When they first appeared on the music scene known as Korean pop it would have been easy to dismiss them as just another girl group.
After all "k-pop", as it is more commonly known, is a heavily saturated market filled with boy and girl groups singing their hearts out and dancing to slick electronic beats in front of their fans. Some are better than others and there seems to be a new group practically every month.
Then came f(x) with their debut video LA chA TA.
Sure they had the looks, but they clearly had the dance moves as well as the vocals to back up their wonderfully executed video and music. These were not overly auto-tuned notes that so many more established groups were using.
The one thing that really caught people's attention was... the boy dancing in the background? Wait a minute here!
Second glance shows never to judge a book by its cover. That's no boy dancing there in the background. It was none other then the tomboy known as Amber. This girl wasn't just a singer... she was a rapper and a darn good one at that as this video of her freestyling shows.
Now these girls really had something really special. It's not every day you see a girl group with a rapper in it after all. Much less one as good as her.
Alone they would have been successful, but look at any f(x) music video and you'll see dozens if not hundreds of comments about Amber.
Clearly more handsome then beautiful and certainly more boyish then the other girls, Amber makes up a significant part of why this group is so successful. Not only does she stand out, but she also fits in with the other girls and they all work together to form a group that certainly deserves all the attention they have received since their debut in September 2009.
Their second single was the song Chu and helped show off their unique style and cohesion as a group. They were certainly on the right track and they also did a cover of SNSD's song Chocolate Love which doubled as a promo for a cell phone.
Finally there came the song NU ABO. The title implied "new blood" since ABO refers to the various blood types. Combined with the lyrics the song was meant to signify that f(x) was here to put some new blood into the k-pop industry and this single was by far the most stylish and captivating beat yet.
When you first watch it and hear the song its very different from other k-pop songs and you can't help but watch it through to the end. All of the girls shine through in this video and with nearly 4 million views on YouTube it's certainly doing pretty well.
It is the first video listed when you search for their name on YouTube and this video really helps to highlight the girls singing, dancing, Amber's rapping and the fact that they really are infusing the saturated k-pop industry with a fresh sound and different look.
But things took a sour turn when Amber hurt her ankle during a performance and went back home to the USA so she could recover and regain strength. These things happen and no one would have thought much of it... except that it took so long for news of her recover and return to the group to come that fans started to worry.
Worry soon turned to irritation and then to outright outrage. Amber's fans demanded to know where she was and what had happened to her. It shouldn't take months for a sprained ankle to heal should it?
The fact that their label SM Entertainment put out videos showing the other four girls, minus Amber, did nothing to reassure them. Weeks turned into months and then nearly a year as news trickled out at a maddeningly slow pace. Even after it was announced and confirmed that Amber would be returning there were few pictures or videos of her aside from a promo shoot for K-Swiss.
http://www.allkpop.com/ even put out an "Amber Alert" article about the situation that highlighted everything f(x) fans were currently agonizing over.
SM Entertainment finally squashed the rumors once and for all when all five members were featured in the latest edition of Maire Claire magazine. Classier then ever and a bit more mature they looked ready to take on the music world once again and a new album is set to debut sometime this spring or summer.
Finally fans were assured that their favorite rapping tomboy was still in the group and that all the girls were sticking together. It's hard to make a splash in the k-pop industry considering how many pop groups their are. Yet the claim f(x) made of infusing some "new blood" into the music industry wasn't just proud boasting after all.
These girls have got talent and it only took one of them to cause an outrage of massive proportions among fans.
All of f(x)'s fans eagerly await their new music and keep our their group title in mind as well. That (x) is a variable. It represents the different talents of each girl and the way their sound may vary in the future, but no matter what happens their fans will stick by them with a tenacity unseen with any other group.
The first mini album by f(x) is currently available on itunes.
After all "k-pop", as it is more commonly known, is a heavily saturated market filled with boy and girl groups singing their hearts out and dancing to slick electronic beats in front of their fans. Some are better than others and there seems to be a new group practically every month.
Then came f(x) with their debut video LA chA TA.
 |
| f(x) is ready to take the Korean pop scene with a vengeance! |
The one thing that really caught people's attention was... the boy dancing in the background? Wait a minute here!
 |
| This is no ordinary girl group |
Now these girls really had something really special. It's not every day you see a girl group with a rapper in it after all. Much less one as good as her.
Alone they would have been successful, but look at any f(x) music video and you'll see dozens if not hundreds of comments about Amber.
Clearly more handsome then beautiful and certainly more boyish then the other girls, Amber makes up a significant part of why this group is so successful. Not only does she stand out, but she also fits in with the other girls and they all work together to form a group that certainly deserves all the attention they have received since their debut in September 2009.
Their second single was the song Chu and helped show off their unique style and cohesion as a group. They were certainly on the right track and they also did a cover of SNSD's song Chocolate Love which doubled as a promo for a cell phone.
Finally there came the song NU ABO. The title implied "new blood" since ABO refers to the various blood types. Combined with the lyrics the song was meant to signify that f(x) was here to put some new blood into the k-pop industry and this single was by far the most stylish and captivating beat yet.
When you first watch it and hear the song its very different from other k-pop songs and you can't help but watch it through to the end. All of the girls shine through in this video and with nearly 4 million views on YouTube it's certainly doing pretty well.
It is the first video listed when you search for their name on YouTube and this video really helps to highlight the girls singing, dancing, Amber's rapping and the fact that they really are infusing the saturated k-pop industry with a fresh sound and different look.
But things took a sour turn when Amber hurt her ankle during a performance and went back home to the USA so she could recover and regain strength. These things happen and no one would have thought much of it... except that it took so long for news of her recover and return to the group to come that fans started to worry.
 |
| Is f(x) even complete as a group without Amber? |
Worry soon turned to irritation and then to outright outrage. Amber's fans demanded to know where she was and what had happened to her. It shouldn't take months for a sprained ankle to heal should it?
The fact that their label SM Entertainment put out videos showing the other four girls, minus Amber, did nothing to reassure them. Weeks turned into months and then nearly a year as news trickled out at a maddeningly slow pace. Even after it was announced and confirmed that Amber would be returning there were few pictures or videos of her aside from a promo shoot for K-Swiss.
http://www.allkpop.com/ even put out an "Amber Alert" article about the situation that highlighted everything f(x) fans were currently agonizing over.
SM Entertainment finally squashed the rumors once and for all when all five members were featured in the latest edition of Maire Claire magazine. Classier then ever and a bit more mature they looked ready to take on the music world once again and a new album is set to debut sometime this spring or summer.
 |
| It's a new year with new looks, but f(x) is the same group as before. |
These girls have got talent and it only took one of them to cause an outrage of massive proportions among fans.
All of f(x)'s fans eagerly await their new music and keep our their group title in mind as well. That (x) is a variable. It represents the different talents of each girl and the way their sound may vary in the future, but no matter what happens their fans will stick by them with a tenacity unseen with any other group.
The first mini album by f(x) is currently available on itunes.
