Fifty Fifty (Korean: 피프티 피프티; RR: Pipeuti Pipeuti; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by Attrakt, an independent record label, in 2022. The group debuted on November 18, 2022, with their EPThe Fifty.
They experienced a commercial breakthrough with their viral hit single "Cupid". The single, which was released in February 2023, made Fifty Fifty the fastest K-pop group to enter the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, within four months of debut.[1] Furthermore, it made them the first K-pop girl group to enter the top ten of the UK charts.[2] In 2023, they signed to Warner Music Korea.[2]
Name
The group's name, Fifty Fifty, indicates the coexistence, in equal parts, of a hope-filled ideal and a harsh reality, and their hope to be a whole 100 with their fans.[3]
History
Pre-debut
In 2019, Attrakt CEO Jeon Hong-joon and the CEO of performance production company KAMP met in Singapore during a festival and decided to work together to produce a global K-pop girl group, with KAMP in charge of the overseas marketing.[4] The two companies were joined by one of KAMP employees and producer, Ahn Sung-il (Siahn). Twelve trainees were recruited by Jeon for a year starting in December 2019 and were finally reduced to four through monthly evaluations.[4]
In January 2021, KAMP left the project due to differing views over the global strategy. The following May, Ahn and two other KAMP employees who had been involved in the project resigned and established The Givers: while Jeon was in charge of raising money, Ahn chose the music direction and trained the members in music theory, singing, dancing, rapping, acting and English.[4] More than ₩20–30 million a month were spent on the group, and more than a billion was invested in the production of four music videos.[4]
Prior to the group's debut, Saena participated as a contestant on KBS' dancing competition show Dancing High.[5]
2022: Introduction and debut with The Fifty
Fifty Fifty's official logo
After two years of training,[2] on November 14, 2022, Fifty Fifty announced that they would be debuting in November 2022 by releasing the group's official logo image posted across all the group's social media accounts.[3] The same day, a pre-released music video for the song "Lovin Me" was released on their official YouTube channel.[6] The members were revealed on November 15 through the concept photo of their debut album, which revealed the names and the debut date, and official photos of the members for the first time.[6] A performance video of "Log In" was also released the same day.[7]
Fifty Fifty released their debut extended play (EP) The Fifty on November 18, 2022, with "Higher" serving as the lead single. The album contains the first journey of girls who yearn for freedom beyond the chaos of reality and eventually move on to a utopia. It consists of four tracks – "Higher", which has an R&B pop feeling that sings about the world of ecstasy and dreams, "Tell Me", a city pop song, "Lovin Me", which conveys a message of comfort to young people who are going through growing pains, and "Log In", which expresses the movements of girls who rebel to escape from the suffocating real world with intense performances.[8][9] Promotions for the extended play's release began on November 22 with their music broadcast debut on SBS M's The Show and ended on KBS2's Music Bank on December 2.[10][11] The EP did not enter the Circle Album Chart when it was first released, but it debuted at number forty-four on the chart issue dated December 18–24, 2022, with 2,597 album sales.[12] Korean critic magazine IZM rated the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, the highest rating the magazine has ever given to a girl group.[13] The writer, Son Seung-geun, opined that Fifty Fifty "is a good example of what happens when great songs and good singers meet. Thanks to them, Korea has one more good girl group."[14]
Fifty Fifty was selected as one of The Recording Academy's "K-pop Girl Groups To Watch in 2023", writing, "the quartet displays various colors and a vocal maturity that is both hard to find and crucial to have."[15][16] They were also named one of the "Best K-pop Debuts of the Year" by Rolling Stone India,[17] and "Tell Me" and "Lovin' Me" were featured on the lists of the "Best K-pop Songs of 2022" compiled by Paper and Mashable, respectively.[18][19]
2023: International success with "Cupid" and legal dispute with Attrakt
On February 24, 2023, the group released its first single album, The Beginning: Cupid, along with the music video for title track "Cupid". The song, which was recorded both in Korean and English, saw Keena writing part of the Korean lyrics.[20] Soon after, a fan-made sped-up rendition of the English version went viral on TikTok.[21] "Cupid" consequently entered the Billboard Hot 100 on March 27, making them the sixth group and the fastest K-pop group in history to do so.[22][23] The song went on to become the highest-charting hit by a South Korean girl group in the history of the Pop Airplay chart,[24] and the second South Korean music act to land on the Adult Pop Airplay after BTS.[25]
On June 19, the members of the group filed for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with Attrakt, citing the violation of contractual obligations, as well as the lack of transparency in financial settlements, and medical negligence, during the group's promotions.[26][27] They also filed for trademarks of the group's name and their stage names.[28] The news of the injunction was belatedly revealed to the public after Attrakt accused Warner Music Korea and Ahn Sung-il of trying to get the members to violate their contracts to sign with another agency.[29] While both parties denied the claim, Attrakt filed criminal charges against Ahn and three other individuals for fraud, breach of duty, and obstruction of business.[30][31]
Keena, the only member of Fifty Fifty to have renewed her contract.
