jeon, Cha Yu-mi and Jung Shi-woon.^[1] The group's first single, "Hair Cut", was taken from the album Equalizeher, released on July 10, 1997.^[4] The group displayed a style inspired by Spice Girls, but the first album was not successful because of the edgy concept. Cha Yumi was injured during the performance, so she was then replaced by Kan Miyoun. Hyun-jeon and Shi-woon left the group because of an internal conflict and they were replaced by Shim Eun Jin and Lee Gai. The group adopted a more modest and "cutesy" style, used by popular groups such as S.E.S. and Fin.K.L. From the album Baby V.O.X II, the single "Ya Ya Ya" became a success, reaching number seven on the Korean pop charts. It was followed by a second single, "Change". Following the release, Lee Gai was forced out by DR Music, because she lied about her age.^[5] She had first appeared with the trio Setorae over ten years before under her birth name of Lee Hee-jung.^[6]

Breakthrough years and mainstream success (1999–2003)

In June 1999, Yoon Eun Hye replaced Lee Gai and this line-up became permanent. The single "Get Up" was released. For the first time, the group reached number one on the South Korean music pop charts.^{[citation needed]} Another single, "Killer", was also number one and received the Top Excellency Award in the Seoul Music Awards in 1999. The third single, "Missing You", was also included on the album Come Come Come Baby (1999).

 

Baby V.O.X. in 1999

In the years that followed, Baby VOX made a number of appearances in variety shows. After the success of the third album, the group promoted itslf internationally, including in China, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries. The fourth album, Why, included the singles "Why" and "배신 (Betrayal)", and the group hosted the television program Beautiful Sunday-Cruise to the Korea Strait. The group's fifth album, Boyish Story, was released in 2001 and included the singles "Game Over", "인형 (Doll)" and "I Wish You are My Love".

The group released a compilation album with singles 우연 ("Coincidence") and "Go"; Coincidence was the group's first number one single in three years. "Coincidence" was re-released for the 2002 World Cup and gained additional popularity.

The group held a concert in Mongolia in 2004, the first South Korean idol band to do so. The group also performed in Pyongyang, North Korea in 2003, and was the second girl group to perform in North Korea.^[7]

Final albums and separation (2003–2006)

 

Baby V.O.X. in 2002

In spring 2003, Baby VOX released a sixth album, Devotion. Baby VOX topped the Chinese music chart with the Chinese single "I'm Still Loving You" and the South Korean charts with "What Should I Do".

The group's seventh and final album, Ride West, released in April 2004, had songs in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as appearances by well-known American hip hop artists such as Tupac Shakur and Jennifer Lopez and the independent rapper Floss P, although Tupac's "appearance" was a freestyle rap that he recorded while in prison. The rights for the sample of Tupac's verse were not cleared, and this resulted in a court case pursued by the rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur.^[8] A music video for the album's feature song, "Xcstasy", was made in English and emulated the hip-hop videos popular in the United States at the time. A member of the South Korean hip hop group DJ DOC, offended by the alleged misuse of Tupac Shakur's lyrics, denounced them in the media, but later apologized.^[9] The group was forced to abandon the release of the single. A second single, "Play Remix" featuring Jennifer Lopez, was promoted for a short while, but sales were lower than from its previous albums.

Shim Eun-jin officially left the group in October 2004 and Yoon Eun-hye in April 2005. By May 2005 the group was no longer promoting, and it officially disbanded in February 2006.

Members

Final members

• Kim E-Z – leader, rapper (1997–2006)
• Lee Hee-jin – lead vocal (1997–2006)
• Shim Eun-jin – sub vocal (1998–2004)
• Kan Mi-youn – main vocal (1997–2006)^[2]
• Yoon Eun-hye – sub vocal (1999–2005)

Former members

• Cha Yumi, sub vocal (1997)
• Jung Hyun-jeon, lead vocal (1997–1998)
• Jung Shi-woon, rapper, leader (1997–1998)
• Lee Gai, sub vocal (1998–1999)

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR ^[10]
Equalizeher (Voice of Xpression)	Released: July 3, 1997 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette Track listing Interlude Haircut (머리하는날) To A Man (Democracy) (남자에게 (민주주의)) Start (스타트) Secret (비밀) Their Own World (그들만의 세상) Single Mom (미혼모) Waiting To A Man (Democracy) (남자에게 (민주주의)) (instr.)	No data	No data
Baby V.O.X. II	Released: September 15, 1998 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette Track listing 야야야 (Hey, Hey, Hey) Break It Up 패자부활전 (Resurrection) Waiting Change Sugar Baby Top Of The World 야야야 (Remix TV Version)	9	KOR: 76,417+^[11]
Come Come Come Baby	Released: July 21, 1999 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	5	KOR: 218,946+^[12]
Why	Released: May 15, 2000 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	5	KOR: 155,864+^[13]
Boyish Story	Released: June 4, 2001 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	8	KOR: 90,014+^[14]
Devotion	Released: April 3, 2003 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	3	KOR: 84,612+^[15]
Ride West	Released: March 18, 2004 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	3	KOR: 32,863+^[16]

Compilation albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR
Special Album	Released: April 23, 2002 Label: DR Music Format: CD, cassette	6	KOR: 240,349+^[17]

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		JPN
Go (Japanese release)	Released: March 12, 2003 Label: Six Beat Records Format: CD	—	N/A

Awards

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / work	Result	Ref.
Chinese Radio Broadcasting Association	2002	Best Hallyu Artist Award	Baby Vox	Won	^[18]
Golden Disc Awards	2002	Popularity Award	"Coincidence" (우연)	Won	^[19]
KMTV Music Awards	1998	Popularity Award	Baby Vox	Won
	1999			Won
	2002	Achievement Award		Won
	2003	Main Award (Bonsang)		Won
Korea Entertainment and Arts Awards	2000	Next Generation Group Award		Won	^[20]
MBC Gayo Daejejeon	1999	Top Popular Artist		Won
SBS Gayo Daejeon	1998	Rookie Award		Won	^[21]
	1999	Top 10 Singers Award		Won
	2000	SBS Producer's Award		Won	^[22]
	2002	Main Award (Bonsang)		Won	^[23]
	2003			Won	^[24]
Seoul Music Awards	1999	Main Award (Bonsang)		Won	^[25]
	2000	Popularity Award		Won
	2002	Hallyu Award		Won
		Popularity Award		Won
	2003	Main Award (Bonsang)		Won
	2004	Hallyu Award		Won

Endorsements

• 2004: Korean Airlines^[26]

Future generations

Main article: Baby Vox Re.V

On December 26, 2006, DR Music unveiled the members of the second generation Baby V.O.X, a spinoff group called "Baby V.O.X. Re.V" (pronounced "reeve"). Like the original group, there is one lead vocalist, three "sub-vocalists" and a singer/rapper.

Main article: RaNia

RaNia debuted in April 2011 after being originally scheduled in mid-2010. However, the company, DR Music decided to rebrand the group as a new group with eight members. RaNia is the third generation of Baby V.O.X.

References

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baby V.O.X..

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