To kick off our new feature Weekly Idol let’s start off with a quick article on one of SM Entertainment‘s popular artists BoA.
Kwon BoA is no stranger to many Kpop fans and has often been considered the Queen Of Kpop because of her veteran musician status. She started her career at a very young age. After two years of training at SM Entertainment, she made her debut at the age of 13 with ID; Peace B.
Despite moderate success with early Korean albums, BoA took a hiatus from Korean music and SM Entertainment made arrangements with Avex Japan to prepare said singer’s Japanese debut which also provided the opportunity for her to advance in the Japanese language. Debuting in Japan was perhaps one of the massive career breakthroughs for BoA and gained her a lot of international fans.
Sealing her name firmly in the Japanese music market for many years along with an attempt to break into the US music market, BoA eventually made a Korean comeback with Hurricane Venus in 2010, followed by Only One in 2012.
As well as releasing new music and making a cameo in dramas like Athena Goddess Of War, BoA was on the judging panel for SBS‘s K-Pop Star alongside Park Jin Young/JYP and Yang Hyun Suk/YG from 2011 – 2013.
Popular Songs
Listen To My Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZJHQvT2uzA
Every Heart [Japanese version]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u9Ma7hMmEA
A live performance of Jewel Song & No 1 at KMTV 2002 Korean Music Awards
Valenti
Hurricane Venus
Only One
BoA was part of a music project group called Anyband with Junsu, Tablo and Jin Bora. Here is the full length CF/music drama video in the Anycall series
Why I chose BoA as the Weekly Idol
The world of Jpop introduced me to Kwon BoA and I foolishly assumed she was Japanese because of her fluency. In some way she was the ultimate bridge of music for me when it came to discovering more Kpop or Kpop idols who had pursued a path in Japanese music. I haven’t been as up to date with her activities as much as I used to but I have always had a ton of respect for her. Dropping out of school to start life as a trainee at the age of 11 was certainly a huge risk…but look at where it’s gotten her now. I also still can’t believe she’s managed to achieve so much before the age of 30.
The hardworking nature, her multi-lingual ability, as well as dance and vocal talent she presents makes her a force to be reckoned with and it is no wonder she is highly respected and admired by many people, not just her fellow labelmates. No matter what you think of her, BoA is a name that is cemented in Asian music as well as Hallyu itself.
