LABOUM

Teaser photo for Blossom (L-R; T-B: ZN, Soyeon, Solbin, Haein)

**LABOUM** (라붐) is a four-member girl group currently under Interpark Music Plus, and formerly under Global H Media (a joint venture between Nega Network and NH Media). They debuted on August 28, 2014 with the single "Petit Macaron".

On August 11, 2022, it was reported that LABOUM would be disbanding at the end of August , although it has not been confirmed .

## Etymology

Their name is taken from the French term meaning "The Party". Possibly an original reference to the French movie moved by many with the same title but now seeming to mean that Laboum's music will make you want to party or that Laboum is the party.

## History

### 2014: Debut with *Petit Macaron*

In August 2014, NH Media and Nega Network announced the upcoming debut girl group Laboum, who had been training for four years. The group was touted as a sister group to NH Media's U-KISS and Nega Network's Brown Eyed Girls.

Laboum released their debut single album *Petit Macaron* on August 28, 2014, following the release of their music video for title track "Pit-A-Pat" the day before. The song was written by Seo Ji-eum, known for hits such as f(x)'s "Electric Shock" and TaeTiSeo's "Twinkle", and composed by Jung Jae-yeob.

On October 24, Laboum announced that they would come back with *Petit Macaron DATA PACK*, a *Petit Macaron* re-release with extra digital contents, and a reworking of the track "What About You?". On October 31, the group held a comeback performance on Music Bank and released the song's music video, which featured a clockwork doll theme. *Petit Macaron DATA PACK* was released on November 3.

### 2015: *Sugar Sugar* and *Aalow Aalow*

In late February 2015, ZN was cast to star opposite U-KISS' Kevin in the two "Milky Love" episodes of the omnibus web drama *About Love*. Both episodes were released on March 2 on Naver TV Cast.

On March 16, Laboum announced they would come back with a more mature yet refreshing concept in "Sugar Sugar", which would feature a slumber party theme. Their second single album "Sugar Sugar" was released on August 14. Yujeong was a guest on a May episode of the popular radio program Kiss the Radio, hosted by Super Junior.

In June, Solbin was cast in the variety series *Her Secret Weapon*. The show focused on lesser-known girl group members and ranked them based on their performance in certain tasks that highlight the qualities female idols need to generate loyal fans. Out of ten contestants, Solbin tied with Berry Good's Taeha for sixth place.

On November 26, 2015, Laboum uploaded a music video teaser for the comeback single "Aalow Aalow" to the group's official YouTube channel. The video was released on December 1 and featured an elegant, yet funky retro style. On December 4, Laboum held a comeback stage for "Aalow Aalow" on *Music Bank*. The single album was officially released on December 6.

### 2016–2017: *Fresh Adventure*, *Love Sign*, *Miss This Kiss* and Yulhee's departure

On February 15, 2016, Laboum launched a campaign to fund their upcoming music video on the crowdfunding platform Makestar. Among other rewards, the group offered an "Honorary Producer" title in the music video credits to those who donated over a certain amount. The campaign reached its goal of $8,261 in just four hours.

The Makestar campaign ultimately raised $27,832 – 336.9% of its original goal. Laboum released the music video for "Journey to Atlantis" and its accompanying fourth single album *Fresh Adventure* on April 6, 2016.

On August 23, 2016, Laboum's first mini album *Love Sign* was released. The album consists of six tracks, including the lead single "Shooting Love".

On December 2, 2016, Laboum released their winter digital single *Winter Story*.

On April 17, 2017, their second mini album *Miss This Kiss* was released with the lead track "Hwi Hwi". They took home their first music show win on *Music Bank* on April 28, 2017, with "Hwi Hwi". The album was crowdfunded on the platform Makestar; the campaign raised $75,751.58 – 849.93% over its original goal.

On July 25, 2017, Laboum released their summer digital single *Laboum Summer Special* with lead single "Only U".

ZN, Yujeong, and Haein appeared on KBS Idol Rebooting Project *The Unit*, which first aired on October 28, 2017.

In September 2017, Yulhee and FTISLAND member Choi Min Hwan confirmed that they were dating after photos of the two were accidently posted to the groups Instagram page, a day later Yulhee found out she was pregnant but didn't announce it to anyone at that point.

On November 3, 2017, NH Media confirmed the departure of Yulhee from the group and terminated her contract.

### 2018–2019: The Unit, *Between Us*, Japanese debut, *I'm Yours*, and *Two of Us*

On February 10, 2018, the finale for The Unit was held live at COEX Stadium, with ZN ranked #8. ZN promoted briefly as a member of the show's winning girl group, UNI.T. She was unable to take part in the group's second and final album, "Begin with the End" due to Laboum's conflicting schedules.

On July 9, a teaser image for the group's single album, *Between Us* was released. The following day, it was revealed that the single was produced by member Soyeon, and that all five members would participate in promotional activities.

The group released its debut Japanese single "Hwi Hwi" on November 7, 2018, under Nippon Columbia. The single reached No. 9 on the Oricon charts.

