‘If Wonder Girls’ music was red, mine is blue,’ says Yubin
SEOUL: Ex-Wonder Girls member Yubin, who has started out on a solo career, is carving her own path when it comes to musical style.
Yubin has returned as a solo vocalist with her retro-themed debut EP City Woman.
Yubin had replaced HyunA in 2007, and more than proved her worth as the main rapper for Wonder Girls.
Said Yubin: “I really appreciate that I am thought of us a rapper. People might have expected my solo album to be about rapping, but I thought singing would suit the album better. I received a lot of vocal lessons for this album.”
City Woman is led by the lead track Ladies, inspired by a genre called “city pop” that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Blending punk, disco, R&B and soft rock, the song is imbued with freshness and trendiness, the singer explained. It’s also about independent women living in this bustling city with lines such as “I don’t care if you just pass me by” and “Hurry up, as I’m a busy lady.”
Yubin said that she has been delving into city pop since last year, but admitted that K-pop listeners could find the genre unfamiliar.
Asked how the retro-themed album is different from Wonder Girls’ previous retro-inspired hits like Tell Me and Nobody, Yubin used colours to explain the difference.
“You’ll notice the difference after listening to the songs. The music of Wonder Girls had a more US style and was more westernised, like the colour red. My album is more oriental and fresh like the colour blue.”