Hwanhee, of Fly to the Sky
Happy belated birthday to Hwanhee, a member of the Korean ballad duo Fly to the Sky, who turned 27 yesterday!!
Fly to the Sky formed when the two members auditioned for SM Entertainment. In 1998, Brian Joo auditioned from his hometown in New Jersey, and Hwang Yoon-Suk (who became HwanHee, or Fany) was encouraged to join the agency by an agent attending a school festival. After being selected to become members of SM Entertainment, the duo formed the group Fly to the Sky.
Fly to the Sky first appeared performing live on November 21, 1999, at a concert with H.O.T. Not even two weeks later they released their first album, Day By Day, on December 9. Opting for a different style form other SM Entertainment stars, the album focused mainly on mid-tempo ballads. Despite this, the album was immediately successful, selling over 250,000 copies. This success allowed them to achieve the Best New Artist Award in 2001.
In February 2001 they released their second album, The Promise, which featured more upbeat tracks. It helped to increase their popularity when it peaked at the #2 spot on the charts, but failed to stay on the charts.
Brian Joo returned to New Jersey, probably in mid-2001, to attend Rutgers University, and during this time Fany began to do various solo activities. Due to their busy schedules Brian found it difficult to stay in the United States for his education, and transferred to a university in Korea.
In April 2002, the duo released their third album, though at this point, Brian was still in the United States. This album was the turning point of their style in music; many of their songs switched from a more poppy boyband style to a mature R&B sound. Their image also altered from a pretty-boy look to a more masculine image.
They released their fourth album, Missing You, in August 2003, making a more complete transformation to R&B. Despite the change the duo won two “Bonsang” awards from SBS Gayo Daejun and Korean Music Awards. One year later, their fourth album, Gravity, was released, to much less success, selling less than 100,000 copies. Despite this, they performed their first official concert on December 21, 2004 at Jamsil Arena. Their low success did not prevent them from winning the “Best R&B Artist” award from SBS Gayo Daejun, despite the dishonesty criticism that followed.
Their fifth album came in May 2005, which would also be their last album under SM Entertainment. A Greatest Hits album, Eternity was followed less than two weeks later by the original soundtrack for the popular Korean Drama, Fashion 70’s. Their song, “Although My Heart Aches”, was featured as the theme song, and became a major hit, contributing to sales of their latest album as well.
In November 2004, Fly to the Sky’s contract with SM Entertainment expired, and the duo, wanting a label that will promote their music more than strive for commercial success, chose to sign to a different label, PFull Entertainment. After a year of inactivity, they released their sixth album, Transition, in January 2006, to ironically massive commercial success, selling over 160,000 copies.
Shortly afterwards they began a nationwide tour, starting in Seoul in May and moving on to four other cities. Over 50,000 fans attended this popular duo’s tour. Due to the success of both the album and the tour, they released a special repackage version of Transition, featuring a DVD with music videos and deleted scenes, and three additional tracks on the CD.
During the rest of 2006 the two members did a lot of individual work. Fany appeared in the Korean drama Over the Rainbow, and Brian released his first solo album, The Brian. The duo also appeared together in many music and variety shows on television, and in other non-music programs as well.
In July 2007 they released their seventh album, No Limitations, featuring several popular hits. This album became FTTS’s first album to peak at #1 on the Korean charts.
The duo kept busy for the rest of the time, performing concerts and pursuing some individual activities. Their latest release is the remake album Remake - RECOLLECTION, which was released in April 2008. It contained several hits from the 90s, and each song was the signature song of the artist who originally sang it.
Debut Date: November 21, 1999
Labels:
1999-2004: SM Entertainment
2005-present: PFull Entertainment
Members:
Brian Joo
HwanHee (Fany)
Discography:
Albums:
12/14/1999 - Day by Day
02/03/2001 - The Promise
04/26/2002 - Sea of Love
07/07/2003 - Missing You
11/08/2004 - Gravity
05/21/2005 - Eternity (Best Album)
01/06/2006 - Transition
07/03/2007 - No Limitations
04/22/2008 - Recollection
Credits: Wikipedia, Wiki.theppn
I have always liked this duo. They both have really incredible voices, and they use them to the best extent in every song. However, I feel like they don’t have much variety in their music. Almost every single song I have from them is a ballad. I don’t think I have ever heard an upbeat song by Fly to the Sky. This is kind of a bad thing because it kind of seems like FTTS doesn’t have much adaptability. Well, Brian’s solo career is pretty R&B and hip-hop, but as a duo they don’t have much variety. And quite frankly I’m getting kind of tired of Korean ballads. x_x;
Chwijungjindam (Feat. AND)
This is kind of a really pretty a capella song. I’ve never heard a capella from FTTS before but this is something really, really nice. It’s also surprisingly long for an a capella song, which is unusual, but I really it. Omigosh, it’s like a DBSK a capella, only it’s FTTS. It’s definitely a really beautiful song, even after instruments chime in close to the end. And the PV is kind of sweet. It’s heartwarming. =3 Definitely try it out.
Lyrics | Translation | PV | Download
Day By Day
As you can tell by the totally 90s/early 2000s hairstyles, this is a pretty old song. But their singing is really good as always, even if this song is not really one of my favorites. It’s a pretty powerful and impressive song in some parts, while in others it’s kind of plain. And they look so young. xD; I love this stage in Kpop because everyone just always has ridiculous hairstyles.
Lyrics | Translation | PV | Download
Sowon (Hwanhee solo)
Mmmmmm Hwanhee’s voice is so deep and resonating. It makes my heart melt~ Of course this has to be a ballad, but it’s really pretty, because it’s Hwanhee. However, the melody of the song is something I don’t find to be very interesting. It seems kind of cliché and normal, like any other Kpop song. But since his vocals are so damn amazing, it has a little more oomph. So I definitely recommend it. 8D
Lyrics | Translation | Download
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