Laboum's sixth single album was released on December 5, 2018, with the lead single "Turn It On".

Laboum released their first studio album *Two of Us* with the title track "Firework" on September 19, 2019. The comeback was also backed by Makestar, achieving 529% of its original goal, and earning $43,283.28 from participants.

On December 21, Laboum came out with a rearranged version of their song 'Fresh Adventure' as 'Fresh Adventure Winter ++' for Christmas. This was the group's third digital single.

### 2020–2021: "Smile Pop Pop", sudden success with "Journey to Atlantis", Yujeong's departure and *Blossom*

Member Yujeong shared a teaser image on August 25, 2020, in an Instagram story that revealed a collaborative music video between Laboum and Chinese children's franchise BabyBus, for a song titled 'Smile Pop Pop'. On the same day, the song was released digitally.

On September 1, 2020, Laboum's company Global H Media confirmed that Laboum is scheduled to make a comeback with a mini-album in October 2020, but the comeback never materialized.

Two days after the announcement, on September 3, 2020, the music video for "Smile Pop Pop" got released through the 'SUPER SOUND Bugs' YouTube channel.

On December 24, 2020, Laboum released their fourth digital single "Cheese".

In March 2021, the 2016 song "Journey to Atlantis" was heavily featured in Hangout with Yoo, a Korean variety show program, causing the song to reappear on Korean music charts and steadily rose in position on several real-time charts. In response, the group resumed promotional activities for the song in June 2021.

On September 8, Yujeong posted a handwritten letter on Instagram, announcing that she was going to leave the group after her contract expired. She also announced that Soyeon, ZN, Solbin and Haein have renewed their contracts, and that Laboum would continue as a quartet. In addition, it was announced that the remaining members has departed from their current agency and signed with Interpark Music Plus, a subsidiary of Interpark.

On October 6, it was announced that Laboum would be making their comeback as a four-member group in early November. ZN will be using the name Jinye (Jinyea for English translations) for future activities moving forward. It was later announced that Laboum will be releasing their third EP *Blossom* on November 3.

On December 17, Laboum released the winter digital single "White Love", featuring Layone.

### 2022: Planned April comeback, Dream Concert participation, disbandment rumor

On March 10, 2022, it was confirmed that Laboum will release a new album in April 2022. However as April came and went Laboum's comeback never happened and their company never gave an official reason as to why.

On June 18, LABOUM was one of the artists that hit the Red Carpet at the 2022 Dream Concert.

On August 11, it was reported that LABOUM would be disbanding at the end of the month due to the recent acquisition of Interpark by Yanolja, as they had no intentions to continue managing the group. Later on the same day, a representative from Interpark Music Plus clarified that the group's disbandment has not been confirmed.

On September 23, Joynews24 reported that LABOUM would go on an indefinite hiatus to focus on individual activities. It was also claimed that because the members are very determined to pursue solo projects, the group was expected to disband as well. Since no official statement has come out about the group disbanding it's assumed that the group is going on hiatus to grow as individuals before possibly releasing new music as a group. It's also been revealed that the members are very open to doing group activities and that Laboum activities will always be a possibility for them in the future even if they are with different companies.

## Members

 ZN (지엔)
 Haein (해인)
 Solbin (솔빈)
 Yulhee (율희)
 Yujeong (유정)

## Discography

Studio albums* *Two Of Us* (2019)

Mini albums* *Love Sign* (2016)
* *Miss This Kiss* (2017)
* *Blossom* (2021)

Single albums* "Petit Macaron" (2014)
	+ "Petit Macaron Data Pack" (repackage) (2014)
* "Sugar Sugar" (2015)
* "Aalow Aalow" (2015)
* "Fresh Adventure" (2016)
* "Between Us" (2018)
* "I'm Yours" (2018)

Digital singles* "Winter Story" (2016)
* "LABOUM Summer Special" (2017)
* "Fresh Adventure Winter ++" (2019)
* "Cheese" (2020)

Promotional Singles* "Smile POP POP" (2020)

OSTs* "Spring Turns to Spring OST Part.4" (2019)
Studio albums* *Love Pop Wow!!* (2019)

Singles* "Hwi Hwi" (2018)

## Filmography

### Reality shows

* *Good Girl* (Mnet, 2020) - guest (Episodes 6-7)

## References

1. ↑ Genie Profile
2. ↑ (KR) Star News: [단독]라붐, 그룹 활동 8월 끝..해체 수순 밟는다
3. ↑ (KR) iMBC: 라붐, 공중분해 해체 기로? "확정 NO" [공식입장]
4. ↑ PENTAGON, Im Soo Hyang, Lee Yoo Ri, And More Win Big At 2018 Korea Culture And Entertainment Awards
5. ↑ @officialLABOUM on Twitter (May 28,2021)

## Official links

### Korea

* Homepage
* Fancafe
* Facebook
* Instagram
* Twitter (Staff)
* TikTok
* V Live
* YouTube

### Japan

* Website
* Twitter
* YouTube

 Studio Albums
 Studio Albums