“I’m Back.” -Hyori
Originally published on FightingStripes.com on Dec. 7, 2020. Written by Albert Ghim
Back in the Spring of 1995, Michael Jordan made his legendary return to the world of Basketball with that famous fax message, sent through his agent at the time, David Falk. He sent two words, “I’m Back.” MJ’s Return at the time flipped the world completely upside down and put the NBA on notice; the King was back. The omnipotent power of those words felt very much like a god returning to lay the smackdown on his world. To be fair, MJ was the king of the basketball world. Yes, Hakeem and his squad of guys found some success without him and the upstart Magic were on their way to claiming their place in the Eastern Conference. Reggie’s Pacers were formidable, Pat’s Knicks were knocking on the door, but everyone knew what was coming.
The last couple of seasons of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones” pretty much found its footing in the known truth that Winter was coming; the Whitewalkers and their army of frozen zombie warriors were coming for everyone’s head. And if it wasn’t for an MJ-esque switch hands dagger jab from Arya, the Whitewalkers would have wrecked everyone. The thing with MJ was that he was inevitable like the Whitewalkers or Thanos of the MCU, except the only difference with him was that he got the job done. MJ didn’t win a title in the first season he was back; MJ was rusty and the Bulls had a giant gaping hole left behind by Horace Grant leaving for the Magic. In the '96 season though, they went marching and broke the record for the best regular season record in NBA history when they went 72-10.
With them adding Dennis Rodman they opened the season winning their first 37 games at home, completely dominating everyone who came to play them. With MJ at 32 and in his first season back from his hiatus playing baseball, he still averaged 30.4 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Jordan and Pippen made the All-Star Game that year and Phil Jackson won Coach of the Year. Till this day there are many that consider that 96 Bulls team to be one of, if not, THE greatest team in NBA history and they were led by their supernova star Michael Jordan. Even after being away playing baseball, everyone in the league knew this kind of dominance was coming. After winning 3 titles in a row from 91-93, the league were very clear about who MJ was and what he was capable of.
I hate going into the GOAT discussion because it’s just boring at this point. People will love who they love, die for who they love, and usually won’t hear otherwise so I’ll leave that alone. The one thing that you have to acknowledge with Jordan was his inevitability. In his prime of primes, you knew he was coming and you knew he would without question be the king of the jungle. I started all this with Jordan because I racked my brain for weeks trying to come up with the perfect musical comparison for Hyori. I thought of Madonna, Beyonce, JLo, etc. But I just couldn’t land on a perfect or near-perfect comparison and then I thought about this past summer and the ridiculous return Hyori had and it immediately reminded me of Jordan. Hyori has been that level of dominant, and has an inevitability to her that can’t go unnoticed. If Hyori is in the mix, you know she’s going to dominate.
If you like K-Pop and you like Korean culture, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that you haven’t heard of Lee Hyori. If you haven’t heard of her before, I’m glad you’re here because you’ve been living without the Michael Jordan of Korean music and Korean celebrities until now.
If you want to look back at some of Hyori's big hits, check out the two videos above because the list of hits she’s been a part of whether as the leader of FIN.K.L or as a solo artist is just ridiculous. If you think back to the success she had, the thing that we have to acknowledge is that she’s been dominant at almost whatever she’s done. Fin.K.L in their heyday were going head to head with the legends S.E.S and always held their own. If you look at her solo career, it’s like a murderer’s row of hits whether it's “10 Minutes”, “U-Go-Girl”, “Miss Korea”, or “Bad Girls”; the list goes on and on. To be honest, I didn’t grow up worshipping Hyori because I wasn’t as in-tune with the world of Korean music; distance was definitely a factor. That being said, I knew who she was and I knew there probably wasn’t a single person in Korea that had more star power than she did when she was in her prime. I don’t want to discredit all of her rivals back in the day, but she was just omnipotent.
