Amber Liu (singer)

Amber Josephine Liu[1] (born September 18, 1992), known professionally as Amber or Amber Liu, is a Taiwanese-American singer, rapper, and songwriter. She debuted as a member of the South Korean girl group f(x) in September 2009. In 2015, she became the first f(x) member to make a solo debut with the release of her first extended play Beautiful and has since further released solo singles.

Amber
엠버
Amber at KCON 2016 LA in July 2016
Born
Amber Josephine Liu

(1992-09-18) September 18, 1992
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLiu Yi-yun
Occupation
  • Singer
  • rapper
  • songwriter
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2009–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websiteamber.smtown.com
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese劉逸雲[1]
Simplified Chinese刘逸云
Hanyu PinyinLiú Yìyún

In July 2018, Liu joined Steel Wool Entertainment following her Korean label SM Entertainment joint partnership with Steel Wool to manage her US activities. She later released the maxi singles "White Noise + Lost At Sea'" in September 2018 and "Countdown + Beautiful" in November 2018. In September 2019, she left SM Entertainment and exclusively signed with Steel Wool Entertainment prior to the release of her 2020 extended play X.

Life and career

1992–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Liu was born on September 18, 1992, in Los Angeles, California.[2][3] Her parents are from Taiwan and her father has Teochew ancestry.[4] She has one older sister named Jackie.[5] She attended El Camino Real High School in Los Angeles. Liu was cast from SM Entertainment's Los Angeles global audition in 2008, where she and one male were selected to be trainees for SM Entertainment. After a year and a half of training, she debuted as a member of the South Korean girl group f(x) in September 2009.[6] During an episode of the group's reality show, Go f(x), Liu revealed that her parents initially had mixed feelings regarding her music career. She stated: "My dad was very cautious, at first ...but then my mom was always supportive from the beginning. I really thank her and she also convinced my dad".[5]

Amber performing at Seoul Plaza.

She has composed and written lyrics for some of the group's songs such as "Goodbye Summer" which was a track in their second studio album, Pink Tape,[7] and "Summer Lover" from their third studio album, Red Light. Aside from featured songs, she also worked with fellow group mates Luna and Krystal for the soundtrack of KBS drama God of Study, in a song called "Spread its Wings".

She frequently collaborated with other SM Entertainment artists. Label mate Yuri of Girls' Generation performed a cover of Ciara's song "1, 2 Step" at their first concert, Into the New World, held on December 19 and 20, 2009 in Seoul and featured Liu as a rapper and dancer. The song was then included in their first live album. In June 2010, she was featured in the lead track of Taiwanese singer, Danson Tang's third Mandarin studio album, The First Second. She performed the Korean and English rap parts of the song, and was also featured in the song's music video.[8]

2011–2014: Television roles

Liu has also made a career on television. From October 2011 to April 2012, she was part of the reality-variety show, Invincible Youth. She had to leave the show to prepare for her group's debut in Japan.[9] In 2013, she was featured in the Korean version of the title track of Henry's's debut album, called "1-4-3 (I Love You)".[10] She has hosted MBC's music show Show Champion with T-ara's Eunjung for a year, both of them stepped down as hosts on December 18, 2013.[11] On June 6, 2014, she became a host of the KBS show, A Song for You with Kangin of Super Junior and Yook Sungjae of BTOB.[12] She was also a host of We Got Married Global Edition.[13] In the same year, she appeared in a 9-episode travel reality series, One Fine Day, with singer Ailee, who is a close friend of hers. The show, which aired on MBC Music, followed a vacation trip they took and was filmed on Jeju Island.[14] On December 31, Liu was confirmed as a cast member for the second female soldier special of MBC's Real Men.[15]

2015–present: Solo debut
Amber Liu at the Jeju K-Pop Festival, in October 2015.

