Roo'ra

Roo'ra (Hangul: 룰라) was a co-ed hip hop and dance-pop vocal group from South Korea who was one of the country's most popular musical acts of the 1990s. The group debuted in 1994 with the hit album Roots of Reggae.[1] Their second album, The Angel Who Lost Wings (1995), sold 1 million copies in record time.[2] Roo'ra disbanded in 2001, then reunited in 2009 to release their ninth and final album, A9ain.[3][4]

Roo'ra
Origin	South Korea
Genres	Hip hop dance-pop reggae
Years active	1994–2001; 2009
Past members	Kim Ji-hyun Lee Sang-min Shin Jung-hwan Ko Young-wook Chae Ri-na Mikey Romeo
Korean name
Hangul	룰라
Revised Romanization	Rulla
McCune–Reischauer	Rulla

History

The group caused significant controversy in 1996 through the discovery of their unattributed sampling of a Japanese track called "Omatsuri Ninja" (Japanese: お祭り忍者) by Ninja directly in their own song "Cheon sang yu ae" (Hanja: 天上有愛; Hangul: 천상유애).[5]

This incident raised a heated debate "[...] about the nature of "Korean-ness in popular music"[6] and pushed this pointy but long dormant issue to the forefront in the mid-1990s. The group nearly split in 1996 due to the controversy,[6] but eventually only came to an end in 2001 after the release of a final album.[7]

In 2008, the group was reunited with Lee Sang-min, Go Young-wook, Kim Ji-hyun, and Chae Ri-na to work on an upcoming album.[8] In the middle of the project, Shin Jung-hwan and Go Young-wook formed a temporary duo group, "Roo'ra Man", and released a single, "The Reason Why I Hate Winter" in December 2008. The single was produced by Lee Sang-min. Roo'ra's last album, Again, was released in July 2009 with "Going Going" as the first single.[9]

Members

The original members of the group were Lee Sang-min, Go Young-wook, Kim Ji-hyun, and Shin Jung-hwan. In 1995, Shin Jung-hwan left the group to fulfill his military service requirement, and was replaced by Chae Ri-na.[10] In 1997, Kim Ji-hyun left the group to pursue a solo career,[2] and was replaced by temporary vocalist Mikey Romeo.[11] Kim Ji-hyun returned for the release of the group's next album in 1999.[12] After Roo'ra disbanded in 2001, members Lee Sang-min, Chae Ri-na, Go Young-wook, and Kim Ji-hyun reunited in 2009.[13]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR [14]
Roots of Reggae	Released: July 1, 1994 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette	No data	No data
The Angel Who Lost Wings	Released: March 28, 1995 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette		KOR: 1,000,000+[2]
Reincamation of the Legend	Released: December 16, 1995 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette		No data
All Systems Go	Released: June 15, 1996 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette
Lover	Released: January 24, 1997 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette
Six 'n Six	Released: February 26, 1999 Label: World Music Co. Format: CD, cassette	3	KOR: 347,672+[15]
A Song of the Wind	Released: June 12, 2000 Label: A&B Production Format: CD, cassette	3	KOR: 176,618+[16]
Best & Last	Released: July 27, 2001 Label: EMI Records Format: CD, cassette	12	KOR: 46,728+[17]
A9ain	Released: July 21, 2009 Label: Madang Dream Format: CD	No data	No data
The Recording Industry of Korea album chart was established in 1999 and discontinued in 2008.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1994	Seoul Music Awards	Main Prize (Bonsang)	N/A	Won	[18]
1995		Grand Prize (Daesang)	N/A	Won
	Golden Disc Awards	Main Prize (Bonsang)	The Angel Who Lost Wings	Won	[19]
1999		Popularity Award	Six 'n Six	Won
2000	Mnet Asian Music Awards	Best Mixed Group	"A Song of the Wind"	Nominated	[20]
2001			"Clear Away" (정리)	Nominated	[21]
2009			"Going Going"	Nominated	[22]

References

1. Kim, Samuel (2015-03-06). "룰라, 신정환-고영욱 없이 '엠카' 무대…'날개' 잃은 천사". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-07-09.
2. "[초점]'룰라' 고영욱, 어쩌다 이 지경…전자발찌 차는 톱스타". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
3. "'90년대 인기그룹' 룰라, 9집 앨범으로 컴백". Daily Sports (in Korean). 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
4. "김효진 기자 - 룰라 김지현-이상민-채리나, 최근 공개된 단체샷 보니…"뭐 하던 걸까요"". Top Star News (in Korean). 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
5. Keith Howard Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave 2006 - Page 96 "Similarly, Roo'ra split after they were caught ripping off a Japanese song at a time when Japanese pop was banned; to many this made them heroes not villains."
6. Jung, Eun-Young (2004). "Interpreting Musical Traffic:Influences of Japanese Popular Music on Korean Popular Music since the mid-1990s". Society for Ethnomusicology 49th Annual Conference. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
7. Chrissy (August 11, 2001). "NEWS NEWS NEWS". kpopmusic.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009.
8. "Lee Sang-min: "Roo'ra will reunite this year."". Soompi. Jan 23, 2008. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
9. "YESASIA: Roo'Ra Vol. 9 - a9ain CD - Roo'Ra, Kakao M (Loen Entertainment) - Korean Music - Free Shipping - North America Site". www.yesasia.com. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
10. "[XP이슈] 채리나·김지현, 산전수전 겪은 20년우정…앞으로는 '꽃길'만". X Sports New (in Korean). 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
11. "유키스 알렉산더-룰라 마이키로메오 닮은꼴? '폭소만발'". Newsen (in Korean). 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
12. "그룹 룰라 화려한 복귀…6집「6&6」인기 『쑥쑥』". DongA Ilbo (in Korean). 1999-03-10. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
13. "고영욱-신정환 빠진 채리나 김지현 3인 룰라, 엠넷 '날개잃은 천사' 무대". Chosun Biz (in Korean). 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
14. "K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
    • "Six 'n Six charting".
    • "A Song of the Wind charting".
    • "Best & Last charting".
15. "April 1999 K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
16. "August 2000 K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
17. "July 2001 K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
18. "명예의 전당" [Hall of Fame]. Seoul Music Awards (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
19. "역대수상자" [Past Winners]. Golden Disc Awards (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-10-27.
20. "2000 MMF part 1". MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
21. "2001 MMF part 1". MAMA. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
22. "2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards Part1". MAMA. Retrieved 2014-12-18.