T-ara

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RPF Fandom
Name(s): T-ara, T-ARA, 티아라
Scope/Focus: K-Pop
Date(s): 2009–2017, 2020–2022
See also: T-ara N4, QBS, SG Wannabe, SeeYa, DIA, Davichi, Co-ed School, SPEED, F-ve Dolls, Shannon, K-Drama, The Unit
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T-ara (/tiˈɑːrə/; Korean: 티아라), stylized as T-ARA, is a girl group formed by MBK Entertainment (at that time the entertainment was named Core Contents Media) in 2009. The meaning behind the group's name, which is based on the word "tiara", comes from the idea that they will become the "queens of the music industry". The band currently consists of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partnership with late composer Shinsadong Tiger. A broad array of visual concepts and shifting styles and genres have earned the group a "chameleon-like" reputation ("chameleon of the music industry").

The group has achieved commercial success in several regions in Asia including South Korea and China, with their single "Roly-Poly" (2011) being one of the most downloaded domestic singles since 2010.

T-ara made their debut with the single "Lie" in 2009, following line-up changes due to creative differences. The original pre-debut five T-ara members (Jiae (the pre-debut leader), Jiwon of Spica/UNI.T, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon) had trained for three years with the entertainment, but Jiae and Jiwon decided to drop out in June 2009 after releasing their first song in April 2009. The first new member to be added to the group was Boram, the daughter of singer Jeon Young-rok and actress Lee Mi-young. Soyeon, a former trainee of SM Entertainment who was supposed to be the leader of Girls' Generation, and Qri were added to T-ara three weeks prior to debut. The line-up consisted therefore of members: Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon, Qri, Boram and Soyeon. This line-up is lovingly nicknamed "6-ara" by fans. T-ara made their debut on MBC's Radio Star talk show on July 29, 2009.

T-ara released their debut studio album, Absolute First Album, on November 27, 2009. It was well received critically and spawned the hit singles "TTL (Time to Love)", "Bo Peep Bo Peep", and "You Drive Me Crazy". In order to determine the album's title track, Core Contents Media held a survey in which the public had to choose between "Bo Peep Bo Peep" or "Cheoeum Cheoreom" (처음처럼, "Like the First Time"). 9,000 people took the survey on various music portals with 53% (4,770 people) choosing "Cheoeum Cheoreom" over "Bo Peep Bo Peep". However, the latter was promoted on music shows instead for unknown reasons. "Bo Peep Bo Peep" peaked at number four on the Gaon chart.

On July 16, 2010, T-ara representatives announced the addition of Hwayoung Ryu as the seventh member of the group. The reason given was that with so many solo projects, they would be able to have a more complete lineup for T-ara when individual members were filming or doing other appearances. They also stated that it would allow the members to undertake more solo activities, and would give them all some relief from their heavy schedules.[1]

Both their debut Japanese single and studio album reached number one on the Oricon weekly charts and were subsequently certified Gold. They subsequently gained nationwide recognition after releasing "Roly-Poly" (2011), which went on to become the Gaon chart's best-selling single of the year. At the height of K-pop's popularity in Japan, T-ara signed onto management agency J-Rock for $4.7 million—reportedly the highest figure of any Korean girl group expanding into the territory at the time. T-ara's Korean EP Black Eyes (2011) spawned three consecutive number ones: "Cry Cry", "We Were in Love" and "Lovey-Dovey".

On June 14, 2012, Core Contents Media introduced 18-year-old Ahreum as the new maknae (막내, youngest member).

In July 2012, T-ara experienced a dip in popularity as the group faced accusations of internal discord. On July 25 and 26, T-ara held a concert in Japan, with Hwayoung only performing one song due to an alleged leg injury. The following tweets led to netizens speculating that Hwayoung was bullied which was later disproven. This resulted in Hwayoung's immediate departure with Ahreum following a year after. T-ara's later material was released to varying degrees of success before the group began focusing on promotional activities in China, where they attracted attention for their cover of Chopstick Brothers' "Little Apple" (2014). T-ara's final release as six members was tentatively scheduled for May 2017, ahead of Soyeon and Boram's expiring contracts; however, conflicts with their management delayed What's My Name? until June 2017, effectively ending their involvement. T-ara's last performance as six-members was a Taiwan concert on May 13, 2017. On January 3, 2018, Hyomin took to her Instagram account to announce that she, Jiyeon, Eunjung, and Qri had decided to not renew their contracts with MBK, thus leaving the company. The company later confirmed that the group had left the company but did not state that the group had disbanded. Jiyeon would later confirm that the band had not disbanded.

