2nd slide: these are the original members. They're basically unknown in Kpop at this point.
Their dream was ruined by Brave Brothers’ terrible mismanagement. He’s the producer who says “Brave Sound” and built the careers of the competition.
Why didn’t he focus on his own group? Because 3 left from unsafe driving and disrespect and they couldn’t be a group as 2. Their manager drove them while gaming. Yejin recorded it, told her parents, who called the company: they were told to mind their own business. Yoojin and Hyeran stayed, but went through a 3 year hiatus waiting for replacement members. Ofc management didn’t even say members left.
Months after redebut, they had to crowdfund with Makestar bc he competed with his own group while it was on hiatus. He needed money and sold his best beats to the competition: AOA and Hello Venus. This made it hard on the new members (1st slide).
No, it's not one of the happy stories in Kpop. Some of you are familiar with the fairytale win of BB Girls. Their song Rollin went viral after a fan edit showed their enthusiastic military performances in Korea, 4 years after it was released. They weren't getting recognition or money, but kept giving their all on stage. I wish the original members got to tell their story too. It's one of the worst examples of mistreatment that few know about. That’s what hurts me as a fan. People just assume they failed.
Hyeran blamed things on herself. She was the first trainee, and the only original member still pursuing music. She has one of the hardest hitting raps on Deepened. She cried on stage for the redebut, presumably from this situation too. Her birthday is coming up. She lost fans while they waited for her to release her solo work, while she cobbled together funding with a dayjob in graphics. She went through things she didn’t feel like explaining or disclosing until long after. Bulimia 6 years after (her Medium, Jain Ros is her artist name), bc she might be the only idol individually fatshamed on TV. Feeling suicidal at Brave Girls, as she posted on Youtube, 8 years after leaving. Getting scammed caused her solo delay. She put out some music a little faster after joining a company, but people dismiss the artistry of her AI MVs as slop. Fans don’t even want to post it. I realized she actually did a bunch of Arirang song/legend references, which explain why the Go MV has such similar imagery months after hers. (Yes, the same Arirang referenced by BTS, which may explain the similar water imagery between Swim and Go.) She cried about her solo struggle last June on her IG channel (join via mobile), where few of her friends follow. It’s hard for her to talk about, so I try to tell her story, with her permission.
It’s even hard for Yejin to talk about: she only mentioned it once, 7 years after. She blurred the manager’s face and waited till he left the company so his job wasn’t endangered.
1st/3rd slide is the 2016 members. Same exact order for both pics! Yoojin, Eunji, Yujeong, Minyoung, Hayun, Yuna, Hyeran.
This kind of shows the level of control, I heard about Brave Brothers micromanaging every little detail, down to hair color, and apparently having all of the 2016 members get Brazilian waxing for their redebut, the stage in the 2nd slide. Minyoung disclosed this in her 10th anniversary livestream. This was surprising when they wore long dark pants in the winter. She doesn't seem bothered the way she talks about it here, but she was recently upset with a bikini photoshoot they had to do under Brave 😕. I still think it's a ridiculous level of control that shows how an idol's body is not really hers.
I tried to find clearer pictures than from 2011-12, when they also had pretty heavy makeup/lashes that was esp unflattering for Hyeran. She was big by Kpop standards, her cute round face isn’t considered ‘ideal,’ and was basically bullied out of Kpop for her weight. (A small face with tapered, ‘v-shaped’ chin is ‘ideal.’) Brave basically had her cover up her face with hair and makeup in so many looks before 2016. I haven’t really followed most other members, but tried to find pics that flex their visuals even if they look goofy.
The individual slides should be in this order: Seoa, Yejin, Eunyoung, Yoojin, Hyeran, and 2016 member Hayun.
Not enough people know about them; that’s why I put Hayun there too. She was there for about a year, including the making of Rollin. I think Yujeong was so important for her enthusiasm carrying all those performances of Rollin before the reverse run, I just don’t have time to find a picture yet.
Yoojin and Hyeran are the original two who stayed through the driving incident. Their pain is having their time wasted compared to the other 3 who were able to move on faster. These women all took a risk in earlier years, and helped build Kpop even if their careers are forgotten. They're among the hurt and wounded. Years ago YG, behind Blackpink and the former boss of Brave Brothers, even criticized him for flexing his Maybach and Rolls when his company and groups were still struggling.
I do wish them happiness, and I’ll thank them on IG. I worry about Hyeran a lot. She’s had so many struggles as a soloist without a label, including just leaving her company after less than a year. Her birthday is on the 9th. She posts stories and dances about ‘drowning.’ She could use some support. The others might appreciate some words of support too; Yejin has an old fancam pinned to her reels.
Here’s the IGs of the original members:
Seoa
https://www.instagram.com/seoa_p/
Eunyoung
https://www.instagram.com/memoriesofsummer___/
Yejin
https://www.instagram.com/misshanye/
Yoojin
https://www.instagram.com/yoojinbabe/
Hyeran