Sechs Kies
| SECHSKIES 젝스키스 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | 6Kies, Jekki |
| Origin | Seoul, South Korea |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–2000, 2016-present |
| Labels |
(1997-2000)
|
| Website |
www |
| Members | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 젝스키스 |
| Literal meaning | Six Crystals[1] |
| Revised Romanization | Jekseukiseu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Cheksŭk'isŭ |
SECHSKIES or 6KIES (Korean: 젝스키스) is a South Korean boy group that was formed under Daesung Entertainment in 1997. Their name "SechsKies" is pronounced as /ˈzɛkskiːs/ ZEKS-kees.[2] It is supposed to mean "Six Crystals" (representing the six members) in German, although "Kies" is actually translated as pebbles. They are popularly referred to and remembered by fans as "Jekki" for short. Their official fan club is YellowKies and official fan club color is yellow.
SechsKies debuted on April 15, 1997 and disbanded on May 20, 2000, performing "Bye" and "Remember Me" for the last time at the Dream Concert. The group held a reunion concert in 2016 because of Infinite Challenge. On May 11, YG Entertainment officially announced that they signed a contract with SechsKies (Eun Jiwon, Lee Jaijin, Kim Jaeduck, Kang Sunghoon, and Jang Suwon).[3][4]
Members
Black Kies
- Eun Jiwon (은지원), (Leader, Main Rapper, Lead Vocalist)
- Lee Jaijin (이재진), (Sub Rapper, Main Dancer)
- Kim Jaeduck (김재덕), (Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer)
White Kies
- Kang Sunghoon (강성훈), (Main Vocalist)
- Ko Ji-yong (고지용), (Lead Vocalist) (Inactive)[5][6]
- Jang Suwon (장수원), (Sub Vocalist, Maknae)
Formation
Eun Jiwon, who was studying abroad in Hawaii, was scouted by DSP Entertainment, along with friend Kang Sunghoon in a nightclub. The agency had originally planned to debut Eun Jiwon and Kang Sunghoon in South Korea as duet, but with the success of SM Entertainment’s male idol group H.O.T., the agency shifted gears to instead debut a six-member male idol group.[7]
Kim Jaeduck and Lee Jaijin at the time were members of a dance crew called ‘’Quicksilver’’ in their hometown of Busan and had submitted an audition tape to Daesung Entertainment.[8] Jang Suwon was cast during an open audition, and lastly, Ko Ji-yong, a childhood friend of Kang Sunghoon, was cast as the final member of SechsKies.
On June 1, 2016, SechsKies guest on Radio Star, Kang Sunghoon said that he single-handedly picked all SechsKies members himself.[9] I
Career
1997: Debut
SechsKies debuted on April 15, 1997 on KBS Music Bank with their first single, "School Byeolgok (학원별곡)”. Their debut album 학원별곡, named after the title track, was released on May 15, 1997.
SechsKies exceeded 600,000 copies mark in just 3 months. Show the power of monster rookie with hit after hit "School Byeolgok (학원별곡)", "Remember Me", "The Way This Guy Lives - Pomsaengpomsa (사나이 가는 길 - 폼생폼사)". By the end of 1998, OhmyNEWS reported SechsKies debut album exceeded 1,700,000 ~ 1,800,000 copies.[10]
Shortly after, SechsKies made their much anticipated comeback in October 1997 on KMTV’s “Recharge 100% Show” and began promotional activities for their second album release. Their second album titled Welcome to the Sechskies Land, a 20-track album formatted as a fictional amusement park known as “Sechskies Land”, was released on November 1, 1997. They quickly began promoting the album’s title track “Chivalry (기사도)” on various music programs, which gave the group their first #1 spot on SBS Inkigayo on December 7, 1997.
SechsKies were quickly being recognized as rookies of the year and were awarded several awards at music award shows. In December, they took home the SBS Music Awards Bonsang Award, KMTV Korean Music Awards New Artist Award, and the KBS Golden Disk Awards Bonsang Award.[11][12]
On December 21, 1997, SechsKies held their first ever concert in Seoul at the Sejong Center; tickets were reportedly sold out within five hours.
1998: Rising popularity, Road Fighter and Special Album
SechsKies’ fanbase and general popularity quickly began to grow by the spring of 1998. After wrapping up their second album promotions in February, they began a spring nationwide tour, including concerts in Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju, and Daegu.
