In South Korea, tough competition always occurs in the entertainment industry. From rookies to seniors, when they have careers and make a comeback there will definitely be things that are done a lot to get the attention and especially the appreciation of their fans who have been waiting for so long. Bolbbalgan4 is also an example of musicians from South Korea who made their debut as a duo and managed to get a lot of attention from the public because of their talents. However, recently the duo had to experience problems and one member had to leave the group. In this article, we will discuss further Bolbbalgan4’s Ahn Ji-young: her career path, and her condition after one of the other members decided to leave the duo. Without waiting too long, let’s have a more detailed look at Bolbbalgan’s Ahn Ji-young’s full profile in the article below!
BOL4’s Ji-young’s Profile
Real Name: Ahn Ji-young (안지영) Stage Name: Jiyoung (지영) Place and Date of Birth: Yeongju, South Korea, September 14th, 1995 Star Sign: Virgo Height: 165 cm (5’4″) Weight: 45 kg (99 lbs) Blood Type: A Position: Main Vocalist Official Site: Instagram (@hey_miss_true)
BOL4’s Ji-young’s Facts
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BOL4’s Ji-young’s Pre-debut Story
Bolbbalgan4 originally came from Yeongju, North Gyeongsang, and before they finally decided to audition, there was a video that tells the life of Bolbbalgan4 members in Yeongju. In the video, Ahn Ji-young also shared that Yeongju is one of the cities with many great places, the people are also kind, famous, and also a comfortable place to live in. When Bolbbalgan4 auditioned for Mnet’s survival show Superstar K6 which aired in 2014, it could be seen that there were four members in their initial line-up before debut, but all that was left until they debuted were Ahn Ji-young and Woo Jiyoon. In an episode of Mnet’s Superstar K6 which showed Bolbbalgan4 when they were still in the audition stage, the members also introduced all the circumstances that existed in their place of residence in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang. The members including Ahn Ji-young also introduced the delicious food that was there and the funny thing was, they also gave apples to the judges when it was time for them to audition as one of the characteristics of their hometown. One of the former members of Bolbbalgan4 from Yeongju, Kim Ji-won, also shared that in their hometown no one actually sold musical instruments and before they came to audition for Mnet’s Superstar K6 in Seoul, they had often been busking in public places, like in a park or downtown. Because of their great experience and passion for music, the four of them finally ventured to become contestants on Mnet’s Superstar K6. When they were still in school, they shared that they liked music and did performances. They use public buses as transportation to get to the busking place in downtown Yeongju. In South Korea, it is not uncommon to see several people or young people doing busking or performing in public places. The reason is that besides entertaining the crowd, this can also train the mentality of a musician or those who want to debut as an idol to feel how many people are watching and improve their talents in these shows, including their ability to sing and attract the attention of many people to enjoy their shows there. During the audition, Bolbbalgan4 had the opportunity to sing a song from Maroon 5 “Payphone” and a One Direction song titled “What Makes You Beautiful.” The two songs were delivered mash-up with the group and many people who watched Bolbbalgan4’s performance during their first audition conveyed their praise. Ahn Ji-young’s English pronunciation sounded very fluent and good. More than that, her vocal technique, vocal character, mimic, and expression when singing looks natural and cool. The judges gave their praise for Bolbbalgan4’s performance during the audition who looked really good at making efforts and had undergone serious training before appearing. One of the judges also said that the expression of Ahn Ji-young was like she wanted to convey a message to others about the song she sang.
After the first audition stage, Bolbbalgan4 was declared to have won the next round. While the auditions that the contestants have to do to take part in Mnet’s Superstar K6 have many stages, Bolbbalgan4 managed to do their best on this survival show. At the audition stage that they had to pass next, Bolbbalgan4 sang the song “I Don’t Need A Man” by MissA, where all the members besides Ahn Ji-young as vocalists in this group showed their proficiency in playing musical instruments in this performance. Kwon Ji-won played guitar and Woo Jiyoon played bass and Jin-ho played jimbe and Cajon instruments. As one of the contestants on Mnet’s Superstar K6, they are arguably good at picking songs that don’t take their appearance too much and still look good to enjoy.
During their previous audition performance, the judges also said that people who can choose songs well definitely have very good talents too. So it’s not just that their vocals or appearance are good, but because they have their own skills in music. One of the judges in Mnet’s Superstar K6, Baek Jiyoung, was also said to be similar to Ahn Ji-young because they have good singing skills and have their original personality and charm when delivering a song in a performance. In the episode they auditioned too, Ahn Ji-young once said that Bolbbalgan4 has a charming point where each member represents the image of “fresh” and “pure”, just like teenagers are cute and cheerful at their age. Their group was also initially introduced under the name Bolbbalgan Sachungi which means Red Cheek Puberty. With these names, it is like giving the impression that they are teenagers and the music they perform is deliberately made to represent the feelings of teenagers in general. After the two rounds they had successfully passed, Bolbbalgan4 entered the stage where they were divided into teams and given the choice of songs to rearrange the song. They had the opportunity to be in a team with children studying abroad and have the advantage of proficiency in English, which is of course, fluent. Because the communication from the Bolbbalgan4 team couldn’t be in fluent English, of course, they decided to communicate using Korean. At this selection stage, Bolbbalgan4 agreed to sing “Dream Girl” by SHINee. During the rehearsal, Ahn Ji-young had difficulty memorizing her line easily in the given time because it was too short and as the vocalist of the group, Ahn Ji-young felt nervous and burst into tears during the rehearsal. Finally, Bolbbalgan4 did not qualify for the next stage. Their performance at that time was considered not optimal and for Ahn Ji-young, memorizing a song’s lyrics was the most important thing to do as a vocalist, but at that time she failed to do it.