MBK Entertainment later confirmed that they had registered a trademark for T-ara on December 28, 2017. The members officially filed documentation outlining grounds for rejection of MBK Entertainment's trademark on January 19, 2018. On August 8, 2018, MBK Entertainment trademarks for T-ara had been denied by the Trademark Act.

On October 2, 2020, T-ara held a single reunion performance in the televised Chuseok of the SBS online variety program MMTG, performing "Roly-Poly" and "Sexy Love". In July 2021, T-ara reunited again with an appearance on JTBC's Knowing Bros. On July 29, 2021, it was announced through the group's 12th anniversary livestream that they would be making their first comeback in four years before the winter of 2021. After a four year hiatus, T-ara reunited and released their first independent single album, Re:T-ara, on November 15, 2021, consisting of two tracks: "All Kill" and the lead single "Tiki Taka". Released in collaboration with Dingo Music, the group would later reveal that they paid for everything themselves and that the band itself is currently under no company. On April 22, 2022, T-ara performed and guest-starred as a group again on JTBC's Famous Singers 2.

On April 29, 2013, T-ara debuted a sub-unit with members Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon, and Ahreum called T-ara N4 with their debut song, "Jeon Won Diary". This is a shortened form of 'T-ara Brand New 4', signifying the transformation of the four members.

A Japanese sub-unit called QBS debuted on June 26, 2013, featuring members Qri, Boram and Soyeon. The group focused on the Japanese market. The sub-unit released their debut single "Kaze no You ni" (風のように, Like the Wind).

The band has a rotational system for their leader: Eunjung was the first leader of T-ara, running the position from July 2009 to July 2010. Boram was the second leader of T-ara, running the position from July 2010 to July 2011. Hyomin was the third leader of T-ara, running the position from June 2011 to December 2011. Soyeon was the fourth leader of T-ara, running the position from December 2011 to July 2013. Qri is the fifth and current leader and has been running the position since 2013. Jiyeon is the only 6-ara member that has not held the leader position.

On May 30, 2012, 14-year-old Dani was announced as one of the group's new members. She later starred in the drama version of T-ara's "Day by Day" music video. On November 24, 2014 T-ara released a Korean/Chinese cover of "Little Apple" by Chopstick Brothers, as well as a music video which featured Dani. However, Dani ended up never debuting with the group. Following the departure of Areum from T-ara's sub-unit T-ara N4, MBK Entertainment announced Dani would be joining the unit. However, plans were once again discarded and Dani never debuted with the sub-unit. In January 2016, Dani became a contestant on the survival show Produce 101, representing MBK Entertainment. She was eliminated in episode 10 after ranking 24th place. In 2018, she left the company.

Fandom

T-ara's official fandom name is "Queen’s", sometimes stylized as "QUEEN'S" for South Korean fans and "Sweet Treasure" for Japanese fans. International fans will often call themselves "Queen's" as well. The original meaning behind the fandom name is that T-ara are the queens of the music industry, and the fandom belongs to them which is why there is an apostrophe. Saying "I'm a Queen's" sounds odd for some fans and you can see people calling the fandom "Queens" and saying stuff like "I'm a Queen", too. The fandom color is Pearl Ivory. As MBK never announced it as the official fandom color, there used to be also rumors of yellow and blue being fandom colors (sometimes for International and Japanese fans, but also for the whole fandom). However, throughout the years fans established Pearl Ivory as their official color.[2]

On August 16, 2018, shortly before her solo comeback Hyomin announced her individual fandome name via her fan café "MIN,US". The notice also says in the description "Hyo, m in US" in English and "We rest in Hyomin" in Korean. On Instagram she also revealed the colors that are reminding some fans of a peach.[3]

When Eunjung debuted as a solo artist with her first mini album 'I'm Good' (2015), she used the stage name Elsie. IN 2022, Eunjung announced that since her individual fandom name 'LUCKY' coincided with another artist, she would be changing it to 'LOVE FLY'.[4] Another former fandom name of her is 'Sweet Mate'.

Jiyeon made her solo debut in 2014 and also released songs under the name LA LIMA, the name of her character in the 2021 KBS drama Imitation. She currently has no individual fandom name. Her fandom colors are sometimes stated to be Dahlia, Geranium and Royal Blue.

The fandom is very loyal to the band. After the fandom they developed the attitude to not believe anything besides what the members are saying. Before the bullying scandal, the fandom was divided into two factions: "Holy Trinity" fans (fans of Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon) and QBS fans (fans of Qri, Boram, Soyeon). QBS fans were always salty because their biases got less promotions while HT fans stated that they were overreacting. On top of that, a lot of fans claimed that the company overworked the girls and especially Jiyeon who had to perform numerous events despite having high fever. She also fainted immediately after a music show stage. This made many fans unhappy and kind of divided the fandom.

