DO YOU REMEMBER EMPHASIS? A few people do. They fall into the "nugu but not nugu disbanded girl group" category. They were famous during their short year of activity.
Initially, Emphasis acted as a sister group to Angelico's first and smash-hit boy group, Priority. It was meant to be a collaborative project, with Emphasis and Priority meant to come together once a year and make an album together.
This would never end up happening.
Shortly after Emphasis' debut in 2014, the group fell inactive before disbanding in 2016 after a year of inactivity and two releases to their name.
Emphasis has effectively been wiped from Angelico's history, erasing all their content with the exception of their official music videos. The erasure of Emphasis has always left a sour taste in people's mouths.
What happened? Why did they disband so early and so quietly? Where are the girls now?
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏𝆹 🌐. ˚ . . ࣪. BASIC INFO ?!
DEBUT DATE: January 12th, 2014.
DISBANDMENT DATE: March 21st, 2016.
YEARS ACTIVE: 2014 - 2016
EMPHASIS would release TWO mini albums in their short time as a group. They operated on a dual-concept system where they would have a "Cool" song and a "Cute" song, promoting them both simultaneously to show off their versatility and milk the mini album for all it's worth.
Their debut mini-album would feature the tracks "Feel Special" and "Du Du Du!" as well as the b-sides "White Lotus" and "Hot Stuff!" which were not promoted but performed on occasion. The mini album, tilted EMPRINTSIS, would perform decently, and the girls would garner a small but dedicated fanbase within Korea as well as Australia.
Their final mini album would be titled "EMFACT" with the title tracks "FANCY" and "LOVE BOMB!" accompanying the three b-sides: Singled, Interlocked, and Sugar Sweet. Fancy and Love Bomb were hits. Literally, the success of their first comeback is every Kpop company's dream. These girls were talked about everywhere and they were everywhere. Everyone wanted a part of Emphasis and to see what the girls had in store.
What did they have in store, you might ask? A year-long hiatus.
Upon the announcement of the disbandment of their now-deleted fan cafe, Emphasis announced that it would release a farewell single that would not be promoted anywhere but would act as a gift to their Sweetpeas. "Pinky Swear," though a beautiful and heartfelt ballad, is one of those songs you never listen to unless you want to cry. Leaving Emphasis on a depressing and hollow note.
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ 𝆹 🌐. ˚ . . ࣪. THE LINEUP ?!
SUZUKI AKIKO, 96' LINER ; LEADER + MAIN RAPPER
JUNG YOONAH, 98' LINER ; MAIN DANCER + CENTER
PIPER JEON, 98 LINER ; LEAD DANCER + LEAD VOCAL
KANG YEONA, 91' LINER ; LEAD VOCALIST + VISUAL
NA CHAEWON, 98' LINER ; MAIN VOCALIST + LEAD DANCER
KITAGAWA SUKI, 97' LINER ; LEAD DANCER + LEAD VOCALIST
KURODA MIRAI, 99' LINER ; LEAD VOCALIST
ACHARA "STAR" SHINAWATRA, 97' LINER ; LEAD RAPPER
IM LUCY, 99' LINER ; LEAD DANCER
KIM MIJOO, 00 01' LINER ; MAIN DANCER
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ 𝆹 🌐. ˚ . . ࣪. WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?!
AKIKO would be the first member to terminate her contract with Angelico, but rumors still circulated she had her contract terminated by Angelico instead of leaving like the other girls. She would return to Japan within the same month as Emphasis' disbandment, retiring from idol life and becoming a producer and director. It would later be revealed in 2020 that Akiko was blacklisted from Korean entertainment after she had to explain why she rarely worked with KPOP artists. Though she will never work in the KPOP industry again, she recalls her time in Emphasis very fondly and takes any chance she gets to call Son Jinhwa a creepy loser.
YOONAH re-debuted in 2018 under the stage name BAEBI, one of the two Emphasis members to stick with Angelico. She would debut as the group's leader, main dancer, and main vocalist. Baebi is one of the most successful female soloists in KPOP and is often referred to as an "icon" and "it girl" when brought up in conversations. It's very rare for Yoonah to mention Emphasis, whether because of contractual reasons or because she doesn't want to is unknown, when she does bring up "her first group," she speaks fondly of them and often gets emotional. She always posts something on Emphasis' debut anniversary and wishes things could've been different.
