Baby V.O.X

Baby V.O.X. (Hangul: 베이비복스, standing for "Baby Voices of Xpression") was one of South Korea's girl groups, associated with record company DR Music. Although it initially had much internal turmoil, Baby V.O.X. eventually became a cohesive group from 1999 to 2005, releasing hit albums.

However, after the failure of their last album Ride West, it began to unravel again. By the end of that year, all of the members had left the company, with some going solo, and others moving into other entertainment areas.

Earlier Members

• Cha Yu-mi (차유미), from 1997 to 1998. Lead vocal in 1997, left the group because of knee injuries suffered during stage performance. She now sings in Lola Fair & Baby J as Lola Fair.
• Jang Hyun-jung (장현정), from 1997 to 1998. Main vocal in 1997, released from the group due to conflicts with the company.
• Jung Shi-woon (정시운), from 1997 to 1998. Rapper and sub-vocal in 1997, released from the group due to conflicts with the company.
• Lee Gai (이가이), from 1998 to 1999. Sub-vocal and instrumental player in 1998, released from the group due to lying about her age

Later Members^[3]

• Kim E-Z (born as Kim Eiji), (Leader, Rapper, Sub-Vocal) (김이지; 金倚芝^[4]), born January 21, 1980; member from 1997 to 2006. She was born in Incheon and was considered to be the best dancer in the group. Kim was the member assigned the sexy role for the group. She majored in Dances in Yewon Art Middle School, Seoul Art High School, and Kyung Hee University. Her father was a former lieutenant in the navy. Kim admitted that she is from the strict Christian family, as well as Eun Hye, revealed the episode that she was harshly scolded by her father when it was found out that Kim joined Baby VOX in 1997 without the recognition of others. Kim enjoys shopping as a hobby while her favorite color is pink and has decorated her room with completely with pink. She is also known for her flexibility and was asked to join the basketball team when she was in primary school. After the group's breakup, Kim has worked as a television show host and an actress.
• Lee Hee-Jin (2nd Main Vocal) (이희진; 李姬珍), born February 21, 1980; member from 1997 to 2006. She was born in Seoul and known for her husky voice, sophistication, and talent. Lee is also known is known for her modesty through her mother's influence. Lee graduated from Shinkyung Girls' Commercial High School and Dong-ah Broadcasting University, majoring in broadcasting andentertainment. After the breakup, Lee went into a state of depression but began working as a fashion model, and is trying to start an acting career.^[5]
• Shim Eun Jin (Lead Vocal) (심은진; 沈恩珍), born February 6, 1981; member from 1998 to 2004. Eun Jin was born in Seoul and known for her tomboy qualities. She attended Shinrim Girls' High School, Youngrak Commercial Girls' High School and Kyunggi University, majoring in broadcasting. Shim has great dancing skills. After the group's breakup, Shim made her appearance in television variety shows, such as SBS 'X-Man' and KBS 'Heroine Six'. Recently, she starred as Geumlan in the KBS history drama called 'Dae Jo Young', who is a talented lady warrior, who has feelings for Gulsa Biwoo. Eun Jin also acknowledged that she had dated star soccer player Lee Chun-Soo who is currently playing in Saudi Arabia League
• Kan Mi Youn (Main Vocal) (간미연; 簡美妍), born February 2, 1982; member from 1998 to 2006.^[6] Kan was born in Seoul, known and was assigned the "princess" role in the group and known for her cute and humorous qualities. She was also considered to have the best singing skills in the group and thus loved by the group's male fans. She is a dog-lover who appeared in advertisements for an animal organization. Kan attended Sungdeok Commercial Girls' High School and Kyunggi University, majoring in broadcasting. In 1999, Kan was targeted for murder by a fan of the K-pop boy group H.O.T. when she was rumored to be dating H.O.T. member Moon Hee Joon.^[7] After the group's breakup, Kan was a show host for MBC's 'Sunday Sunday Night's 'Health Club'. Currently, she is living in China to pursue a solo singing career while making appearances in one of its top televisions shows and learning the Chinese language.
• Yoon Eun Hye (Sub-Vocal) (윤은혜; 尹恩惠), born October 3, 1984; member from 1999 to 2005. She was a commercial and magazine model before joining the Baby VOX. Yoon was famous for her cuteness and child-like qualities. However, being the youngest member of the group, she was overshadowed by the other four members. She grew up in a strong Christian family and her father owns a restaurant according to an anonymous source. Yoon acknowledged that she is also a strong Christian. Her life changed dramatically when she left Baby VOX to pursue her own career in acting. She starred in MBC's 'Goong' (consider one of 2006's most watched drama), 'Coffee Prince 1st Shop' (was one of 2007's most watched drama)', KBS 'The Man in the Vineyard', and became the most popular & successful ex-member of Baby VOX. Eun Hye won MBC and KBS Acting Award's 'Rookie of the Year' in 2006,the 'Top Excellence Award' in 2007's MBC Acting Awards and the most coveted 44th Baeksang Best Actress Award in 2007 for 'Coffee Prince 1st Shop'. Recently, Yoon returned to music as she was featured in a song for Korean rapper duo Mighty Mouth and2PM.