The scandal made the fandom come together. No matter the member, the fans put everything into supporting them and try to let every member of T-ara know that they are still loved and supported by many people. The fandom rallied together and every chance the fandom got the fans voted like crazy. Queen's are ready to fight for the band because of all the injustice they faced. Most of the fans are OT6/6-ara.

In their prime antis claimed that T-ara has some members which are only there for their looks (especially Qri, Boram and Hwayoung).[5] This also caused some fights.

T-ara's comeback in 2021 sold great: the band was hard carried by their c-fans after the scandal as Koreans never fully forgave the band. Even for their recent comeback, a bulk of their sales came from their cbars.[6]

Shipping

The most popular ship in 2022 was Minyeon (Hyomin x Jiyeon) ranking #40 out of all the K-pop couple ships,[7] in 2020 they ranked #46.[8] In 2024, they ranked even higher in #29.[9][10] The ship has always been popular. Other very popular ships are Eunyeon (Eunjung x Jiyeon - it seems to be especially popular among International fans) and SsoRam (Soyeon x Boram). Minkyul (Qri x Hyomin) and Hamkyul (Eunjung x Qri) are also very popular. Soyeon is sometimes also shipped with members of Girls' Generation, especially Sunny, as it is common knowledge among fans that she almost debuted with them and still has a close friendship to them. As Jiyeon is very close friends with IU[11] she is also often shipped with her. IU and F.T. Island's Hongki also performed at the wedding of Jiyeon and her husband Hwang Jae Gyun (a professional baseball player).[12]

Legacy

T-ara won awards for "Most Popular Korean Artist of the Year" 3 years straight

The only group exempt and able to perform during Chinese Hallyu ban[13]

T-ara endorsed video games

insane numbers in China - T-ara releases a song in China and it immediately takes number on their biggest MV chart; T-ara had their Great China Tour in 2015; T-ara appeared on some of China's biggest TV shows[14]

T-ara having story driven music videos[15]

Before the scandal: They were on par with SNSD back in the day outranking them in some instances.[16]

Their first album, “Absolute First Album” received critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the best kpop albums of all time. They also weren’t only dominant in just South Korea, but Japan and China as well, especially the latter. They were also leading in digitals, with “Bo Peep Bo Peep” earning them a triple crown on Inkigayo and with “Roly-Poly” being the most downloaded song in 2011 in South Korea. It was a shame that their popularity took a dip because of the scandal, but I believe a good amount of Queen’s still remained loyal,

They were arguably the biggest K-Pop girl group in China, and can even compete with EXO and Bigbang (who has massive Chinese fanbases) in terms of memberships in their fan cafes.

When talking about girl groups from the second generation, fans would usually name Girls' Generation and 2NE1 as titans. SNSD is the Nation's Girl Group and 2NE1 is the girl group that broke the stereotype girl groups at that time and a huge pioneer of the girl crush concept. If the bullying scandal did not happen, they could have been on the same tier as them, in terms of popularity, sales, and legacy.

Controversies

MBK being a bad company

nowadays, fans hate the company for various reasons including lying to make members who left look bad (Hyomin dating CEO, Banana Culture's CEO gifting the members cars) and filed applications to trademark T-ara's name, music, merchandise and performing rights on December 28, 2017, three days before the end of T-ara's contracts[17] - fans are not buying into the stories anymore[18][19]

Jiyeon confirmed that they haven't disbanded[20]

T-ara reorganization into a 9 member group with rotating system

overworked Jiyeon who had to perform numerous events despite having high fever, she fainted immediately after a music show stage

after the members (Soyeon and Boram) left the company (which the fandom was glad about): threw them under the bus by lying - claimed that they are not co-operative, skipped practices and one-sidedly decided to cut the contract depsite promising to appear for a concert scheduled after the contract expiration - the members showed up for the concert and the band performed with 6 members - members had shown immense loyalty to the company before as they had quietly renewed their contracts with MBK twice

was also bad before T-ara: Turbo (Kim Jong Kook's group) and Seeya - company involved in using gangsters, violence and verbal abuse to force Turbo to hand over their earnings which is also why Jong Kook goes to the gym a lot, he first did it for self-defence

after T-ara as well: DIA performed in a shady nightclub; Co-ed School got badly mismanaged

MBK is nowadays regarded as very shady company; CEO Kwangsoo is hated by the fandom