The ongoing lawsuit resulted in the cancellation of advertising contracts and the KCON LA 2023 appearance scheduled for August 19.[30][32] Filming for the music video for "Barbie Dreams" from the Barbiemovie soundtrack, released on July 6, also fell through.[32] On August 28, the Seoul Central District Court sided with Attrakt against Fifty Fifty, dismissing the injunction.[33] Fifty Fifty's law firm, Barun Law, stated that the group would immediately appeal against the dismissal.[34] On October 17, one of the members, Keena, withdrew her lawsuit against Attrakt and returned to her original agency.[35][36] On October 23, Attrakt announced the termination of the exclusive contracts of the remaining three members (Saena, Aran and Sio) as of October 19.[37] On October 24, the Seoul High Court upheld the decision to dismiss the injunction.[38][39]
On October 29, Attrakt announced that Keena would be at the Billboard Music Awards on behalf of the group, with plans to re-organize the group in the future.[40][41] On November 2, it was confirmed that the group would be continuing with a "second generation" of members, with Keena as part of the lineup, alongside three new members.[42][43] On November 24, Fifty Fifty became the first K-pop girl group to enter the Billboard Hot 100 year-end, after "Cupid" ranked 44th in the list.[44]
2024–present: Re-organization
On January 8, 2024, it was confirmed that auditions were conducted to recruit three to four new members to join Fifty Fifty alongside Keena, with a view to re-launch the group as a four or five-member girl group.[45] One of these auditions was set to take place from January to February 2024 in the Southeast Asian region, specifically in Singapore and Thailand, to recruit new members in preparation for the re-debut of Fifty Fifty, which was slated to proceed in the second quarter of 2024. Attrakt's CEO Jeon Hong-joon and Singaporean K-pop singer David Yong (who is also CEO of a Singaporean company) are set to overlook the Southeast Asia audition as part of its judging panel.[46]
On February 3, 2024, the first on-site audition took place at Kallang Place in Singapore, with about 120 youths, including those who were either Singaporeans or other nationalities, taking part in the auditions. A final round would take place in Thailand on February 17 to select four new members out of the finalists to join Fifty Fifty. Not only that, Attrakt also held auditions in Japan and South Korea for potential candidates to join Fifty Fifty. There is a tentative plan to complete the final lineup group in April 2024 and to re-debut Fifty Fifty in June 2024.[47] Subsequently, the final audition in Thailand was re-scheduled to take place on March 2, 2024.[48]
^Ahn, Byung-gil (April 1, 2023). "피프티 피프티, 英 오피셜차트 뚫었다" [Fifty Fifty breaks through the British Official Charts]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023 – via Naver.
^ abJung, Bit (November 14, 2022). '4인조 걸그룹' 피프티 피프티, 가요계 도전장…4세대 코어 유망주 노린다 ['4-member girl group' Fifty Fifty, a challenge to the music industry... Aiming for 4th generation core prospects]. The Chosun Ilbo. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^ abcdKim, Da-eun; Kim, So-jung (July 4, 2023). "[D-eye] "안성일 저작권 지분은 95%"…피프티 피프티, 외부세력의 실체" [[D-eye] "Ahn Sung-il's copyright stake is 95%"... Fifty Fifty, the reality of external forces]. Dispatch (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023 – via Naver.
^Lee, Eun-ho (March 28, 2023). "'중소돌' 깜짝 반란…피프티 피프티 흥행 비밀". Kukinews (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
^ abKim, Ji-hye (November 14, 2022). '新 걸그룹' 피프티 피프티, 멤버 베일 벗었다..신비+청순 비주얼 ['New girl group' Fifty Fifty took off the member veil.. Mystery + Innocent visual]. HeldPop. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Kim, Min-ji (November 15, 2022). '데뷔 D-1' 피프티 피프티, 비주얼 포토·'로그인' 퍼포먼스 영상 공개 ['Debut D-1' Fifty Fifty, visual photo and 'Login' performance video released]. News1. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Kim, Min-ji (November 17, 2022). '데뷔 D-1' 피프티 피프티, 데뷔곡 '하이어; 티저 1탄 공개…명곡 예감 ['Debut D-1' Fifty Fifty, debut song 'Higher; Teaser 1 released... Masterpiece Presentiment]. Seoul Shinmun. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Cho, Eun-bin (November 18, 2022). 피프티 피프티, 18일 데뷔...새나·아란·키나·시오 '4色 매력' 베일 벗는다 [Fifty Fifty debuts on the 18th... Sana, Aran, Kina, Shio take off the veil of '4 color charm']. KStarNews. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Choi, Hye-jin (November 18, 2022). 피프티 피프티, 완성도 높은 데뷔 앨범..호평 릴레이 [Fifty Fifty, a debut album with high perfection]. StarNews. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Lee, Deok-haeng (December 2, 2022). 피프티 피프티, 글로벌 호평 속 'Higher' 활동 성료 [Fifty Fifty successfully completed 'Higher' activities amid global acclaim]. StarNews. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
^Yeo, Amanda; Bell, Crystal; Luna, Elizabeth de; Hamadeh, Yasmeen (December 28, 2022). "The 25 best K-pop songs of 2022". Mashable. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
^Kang, Da-yoon (January 7, 2024). '4관왕' 세븐틴·'2관왕' 뉴진스, 나란히 대상 쾌거 "거창한 상에 당당할 수 있도록" [38회 골든디스크](종합) ['Four-time winners' Seventeen and Two-time winners' NewJeans wins the grand prize "To be able to win a huge prize" [38th Golden Disc] (Comprehensive)] (in Korean). My Daily. Retrieved January 7, 2024 – via Naver.
^Lee, Seong-sun (January 3, 2024). "'서울가요대상', 영예의 대상엔시티 드림…임영웅→제베원 등 18팀 본상 수상" ['Seoul Music Awards', Honourable Mention NCT Dream... 18 teams including Lim Young Woong → Zerobaseone win main prize]. Surprise News (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
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