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| Baek Ye-rin. Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
By Lee Han-na
Baek Ye-rin, a member of JYP Entertainment's duet girl group 15&, made a solo comeback with her album "Our Love is Great" on Monday, breaking a two-year hiatus.
Within a day, all her songs made the top 100 in music charts and the lead single "Maybe It's Not Our Fault" topped the Genie, Mnet and Melon music charts.
The surprising popularity comes amid much-anticipated releases by popular girl group MAMAMOO and former popular girl band 2NE1 member Park Bom.
Baek participated in writing and composing all seven songs, showing off her capability as a singer-songwriter.
Baek's performance in the album charts shows how much fans have been waiting for her comeback.
Baek debuted in 2012 as part of 15& with group mate Park Ji-min, the winner of the first season of SBS music survival show "K-Pop Star." Even before her official debut, Baek was well-known among music lovers for her beautiful but powerful voice.
She won the SBS singing competition "Star King" with Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing." She was only 10 at the time and earned the nickname "Singing Prodigy" for her stunning performance.
15& had not released any albums since 2015, fueling speculation the duet might be disbanded sooner or later. Years later, Park denied the rumor, saying the two members have different musical tastes and have never considered parting ways. Park said she was drawn into urban R&B, while Baek was attached to indie music.
Lee Han-na is The Korea Times intern.
