011. to-ya - bwah

봐 [Bwah; Look]

Korean 3:46
Dance Pop, K-Pop, Reggae

from Look (2001)

I have a terrible habit for girl groups, namely ones from Southeast Asia.  Especially the flops.  And South Korea is ripe with those.  to-ya was almost a failure, but their first Korean single - this one - did moderately well.  However, this threesome got started in Japan.  The girls - Ji-Hye, Jin-Kyung and Eun-Joo - were part of a reality show in Japan that followed the three Koreans as they tried to break the Japanese music market.  Eun-Joo had already lived in Japan and spoke Japanese well enough.  Finally, to-ya recorded one single, "are you・・・?", and it didn't make a blip.  The three were shipped back to their homeland, given makeovers, and unleashed "Bwah" during a year bloated with new artists competing with seasoned ones.  Upon first listen, I kind of hated this song.  It had to do with the faint mixing of reggae, a genre I've never been able to embrace (due to my limit of exposure).  Didn't take long until it became a favorite, and the very reason that made me hesitant suddenly won me over.  "Bwah" plays out like the usual midtempo K-pop track, but with a little mystery to the arrangement.  to-ya followed with one more single, the aggressive "Gah" (Go Away), before calling it quits.  Reasons and rumors range from group conflicts to varying extracurricular interests.  Ji-Hye focused on acting full time and Jin-Kyung continues to sing solo after singing lead on another girl group, Baby V.O.X Re.V.  Can't say to-ya was a favorite, but Korean producers really don't make songs like this anymore.  And that's the real loss.