For Korean-Americans like me who were consuming Korean culture from afar, we didn’t exactly have the means to be completely current with everything going on in Korea. Through variety shows we were watching on VHS, or illegally downloaded songs from LimeWire heard on our friend’s IRIVER MP3 players, we were able to have some idea of what was going on. That was the power of Hyori, even if you weren’t there for it, you could feel her power. In a world where TikTok, Youtube, and social media weren’t present at all, her presence was undeniable.
Once Hyori went solo, much of her star power was definitely rooted in her sex appeal and her skills as an entertainer. I don’t think anyone would argue that Hyori was ever the best singer even at her peak; but, she did have great stage presence and always knew how to handle herself in front of the cameras. However, to say that Hyori was only loved for her looks or aura would be cutting her short by a mile. Hyori has always been beloved for how raw, candid, and relatable she is. Throughout her run as a variety show personality, fans and celebrities always saw her as the ice queen, the final boss. She had so much authority and moxie to her that you knew she wasn’t someone to be trifled with. You always got the sense that she knew she was famous but also had a firm grip on her humble beginnings and she never let the fame morph her into a diva. She was fearless as a personality and was always unabashedly herself.
Recently, I’ve seen people anoint BoA as the Queen of K-Pop and how she was maybe the most influential legend of the genre ever. I know that Hyori isn’t perfect; she has her detractors. Fans of other groups and stars like BoA will probably come for my head and say I don’t know what I’m talking about. (That's probably true considering I'm no K-pop expert, we have plenty of experts on our site. Check out anything our other writers are writing if you hate what I have to say.) The thing that I love about Hyori and that I’d like to argue for her case is that Hyori is still a major star NOW. I actually decided to write about her because Hyori is just coming off of a 6 month run where she literally topped the charts with two different groups of people and flexed on everybody both old and new. I talked about Yoo Jae Suk last week and how his relatability has kept him relevant and beloved for almost two decades now. Hyori has a similar star power to her that’s kept her relevant for even longer, even after a hiatus. Hyori grabbed 2020 by the horns and said, "I’m back."
I had no choice but to relate Hyori to MJ because the two both took a long hiatus in their primes. Hyori essentially has been in and out of the business for 5 years now. Starting back in 2015, Hyori has taken extended breaks whenever she’s wanted, and the thing that amazes me about her is that whenever she comes back, she’s always the talk of the town. Back in 2017 after taking a 2 year break from music and entertainment, she came back to star in a reality show with her husband where they opened up their home on Jeju Island to be a B&B. The idea behind the show was so genius and was a huge hit. When Hyori went away to Jeju the general public in Korea had no idea what she was doing and how she was living. To suddenly have access to her home and to see their shining star in a light they had never seen her before was an incredible gift and must-see TV. Not only had the public not seen much of Hyori but people hadn’t seen much of her and her husband Lee Sang Soon (a well known musician himself) who she married back in 2013. The biggest winner of the reality show had to be her husband as the public got to see how sweet and loving he was to his wife. It was also refreshing to see how cool and laid back they were as a couple living in their isolated home away from the mainland.
I think the biggest reason why viewers were so enthralled by the show was because they saw Hyori vulnerable in a way that the public wasn’t generally used to. For most of the show you see her dressed in comfortable homewear, a simple t-shirt and yoga pants, replacing all of her gaudy outfits; she also has a bare face, free of make up, symbolizing her current state of life. She had spent two years away from the public hiding on an island, and suddenly had cameras in her own home, showing the rawest version of an already raw character. In the first season, she would have extremely intimate and revealing conversations with IU (a megastar in her own right) where she would share her struggles as a star back when she was in the thick of things, and also shared how she needed her time away in Jeju to find herself and come to grips with her fame and the potential end of her reign at the top of the mountain. It was also amazing to see her connecting with her guests on a personal level, many times offering advice and her ear to listen to their issues. Just watch this compilation and tell me you wouldn’t want to be friends with her and hear what she has to say.
