MBLAQ
Background:
(Korean: 엠블랙, Japanese: エムブラック; an acronym for Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality) is a South Korean quintet male vocal group created by South-Korean entertainer Rain under J.Tune Camp. The group consists of Seungho, G.O, Lee Joon, Thunder/Cheondung, and Mir. The group debuted on October 9, 2009, at Rain's Legend of Rainism concert.
On October 14, 2009, the group released their debut single album, Just BLAQ, which topped various online and offline music charts in South Korea.[1] The group then released their first extended play album Y on May 19, 2010, and on January 10, 2011, MBLAQ released their first studio album, BLAQ Style.
In 2012, J. Tune Camp announced that MBLAQ members Mir and G.O will split into a sub-unit. The sub-unit was originally going to debut back in May, but since MBLAQ got their first Asia Tour and G.O's filming of Phantom. Yet the sub-unit didn't get a name and their debut was postponed. But on MBLAQ's first Asia Tour, the sub-unit released their first single, Wild.
2009
MBLAQ was first announced on September 21, 2009 with an appearance in Nylon magazine, after having trained for two years. The group appeared alongside Rain, in his Legend of Rainism concert. They performed various songs from their produced EP, Just BLAQ and were met with praise, with many spectators at the concert and fans considering them as the next DBSK. The group released teasers for their debut song, "Oh Yeah" on October 12, 2009 with the music video being released two days later.Coinciding with the music video, MBLAQ's debut single album "Just BLAQ", was released on the same day, topping various charts in South Korea. The next day, the group made their broadcast debut on M.net's M! Countdown with "Oh Yeah".
2010
On May 19, 2010, the group released their second single album, Y, a track that Rain wrote, composed, produced and choreographed.[10] The music video for the title track, "Y", was released on the same day at midnight with teasers being released from May 6.[10][11] MBLAQ claimed first place on June 3, 2010 on M! Countdown,[12] and were voted the best Rookie Group for the first half of 2010 through a poll conducted by Korean music site Bugs, obtaining 46% of the votes.[13]
On December 29, 2010, MBLAQ released a teaser music video, featuring their song "Cry", for their upcoming full-length album, BLAQ Style.
On December 30, 2010, J.Tune Entertainment merged with JYP Entertainment. However, as MBLAQ is part of J.Tune Camp, they are not considered as part of JYP Entertainment.
In early December, the group debuted in Japan, following their performance during Rain's fan meeting. Their performance resulted in a documentary being produced surrounding their stay in Japan. Later that month, the group commenced promotions for their follow up track, "G.O.O.D Luv". Two music videos were released: an 'unofficial' music video prior to the 'official' music video, which was released on December 10, 2009.
2011
MBLAQ were initially scheduled for a November 2010 return, however in December J.Tune Camp revealed that MBLAQ would be returning to the music scene in January, 2011 instead. MBLAQ displayed advertisements on buses and bus stops in Seoul prior to the release of their album. It was also revealed that MBLAQ participated in the production of BLAQ Style, personally choosing all songs present on the album. Seungho stated "As a form of independence [from Rain], we personally chose all of the songs and participated in the production", with Seungho composing and playing the piano for the introductory track "Sad Memories" and Mir writing the rap lyrics for "You're my +".
On January 3, 2011, J.Tune Camp released MBLAQ's music video for "Cry" on Youtube, an R&B track produced by E-Tribe.[19] The video gained more than 500,000 views within a week.[20][21] In between the release of the "Cry" music video and their album, MBLAQ revealed album jacket photos for BLAQ Style. Prior to their album's release, MBLAQ held a fan-meet for 1,500 fans on January 9, where the fans were able to watch the first performance of "Cry" and also the then yet-to-be revealed title track "Stay". On the same day J.Tune Camp announced that MBLAQ would be debuting in Japan in May, signing with Sony Music Japan.
On January 10, 2011, MBLAQ released their first studio album, titled BLAQ Style, and two music video teasers for their track "Stay". After only one day of the album's release, MBLAQ recorded 25,000 orders for BLAQ Style. The next day J.Tune Camp released the full music video for Stay on Youtube, which gained more than 400,000 in a week.
On January 13, MBLAQ returned to the stage on Mnet's M! Countdown,[26] followed by comeback performances on the 14th, 15th and 16th at KBS's Music Bank, MBC's Music Core, and SBS's Inkigayo respectively.
MBLAQ were named Artist of the Month by MTV Korea for the month of February. They then released a repackaged version of their studio album, titled BLAQ Style - 3D Edition on February 22, 2011. The album consists of the 13 tracks from BLAQ Style, as well as three new tracks. Two of the three new tracks included MBLAQ's participation in its production.The track "돌아올 수 없는 (Can't Come Back)" was composed by G.O and the lyrics were written by both G.O and Mir, while the song titled "You" was written and composed by Thunder. When it was released, BLAQ Style 3D reached number one on the Hanteo charts. "Again", their last new song from BLAQ Style - 3D Edition, was used to promote The Fighter in South Korea.
BLAQ Style 3D was released in Taiwan as a licensed album on the March 18, 2011, and reached the number one spot from March 18 to 24 on Taiwan's G-Music chart under the K-pop and J-pop category without any promotions.
