HyunA is a pop-culture queen who challenges South Korean norms and K-pop conventions, proving over and over that she doesn’t fit within a mold. She has had a long career and is still going. However, her career has also been marred by hate and health issues which she has opened up about only recently.
Born Kim Hyun Ah (김현아), more commonly known under her stage name HyunA (현아), she debut with female group Wonder Girls. They debuted with their first mini album, The Wonder Begins. Which was released on February 13th, 2007, she was only 14 years old when she debuted. While Wonder Girls was the first group she was a part of, it certainly wasn’t the last. HyunA also debuted with 4minute and in the sub-unit, 4Tomorrow in 2009. In January 2010, she began her solo career with her first single Change under Cube Entertainment. She later debuted with Triple H in 2017. We will dive into all of this and more!
As mentioned earlier, HyunA debuted with the Wonder Girls under JYP Entertainment. Several months later, HyunA’s parents pulled her from the group citing health problems for the reason for removing her from the group, public activities and the company. HyunA wouldn’t re-enter the spotlight until she debuted under Cube Entertainment’s group for 4minute and later sub-group/unit 4Tomorrow.
HyunA debuted her solo career in 2010 with Change, which charted at number 2 on South Korea’s Gaon Digital Chart. The Gaon Digital Chart is South Korea’s ranked music chart which is provided by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and is published weekly.
In 2011, HyunA released Bubble Pop! which gained her popularity and wider recognition. Bubble Pop! garnered 5 million views in a mere 5 days and nearly 9 million views in two weeks, breaking then records. In 2015, it hit 100 million views, making HyunA the first female soloist to hit that milestone. Later in 2011, she formed Trouble Maker with former member of Beast and labelmate Hyunseung, they released a song with the same name.
In 2012, HyunA partnered with Psy to participate in a remix of Gangnam Style called Oppa’s Just My Style. This also caused her growing popularity to surge, it was also at this time that she released her second mini-album Melting with title track Ice Cream. Ice Cream gained international attention, and was, at the time, the fastest Korean music video to gain 20 million views on YouTube. In the same month, HyunA joined Sistar’s Hyolyn, Secret’s Jun Hyo-seong, After School’s Nana and Kara’s Nicole to form a project group titled Dazzling Red.
In 2014, HyunA released her third album titled A Talk with title track Red. Red proved to be both a domestic and international success. HyunA was praised for establishing herself as a global pop-star, and Rolling Stone named Red #5 on their top ten music videos of 2014. 2015 HyunA came out with Because I’m the Best featuring Jung Il-hoon on her fourth album A+.
2016 saw the disbandment of her group 4minute and HyunA was the only member to renew her contract with Cube Entertainment. HyunA continued her solo-career and she saw continuing success. As she resumed onward as a soloist, HyunA released fifth mini album A’wesome and its title track How’s This? (어때). At this time HyunA embarked on her first solo tour of Asia, and then to mark her tenth anniversary, she did a fan meeting tour of North America and visited ten cities during this time.
In 2017, Cube Entertainment confirmed HyunA, Hui and E’Dawn (Hui and E’Dawn were apart of Pentagon) were set to debut in May as new sub-unit, Triple H. HyunA released her sixth album Following and its title track (and my personal favorite) Babe. Lip & Hip was released around this time as well.
In 2018, pictures of HyunA and E’Dawn together surfaced. Cube Entertainment denied that the two were dating, however, during an interview they confirmed the relationship which had been started in 2016. The entertainment company responded to this by cancelling performances, promotions and interviews of Triple H. Fans were divided with the news of their relationship, unfortunately, Cube Entertainment, HyunA and E’Dawn ultimately split ways. Some fans petitioned for their removal, while others applauded their courage and disdain for how the entertainment company handled the situation.
In 2019, HyunA and Dawn (formerly E’Dawn) signed with Psy’s company, P Nation. In November of 2019, HyunA posted a letter to her fans on Instagram, opening up about her health struggles. HyunA has struggled with a panic disorder and depression. She also revealed that she had been experiencing fogginess and even collapsing, she believed that these symptoms were due to her panic disorder, however, it was later that she was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope. HyunA released Flower Shower in the same year and in 2021 released her seventh EP I’m Not Cool and its title track of the same name as well as B-side song Good Girl.
Honestly, on a personal note, HyunA is one of those timeless artist. Having been in and out of the spotlight since 2009 (12 years!) she has been recognizable, renowned, and loved by fans world wide. She’s an artist I personally admire, breaking barriers and staying true to herself in an environment that has continually objectified her in one way or another.
If you haven’t checked her out already, I hope this convinces you to check out a song or two by her.
Until next time, cheers!
Note from the author: Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a rise on racially motivated attacks on Asians. Please consider checking out the links below to either learn more about resources available or to donate.
Stop Asian Hate.
http://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co
P.S. Check out my podcasts that correlate with these blog posts and become a supporter here. Thanks in advance!!
Consider Supporting this Blog:
utterrandomness653702315.wordpress.com 
♥️
LikeLike