Baby V.O.X

Apart from being one of the girl groups of the first generation during the late 90s to early 2000s, Baby V.O.X was known as one of the first K-pop groups to incorporate a 'girl crush image', especially in a time when Korea was conservative. Formed in 1997, Baby V.O.X. was formed and whose final and best-known line-up consisted of Kim E-Z, Lee Hee-jin, Kan Mi-youn, Shim Eun-jin, and Yoon Eun-hye. They are considered one of the most prominent "first generation" K-pop girl groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s along with S.E.S. and Fin.K.L, all known as the 'big three' of Korean all-female pop bands coming in the wake of the Spice Girls taking the forefront of the Korean Wave, having broken into the Chinese market.

The group debuted in September 1997 as the first-ever girl group to debut. For their first album, they would displayed a style inspired by Spice Girls with female empowerment concept with "To Men" and "Haircut". Unfortunately, their debut album was not successful because of the edgy concept of the time that the Korean audiences disliked. The preceding year 1998, saw the rise of other girl groups making their debuts simultaneously, such as S.E.S. and Fin.K.L , who were quickly becoming well-known for their 'cutesy concept' and were becoming quickly popular with the audience. To avoid failure, Baby V.O.X decided to incorporate this concept for their second album, 'Baby V.O.X II', which would display a whole new refreshing image to the audience. "Ya Ya Ya." Following the success of the solo release "Ya Ya Ya," which peaked at number seven on the Korean pop charts, "Change" became the second single. However, with their booming success, just after the release of their album one of the members Lee Gai was fired by DR Music due to her age fraud.

In June 1999, Yoon Eun-Hye replaced Lee Gai, and this line-up became permanent. The single "Get Up" was released. For the first time, the group reached number one on the South Korean music pop charts. Another single, "Killer," was also number one and received the Top Excellency Award in the Seoul Music Awards in 1999. The third single, "Missing You," was also included on the album Come Come Come Baby (1999). In the years that followed, Baby VOX made several appearances on variety shows. After the success of the third album, the group promoted itself internationally, including in China, Japan, and other Southeast Asian countries. The fourth album, Why, included the singles "Why" and "Betrayal," and the group hosted the television program Beautiful Sunday-Cruise to the Korea Strait. The group's fifth album, 'Boyish Story', was released in 2001 and included the singles "Game Over," "Doll," and "I Wish You are My Love." In 2001, the group released a compilation album with the singles "Coincidence" and "Go." Coincidence was the group's first number-one single in three years. "Coincidence" was re-released for the 2002 World Cup and gained additional popularity. The group held a concert in Mongolia in 2004, becoming the first South Korean idol band to do so. The group also performed in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2003 and was the second girl group to perform in North Korea.