Crayon Pop are a five member girl group under Chrome Entertainment. They made their debut back in 2012.
The members consist of the Geummi (leader), Ellin, Choa, Way and Soyul. Choa and Way are actually identical twin sisters. The group’s music style is often described as electro-pop or disco-pop, though they have also experimented with techno and even trot sounds in their songs.
The girls had a quite tumultuous start even before their MV debut, with a change-up of members including the early departure of original member Serang to pursue an acting career and Way not joining until after this event. The girls’ first official MV ‘Dancing Queen’ was not a commercial success and allegedly depleted all the money of Chrome Entertainment, which was already struggling financially.
What came next was a complete change of image. The girls donned tracksuits, which was previously unheard of in an industry filled with feminine and sexy girl groups. As time went on, the group were still not given many opportunities to appear on music shows, so they resorted to promoting their debut album through guerrilla performances on the streets. Through their hard work, the groups started to secure a loyal fanbase, and the girls finally started to see success in Japan with a sell out mini-concert in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The girls moved on to release ‘Bar Bar Bar’, which quickly went viral after becoming hugely successful in their native Korea. The girls’ unusual concept of skirts, tracksuit bottoms, polo shirts and scooter helmets intrigued viewers from all over the world, and their budget MV has currently gained more than 30 million views. This increased popularity led to the girls even beating out EXO for a Music Bank win and a special ‘Global version’ MV of ‘Bar Bar Bar’. The success also meant that the girls could move to luxury accommodation from their previously much smaller housing.
The girls released their 2nd mini album as their popularity soared. They were invited to perform in China, the USA, Hong Kong and Australia. Their following Christmas single ‘Lonely Christmas’ also did very well with its accompanying cute MV.
By 2014, Crayon Pop were an established name on the K-Pop scene, and their release of the single “Uh-ee” racked up more than one million views in a single day. The group was even chosen to perform as the opening act by American artist Lady Gaga for multiple US stops on her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball Tour.
The success continued on, and the members focused more on special promotions in Japan for a while before becoming public ambassadors for the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation and Save the Childrens’ campaign to promote the importance of wearing helmets for motorbike users in Thailand.
This year also saw the very cool Power Ranger/Sailor Moon style MV for their release for their single ‘FM’ and continued promotions in Japan with ‘Rarirure’.
There is also a Crayon Pop sub-group called ‘Strawberry Milk’ made up of twin sisters Way and Choa.
It seems that the world has been taken up by Crayon Pop’s unusual image, super energetic vibes and fun attitude. They seem to always have something interesting and unique up their sleeves, and hopefully the future will give us some more fun Crayon Pop releases!
Here are a selection of MVs from the group, and let us know if you are a Crayon Pop fan!
‘Bing Bing’
‘Dancing Queen (MV 2.0)’
‘Bar Bar Bar’
‘Uh-ee’
‘FM’
‘OK’ (Sub Group: Strawberry Milk)
