4minute

4minute promoting Hit Your Heart; Left to Right: Jiyoon, Jihyun, Gayoon, Sohyun, Hyuna (2010)

4Minute (포미닛) is a Korean pop girl group formed by Cube Entertainment. They are best known for their hit 2009 song "MUZIK" and Hyun A, a former Wonder Girls member that left the group due to illness. They made their Japanese debut on May 5, 2010 with the release of the Japanese version of "MUZIK".

Members

• Ji Hyun (Leader, Vocals)
• Ga Yoon (Main Vocals)
• Ji Yoon (Rapper, Lead Vocals)
• Hyun A (Main Rapper, Main Dancer, Vocals)
• So Hyun (Rapper, Vocals)

Information

Debut

4minute promoting "Hot Issue" (2009)

Initially, 4Minute was known as " Hyun A's Group" due to little information known about the group and Hyun A; a former Wonder Girls member who would re-debut with 4minute. Hyun A and Jihyun were the first members announced to be in the 5 member group. On May 14, 2009 Cube Entertainment released the official name of the group and slated their official debut for mid-June. In a statement, Cube Entertainment defined the meaning of the name "4minute" stating that they "...will give off each of their charms while performing for that 4 minute long performance on the stage, captivating the hearts of fans.” The teaser for "Hot Issue", their debut MV, was released on June 11, 2009. However, the teaser sparked controversy amongst netizens who claimed the teaser plagiarized an iPod advertisement.

Cube Entertainment released concept photo's of 4minute on June 12, 2009; promoting the "Candy Funky Style". 4minute was criticized by Netizens who declared 4minute was similar to 2NE1 and After School. Cube Entertainment assured netizens that 4minute was unique stating "Their Candy Funky Stye is different from After School, who does vivid colours and 2NE1 with the Hip Hop style. "Candy Funky" is currently very famous in Europe with the spirit of ‘Let’s go back to the 1980s’." Regardless, 4minute became the #1 searched phrase on Daum, and their popularity increased before their debut. On June 15, 2009 the music video for "Hot Issue" was officially released. 4minute debuted "Hot Issue" on June 18, 2009 on M! Countdown, then won the "Rookie of the Month" award from Cyworld with "Hot Issue" on July 1, 2009.

Sony Korea chose 4minute's un-released song "MUZIK" as their MP3 Player theme, which was played in the CM. Sequentially, "ShoeMarker", a shoe company, collaborated with 4minute who endorsed their product while 4minute was asked to represent the relaunch of Pucca, a South Korean character brand. "Hot Issue" continued to have immense popularity digitally. On August 3, 2009 4minute was awarded the "Rookie of the Month" award from Cyworld for "Hot Issue".

4minute acquired a Reality Show through MTV titled MTV 4minute. The show, which was a total of 20 episodes and 4 minutes long, first aired on August 10, 2009. 4minute completed promotions for "Hot Issue" and began preparing for their first mini-album.

4minute promoting For Muzik (2009)

1st Mini-Album, Rise in Popularity

Cube Entertainment slated the debut mini-album, titled For Muzik for an early August release. However, the mini-album was postponed until August 31, 2009. For Muzik was leaked on August 28, 2009 from Venezuela via Youtube. Due to the leak, Cube Entertainment released the mini-album digitally online, and For Muzik entered the charts. 4minute planned to promote For Muzik with "MUZIK" and "Anjullae". Yet, "Anjullae" suffered a ban from Music Bank, deeming the lyrics inappropriate. However, 4minute experience explosive sales with For Muzik; the mini album hit the 20,000 mark in pre-orders.

The MV for "MUZIK" was released on September 3, 2009. 4minute debuted "MUZIK" on September 5, 2009 at Music Bank, and the group went on to win two Mutizen's at Inkigayo on September 27, 2009 and their second #1 award on M! Countdown. 4minute ended "MUZIK" promotions and it was announced that the group would use "What A Girl Wants" as their second single. The debut performance was at Music Core on October 24, 2009 and the music video was released on October 28, 2009. The group went on to win the "Yepp Newcomer Award" along with T-ara at the 2009 Golden Disk Awards.

Overseas Activities, 2nd Mini-Album

Cube Entertainment announced their plans to expand 4minute into other Asian countries due to immense popularity. The group was invited to the "Korea China Music Festival" where they made their debut appearance in China on November 25, 2009 in Shanghai; they performed "Hot Issue" and "MUZIK". On November 30, 2009 it was announced that Hyun A and Ji Yoon would make their solo debut's, however it was not decided which member would debut first. 4minute went on to be featured in fellow label-mate Mario's Christmas digital single "Jingle Jingle", which was released on December 2, 2009; the music video premiered online on December 3rd.

Hyun A made her debut with the digital single Change on 4th January. The music video was deemed inappropriate for minors and given a 19+ rating because of the dancing Hyun A does in the video. It was re-edited by Cube Entertainment, this was given a 15+ rating nevertheless.

They released their debut Japanese single MUZIK on May 5th. It debuted at #16 on the Oricon Charts, and in it's first week reached #21 with barely any promotion. All together, the single charted for 3 weeks and sold 6,154 copies.

Their 2nd mini album, Hit Your Heart was set to be released on May 19th, yet under mysterious circumestances, the album leaked on the 19th yet the album was avaliable in stores on May 27th. The reason is still unknown. The lead single for Hit Your Heart was Huh', and this reached #1 on Music Core.

Their 2nd Japanese single is set for release on 28th July.

Trivia

• Official Fanclub: 4NIA (4 + MANIA; For Our Mania). "The mania we have gives us the strength to support 4Minute".

Korean Discography

Mini-Albums

• [2009.08.31] For Muzik
• [2010.05.27] Hit Your Heart

Digital Single

• [2009.06.15] Hot Issue

Collaborations/ Other

• [2009.12.02] Jingle Jingle
• [2010.01.05] God of Study OST (#2 Dreams Come True)
• [2010.02.18] Amerie - Heard 'Em All
• [2010.04.13] Personal Taste OST Part.3
• [2010.05.14] Dasi Han Beon Daehanminguk (#2 Dasi Han Beon Daehanminguk (Brown Eyed Girls & 4Minute))

Videoclips

• Hot Issue
• For Muzik
• Jingle Jingle
• What A Girl Wants
• HUH Hit Your Heart
• I My Me Mine

Japanese Discography

Singles

• [2010.05.05] Muzik
• [2010.07.28] I My Me Mine

Videoclips

• Muzik (Japanese Veraion)
• I My Me Mine(Japanese Veraion)

Filmography

Television

• [2009.08.10 - 2009.09.04] MTV 4minute
• [2010.06.26 - Present] MTV 4minute’s Friend Day

Awards

• [2009.07.01] Cyworld Rookie of the Month of June "Hot Issue"
• [2009.08.01] Korea's Cultural, Physical Education and Tourism Bureau - Rookie Music Award
• [2009.08.12] SBS Power Rookie (August)
• [2009.09.27] SBS Inkigayo #1 - MUZIK
• [2009.10.01] M.net M! Countdown #1 - MUZIK
• [2009.09.27] SBS Inkigayo #1 - MUZIK
• [2009.12.10] 24th Golden Disk Awards : Yepp Newcomer Award
• [2010.01.03] 16th Korea Entertainment Arts Awards : Female Rookie Award
• [2010.01.15] 2010 Asia Model Awards : Popular Artist Award
• [2010.06.17] M.net M! Countdown #1 - Huh

External Links

• Official Korean Website
• Official Japanese Website
• Official Daum Cafe
• 4Minutes (International Forum)