J.Tune Camp held a press conference towards the end of January with Japanese press regarding their official Japanese debut plans.
In February, MBLAQ visited Japan to record songs and to have a photo shoot for their album. Upon their arrival, 800 reporters and fans were gathered at the airport. MBLAQ released their Japanese album on May 4, 2011, with live performances held at Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Tokyo during the week.
On April 11, 2011, the music video for "Your Luv" was released on MTV Japan, and "Your Luv" ringtones were released on the ringtone downloading site, Recochoku. After the release of Your Luv on April 19, it was ranked first for four consecutive days on Recochoku. MBLAQ were also placed first on the Cellphone Message Music Video chart. Furthermore, pre-orders for MBLAQ's single, for both the regular and limited A and B editions, had ranked first, second and third.
On May 3, MBLAQ kicked off their Japanese promotions with their debut event held at Kanagawa Lazona Kawasaki Plaza, gathering a reported 10,000 fans. They performed "Oh Yeah", "Your Luv" and Daijoubu and more than 4,000 CDs were sold during the event.Your Luv reached second position on the Oricon Daily Charts for May 3, which was before their official Japanese debut and release date. On May 4, their official debut date, Your Luv reached first position on the Oricon Daily Charts, selling more than 11,000 CDs. A week after their debut, MBLAQ reached second position on the Oricon Weekly Charts, selling more than 40,000 copies of Your Luv.[36] In June it was announced that MBLAQ's "Your Luv" would be used in the Japanese anime adaption of Marvel Comics' "Blade".
In July 2011, MBLAQ revealed that they would release a mini-album titled Mona Lisa. The album was released online on July 12, 2011. The album hit stores three days later on July 15.The online pre-orders opened on 8 July 2011, and the full music video was released on July 12 at midnight through various Korean music sites and J.Tune Camp's official Youtube channel. The concept of the album is 'celebrated works' with the members personally choosing famous figures in history to parody. Mir chose The Beatles, Thunder chose Boy George, Lee Joon chose Zorro, G.O chose James Dean, and Seungho chose Papillon. The album consists of six new tracks.
On July 14, MBLAQ returned to the stage on Mnet's M! Countdown, followed by comeback performances on the 15th, 16th and 17th at KBS's Music Bank, MBC's Music Core, and SBS's Inkigayo respectively.On July 15, when Mona Lisa was released in stores, it reached number one on the Hanteo Real-time, Daily and Weekly Charts.
On July 15, J.Tune Camp revealed that since July 8, Mona Lisa had 30,000 pre-orders, with international fans, in particular Japanese fans, requesting more copies. J.Tune Camp stated they would be producing 50,000 more copies to meet the demand.
In September, MBLAQ reached the number one position on German music website Viva with their "Mona Lisa" music video by garnering 111,000 views in a short period of time. MBLAQ's "Mona Lisa" had topped Bulgaria's Popcore TV chart for sixty eight consecutive days thus far. In the same month it was revealed that MBLAQ's new Japanese single, "Baby U", would be used as the opening theme for the Japanese anime Beelzebub.
The title track, "Baby U", of their new single album was released on October 26, 2011. Baby U! reached number two on the Oricon Daily Chart on its release date, selling more than 22,000 copies. As part of their promotions, MBLAQ travelled to Nagoya, Japan on October 28, Osaka on the 29th, and Tokyo on the 30th to celebrate the release of their new single. On October 30, 1,500 fans were chosen by a lottery among the 12,500 people who gathered at the venue to join the LIVE performance and Great Bingo Tournament. On the final day, 23,000 fans gathered for a special 'High five' event, as well as performances.Baby U! reached number two on the Oricon Weekly Chart, selling a total of 45,624 copies in the first week. The song also reached number one on Japan's Billboard Hot Animation Chart.
In May 2011, Thunder revealed that former member Sang Bae left the group due to his poor health. Thunder also stated that he only joined MBLAQ fifteen days prior to their debut, and that while he sang and rapped live for their performances, his voice is not actually featured on any of the recorded tracks for Just BLAQ due to time constraints
2012
On January 1, 2012 a video teaser for MBLAQ's fourth extended play album was released, including their secondary single, “낙서 (Scribble)”. Strangely however the captions on screen were not of the song's lyrics. In the teaser video, Lee Joon is wrestling with Thunder for a woman, and ultimately points his gun to kill. The video was perceived to be very different from previous MBLAQ videos, as this was the first time the group had produced a full-story music video that incorporated acting and action sequences. The captions were later revealed, in the second music video teaser, to be for their lead single "전쟁이야 (This is War)"
Members
Seungho (leader)
G.O (Main Vocalist)
Lee Joon (Main Dancer and Vocalist)
Cheondoong (Main Rapper)
Mir (Rapper,Maknae)
Some of their songs:
Oh yeah!
Mona Lisa
Stay
It's war
Y
Scribble
Baby U
and Beelzebub OST
Hello my ex
Fugitive plan B Ost Kashi ^^
Bang Bang
And I only listen to one song from Beast lol.
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