Use headphones!!

3D version of Super Junior’s ‘We Can.’ Love this song, and got goosebumps while editing it! Requested.

[dl.] [more 3D audio] [request here!]

Super Junior 10th Anniversary, Part 1: From a Rotation Group to the Kings of Hallyu

[Top: 2005 debut / Bottom: 2015 ‘Devil’]

K-pop group Super Junior will release a special album, titled “Devil,” in time to usher in their special 10th year since debut. Prior to that, the group held their concert “Super Show 6” for two days this past weekend on the 11th and 12th at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium as a prelude to their brilliant 10th anniversary celebration. Just how did Super Junior manage to to acscend from a rotational group to the Kings of Hallyu?

Super Junior was first exposed to the world on November 6th, 2005. Under the grandiose slogan of “The Gateway to Asia,” Super Junior was created as an experimental group and heralded as the first group of its size and the first rotatonal group in Korea. Even their debut song “Twins” was considerably experimental. Invoking the name of their title track, all twelve members bore the same hairstyle that was fashionable at the time to create the image of resembling twins and took the road to popular appeal through their strong sound. It was unheard of.

The strength felt in “Twins” met a game-changing charm shown in the start of promotions for the follow-up song, “Miracle.” From there, Super Junior rose to full-blown popularity with the release of “U” in 2006, which won them their first music show 1st place win. After recruiting Kyuhyun, they saw an upturn in popularity by switching from a rotational group to a fixed-thirteen member lineup. Since then, Super Junior created a craze for “hook songs” (songs with a repetitive, catchy refrain) such as “Sorry Sorry” and “Bonamana,” at the same time showing off their ever-increasing popularity at home and abroad.

The secret to Super Junior’s success was their subunit group promotions, the first of their kind attempted in Korea. Trot (a style of music popularized in Korea post-World War II) subunit Super Junior-T expanded their relatability by showing their artisitic ability, while ballad subunit Super Junior-K.R.Y. received acknowlegement for their buried vocal abilities, and China-focused subunit Super Junior-M gained traction in global popularity. Additionally, during their ten year history, they’ve succeeded “individually as well as together” with Super Junior-HAPPY, Super Junior-D&E, Kyuhyun’s solo debut, and so forth.

Super Junior’s success through the main group and subsubunit activities are no longer unfamiliar. Super Junior paved the way for the formation of nine-member group Girls’ Generation, and many other idol groups have made use of performances with large numbers of members and member-specific subunit promotions and added to the diversity of the music industry.

 The key to Super Junior’s long run has been their showing familiar images through their individual artistic talents. In 2007, the entirety of Super Junior became fixed panel members in the crazy-popular SBS broadcast, “Sundays are Great – Exploration of the Human Body.” The familiarity shown through the strength and artistic abilities of performances suitable for thirteen members created a game-changing charm. Even now, Super Junior is doing very well as TV hosts, entertainers, actors, musical actors, and so forth.

From the beginning Super Junior has been active in just about every field, as actors, TV hosts, DJs, models, et cetera. They truly claim the title of an all-around entertainment group. Together with Super Junior’s vigourous activities, the “individually and together” strategy of doing group and solo activities simultaneously has become a natural part of life to them. As far as Super Junior is concerned, there almost aren’t any labels of “coming from idols.” Indeed, Super Junior was the first idol group to win awards in every apspect – acting awards, entertainment awards, and music awards. They are a group that has shattered every prejudice about idols’ vigorous, off-the-charts activities.

Their promotional period has been a long, eventful one. From the withdrawal of member Han Geng and Kangin’s mistake to the succession of members leaving for the army and Sungmin’s marriage, these events that have impacted their popularity have occurred in the last ten years. Nevertheless, Super Junior hasn’t lost heart – rather, they’ve gained strength in fixing their attention on group, subunit and indiviual activities, showing their individual talents in their completely-open images. Even if even one member could not, for some unavoidable reason, participate together, the remaining members made the effort to fill the empty gap they left behind. In return, the missing member grew in their absence and returned to make up for lost time. At the press conference for the release of the 7th studio album “Mamacita,” leader Leeteuk said, “I worried about whether I would be able to stand up again, whether I would be able to promote again. But the members helped me so that I could rise to my feet again,” and went as far as saying that he was moved to tears as the members faced him head on with caring hearts.

Moving forward from eventfulness, Super Junior have become fully-fledged Kings of Hallyu. From the first attempts of subunit groups, to 121 consecutive weeks at #1 on Taiwan’s KKBOX chart, to 120 “Super Show World Tour” concerts that have garned over 1.8 million attendees, it’s to the extent that if you look at the history of Super Junior you will see the entire history of K-pop at a glance. What kind of firsts and greatests of K-pop will Super Junior, who has already lasted ten years, write over the next ten, twenty years while putting forth more promotions? It’s barely been just 10 years yet.