PIPER is the leader, main vocalist, lead dancer, and visual of Mydol entertainment girl group Sugar n' Spice. She has also become known for her solo projects (solo releases, OSTs, acting, MCing, etc.) and her influence in the fashion world. Even though her time in emphasis was clouded with negativity, Piper saw the group as her first official home after leaving Australia, and she remembers it as a time that should be treasured despite everything that went wrong. despite being very aware of everything horrible that went down during that time period, it took until very recently for Piper to take off her rose-tinted glasses to see how truly awful the girls were treated and to fully process everything they went through.
YEONA is on her way to pursuing an acting career as she thinks the idol community causes a lot of suffering and criticism. Yeona felt that being with the group was like growing up in a household of sisters as they fought, they laughed and they had fun with each other. She says the group was there for her despite her temper when she first joined, so she can't say she doesn't miss the group, but she's glad they've gone their own ways
CHAEWON signed with STARBORN CREATIVE in early 2018, shortly after leaving Angelico, and trained there for another two years before debuting again in the girl group PRIMADONNA in 2020. She views her experience in Emphasis as just a fond memory. She prefers to look back at the good times she had with the girls, as well as at the girl she was back then before the group unfortunately disbanded.
SUKI is the leader, visual, and main vocalist in the Fearful Entertainment group, FEMME. She feels very bittersweet about it. She's happy that it lead to her having a career, but doesn't want to go back to that era, ever, because of how toxic it was for everyone involved.
MIRAI is mainly an actress now, and she's a very successful one at that! She's been in dramas such as Hotel del Luna, Stranger Things, A Tale of the Nine-tailed, Alice in Borderland, Squid Game, live-action remakes of Kakegurui and Kimi ni Todoke. Mirai also went solo while in AKB48 in 2017 and recently returned to the K-pop market this year. She views her time in the group as a learning experience and something she doesn't really regret. It just told her that maybe the Korean idol market wasn't entirely for her, which is why it took so long for her to actually return to it. Overall, though, Mirai treasures the connections she made with the other members, but she would rather not feel that insecure or unsure again.
STAR is the main rapper and lead dancer of La Vie under Prismatic Entertainment. The group has had its own turmoil, but she refuses to let her career end in a dumpster fire like Emphasis did, even if it's the last thing she does. She views it as learning from mistakes. Her time in Emphasis was a few very high ups and many lows. She doesn't generally like to talk about it unless it's a brief positive comment in an interview. The long hiatus almost made her believe her dream was over, but getting a second chance only made her dig her claws deeper into what she has now.
LUCY became a streamer after leaving Angelico. She would keep up with her YesImLucy account and do various comedy streams. In 2023, she decided to go back into music. She would debut as a soloist under Dream Media with the album "LOVE AND ...". Her music was well received by her current fans, but she was cursed to nugudom by netizens. She thought it was a waste of time. Lucy loved being in the group and spending time with the other girls, which gave her little experience. They felt more like a group of YouTubers singing together than an actual K-pop group.
MIJOO made her third, and hopefully final, debut in the girl group JelliB under Poser Records back in 2023. Her positions are that of main dancer, lead vocalist, and face of the group. Mijoo has since been deemed "the idol's princess" due to the huge amount of love and support she's garnered over the years, not just by her fans but also by people in the industry. Mijoo's experience in Emphasis will always be seen as positive. They were and forever will be her first home. Even when she was being overworked to hell and back and often found herself growing frustrated and empty from the extensive training, she knew that the moment she stepped into the practice room, she was going to be smothered in adoration. Their love pushed her to work harder, and even though they didn't last long, they remained the best part of her time in the group.
𝆹 🌐. ˚ . . ࣪. WHAT DO U WANT TO SEE NEXT ?!
EMPHASIS MOST VIRAL MOMENTS !
THE TRUTH BEHIND EMPHASIS.
Voting ended onOct 17, 2024
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