| “ |
Happiness~ Hello, we are Red Velvet. |
” |
| —Red Velvet | ||
Red Velvet (레드벨벳) is a five-member girl group under SM Entertainment. They debuted on August 1, 2014 with the single "Happiness". The group originally consisted of four members, Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy, before adding a fifth member, Yeri, in March 2015.
The group's name represents its concept, defined by two different images, "Red" and "Velvet". "Red" signifies their vivid and bold image, whereas "Velvet" reflects their classy and toned-down side. Songs like "Happiness", "Ice Cream Cake", and "Dumb Dumb" falling into the "Red" concept, in contrast to "Be Natural", "Automatic", and "One of These Nights" which falls into the "Velvet" concept, with "Russian Roulette" and "Rookie" falling in both "Red" and "Velvet" concepts.
History
Pre-Debut
Before their debut, Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Yeri were previously part SM Rookies, SM Entertainment's pre-debut team of trainees under SR14G (SM Rookies 2014 Girls). The members appeared in multiple music videos and posted their own content using SM Rookies. Seulgi was the first to be recruited in 2007 through SM Saturday Open Audition and made a cameo in Henry's "Fantastic". Irene became a trainee of SM Entertainment back in 2009, and made a cameo in Henry's "1-4-3 (I Love You)". Wendy was recruited in 2012 during SM Global Audition in Canada, and released an OST for drama Mimi. Joy was recruited through SM Global Audition in Seoul in 2012. Finally, Yeri was casted from SM Global Audition in US in 2011.
2014: Debut with "Happiness" and "Be Natural"
Promo for "Happiness"
In July 28, Irene, Seulgi, and Wendy were rumored to debut as a group, thus graduating from SM Rookies, which was confirmed by SM Entertainment, with Joy being added to the group also. Red Velvet's debut marked the company's first girl group in five years, after f(x). After multiple teasers, on August 1, the music video for "Happiness" was released, with member Yeri making a cameo, but due to the controversial imagery concerning the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the events of 9/11, the music video was taken down, on the same day, they made their official debut stage on Music Bank. On August 4, the music video was replaced without the concerning images, and the digital single was released. The song was a commercial success, placing high on national and international charts.
Promo for "Be Natural"
On October 9, the group released the music video to, "Be Natural", which is a remake of their labelmate, S.E.S., song, of the same title. The song featured labelmate NCT U member Taeyong (who was under SR14B, or SM Rookies 2014 Boys), and original choreography seen in a pre-debut teaser of Irene and Seulgi, which they performed as part of S.M. Rookies. On the same day, they began promotions for the song with their first appearance on the music program M Countdown. On October 14, they released the digital single for the song.
2015: Addition of Yeri, "Automatic", Ice Cream Cake, The Red, and "Wish Tree"
Promo for "Automatic"
On March 10, it was announced that Red Velvet will make a comeback as a five-member group, with SM releasing an introduction video to their official YouTube channel to welcome the newest member of the group, Yeri. On the same day, they announced that their first mini-album is named Ice Cream Cake, with the title song of the same name. On March 13, the music video teaser was released for "Ice Cream Cake", with the next day releasing the music video for "Automatic". On March 15, Red Velvet released the album, with the accompanying music video for the title song, "Ice Cream Cake". The song was a critical success, topping multiple charts and managed to grab their first music show win on March 27, on Music Bank, following with other wins as well.
Promo for "Ice Cream Cake"
On March 22, the group had their first overseas performance of "Ice Cream Cake" and their first as a 5-member group in an SMTOWN concert held in Taiwan. On August 2, the group had their first promotions in the United States at KCON LA at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The group participated in a fan engagement session at the Los Angeles Convention Center and performed songs, "Ice Cream Cake", "Somethin' Kinda Crazy", and "Happiness" during the concert.
Promo for The Red
On September 3, Red Velvet started posting series of mysterious red blocks on their official Instagram feed, after posting throughout the day, it was revealed to be a massive grid of the track list of their upcoming album The Red, announcing their comeback. The Red will focus on their vivid and strong "Red" image. The next day, it was revealed that the title track for the album will be "Dumb Dumb" and a teaser for the music video was released. After multiple teasers, on September 9, the album came out while the music video for "Dumb Dumb" came out the day before. The song was described as an uptempo pop dance track with a groovy beat and addictive hook, with the lyrics about a girl who can't help but act awkward around her crush. The group made their comeback stage on M! Countdown on September 10. The album was an immediate success which was received positively by critics, topping multiple national and international charts. The title song was critically acclaimed, placing high in various music charts, and winning multiple music shows. On December 18, the group took part in S.M. Entertainment's special winter project Winter Garden, alongside label-mates f(x) and BoA, releasing a digital single titled "Wish Tree".
2016: The Velvet and Russian Roulette
Promo for The Velvet
While promoting their last album at a press conference on September 8, 2015, the members and the company hinted at a follow-up album to The Red, with member Wendy confirming the release a month after. On March 1, an SM Entertainment representative confirmed the album, and 10 days later, an image of Yeri in a pink dress appeared, with a hashtag confirming the title of the album to be The Velvet. The Velvet focuses on their smooth and soft "Velvet" image. After multiple teasers were dropped, the group confirmed the title song to be "One of These Nights" and a comeback date of March 16, but the date was delayed to a day later to ensure better high quality of work. On March 17, they released the album and the accompanying music video for the title song. The song was described as an R&B ballad with a polished rhythm, and was based on the Korean festival of Chilseok, which is celebrated on the seventh the day of the seventh month ("7월7일"), hence the romanization name. The original tale tells the story of lovers Jiknyeo and Gyeonwu, who were separated by the heavenly king and were only allowed to meet on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The song was a success, topping multiple charts and managing to win multiple music shows.