Fast forward two years later to the summer of 2020, in the thick of a global pandemic, Hyori returned to the limelight by teaming up with Yoo Jae suk and Rain to create a co-ed musical group called Ssak3. The trio came together, combining two legends of the Korean music business in Hyori and Rain, and the absolute king of Korean variety shows in Yoo Jae Suk. They came together to record an album and to spread good vibes during one of the most difficult summers ever. The group was welcomed with open arms and found great popularity because of the combined starpower of the three and how they decided to tap into 90’s Korean Hip-hop and K-Pop vibes with their music and style. Also all of this was on Yoo's show "Hangout with Yoo" which gave viewers a behind the scenes look of how everything came together. Their smash hit “Beach Again” went number one on most music shows in Korea and topped multiple charts. For anyone late 20s and older, you can’t help but reminisce about the good old days while watching the music video for “Beach Again”.
I mean, cmon. What is there not to like about that? For anyone who grew up in the 90s this video is hitting every nostalgic bone in us. Whether it's the colors, outfits, sounds, or props, they really hit it out of the park with this one. There was a time when the group did a livestream on YouTube and fans were commenting like wildfire that the music video brought them back to happier days in the 90s; clearly, that's what they were going for in this one.
As fun as it was to see her thriving with the group, one of the most memorable moments of the show was when she broke down in tears in front of her teammates. In a moment of weakness and a lack of foresight, Hyori had started an Instagram livestream while at karaoke with former Girl’s Generation member Lim Yoona, who was with her on season 2 of Hyori's Homestay. The issue with the livestream was that the two were partying it up in a confined space without masks on and Netizens came for their heads because they weren’t doing a good job of socially distancing. Some may say she broke down for the cameras, but if we’ve learned anything about Hyori over the years is that she never pretends to be something she’s not. To see her breakdown in front of the fellow members and to then see them comfort her and affirm her, felt like the type of content we needed in 2020. You can clearly see it in Rain’s face as she starts to cry that this was a genuine reaction and I’m glad both he and Yoo Jae Suk created a safe space for her to express herself and just be human. Many times because all we see are the smash hits and soju commercials, we forget that these megastars are human too.
After finishing up an exciting three month run with Ssak3, she decided to cap the summer and bring in a new flavor for the fall. Her goal? Assemble a group of powerful women, mixing legends of the music industry with the rising stars. While still working with her Ssak3 teammates she declared that she wanted to start a girl group with the legend Uhm Jung Hwa, Hwasa of Mamamoo, and Jessi. Hyori was voted in as the leader by the other members and led the group on a short two month run where they dropped a hit single titled “Dont Touch Me”. To no one’s surprise, they also topped the charts and received a ton of love for their intimidating femme fatale personas. The absolute best moment from her run with the Refund Sisters was when she had a solo part in the music video and the rest of the members and managers were behind the cameras watching her perform, watching her work the camera with a class, elegance, and attitude that is unmatched. To see the reactions of the other members was so moving because they knew what they were watching. They knew that they were blessed to be in the presence of a legend doing what she absolutely does best. They innately knew that it was a blessing for them to be there, to have been on the scene as Hyori was working her magic.
Even after being out of the game for a couple years, literally everything Hyori did this summer was a smash hit and cemented her legacy as one of the most influential musicians and entertainers in Korean history. Like Beyonce, Jlo, or Madonna, Hyori is a mononymous star that probably doesn’t need the introduction that I gave her in this piece. She’s Hyori and the name encompasses all of her power, fame, popularity, and, most importantly, her inevitability. 2020 sucked, but as soon as we caught wind that Hyori was coming back it immediately became must-see TV and she did not disappoint. Many may have been surprised by her run, by all the wonderful music she made, how she grabbed the attention of viewers all over the country; I wasn't one of those people and frankly, neither was she. Just look at what she says to Rain and Yoo Jae Suk in the clip below. She is cognizant of her own inevitability.
She’s probably off hiding again on Jeju island finding a well deserved respite after dominating the music scene over the summer. For an aging superstar well into her 40s to go head to head with some of the biggest K-pop stars and groups in the history of the game was a sight to behold. She’s gone now and we don’t know when she’s coming back, but what we do know is whenever she does decide to come back, we’ll know what to expect. Hyori is Inevitable.