What’s the Secret of the Rainbow?

There are two relatively new groups to the KPOP world which have started to flicker on my KPOP radar. Those two groups are TS Entertainment’s 4-member group Secret, and also DSP Entertainment’s 7-member group Rainbow.

The main reasons these two have started to shine a little brighter on my KPOP radar were the new songs they both released just recently. Secret released their new song “Madonna” and Rainbow released a new single called “A”.

Here’s the MV for Secret’s “Madonna”…

… and here’s the MV for Rainbow’s “A”

Both girl groups seem to have a rockin’ sound and they both sport really catchy beats. I did a little research into the groups and unfortunately since they’re new there isn’t a lot of information on them out right now. But let’s run down the members of each as well as the recent singles they’re released.

According to what’s out there right now the members of Secret consist of:

Hyo Sung (효성) (Birthdate: October 13, 1989 (1989-10-13) (age 20)), birth name Jeon Hyo Seong (전효성)
Zinger (징거) (Birthdate: February 2, 1990 (1990-02-02) (age 20)), birth name Jung Ha Na (정하나)
Ji Eun (지은) (Birthdate: May 5, 1990 (1990-05-05) (age 20)), birth name Song Ji Eun (송지은)
Sun Hwa (선화) (Birthdate: October 6, 1990 (1990-10-06) (age 19)), birth name Han Seon Hwa (한선화)

I haven’t figured out who’s who yet, so don’t ask… :P The latest songs they’ve released are “I Want You Back” in October of 2009 and “Magic” on April 2010. There was a big gap between these releases which is the fact that I didn’t really know who they were then. However, now that they’ve released “Madonna” and it’s kickin’ sound this month, these girls will be some that I will be keeping a close eye on from now on. (I especially like the move where they’re sliding their heads with their arms crossed. The girl with the black hair is cool too. She caught my eye the minute I saw this video. If someone could tell me which one she is I’d be grateful. :D ).

The next group is Rainbow from DSP Entertainment and they consist of 7 members:

Kim Jae Kyung (김재경) (Birthdate: December 24, 1988 (1988-12-24) (age 21))
Koh Woo Ri (고우리) (Birthdate: February 22, 1988 (1988-02-22) (age 22))
Oh Seung A (오승아) (Birthdate: September 13, 1988 (1988-09-13) (age 21))
No Eul (노을) (Birthdate: May 10, 1989 (1989-05-10) (age 21))
Jung Yoon Hye (정윤혜) (Birthdate: April 14, 1990 (1990-04-14) (age 20))
Kim Ji Sook (김지숙) (Birthdate: July 18, 1990 (1990-07-18) (age 20))
Cho Hyun Young (조현영) (Birthdate: August 11, 1991 (1991-08-11) (age 19))

Before their release of “A” this month, the only other song that they’ve touted under their belt is “Gossip Girl” which was released all the way back in November of 2009. I heard this song awhile back, but didn’t think much of it. The sound wasn’t that great and the video wasn’t anything to gawk at either in my opinion. And since they’ve been out of the KPOP circuit for such a long time, Rainbow just seemed to be one of those groups that failed after it’s first single due to its low popularity. However, I was wrong when I heard “A”. The song is really catchy and the dance moves in the MV are pretty awesome too. These girls definitely know how to dance.

Looks like I have two more groups to keep my eye on in the coming months. I didn’t think that these girls would have such a strong comeback, but hey, it gives me more to look forward to right?

Give me your thoughts if you have any on these new groups. I’d like to know your opinions!

Till next time, see you on the flip side!

Orange Caramel… Yummy or not?

I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile, but haven’t gotten around to it until now. I really wanted to start doing little reviews of some of the new KPOP artists that have been popping up lately, and this new group Orange Caramel is one of them.

The reason I wanted to put out my thoughts about this group is because I really love the group After School, which is headed by Pledis Entertainment. After School if you don’t know, is a popular all-girl eight-member KPOP group and their hip-hop and pop beats just keep you screaming for more (at least in my opinion). Their latest single “Bang!” is a favorite of mine for sure, and their past songs aren’t bad either. Go check them out here if you want to know more.

What’s interesting about this new group Orange Caramel is that it basically is a subdivision of After School. Pledis Entertainment thought that it would be a good idea to split up the After School members into different subgroups, each promoting a different image. For Orange Caramel, they took three After School members (Park Soo Young/Lizzy (박수영), Im Jin Ah/Nana (임진아), and Oh Hye Rin/Raina (오혜린) and put them into this division. Just recently, they released their MV “Magic Girl” and started performing on popular KPOP shows.

The members of After School

You might be able to garner from the pictures what the group’s image is. Basically, Orange Caramel seems to try to attain everybody’s attention with a new, fresh and absolutely adorable cute image. And when I say “absolutely adorable” I’m not necessarily saying that’s a good thing. If you’ve listened to the style of After School long enough, you’ll know they have a really interesting pop and hip-hop sound. For me, it’s pretty cool and the music that they sing is good to hear and it’s on my favorites list on my iPod. When you press play on your music player and Orange Caramel pops up you’re immediately thrust into a bubbly environment with high pitched girls voices and overly cute exaggerated tones.

When you start watching the video for their MV “Magic Girl” you’ll experience what I mean even more. The girls appear in cute dresses and bows in their hair amazed by a cute guy who passes by. While watching this video I couldn’t hear anything but the bubbly beat and the words “Ottoke, ottoke!” The dance moves are similarly bubbly and everything is totally pink!

Orange Caramel

Alright, alright, so you say, it’s because I’m a guy that I don’t appreciate these overly cute things. I have to give you that. I mean I do admit that this type of music isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but then again it’s not that horrible to hear either. So personal preferences aside, let me tell you what I’m really not a fan of with this group: the waste of main vocalist Raina’s voice.

If you listen to After School’s past hit songs including “Ah!” and “Bang!” you’ll notice what a powerful voice one of the members has. Raina, who is a relatively young and new member of the group is one of the powerhouses of After School in terms of vocal ability. Don’t be fooled by her small size. The girl can belt out a tune like none other. What disappoints me about Orange Caramel the most is the waste of Raina’s amazing voice. Instead of utilizing her amazing and strong vocal abilities and range, they dial everything down and make her sing in a high pitch girly voice to fit into this group. Raina is amazingly talented and to see her have to do this just makes my heart sink a little.

Now I’m not sure what’s in store for the future of Orange Caramel. Maybe “Magic Girl” is just a one-time deal and then we’ll see some other good songs come out later. But just from this first song alone, I’ve given my thoughts. Orange Caramel seems to be targeted towards a few key audiences, mostly guys and girls who like cute and bubbly pop music. And like I said, it’s not exactly my cup of tea in terms of ear candy, but it could be worse I suppose.

Let’s see what Pledis has in store for our girls next time. Let me know what you think about this group. I’d like to know what you think!