In March, SechsKies’ very own film, Seventeen was filmed.[13] On July 17, 1998, it was released nationwide, and the group held promotional fan signing events for the film’s premiere release.[14] Moreover, SechsKies starred in the children’s musical, Alibata and the 40 Thieves alongside singer, Jinjoo. The musical ran from April 25 to May 5, 1998 at the Sejong Center. On May 5, SechsKies performed the musical in front of President Kim Dae-jung at Blue House to celebrate Children's Day.[15]
On July 15, 1998. SechsKies released their third studio album Road Fighter, which had more hybridized elements of hip-hop and electronica, as leader Eun Jiwon participated in the production of the album.SechsKies began promotions for their third album, returning with “Crying Game” on SBS Inkigayo. SechsKies held consecutive wins for the title track “Road Fighter” on SBS Inkigayo and KBS Music Bank in July and August. They also won for the #1 spot on SBS Inkigayo and KBS Music Bank for the follow-up track "Reckless Love (무모한 사랑)" in September and October.
On October 30, 1998, SechsKies released a soundtrack for Seventeen titled Special Album, which was later referred to as the group’s 3.5 album release. The began promotions for the Special Album on KBS Music Bank, promoting two songs off the album, “Couple” and “As I Let You Go (너를 보내며)”. They also won for the #1 spot on SBS Inkigayo, KBS Music Bank and MBC Music Camp for the title track "couple" which was the most popular song. A special fan photobook was released in conjunction with the album in November. SechsKies 3.5 Special Album has sold more than 1,200,000 million copies.
SechsKies took home several end of the year awards, including the KMTV Korean Music Awards Bonsang Award, SBS Music Awards Bonsang Award, and Golden Disk Awards Bonsang Award.[16]
1999: Com' Back
SechsKies spent more of the month of January in 1999, holding concerts throughout Korea. Starting on January 4, 1999 in MokPo Gongyun and ending on January 21, 1999 in Daegu. SechsKies was now a living legend within the music industry, breaking the barriers of different genres of music, proving that Korean music is much more than the traditional trot music our parents once forced us to listen to.
On April 5, 1999 SechsKies released their first concert video, recorded from their largest concert to date, the Seoul Concert on February 25, 1999. They also released a concert album that went with the video on April 10, 1999. They performed a song sung by Kang Sunghoon called "My Love" from this album. On April 18, 1999, SechsKies held a two-year anniversary special official fan club meeting.
After their group concert ended, SechsKies returned to the studio to create their fourth album. Released in early September 1999, SechsKies performed a song appropriately titled, "Com' Back," "Hunch (예감)," and "Stay Still (그대로멈춰)". Compared to their previous works, this album had more input from the members of the group, several of them writing and producing tracks for it. However, the group did not stay in the limelight for long after the release of the fourth album due to rumoured of the group disbanded. Even with all the rumours of SechsKies disbandment, their 4th album still sold more than 1,200,000 million copies.
In the second half of year, SechsKies began to overseas development. On August 23, SechsKies started their promotion in Taiwan and perform stage in Asia Super Concert on August 27.[17] In October, they went to Taiwan again because of good response in August.[18] In addition, they participated in Chinese-Korea singing party in China and concert in North Korea.[19]
2000: Disbandment
On May 18, 2000, SechsKies held a sudden press conference announcing their official departure as a group from the music scene.[20] Nearly a decade later, Eun Jiwon said that the members had decided it would be best to disband at the peak of their career.[21] SechsKies's final performance was at the Dream Concert on May 20, 2000.[22] On May 31, 2000, their final release, Blue Note, a "Best Of" compilation, was released as the farewell album to fans. In August of that year, the members of SechsKies self-released one final track and music video titled “Thanks” for their fans, which was uploaded online.[23]
2016: Reunion
On April 14, 2016, SechsKies held a reunion concert which was initiated and organized by popular South Korean television program Infinite Challenge at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Five of the six members agreed to the suggestion of reunion concert and started preparing for it in secret. Infinite Challenge had originally planned to hold the event on April 7, but decided to cancel it because of the numerous spoiler news articles. On afternoon of the 14th, the day before the anniversary of SechsKies' debut, Infinite Challenge announced the pop-up reunion concert through their Twitter. Although it was extremely short notice, 5808 fans gathered within a few hours to the stadium to see the reunion concert. Numerous fans donned the official fan club yellow raincoats and brought yellow balloons.[24]
