On the possible resurrection of Nine Muses

Earlier last month, Star Empire announced that Nine Muses member Moon Hyuna had officially left the group, making her the third member to depart this year following Park Minha and Euaerin (real name Lee Hyemin.) Hyuna was one of the group's main vocalists alongside Pyo Hyemi, Lee Keumjo and Park Kyungri.

Hyuna's departure only added fuel to the already on-going rumours that the girl group was disbanding, now that there are only five members left, four of whom are in a sub-unit called Nine Muses A which released an mini album titled "Muses Diary" back in August.

It's been three months since the release of "Muses Diary" and no one really knows the fate of Son Sungah, the only remaining member not included in the sub-unit. Hearsay has it that Sungah's contract will expire next year and she has already decided not to renew it. If it's true, disbandment is very likely inevitable, after six years of seven mini albums, one full album, a concert and a sub-unit album.

In a turn of events, just this week Hyuna announced the launch of her entertainment company, Moongom House, and that the company will release Hyuna's photobook (titled "Sweet Remedy") and a mini album of self-composed songs. Mines everywhere rejoiced over the news, mostly hoping that Hyuna will recruit the former muses especially Ryu Sera, who's started to gain wide recognition as an indie artist (although in my humble opinion it's unlikely that Sera would want to do that, and neither would Minha who's debuted as an actress under J-Wide Company) In other words, fans are hoping that the golden line-up of Nine Muses will reunite under Moongom House, even if they don't get to use the name "Nine Muses."

While entertaining these hopes, one is reminded that even with such an underrated girl group that's never won a single award there's a chance they would be able to pull a Shinhwa. For those uninitiated, Shinhwa is the epitome of K-pop longevity, debuting under SM Entertainment in 1998 and since 2011 has released albums and appearances under their very own company named after themselves.

The best scenario...

This is the best self-penned songs by Ryu Sera so far.

Long story short, Sera left Nine Muses in June 2014 and actually since before her departure became known she's been releasing cover songs and self-penned ones on her YouTube channel, Ryutube. However, if Wikipedia is to be trusted (I have yet to find more credible sites that back this up), Sera hasn't left Star Empire, Nine Muses' recording label.

Nine Muses, as any K-pop enthusiast is aware, is known for their sexy image from day one. As you can see in the video, Sera seems to be channelling her inner Morticia Addams - wearing a black mini dress and a choker, hair down and minimal make-up. She's almost a far cry of her Nine Muses self - skin-revealing clothes, full make-up and hairstyle always changing with each comeback. And needless to say she's also free to experiment with her song writing and mixing skills.

The best scenario for her career would be staying with Star Empire (the day this is confirmed would be one of the best in my life), which allows her free time until she finds her own signature sound. Once she's ready, she's set to come back as a solo artist, with a mini album full of six songs that she composes herself. Or better still, she can mix her signature sound with that of Sweet Tune or one of those Swedish songwriters...Star Empire really needs a solo artist on its roster, and one already with a fanbase is perfect to fill that void.

On Nine Muses' comeback...

After much anticipation, Nine Muses is finally back, having hibernated for one year due to the painful loss of three members: Lee 'Leesem' Hyunjoo, Park Eunji and Ryu Sera. That's rapper, main dancer and main singer respectively. And they're back with two new members: Jo Sojin, who previously appeared in the sub-unit Nasty Nasty with another Nine Muses member Park Kyungri and ZE:A member Kevin Kim, and Lee Keumjo.

It took me a long time to decide what to focus on regarding Nine Muses and their comeback, but I finally decided to focus on their new single "Drama" and Sera's decision to continue her showbiz career apparently as indie musician.

In light of their comeback in mid-2003 with the single "Wild", Sera released a cover of Joss Stone's "Karma." It was professionally shot though it was very low-budget, filmed on the set of "Wild" music video. It kept Mines on the edges of their seats, as promises of her solo career seemed to be looming.



Sera released a couple more cover videos courtesy of Star Empire, but no actual solo career materialised, until news broke that she 'graduated' from Nine Muses.

Now fast forward to January 23 2015 when Nine Muses released a new single titled "Drama." Take a look.



Eldest member Moon Hyuna just celebrated her 28th birthday on January 19. Yes that's her international age, which means in Korean age she's 29 years old. Anyone with any real musical talent and self respect would want to stop prancing around pulling aegyo and looking every bit manufactured past the age of 25. Since her departure, Sera has been very active on her own YouTube channel that she calls RyuTube, releasing cover songs and songs that she writes herself. I guess it was the same reason for Jessica Jung, who left Girls' Generation in October 2014 to focus on her fashion line, Blanc & Eclare.

A different kind of marketing ploy...

Happy new year everyone! And congrats on surviving 21/12!

I didn't get to fulfill my 2012 resolution of posting 45 entries. Eleven years down the road, I've lost most of the drive to blog. I have some entries that I meant to finish and are still in the draft right now, but I'll probably end up deleting them.

Anyway, I opened 2013 with a bang that is a new job. Starting January 3 I teach Cultural Diversity to first year International Relations undergraduate students at President University. This is my first experience teaching university students and, not gonna lie, I took the job because lecturers have more opportunities to win overseas doctorate scholarships.

Anyway, just found out that there's a documentary about Nine Muses, a not so well known Korean girlband I wrote about a few entries ago. The doco, titled "Nine Muses of Star Empire" (Star Empire is their record company), was released in November 2012 and premiered at 2012 Melkweg Music Documentary Competition in The Netherlands. The documentary shows a far less glamorous side of K-pop that many are unaware of, where wannabe stars are treated more like possessions than human beings.

What ticks me about it is that the documentary was released in November, a month before the scheduled comeback of Nine Muses. Many wonder why Star Empire has allowed Suk Kee Lee and Min Chul Kim, directors of "Nine Muses of Star Empire" to release a film that sheds light on the dark side of today's biggest sub-culture that is K-pop. One wonders if the doco is just a publicity stunt leading to the girlband's comeback, which is postponed to January 24 with the single "Dolls"? Hmm...

Here's a trailer of "Nine Muses of Star Empire" for your vieweing pleasure.