Liu officially debuted as a solo artist, releasing her debut EP, Beautiful, on February 13, 2015. The title track, "Shake That Brass", featured Girls' Generation's Taeyeon.[16] A few days prior to the release of the album, a lyric video for the B-side track, "Beautiful", was released. The music video contained childhood photos of the singer, as well as photos since her debut as a member of f(x). Its lyrics tells the story of the difficulties she faced as she chased after her dreams of being an entertainer and how she liked herself the way she is.[17] Beautiful debuted at number two on Billboard's World Albums chart and number 19 on Heatseekers Albums. According to Jeff Benjamin of Billboard K-Town, this ranking shows Amber has a large international fanbase.[18]

As a part of SM Station project, Liu's solo single, "Borders", was released in March 2016. She participated in composing, lyrics writing and arrangement of the song. Written entirely in English, the hip hop track relates her childhood experiences and gives a message not to give up on oneself against life difficulties.[19]

Liu released digital single "On My Own" on May 18, 2016. On May 25, she released "Need to Feel Needed".[20] On September 9, 2016 SM Entertainment published the official music video for "Breathe Again". This was Liu's first entirely English song and her first collaboration with Japanese DJ, Ksuke.[21] On April 15, 2018, Liu released a solo mixtape in English, Rogue Rouge, with six tracks, free on SoundCloud. She also released a music video for one track, "Closed Doors", on YouTube, with plans to release a total of six videos.[22]

In July 2018, she signed with Steel Wool Entertainment and was also registered as her full name, Amber Liu. The agency represents and promotes her in the United States through singing, acting, as well as directing videos.[23] Liu is also signed with United Talent Agency to represent her worldwide activities.[24] In September 2018, Liu released a single album White Noise + Lost At Sea, which includes two songs "White Noise" and "Lost At Sea".[25]

On September 1, 2019, Liu announced her departure from SM Entertainment.[26] Five days later, she confirmed that she would continue forward with her Steel Wool Entertainment contract, and would release an album that she previously prepared with the label.[27] On September 12, Liu announced that she was releasing her second EP, X, with six tracks. It was later confirmed that she would drop one track each month until the album's release on January 10, 2020.[28]

Discography
See also: f(x) discography

EPs and Mixtapes
List of extended plays, with selected details, chart positions, and sales
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[29]		 US Heat
[30]		 US World
[31]
Beautiful 2192
Rogue Rouge
  • Released: April 15, 2018
  • Label: Team Pineapple
Track listing
  1. "Get Over It"
  2. "Closed Doors"
  3. "High Hopes"
  4. "Right Now (feat. Gen Neo)"
  5. "Lifeline"
  6. "Three Million Years"
 ——— N/A
White Noise + Lost At Sea
Track listing
  1. "White Noise"
  2. "Lost at Sea"
 ——— N/A
Countdown + Beautiful [33]
  • Released: November 30, 2018
  • Label: SM Entertainment
Track listing
  1. "Countdown" (featuring LDN Noise)
  2. "Beautiful"
 ———
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Albums
List of extended plays, with selected details, chart positions, and sales
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[34]		 US Heat
[35]		 US World
[36]
X
  • Released: January 17, 2020[28]
  • Label: Steel Wool Entertainment
  • Format: Digital download
Track listing
  1. "Hands Behind My Back"
  2. "Other People"
  3. "Curiosity"
  4. "Curiosity (Mandarin Version)"
  5. "Numb"
  6. "Ready For the Ride"
  7. "Stay Calm"
 ——— N/A
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album Title
KOR
[37]		 US
World
[38]
Korean
"Shake That Brass"
(featuring Taeyeon)		 2015 174 Beautiful
"Heartbeat"
(With Luna featuring Ferry Corsten & Kago Pengchi)		 2016 —6 N/A SM Station Season 1
"Wave"
(With Luna featuring R3hab & XaviGi)		 —5
English
"Borders" 2016 205— N/A SM Station Season 1
"On My Own"
(featuring Gen Neo)		 —11 Non-album singles
"Need to Feel Needed" 300—
Breathe Again
(featuring Ksuke)		 ——
"White Noise" 2018 —— White Noise+Lost at Sea
"Countdown"
(featuring LDN Noise)		 —— Countdown+Beautiful
"Hands Behind My Back" 2019 —— X
"Other People" ——
"Curiosity" ——
"Numb" ——
"Ready for the Ride" ——
"Stay Calm" ——
Mandarin
"Curiosity (Mandarin Version)" ——
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Other charted songs
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
KOR
[39]
"Beautiful" 2015 87 Beautiful
"I Just Wanna"
(featuring Eric Nam)		 63

