Baby VOX Biography 

Hailing from South Korea, Baby VOX, or Baby Voices of Xpression, was an all-girl group under the management of DR Music. They suffered from a tumultuous and conflict-ridden beginning, but they eventually struggled through to become one of the most popular groups to emerge out of South Korea.

The band first came together as early as 1997 consisting of members Jung Shi Woon, Jang Hyun Jung, Cha Yu Mi, Kim EZ, and Lee Hee Jin. Their style was roughly comparable to that of the Spice Girls, but this edgy, liberal sound did not play well in the more conservative South Korea. An onstage injury forced Cha to be replaced by Kan Mi Youn, and intra-band conflict necessitated the removal of Jung and Jang. They were immediately replaced by Lee G and Shim Eun Jin.

Their second album provided the hit single, “Ya Ya Ya,” which peaked at number seven on the pop charts in Korea. Despite their snowballing success, Baby VOX still had to undergo band changeups when it was revealed that Lee G had misrepresented her age to DR Music. She was replaced by Yoon Eun Hye.

By the third album, they finally had the much desired number one single with “Get Up.” This was followed shortly after by another number one hit, “Killer.” This album also provided the much acclaimed ballad, “Missing You.”

Their fourth and fifth album continued their success and saw the expansion of their popularity into China and other Asian countries outside their native South Korea.

Although they managed to put out a sixth album, which is rare for Korean pop groups, it failed to bring them the success of previous endeavors.

Real trouble came for the group, however, with the release of their seventh album entitled Ride West. It hit the shelves in April of 2004 and featured American music megastars Jennifer Lopez and Tupac Shakur. The album was the band’s first real attempt at international star status, but their attempts were blocked by legal troubles. Sampling from a freestyle rap, Baby VOX thought they had legal permission to use Shakur’s music. Shakur’s mother saw it differently, and the issue eventually went to court.

The release of this more westernized album also saw the group wear skimpier outfits and sport sexier dance moves, prompting the fellow Korean group DJ DOC to call them “prostitutes.”

With all the negative press surrounding the album, it was a major flop. Eventually Shim and Yoon left in 2005, and the group entirely disbanded in March of 2006.

Making headlines recently, however, the band saw new life when DR Music announced there would be a spin-off group entitled Baby VOX ReV. Announced on December 26, 2006, the new band debuted shortly after in 2007.

     del.icio.us     Stumble It  

• BOOKMARK THIS PAGE
• EMAIL TO A FRIEND