Promo for Russian Roulette
On August 19, it was announced that Red Velvet will make a comeback sometime in September. On September 1, the group’s website changed to an animation of a heart that’s pierced by an arrow reading the words "Russian Roulette", and in their Instagram, they uploaded various pictures, forming a picture of Wendy. After multiple teasers, it was revealed that the title song will be the same name as the album, with a comeback date of September 7. On September 7, the album and the music video was released. The song "Russian Roulette" is described as a synthpop song that has an arcade sound feel with a retro 8-bit sound source. Its lyrics compare the process of winning someone's heart with a game of Russian Roulette. On September 9, it was revealed that the comeback date for the album kept postponing, and on September 13, it was revealed that "Russian Roulette" was written before they debuted. They heard the song then, when they were still trainees, not realizing they would release it. The song was a success, placing high in multiple charts.
2017: Rookie, "Would U", "ReVeluv", The Red Summer, and Perfect Velvet
Promo for Rookie
On January 20, it was announced that the group will have a comeback in February. Four days later, the first batch of teasers were released through SM Entertainment's official website and their official Instagram account, with the release date shown on one of the photos, with the comeback date at February 1 and the album title of Rookie, and it was confirmed that the title song was to have the same name as the album. After multiple teasers, the album and the title song came out. The song "Rookie" was described as a pop-funk single that draws on Red Velvet’s unconventional musicality to combine low-key sing-speaking and synth beats before blasting into the saccharine hook of a chorus. The song was critically acclaimed, winning multiple music shows and topping multiple charts.
On March 22, it was announced that Red Velvet will be releasing a single as the first artist to release music through SM STATION Season 2. After releasing multiple teasers, they finally released the single, "Would U" on March 31. Member Joy was not included in this single due to schedule conflicts, and on April 21, they released the acoustic version of the song. Finally, on April 26, on their 1000 day anniversary, the group's fanclub name was announced to be "ReVeluv" which has dual meanings, as it sounds like the combination of the words “Red Velvet” and “love,” and “Level Up".
Promo for The Red Summer
On June 23, it was announced that Red Velvet would be releasing an album in July for a summer comeback, which signifies the groups summer-esque concept since the "Happiness" era. Around midnight on June 30, the first set of teasers were released through the company's official website, the group's official Instagram, and the group's official Twitter account which was created in the same month for more promotions. Later that day, they posted another set of teasers which revealed the album title and the full track list which includes the title track, "Red Flavor". The album was released digitally on July 9 and had its physical release on July 10.
Promo for Perfect Velvet
On November 7, they released the new album, Perfect Velvet, which was released on November 17, this new album is focused on the group's Velvet side. In this album, each member was represented by a weapon: Irene's weapon is an axe, Seulgi's a knife, Wendy's a pair of scissors, Joy's a submachine gun, and Yeri's a beast. On November 8, the group's official twitter launched a "timeline" that said that from the 8th until the 17th they would have teasers (of image and video) until the release of the album. Finally, on the 17th, the album released along with the video-clip of its title track. The track is described as an uptempo pop dance, the album amounted to almost 36,000 copies, being Red Velvet's biggest selling album in a week.
2018: The Perfect Red Velvet
On January 23, the group's twitter released teasers indicating that a new album called "The Perfect Red Velvet" would be released on the 29th of the same month. This album is a repackage of their last album and the concept of this album is the mix of the Red side with Velvet. Apparently, the album will add 3 new songs including the title, Bad Boy, totaling 12 songs.
Members
| Member | Position |
|---|---|
| Irene (아이린) | Leader, Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Visual |
| Seulgi (슬기) | Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist |
| Wendy (웬디) | Main Vocalist |
| Joy (조이) | Sub Vocalist, Lead Rapper |
| Yeri (예리) | Sub Vocalist, Sub Rapper, Maknae |
Discography
Korean
Studio albums
- The Red (2015)
- Perfect Velvet (2017)
- The Perfect Red Velvet (repackage) (2018)
Mini albums
- Ice Cream Cake (2015)
- The Velvet (2016)
- Russian Roulette (2016)
- Rookie (2017)
- The Red Summer (2017)
- Summer Magic (2018)
Digital singles
- "Happiness" (2014)
- "Be Natural" (2014)
- "Wish Tree" (2015)
- "Would U" (2017)
- "Rebirth" (2017)
OSTs
- "Telemonster OST" (2016)
Japanese
Mini albums
- #CookieJar (2018)
Endorsements
- Lotte Pepero (2014)
- Baskin Robbins (2015)
- Metersbonwe (2015-2016)
- BLACK Martine SITBON (2015-2016)
- Red Cross (2016)
- The SAEM (2016-2017)
- Tore Ore Chicken (2016-2017)
- Lineage Red Knights (2017)
- Korean Red Cross Youth (2017)
- Skechers (2017)
- Pro Baseball H2 (2017)
- The Shilla Duty Free (2017-)
- Columbia Sportswear x Sorel Footwear (2017)
- Etude House (2018-)
Gallery
- Main article: Red Velvet/Gallery
Official links
- Japanese
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