Collaborations
Year Album Song Artist
2010KBS God of Study OST"Spread Its Wings"With Luna & Krystal
The First Second"I'm Back"Duet with Danson Tang
The 1st Asia Tour Concert – Into the New World"1, 2 Step [Live]"Duet with Kwon Yuri
20131-4-3 (I Love You)"1-4-3 (I Love You)"Duet with Henry
2014"So Good""So Good"Featuring for Chad Future
2015VIVID"Letting Go"Duet with Ailee
"We Own The World""We Own The World"Featuring with Luna for Justin Oh (for Ultra Korea)
Two Yoo Project – Sugar Man Part.6"Just a Love"Duet with Luna
Beautiful"SHAKE THAT BRASS"Amber featuring Taeyeon
Beautiful"I Just Wanna"Amber featuring Eric Nam
2016"Breathe Again""Breathe Again"Amber featuring Ksuke
Heartbeat"Heartbeat"Amber with Kago Pengchi, Luna, Ferry Corsten
Heartbeat"Heartbeat- English Ver."Amber with Kago Pengchi, Luna, Ferry Corsten
Wave"Wave"Amber with R3hab, Luna
Wave"Wave- Xavi&Gi"Amber with Xavi & Gi, Luna
2017Future Friends"Fantasy"Featuring for Superfruit
Love Don't Hurt"Love Don't Hurt"Featuring for Shannon
2018"Lower""Lower"Duet with Luna
Rogue Rouge"Right Now"Amber featuring Gen Neo
Places Like Home"XL UBER"Featuring for Justin Park [41]
The Light"Perfect"Featuring for James Lee [42]
2019Disorder"Get Myself"Featuring for Fyke [43]
2020Love Drunk"Fix Me"Featuring for Travis Artero [44]
"Alright""Alright"Featuring for James Lee [45]

As songwriter
Year Album Song Artist Notes
2012 Electric Shock "Beautiful Stranger" Amber, Luna & Krystal
  • Lyrics
2013 Pink Tape "Goodbye Summer" Amber, Luna, Krystal & D.O. of Exo
2014 Red Light "Summer Lover" f(x)
  • Music with Sean Alexander
2015 Beautiful "Beautiful" Amber
  • Music
  • Lyrics with Jam Factory
"Shake That Brass" Amber ft. Taeyeon of Girls' Generation
  • Music with Courtney Woolsey and Nermin Harambasic * Jin Choi
  • Lyrics with Rhymer, V-Hawk, Lee Yoo-jin, Kang Ji-eun
"Love Run" Amber
  • Music with Sean Alexander
  • Lyrics with Jakops and Kim Min-ji
"Heights"
  • Music with Command Freaks
  • Lyrics with David Choi
"I Just Wanna" Amber ft. Eric Nam
  • Music with Gen Neo
  • Lyrics
VIVID "Letting go" Ailee ft. Amber
  • Music and Lyrics with Ailee
2016 (single) "Borders" Amber
  • Music and Lyrics
"On My Own"
"Need to Feel Needed"
"Breathe Again"
  • Music and Lyrics with Ksuke
2018 White Noise + Lost At Sea "White Noise"
  • Music and Lyrics with Darren Smith and Sean Alexander
"Lost At Sea"