Bullying scandal and lost potential

Hwayoung accused band - false claims,[21] ruined the career of the band (rumors that SM had something to do with it)[22][23][24][25][26][27]

anti-T-ara movement because of this - nicknamed the T-tanic

On July 25 and 26, T-ara held a concert in Japan, with Hwayoung only performing one song due to an alleged leg injury. After the concert, Hyomin took to Twitter, posting "There are differences in levels of determination. Let us have more determination", the other members agreed, with Jiyeon posting "The differences in levels of determination ^^, Always be humble ^^ and sensible ^^ I applaud you, acting genius ^^". Subsequently, Hwayoung tweeted "Sometimes, even determination alone is not enough. At times like these, I feel upset but I trust that it's a blessing in disguise from the heavens. God, you know everything right?", while her sister Hyoyoung wrote "My better half is suffering. My heart hurts. No matter what anyone else says, (Hwayoung), you can get through this". This event caused Korean netizens to suspect that there was conflict between the group members, resulting in many netizens retweeting the messages and speculating that Hwayoung was being bullied, sparking a large firestorm of controversy and backlash against the members. On July 30, Core Contents Media abruptly announced Hwayoung's immediate departure[28] from the group after one year and eight months, with CCM's CEO, Kim Kwang-soo, claiming that Hwayoung's contract was terminated because staff members felt her behavior was hurting teamwork, and that the bullying controversy was not the reason for her departure. By this point public opinion was almost universally in favor of Hwayoung, and the extreme negative reaction the other members received caused the group to temporarily suspend activities (although the members continued with their individual activities). At the time, both sides of the situation said that there was no bullying, only natural conflicts between the members.

I was in Allkpop forum (then 6Theory or something) with probably hundreds to thousands of users when the scandal broke. Before that, people were always arguing that T-ara will eventually overtake SNSD as the "Nation's Girl Group." After that? You're dead to everyone if you try to defend the group. Most were all siding with Hwayoung. They nitpicked every single post Hwayoung or any of the members made. Like they literally tagged T-ara as cyberbullies too because of some of their cryptic tweets (or I think it was Me2Day posts which was a defunct Korean Twitter). So many were raving on Hwayoung's farewell letter with stuff like "omg if you connect these letters together she's basically saying they were all lying." There was even a barrage of users sharing pics or videos of burning T-ara albums and merch. They were literally cancelled. Even the company was cancelled to them. People were basically saying things like "If you think YG was gangster shit with their marijuana scandals, take a look at CCM (MBK before rebranding) having full of idols that are bullies, actual gangsters, and rapists. Now THAT is gangster shit." Basically, for the rest of 2012, they were tagged as blacksheep of kpop. By 2013, things did start to cool down.[29]

Soyeon talks about aftermath[30]

Korean netizens hated them: Over 130,000 netizens signed a petition for a T-ara disbandment, and I'm already used to how there are hate comments with a million upvotes under so many articles about them, but sometimes the netizens never cease to shock me. When Soyeon had a car accident and was hospitalized, netizens implied that the whole accident was only fake so that people start loving T-ara again, which irritates me, but one of the comments that got a lot of upvotes really got me. It was something like this: "Oh god, she should've just died". There also was an article about Jiyeon's family being in a bad condition, her dad was in a critical condition and had to get a liver transplation, so Jiyeon's brother volunteered his liver and their father went to an operation. However netizens, once again didn't fail to impress me, most of the most upvoted comments were something like this: "If Jiyeon was half as nice as her brother"[2]

They are to this day one of the biggest what if's of K-pop fans next to TVXQ and X1.

Ahreum

comments on bullying and spirit posession controversies in "The Unit"[31]

marriage and divorce[32][33]

scammed fans[34]

suicide attempt[35] - has to give up her children[36]

Soyeon's stalker

breaks into her home and makes death threats[37]

Accounts

Together

Individual

  • Qri, Instagram: @qtfreet
  • Qri, X/Twitter: QriPretty
  • Qri, Tiktok: Qri_Pretty
  • Qri, jewelry brand: In December 2020, Qri came out with her own jewellery brand, ‘Qri el’ (큐리엘).
  • Eunjung, Instagram: @eunjung.hahm
  • Eunjung, X/Twitter: taraeunjung1212
  • Eunjung, Tiktok: eunjung1212
  • Eunjung, Youtube: 함은정 [Eunjung Official]
  • Hyomin, Instagram: hyominnn
  • Hyomin, X/Twitter: b89530
  • Hyomin, TikTok: @hyominnn5
  • Hyomin, Youtube: 미니하우스 Ⓜ️ini House
  • Jiyeon, Instagram: jiyeon2__
  • Jiyeon, X/Twitter: pjy1234
  • Jiyeon, TikTok: @jiyeon2__
  • Jiyeon, Youtube:  지연 JIYEON