All six members showed up for the reunion concert. While there was wistful speculation among fans that one day the group would perform together, Ko Ji-yong's participation was always in question. Unlike the other members who continued to work in the entertainment industry by launching their own solo albums and/or appearing on television, Ko Ji-yong left the industry completely. He went to study abroad, and then started his own business when he returned to Korea. He also got married and had a son. One could assume that it would be extremely difficult to persuade Ko Ji-yong to participate in the reunion. However, He was persuaded by Infinite Challenge staffs and Yoo Jae Suk to appear at the reunion concert.[25]
On May 11, YG Entertainment officially announced that they signed a contract with Sechs Kies (Eun Jiwon, Lee Jaijin, Kim Jaeduck, Kang Sunghoon, and Jang Suwon). While it is not definite at the moment, YG Entertainment announced that they would welcome Ko Ji-yong to participate in the forthcoming album and concerts. While each of the members' solo albums and performances would be handled by their current management agencies, the forthcoming SechsKies album (as a group) will be produced by YG Entertainment.[26] It was revealed that Lee Jaijin and Kang Sunghoon had also signed individual contracts with YG Entertainment.[27]
SechsKies held a comeback concert on September 10 and 11 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena and all 20,000 tickets for the concert sold out in only 5 minutes.[28] On October 1, SechsKies appeared on a music show, Busan One Asia Festival Opening Ceremony, for the first time in 16 years. Approximately 6,000 fans flocked to Busan by more than 60 large buses to see them, which has shown the explosive popularity of SechsKies.[29]
SechsKies will continue the Yellow Note concert tour on December 10 in Daegu, and December 24–25 in Busan. On October 31, all SechsKies tour concert seats for December were sold out within a few minutes.
On October 7, SechsKies released their new digital single "Three Words (세 단어)" after 16 years which was co-written and produced by Tablo of Epik High and Future Bounce. The single topped all 8 major music charts shortly after release, achieving all-kill status. It also ranked high in Asian music charts and global iTunes in Taiwan and is among top tracks on iTunes charts in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and others.[30] "Three Words" also topped Gaon Digital Chart, Download Chart and BGM Chart for the 1st week of October.[31] They are the only boy group to topped both Melon Daily Chart and Gaon Monthly Digital Chart this year.[32]
On November 23, YG announced SechsKies new album releasing on December 1. The new album will have 10 past hit songs of SechsKies that has been rearranged and remastered by YG producers as a special gift for fans.[33] On December 1, SechsKies released "Re-ALBUM" after 16 years of hiatus. "Couple," "Chivalry," and "Heartbreak" are triple title tracks and the album includes "Three Words" as a hidden bonus track.
Fanclub
In the past, SechsKies' official fanclub was called DSF (Dear SechsKies Friend) and the official fanclub color was yellow since their creation. SechsKies fans used yellow balloons and yellow raincoats as main cheering tools.
On April 14, 2016, 16 years after disbandment, most of their fans brought yellow balloons and yellow raincoats for their reunion concert prepared by the TV program Infinite Challenge.
On August 18, 2016, SechsKies has announced their new fan-club name "YellowKies" via V LIVE.
Controversy
Jo Young Goo was a reporter at Sechs Kies' goodbye concert on May 20, 2000. Sechs Kies fans, devastated by the group's disbandment, mistook Jo Young Goo's car as DSP CEO's car and destroyed the car. His car was only 2 weeks old. DSP CEO Lee Ho-yeon paid him ten million won for that.
SechsKies' first and second albums sold millions copies. Since their third album, their physical sales shrunk down to 400,000-500,000 copies. A few months later, DSP was investigated by the police for allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement and unequal contracts. DSP was cleared of suspicion except tax evasion by under-reporting the physical sales of albums. The National Tax Service conducted a tax audit of the corporation, and collected an additional hundreds of millions of won from it.
Discography
Studio albums
- School Byeolgok (학원별곡) (1997)
- Welcome To The Sechskies Land (1997)
- Road Fighter (1998)
- Special Album (1998)
- Com’Back (1999)
Other albums
- Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves Musical OST (1998)
- 1020 Mix (1999)
- Sechskies Live Concert (1999)
- Blue Note (2000)
- Re-ALBUM (2016)
Digital Singles
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Total Download Count |
Albums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [34] | ||||
| Three Words | 2016 | 1 |
|
Non-album Single |
Filmography
Music videos
Film
Variety Shows
|
Tours
- Headlining
- 2016 Sechskies 'Yellow Note' Tour
Awards
| Year | Awards |
|---|---|
| 1997 |
|
| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
|
| 2016 |
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Music Program wins
Music Bank
Music Camp (Predecessor of Music Core)
Inkigayo
|
References
- ↑ (Korean)Park Min-hee (12 June 1997). "Korean popular music dangerous gamble". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
- ↑ "How to pronounce SECHSKIES". SECHSKIES Global Supporters Youtube Channel.