Music videos
Year Music video Language Note
2015 "Shake That Brass" Korean
"Beautiful" Korean
2016 "Borders" English Co-directed
f(x) – "All Mine" Korean Directed[46]
Amber & Luna – "Wave" Korean
"On My Own" English version and Korean version Directed
"Need To Feel Needed" English Directed
"Breathe Again" English
Amber and Luna – "Heartbeat" Korean
2018 "Get Over It" English Co- directed[47]
"Closed Doors" English [48]
"High Hopes" English Produced[49]
"Right Now" English Directed[50]
"Lifeline" English [51]
"Three Million Years" English Directed and Produced[52]
"White Noise"[53] English
"Lost at Sea" English Produced[54]
"Countdown" English Directed[55]
Amber and Luna - Lower Korean Directed[56]
2019 "Hands Behind My Back" English Directed[57][58]
"Other People" English Co-directed[59]
"Curiosity" English and Mandarin Directed[60][61]
"Numb" English Directed[62]
"Ready for the Ride" English Directed[63]
"Stay Calm" English Directed[64]

Filmography

Film and TV
Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2016EntourageJoey JungtvNAired November 4, 2016 – December 24, 2016[65]
2020The Eagle and the Albatross (2020)Ji-min KurtN/AIndependent Film[66][67]
2020We Bare Bears: The MovieJojo RaccoonCartoon NetworkTV Movie[68]

Reality TV
Year Program Network Notes
2011–2012 Invincible Youth 2 KBS Regular cast; Episodes 1–18
2013 Show Champion MBC Music Host
2014 We Got Married Global Edition MBC Host
Ailee & Amber One Fine Day MBC Season Regular
2014–2015 A Song For You 3 KBS Host
2015 Real Men MBC Cast
Top Fly (TV Series) JSBC: Jiangsu Television Cast; Episodes 1–5
A Song For You 4 KBS Host
2016 We Got Married MBC Panelist

Concert tours

Note- exculuding f(x) tours

  • Gone Rogue Tour (2018)[69]
  • Tour X (2020)

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Dance Performance "Shake That Brass"[70] Nominated
MBC Entertainment Awards Best Female Newcomer Award[71] Real Men Won
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References
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  2. "Amber's profile" (in Korean). Amber Official Website. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
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  4. chilloutb0x (July 12, 2011). "[ENG SUB] 110517 Henry and Zhou Mi talked about Amber and Victoria" – via YouTube.
  5. Go f(x) on MnetAmerica's official YouTube page Youtube.com (July 24, 2013). Retrieved on May 21, 2014.
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  41. L, Sara. "Justin Park Releases 'Places Like Home'". MACG magazine.
  42. Morin, Natalie. "A year after 'The Light,' James Lee is shining brighter [Q+A]". Earmilk.
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  55. Benjamin, Jeff. "Amber Races Toward Her Solo Moment With 'Countdown'". Paper Magazine.
  56. Kim, A. "f(x)'s Amber And Luna Share Their Thoughts On Their "Lower" Music Video". soompi.
  57. Lam, Teresa. "AMBER LIU ANNOUNCES 'X' NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2020". Hype Bae.
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  64. Russel, Josie. "Show You Should Know – Amber Liu Welcomes You to the World of K-pop". 303 magazine.
  65. https://www.soompi.com/article/851591wpp/fxs-amber-reportedly-in-talks-to-join-cast-of-new-tvn-drama-entourage
  66. "The Eagle and the Albatross (2020)". IMDb.
  67. Kelley, Kaitlin. "Amber Liu of K-Pop Group f(x) Starring in American Indie Film 'The Eagle and the Albatross'". Billboard.
  68. Bishop, Rollin (May 21, 2020). "We Bare Bears The Movie Release Date Announced With First Trailer and Poster". ComicBook. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  69. "Amber Talks Feeling 'Lost at Sea,' the 'White Noise' of Her Career, Importance of Language & #MeToo". Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  70. Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Dance Performance Solo Originally from Mwave (2015). Archived on December 9, 2015. Retrieved on December 9, 2015.
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