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remembering KARA: the forgotten success | a thread done by a tired kamilia
Usually when people list the succesful 2nd gen girl groups that they know, most of them would probably say SNSD, 2ne1, Wonder Girls, 4minute, and so on.... (which you’re not wrong) but none of them would say KARA.
Some of you might have gotten into Kpop around 2016 or later so you wouldn’t know much about KARA so I don’t blame you. However, this is your opportunity to EDUCATE yourself because they’re one of the best ggs, even today
DISCLAIMER: I will be making comparisons, but it’s not to show who’s better (definitely not, we do not put women against each other here), it’s to give you an idea of how successful they were! moving on (:
KARA (카라 | カラ) was a south korean girl group under DSP Media in 2007! They went through 3 different line-up changes, but each line-up served!
They started off as 4 and made their debut in March 2007 with their first studio album The First Blooming & its single "Break It" while displaying a strong female image and a mature R&B sound. The company marketed them as the 2nd FIN.K.L.
DSP wanted another successful group like FIN.K.L, but by making KARA’s sound so similar to FIN.K.L, their intentions were backfired. The GP were not on board & it took members like Seungyeon to work hard on variety shows just to keep their name remembered.
With that on KARA’s plate, they also dealt with former member, Kim Sunghee, leaving due to parental pressure. The group was left with 3 members. (Here’s a video of Sunghee singing bc she was a queen)
Luckily, DSP did not give up & new members, Goo Hara & Kang Jiyoung, joined in 2008. After their addition, the group also changed their musical style / image to the "pretty but natural" appeal, releasing their first mini-album, Rock U, in July 2008.
KARA was bringing light to their new name. Their next cb ended up being a mini success as Pretty Girl started to gain attention from the GP, especially after Hara screamed into the mic during their performance bc of the amount of confetti on the ground.
In 2009, DSP did something unique in Kpop and asked fans which song should follow up Pretty Girl. Honey was then picked as the fan fave and actually was successful. They achieved their first win and it stayed on the top of the charts for 3 weeks!
Even Honey beat out Gee by SNSD and we all know how iconic that classic is. Ever since then, KARA have been a successful hit-maker group!
KARA then said they would return with an upgraded concept. They released their title track Wanna, which immediately charted. They performed Wanna and their bside Mister on music shows, but something interesting happened.
Mister:
That’s right folks, Mister happened. Have you ever heard of a bside completely overshadowing a title track? Mister became really popular bc of the butt dance & catchy tune. If you don’t know this song, you simply don’t know your kpop roots and that’s THAT!
After a mini hiatus, KARA released teasers for their next titled Lupin! It showcased a different side of KARA that interested the public. When the mv dropped, it received 90,000 views within 2 hours which was crazy back then.
To secure their success, KARA did a lot of fan-meetings around Asia to build up their fanbase. Then, DSP decided that it was time to break KARA into Japan. DSP wanted to make sure that their debut was worth it since it was a tough market to break into.
KARA became a very special girl group because of their insane success in Japan. They dedicate a lot of their career there and spoiler alert, were able to establish solo careers bc of their success.
KARA hit up Japan and took them by storm! Their debut with Mister was a success as they were dubbed as "Japan's No. 1 Rookie Artist of 2010" by Oricon and also receiving the "New Artist of the Year Award (International)" from the Japan Gold Disc Award
Mister was even more successful in Japan than Korea and was also the most downloaded song of all time by a korean group in Japan with over 2 million downloads by 2012. We really have to thank BoA for breaking into the Japanese market honestly.
KARA later released Jumping on Nov 10th. Jumping jumped on many charts and debuted at #5 on Daily Singles Chart on Oricon and then rose to #2 behind Arashi with debut sales of 54,977.
KARA released a compilation album titled Kara Best 2007-2010. The album was certified gold by the RIAJ, making KARA the 1st ever korean group since the 1990s to release an all-korean album that was about to break 100k copies in Japan. Then certified platinum exceeding 250k copies
Their debut Japanese album, Girl’s Talk, was released on Nov 24. It sold 107k copies in its 1st week & ranked #2 in the Oricon Weekly Album Chart, making this the 1st album by a non-Japanese gg in Japan in 6 years and 9 months to sell more than 100,000 albums in its first week.
The album was certified double platinum by the RIAJ a year later with sales exceeding half a million in Japan.
As KARA was away from Korea for 9 months bc of Japanese promotions, they released Jumping, a song from their Girl’s Talk album. As expected, she rose to the charts and won many wins. KARA even won the Mutizen award for Jumping on Inkigayo’s 600th episode.
After so much success, KARA was chosen as Best Rookie Artist, generating about 1.3b yen ($15.4m) and a total of 493k copies in Japan alone, in one year.
In April 2011, KARA achieved their 1st #1 single in Japan w/ Jet Coaster Love, making them the 1st foreign female group since the creation of the Oricon to rank #1 in the first week of release & also the 1st foreign female group in thirty years to do so
JCL debuted at #1 on Oricon's Weekly Singles Chart with 122,820 copies sold on its first week and also peaked at number two on Billboard's Japan Hot 100.
On June 22, KARA released their fourth Japanese single Go Go Summer. GGS debuted at #2 on Oricon's Weekly Singles Chart with sales of 113,873 copies sold on its first week. The song became KARA’s second single to sell over 100k copies on its first week.
