After its performance on Oct. 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Girls' Generation has continued to receive rave reviews from both critics and press worldwide. Due to its outstanding showing at this American concert, the girl group can now rightfully be named one of the international representatives of K-Pop.
Girls' Generation recently released its title song, "The Boys," from its third regular album, which has earned a spot in the top 5 on Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100 chart ever since its debt. "The Boys", created a lot of buzz even before the single's release, as it was produced by none other than Teddy Riley - the famed producer of the late pop legend, Michael Jackson. The group also released an English version of this hit track for their international listeners. Girls' Generation's music video was recently released on YouTube and has already garnered over 17 million views - proving the girl group's internationally spreading fame. The girls are under contract with Universal Music Group, which also boasts such talents as Lady Gaga, Eminem, and the Black Eyed Peas. This past June, this K-pop girl group released its second album in Japan, which shot to the top of the Billboard Japan weekly chart by selling an impressive 230,000 copies.
Since its debut, Girls' Generation has continued to top the music charts in Asia, and now the girls are seeking to finally break into the US market. As their name states, the girls are seeking to represent a new generation of female Korean artists conquering the global music market.
Girls' Generation is managed by SM Entertainment, one of Korea's largest entertainment agencies, which has developed other top Korean artists such as HOT, BOA, TVXQ, and SUPER JUNIOR. This nine-member girl group is by far one of the most versatile groups in the SM Entertainment arsenal. Each of the nine members brings a unique individual talent/color to the group, which allows Girls' Generation to command a diverse fan following.
The leader of the group, Taeyeon, who won first place at the SM Youth Singing Competition, is known for her vocal abilities. Tiffany and Jessica, both born and raised in the States, are known for their fluency in both Korean and English. Hyoyeon made a name for herself as the dancing queen of pack. Youri and Yuna were previously fashion models and Seohyun and Sunny are well-rounded vocal artists due to their long and arduous training under SM Entertainment. The girls debuted in August of 2008 with their first single "Into the New World". Their first single was a bright and cheerful song that gained adequate attention from the public, however, was not the blockbuster that many industry experts expected. Three months later, however, they released a remake of Lee Seung Chul's 1989 hit song, "Girls' Generation", which first helped them gain a strong domestic fan base.
The release of the single "Gee" propelled the girls into stardom. With a catchy melody and chorus, as well an irresistibly addictive and adorable choreography, Girls' Generation started its domination of the Korean music industry. The group's ascendancy didn't stop there -- five months later, they released "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)," which saw Girls' Generation stand tall as the No.1 girl group in Korea. Every album that Girls' Generation released afterwards has proven to be a major success. The repackaged second album, "Run Devil Run," saw the girls showcase a new sexy charisma that contrasted starkly from their previous cutesy image. Their new found sex appeal helped the young ladies widen their fan-base from mostly female teens to the male population of Korea. Girls' Generation also has the unique distinction of being the singers most requested to perform before the Korean Army.
After sufficiently dominating the Korean music market, Girls' Generation ventured off to conquer the Japan music market as well. The girl group released "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" in the Japanese language followed by their first debut Japanese album, "Genie", which sold over 75,000 albums within 4 weeks. This album secured top tier positions on Billboard Japan's album sales charts and their second single "Gee" sold over a hundred thousand copies, and helped this girl group become the face of K-POP to the Japanese public.
On June 1, 2011, they released their first full-length original Japanese studio album Girls' Generation. This album contains 12 songs including the singles "Genie", “Gee”, "Run Devil Run", "MR. TAXI" and a Japanese version of "Hoot". Girls' Generation was certified Double Platinum (500,000) by Recording Industry Association of Japan, a first for any Korean girl group. The group also set a record for "recording the highest sales of the FIRST album as a foreign artist in Japan. Girls' Generation is the fourth artist to obtained number 1 spot on weekly album chart after BoA, TVXQ and Big Bang," and became the third Korean artist to surpass the 500,000 mark after BoA and TVXQ. As a result of their rising popularity, Girls' Generation became the highest earning foreign artist in Japan for the first half of 2011.
The girls' newest and English-only single, "The Boys", is causing a commotion throughout the world and is turning their dream of being charted in America, into a reality. The sky's the limit for the young ladies of Girls' Generation!