  • Boram,[38] X/Twitter: BoRam_0322
  • Boram, Instagram: bo_ram_0322
  • Soyeon, X/Twitter: @sohotmelody
  • Soyeon, Instagram: @melodysoyani
  • Areum, Instagram: @areum0ju
  • Dani, Instagram: @kimdanee

Fanbases

Fanfiction

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

  • Forever Song by loveappeal (Park Soyeon/Lee Jihyun | Qri): Since when did being yourself become such an awful thing?

Fanvideos

Fandom Projects

[39]

Fannish Resources

Resources

References

  1. ^ https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/3834112.html
  2. ^ a b https://aminoapps.com/c/k-pop/page/blog/stanning-t-ara-what-is-it-like/V3I7_uM4bMkEr4Qlx5XGgW7rV8zdKY
  3. ^ https://www.soompi.com/article/1216135wpp/t-aras-hyomin-unveils-fan-club-name-gets-ready-solo-comeback
  4. ^ https://twitter.com/LIKEYENT1/status/1569649475999924231
  5. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/n0d06/does_anybody_else_have_problems_taking_tara/
  6. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/zgffl9/how_come_karas_new_album_when_i_move_didnt_sell/
  7. ^ https://kingchoice.me/the-100-most-favorite-kpop-ship-couples-2022/
  8. ^ https://kingchoice.me/the-100-most-favorite-kpop-ship-couples-2020/
  9. ^ https://kingchoice.me/the-100-most-favorite-kpop-ship-couples-2024/
  10. ^ https://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/317364/20240204/top-100-kpop-ships-2024-fan-favorite-couple-ranked-1st-place.htm
  11. ^ https://www.soompi.com/article/1430780wpp/iu-and-t-aras-jiyeon-tear-up-while-talking-about-being-there-for-each-other-during-difficult-times
  12. ^ https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/iu-ftisland-hongki-t-ara-jiyeon-hwang-jae-gyun-wedding-singers/
  13. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/5hwu0u/asian_junkie_tara_are_the_only_kpop_group_exempt/
  14. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/jlwa1y/respect_tara/
  15. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/kltzoq/tara_has_the_best_story_driven_music_videos_and/
  16. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpophelp/comments/vgu5gv/how_big_was_tara_or_how_big_would_they_have_been/
  17. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/7pgzzz/fans_furious_at_mbk_entertainment_over_tara/
  18. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/7nucdo/tara_has_left_mbk_entertainment/
  19. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/7oqalt/about_tara/
  20. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/a30q7u/jiyeon_confirms_tara_have_not_disbanded/
  21. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/5swm6z/former_staff_of_tara_states_that_ryu_hwayoung_and/
  22. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/g7td7s/taras_scandal_and_how_it_perfectly_portrays_the/
  23. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/quek38/taras_back_and_i_could_cry_my_heart_out/
  24. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/gd43fw/tara_why_adding_new_members_is_a_risk/
  25. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/r5lx75/i_find_it_a_bit_surprising_that_ryu_hwayoung/
  26. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpophelp/comments/166bpfz/can_anyone_explain_to_me_what_happened_during_the/
  27. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/x9b72/tara_members_bashing_hwayoung_on_twitter/
  28. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/xdiix/hwayoung_watch_2012_hwayoung_is_leaving_tara/
  29. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpophelp/comments/165avef/how_well_was_tara_perceived_and_treated_by_the/
  30. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/j81iv7/former_tara_member_soyeon_details_the_detrimental/
  31. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/79aemk/former_tara_member_ahreum_comments_on_bullying/
  32. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1b5egty/former_taras_areum_exposes_disturbing_details_of/
  33. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/18f3wov/former_tara_member_lee_a_reum_revealed_to_be/
  34. ^ https://www.kbizoom.com/dispatch-disclose-ex-t-aras-areum-and-new-boyfriends-fraud/
  35. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1bodkbk/former_tara_member_areum_hospitalized_after/
  36. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/1c0gce8/areum_reveals_shes_pregnant_2_kids_taken_away/
  37. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/ls27m9/tara_soyeons_longtime_stalker_breaks_into_her/
  38. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/13d7s2e/former_tara_member_boram_has_opened_official/
  39. ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/t-ara-queens-fan-interactions-6664068/
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