After spending the first half of the year in Japan, KARA came back to Korea with one of the biggest kpop hits, Step! If you don’t know her, I feel bad for you.
Step’s achievements alone is astonishing. It climbed up to the top of the charts within hours, won awards against queens like SNSD, 2NE1, and 4minute, and sold over 100k copies. KARA have made a name for themselves.
However, they could only promote Step for 3 weeks until they had to go back to Japan. Keeping up with both countries simultaneously alone is something not a lot of groups can do
On Nov 21, they released their 2nd Japanese studio album, Super Girl, which included all their Japanese singles released that year. The album was eventually certified triple platinum by the RIAJ with sales exceeding 750k copies. The album received over 360k pre-orders alone.
And to give you a comparison so you can just imagine their power, Oricon also ranked KARA at #4 on the "Top 5 Best Selling Artists of the Year" in 2011 with their fellow friends, Girls’ Generation (SNSD) following closely at #5.
Jan 18, 2012, KARA was awarded with the Asia Star Award @ the 7th Asia Model Awards Ceremony. The prize is a special honor only given to entertainers who played a pivotal role in spreading Asian culture throughout the world for a given year. They won bc of their success in 2011.
KARA then announced their first tour in December 2011. KARASIA 2012 was successful and attracted many fans in Korean and Japan, but they did not stop!
On March 21 of 2012, the group released their sixth Japanese single and first double A-side single, Speed Up/Girls Power. The single debuted at #2 on Oricon's Weekly Singles Chart with sales of 99,236 copies sold on its first week.
On April 13, following the gold certification of their 6th single for sales exceeding 100k copies, it was reported that KARA had sold more than one million physical copies of their singles in Japan, making them the 3rd South Korean artist to do so after BoA & TVXQ.
On August 22nd, KARA released their masterpiece Pandora which reigned supreme for months, won more wins, and sold over 70k copies.
On Oct 17th, they released their 7th single called Electric Boy and a few days later, KARA achieved their first #1 single on Billboard's Japan Hot 100. Electric Boy has been certified gold by the RIAJ and sold over 58k copies in its first week.
On Nov 14th, KARA released their 3rd Japanese album Girls Forever with singles Speed Up/Girls Power & Electric Boy. It debuted on Oricon's Weekly Album Chart at number two with first week sales of 73,224 copies.
By celebrating the New Years in 2013, KARA held a concert in Tokyo Dome. KARA was the first korean girl group to perform AND sell out all their tickets in Tokyo Dome. They sold out in 5 minutes btw.
KARA was so successful that they even had an anime series for them (I cannot make this up). The show depicted the animated version of the members pursuing different careers.
On March 27, KARA released their 8th Japanese single titled Bye Bye Happy Days. The single debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Single Chart, with sales of 65,588.
On July 24, KARA released their 9th single titled Thank You Summer Love. Five days later, they announced their 4th Japanese album, Fantastic Girls will be released August 28. It sold over 57k copies.
Afterwards, they finally came back to Korea with Damaged Lady and their album Full Bloom! They released a single titled Runaway before their upcoming comeback with clips of the group’s drama titled Secret Love (yes they had a kdrama)
While Runaway was beautiful and mellow, Damaged Lady was powerful and dominate. I mean what’s better than girl groups performing in suits and looking like queens?
However, 2014 arrived and KARA hit a few complications. As we all know, contracts last for 7 years. Members Nicole and Jiyoung left, but Hara, Seungyeon, and Gyuri stayed.
But like before, DSP went on a hunt to find new members except this time, they decided to do a survival show with their trainees called the Kara Project to find a new member. Some trainees like KARD’s Somin & April’s Chaekyung participated. The winner was Heo Youngji!
A lot of people were worried at how KARA would be after two of their members left, but I mean.... look at the material. With Mamma Mia, KARA proved that they still got it and had a new image thanks to Youngji.
Despite Youngji being added in so late, she wasn’t left out. The KARA members were always there to comfort her and support her whenever she needed it.
In 2015, they released more Japanese singles and came back to Korea in May with CUPID, showing off their classy side. Sadly, this was their last korean comeback. (stream the mv btw)
They released their fifth Japanese album Girl’s Story and went on another tour, but by the time 2016 hit.... KARA disbanded.
Hara, Seungyeon, and Gyuri’s contracts expired and only Youngji was left alone. DSP said she would be a soloist since she built such a fanbase with KARA, but we only have her debut song and a feature on Kard’s song... we miss her
Gyuri and Youngji insisted that KARA has not disbanded and that they will come back/reunite, but like it’s 2020.......
Anyways, KARA was very successful and should be mentioned when talking about successful 2nd gen ggs! Their power is so strong that Japan still loves them! Most of the members were even able to establish solo careers in Japan after KARA!
With that being said, stan KARA! They may be disbanded, but don’t hold yourself back on such a GOD-TIER group with many catchy songs and great moments!
Don’t forget to support Seungyeon as she’s doing more dramas! Support Jiyoung’s Sweet Muchies drama that just finished and her future activities! Support Nicole’s Youtube channel! Here’s a dance cover of Wannabe done by our dancing queen Nicole
Nicole’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNEG2XxjRXLQBBRMI7RUzzg
Seungyeon’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFjTUKj2cAGYrg24rqqF4sQ
Gyuri’s Beauty Youtube Channel with T-ara’s Eunjung: https://www.youtube.com/c/BEAUTYVIEW