- ↑ MBN, MBN (2016-05-12). "Sechs Kies makes a contract with YG Entrtainment".
- ↑ "About the artist". Official SECHSKIES Facebook. YG.
- ↑ 젝스키스 인물 정보
- ↑ 고지용 인물 정보
- ↑ 은지원, 젝키 시절 '학원 별곡' "창피했다" 고백 (in Korean). TvDaily. August 20, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ↑ 이재진, 과거 자서전서 직접 밝힌 ‘생활고(苦)’ (in Korean). Now News. April 9, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ↑ 전종선 (June 2, 2016). "'라디오스타' 강성훈, 젝스키스 결성 비화 공개 "내가 원하는 멤버로 뽑았다"" ["Radio Star" Kang Sunghoon Reveals the Secret behind SECHSKIES formation "I picked the members I wanted"]. 서울경제 (in Korean). Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- ↑ [기억하라 1997①] 우리들의 맹세, 기억해 줄래?
- ↑ (Korean)HOT 서울가요대상 수상
- ↑ (Korean)H.O.T, KMTV 가요대상 수상 등
- ↑ (Korean)<영화> 태흥영화 `국민주 공모'로 「세븐틴」제작
- ↑ (Korean)<영화소식>「세븐틴」 주연배우 사인회
- ↑ (Korean)청와대 어린이날 축하행사 이모저모
- ↑ (Korean)「아무도 ...」 영상음반대상 골든비디오대상 수상
- ↑ 段蓁蓁 (1999-08-20). "韓流風暴 水晶男孩23日登台" [Korean Wave Sechskies visited TaiWan on 23th]. 大成報 (in Chinese).
- ↑ 楊希文 (1999-10-23). "水晶男孩26日來台脤災" [Sechskies visited TaiWan on 26th]. 自由時報 (in Chinese).
- ↑ (Korean)신세대 그룹 젝키,핑클 방북교육 받았다
- ↑ (Korean)[연예가소식]인기댄스그룹 '젝스키스' 해체 발표
- ↑ '백점만점' 은지원, '젝키 해체, 내가 먼저 얘기 꺼냈다' 고백 (in Korean). Arts News. January 22, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ↑ (Korean)'젝키'해체반발 극성팬 난동
- ↑ (Korean)옥시,음악전문 사이트 오픈
- ↑ (English)Excited fans swarm at the surprise reunion of Sechskies on 'Infinity Challenge'!
- ↑ (English)Sechskies' Ko Ji-yong appears on 'Infinity Challenge' after 17-year hiatus
- ↑ (English)Sechskies officially sign on with YG Entertainment!
- ↑ (English)Sechs Kies’ Jaijin and Sunghoon sign solo contracts with YG Entertainment
- ↑ (English)Sechs Kies to hold first solo concert in 16 years
- ↑ (English)SECHSKIES’s Official Fan Club “YELLOWKIES” to be Launched Next Week
- ↑ (English)Sechs Kies releases new single, tops charts
- ↑ (English)SECHSKIES’s “THREE WORDS” No.1 on Gaon’s weekly chart…
- ↑ (English)SECHSKIES’s “THREE WORDS” Became No.1 on Gaon’s October Digital Chart
- ↑ http://www.yg-life.com/archives/82520?lang=en YG announced, “Rebirth of hit songs… SECHSKIES releases new album ‘Re-ALBUM’” (official announcement)
- ↑ "Gaon Digital Singles Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ↑ Total sales for "Three Words":
- "Gaon Download Chart, October 2 - October 8 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, October 9 - October 15 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, October 16 - October 22 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, October 23 - October 29 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, October 30 - November 5 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, November 6 - November 12 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, November 13 - November 19 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- "Gaon Download Chart, November 20 - November 26 2016". Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
!["韓流風暴 水晶男孩23日登台" [Korean Wave Sechskies visited TaiWan on 23th]](https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14368632_187581001645597_8511665273443656939_n.jpg?oh=874bb366472097d87d76db4b5bd4145f&oe=58679F7A){kind=link}
!["水晶男孩26日來台脤災" [Sechskies visited TaiWan on 26th]](https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14333838_187576654979365_5746721424651141635_n.jpg?oh=9d41fe1e5c633d6ce3efc9f4f1cfc7c6&oe=58A85C70){kind=link}
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