South Korea’s overall lackluster response to 4Minute's latest single doesn’t bother the K-pop girl group.
In a recent interview with the Korea Times, the K-pop quintet discussed their career and their recently released seventh EP, featuring the Skrillex produced song “Hate.” Despite a less than warm welcome from Korean listeners, the 4Minute members didn’t seem concerned.
“We knew the music could be difficult for general audiences but I guess it is our homework to solve the problem,” 4Minute told the Korea Times in response to the domestic market’s overall mixed response to “Hate,” which did overwhelmingly well overseas.
It doesn’t worry the girl group because the group members value the production and musical style over marketability.
“We have always challenged ourselves not to return with the same style of music,” they explained. “For some reason, we always pursue new things. We just do so naturally. We never choose a song for our title if the music is something we've already tried.”
According to the members, their unique style and sound are more important than pandering to the current trends.
“We have been introducing new songs with stronger and more charismatic images with every new album and we have reached the limit. So, this time, we decided to show an internally strong woman, who can take a goodbye very coolly and tell her boyfriend to go away. That is our concept for the new title "Hate."
4Minute also mentioned that some of their past songs that didn’t necessarily receive much love upon release are some of their most requested tracks, so they’re not concerned about the relatively cool response to “Hate,” and instead highlight their style as tough, aggressive women.
“Girl groups don't always have to be pretty or cute and we are showing that girls can look cool too,” 4Minute said. "When we were performing the song ‘Crazy’ last year, we did everything that men would usually hate, such as wearing red lipstick and strong eyeliner. This is like, women don't have to suit the image that men like. We are creating a new trend for women.”
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey and Paste Magazine.