• Early years

  
  Formation of Group and Release of First Album

  The group originally consisted of Cha Yu Mi, Jung Shi Woon, Jang Hyun Jung, Lee Hee Jin and Kim E-Z. They used an edgy style similar to that of the Spice Girls. However, in the strict and conservative Korean culture, their edgy style didn't result in success. Also, there were endless rumors about the conflicts between younger group members (Kim E-Z and Lee Hee Jin) and the older members (Cha Yu Mi, Jung Shi Woon, Jang Hyun Jung). When Cha was injured on stage during performance, she was immediately replaced by Kan Mi Youn. After the first album, Jung and Jang were removed from the group due to conflicts.

  Revival in the Second Album

  After the replacement of three members with Shim Eun Jin, Kan Mi Youn, and Lee Gai, Baby VOX went on a strict training regimen to develop their dancing and singing, which included mental and physical training as well. Baby VOX adopted the cuter and shy style used by S.E.S. and Fin.K.L. Their first single, Ya Ya Ya became a quick success after the release. Ya Ya Ya hit number seven on the Korean pop charts. With their second single, Change the group adopted a more mature and sexy look. However, it was later revealed that Lee Gai lied to her management company about her actual age being 30 instead of her fake age 20, and was removed from the group.

  Success of the Third Album

  Yoon Eun Hye replaced Lee Gai in the lineup and the group's first single from the album Get Up was soon popular nationwide. For the first time, they reached the number one spot on the Korean music pop charts. Another single 'Killer' also hit the first place on the music charts, with the sexy lady warrior style. With the Killer single, Baby VOX beat H.O.T. in the pop charts and earned the 'Top Excellency Award' in Seoul Music Award in 1999. The ballad single, 'Missing You' was very popular and is considered the group's best ballad single ever.
  
  

  Fourth and Fifth Album, Foreign Promotions

  From 2000-2001, Baby VOX made more appearances in variety shows. After their success of the third album, they started promoting themsevles in China and gained a great popularity and strong fanbase. Their popularity spread to Japan and other Southeast Asian countries. [17] The fourth album, 'Why', continued its popularity, with the two strong singles Why and Betrayal. Also, Baby VOX appeared as a show host in SBS variety program, Beautiful Sunday-Cruise to the Korea Strait. With their fifth album, Boyish Story in 2001, even though the album sales and its singles Game Over,Doll, I Wish You are My Love were not as popular as the third and fourth album, the group's popularity didn't fade. Baby VOX also made their appearance as a show host in KBS variety program, Your Saturday-Aqua Girls.

  Special Album

  As well as their success in Asian markets, Baby VOX released a special hits album were from their first five albums, with two single hits Coincidence and Go. With Coincidence, the group hit number one in the Korean music charts for the first time in three years. Coincidence was also released in a World Cup version, and performed all around Korea during the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup season, and remained popular throughout the summer. In addition to that, they managed to have a Live Concert in Seoul, which was hugely popular. A Baby VOX Music Award was also created in China

  Sixth Album

  In spring of 2003, Baby VOX released their sixth album, a feat achieved by very few Korean pop groups. They even released a photo album that was purported to have semi-nude images of the girls (with Eun Hye unable to participate due to her age), causing some controversy, but it faded as the image content was found to be hyped up by the media.^[10] Baby VOX topped the Chinese music chart with the Chinese single I'm Still Loving You, 3rd place with 나 어떡해 (What Should I Do) and 4th place with the same single in Thailand as well.^[11] However, this was also when the group's fortunes started to change. While 'What Should I Do' hit the number one spot in the Korean music chart, their second single, 바램 (The Wish) wasn't as popular. At the time, they were the first Korean girl group to have hold solo concert in Mongolia as their popularity was high compared to the other Korean idols. In addition, their performances appeared to be lackluster, especially with the latter single, as it was not promoted for a long time period. This may be attributed to the fact that members did not like this album's concept

  Albums

  • Equalizeher (Chinese: 做头发的那天)
  • Ya Ya Ya (Korean: 야야야)
  • Come Come Come Baby
  • Why
  • Boyish Story
  • Devotion
  • Ride West