This round was not the last chance for Bolbbalgan4 to continue their path. However, the judges agreed to give them another chance by issuing Wild Cards for them so they could move on to the next stage. When Bolbbalgan4 was declared not optimal on this occasion, Ahn Ji-young felt sorry because her performance was still not good and even had the wrong lyrics while singing. Bolbbalgan4’s move as a contestant on Mnet’s Superstar K6 was halted in the pre-top 10 round. They were not included as Top 10 contestants, but thanks to their existence and appearance which gave their own color to Mnet’s Superstar K6, there were many agencies who were attracted to them until they finally chose an agency called Shofar Music. The reason why Bolbbalgan4 wanted to enter the agency is that the agency approved them to compose songs and make music in their own style.
BOL4’s Ji-young’s Debut
Bolbbalgan Sachungi or Red Cheek Puberty is a folk duo made up of former contestants of Superstar K6. They debuted on April 22nd, 2016, under Shofar Music. The group consisted of Ahn Ji-young and Woo Jiyoon who initially met when they were in high school. The two became close because they have the same interests in the world of music. The plan was for them to want to be idols but eventually, they realized that they both couldn’t dance. Then they decided to become indie musicians. Bolbbalgan4 debuted with the release of a full-length album titled Red Planet, having previously released a mini-album titled Red Ickle, as well as releasing a single for the soundtrack of the drama Misaeng. In this album, Bolbbalgan has good songs and easy listening. Evidently, their song “Galaxy” topped music charts in South Korea. Bolbbalgan4 was a pearl in the mud. Before officially debuting, they were amateurs who hadn’t paid attention to anyone other than the current agency, Shofar Music. Since 2012, they have appeared on Mnet’s Super Star K for three consecutive years, but all were eliminated from the qualifying round. In the meantime, they were beautifully rejected by some large agencies. However, when they first appeared on TV while advancing from Mnet’s Superstar K6 in 2014 to ‘Super Week’, the final qualifier, and caught the eyes of Shofar Music. “If I think about it now, I think it might have been better if I fell into an immature form when I was less famous in ‘Superstar K’. I was able to see you in a more advanced form.” Ahn Ji-young and Woo Ji-yoon met for the first time as classmates in their first year of high school. It was the opportunity to confide each other’s secrets that “my dream is to become a singer” on Hagok-gil, and go to a practical music academy together and even make a band. “The name I made at that time was a bright adolescent.” “I’m really happy when I hear the evaluations of ‘freshness’ and there are the strange charms and colors unique to ‘puberty’. Musicians are very proud of their own color, and people know it, support it, and they are happy. The time I had prepared for a year and a half before my debut gradually passed, and I feel like the hard work melts.” In the first place, Bolbbalgan practiced the songs of composers introduced by the agency, but it was not easy to match the fresh tone, and atmosphere cultivated in the wild to the ‘standard’ of the established music industry. “I started making songs with the recommendation of my agency to write a song. I wrote one or two songs a week, recalling walking around the wall in high school, performing under the clock tower in Yeongju city, and collecting 80 songs over a year. Here, 10 songs were selected and five songs were released in April 2016 and the remaining five songs in August 2016.” The power of news was great for their hit. Music videos and lyrics were spread through social media, and more people started to share their favorites. “I want to be a musician who can sympathize and comfort someone. Of course, the innocence may disappear little by little, but I want to remain ‘colorful, cheeky puberty’ to suit the sensibility of adolescence.” Let’s watch Bolbbalgan4’s debut music video “Some”!
Bolbbalgan4 also attended several music programs broadcast on TV when they were undergoing their debut promotion period with “Some.” The duo that has members Ahn Ji-young and Woo Jiyoon looked beautiful and charming like teenagers who exuded their aura when they were young.
With her always cheerful aura, Ahn Ji-young looked charming when she was on stage and delivered her song with happy vibes. Meanwhile, Woo Jiyoon accompanied the vocalist with her guitar right next to Ahn Ji-young by singing as a back vocal.
Not only on one music program, but Bolbbalgan were also present at Music Bank to fulfill their debut promotion schedule. With a cute outfit like a school uniform, the members still looked very cheerful when singing. Not only the two of them alone, but the Bolbbalgan program music performance was also attended by several musicians at the back with their respective instrumentals to accompany Bolbbalgan’s singing.
What do you think about Bolbbalgan’s debut performance of “Some”?
