I've heard about Shinhwa few years ago when I started going into kpop in 2008... Actually when I first got to know about this group, I was kinda cynical about it. I mean, a boyband with 3 singers and 3 rappers must not be that good after all, right? Having designated rappers would mean that each of their song will feature rapping part - an idea that I found ridiculous since not all kinds of songs would require rap in it. So then, mercilessly, I overlooked them and joined DBSK's shippers.
Not until last year I heard about the long-awaited end of Eric's, Shinhwa's, leader military duty some time around the end of 2010, and his drama comeback, Myung-wol the Spy, which was a total mess, by the way. But since my curiosity won over my dysfunctional and yet better judgment (as usual), I watched the drama anyway.
The drama, as I've mentioned earlier, sucked. It started off quite well actually, until the writer somehow got the logic side of her/his brain impaired and the plot went downhill from fun and interesting to just simply silly and not making any sense at all. The height of the stupidity reached its peak when the lead actor slapped the lead actress and never in one scene, he said sorry or expressed his remorse for what he has done.
Anyway, one good thing from that drama is that I got to know Eric, the leader of Shinhwa, and I have to admit, he is one darn handsome guy - I always have a thing for tanned Korean actors.
From Eric, I then know Shin Hye-sung, one hell of a good ballad singer, check out his song featuring Eric and Nam Gyu-Ri:
note: it's awesome!
At this point, Hye-sung has had himself a new fan (me!).
I know about the rest of Shinhwa's member: Lee Min-Woo, Kim Dong-Wan, Jun Jin, and Andy - but none of them impressed me (yet).
Until recently, I started watching Shinhwa's Broadcast (신화 방송), thanks to a generous and dedicated subber I found in youtube, Jeannious1128, I am able to watch subbed episodes of 신화 방송 weekly (I do hope she will keep subbing the show).
This show made me a new fan of Shinhwa. I know that even variety shows in Korea are all scripted or half-scripted, however nevertheless, in the shooting process, the casts are subjected to show few sides of their personality, and so far, I'm very much amused by their quirk and "craziness".
Eric, the leader, the main rapper, a guy who tries to keep his cool on camera almost all the time, but in recent episodes has seemed to be more comfortable and displays some of his quirks. He is known to be the one with 4D personality.
Lee Min-Woo, the second oldest member of the group, a good dancer and singer, seemed earnest and sincere in what he does, a good speaker (he talks way more often than Eric, the leader - usually leader is the chatty one), often complains about his height and how Eric, despite having height of more than 180 cm, is still wearing height insoles.
Kim Dong-Wan, the witty guy, often says things without really thinking it through, and always followed by "I'm sorry" at the end. But it's clear he's a hard-worker and a good singer, I think he's a strong singer than Min-Woo as I find that Min-Woo's voice is more on the popular side, not strong, but easy to the ear, while Dong-Wan's is more on a stronger side, more powerful, and maybe better in singing ballad.
Shin Hye-Sung, the little prince, the pretty boy of the group, though he's reached his 30s, his face is yet still on the 20s side, famously for being vain, great and strong voice - same both in recording and live most of the time, known as worse dancer in Shinhwa, seemed perfectionist as well.
Jun Jin, the comic guy, started of as a rapper, but now he's one of the singers in Shinhwa. Not quite as strong as Dong-Wan nor Hye-Sung, but he's quite good too. Known to make up lies in TV shows to make things interesting, and other members often call him out of it. He's the one who seems to be very much comfortable in variety shows.
Andy, the rapper, the youngest (or maknae), seems a reserved kind of guy but he has quite good business instinct apparently, as his company manages TEEN TOP and it's pretty successful so far.
And together six of them, are SHINHWA!!
Having been around since 1998, they seem to be still going strong. Their bond is strong, and that also thanks to the leader, Eric, who sticked with them even though he was offered a high pay contract by their first management company and together they left the company.
Their latest album, The Return, was released on 24 March 2012. It consists of 11 tracks with their title track, Venus:
My fave tracks are "On The Road", "Hurts", "Be My Love", and "Welcome".
And regardless that they are still a boyband after all, I'm actually more comfortable calling them a MANband. Because what I see is not 6 boys anymore, they are 6 grown-up men who knows what they want and work hard to reach the place where they are right now, and they are still working hard... ;)
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