4Minute

Member:
Ji Hyun - Leader, Vocalist
Gayoon - Main Vocalist
Ji Yoon - Lead Vocalist, Rapper
HyunA - Rapper, Vocalist
So Hyun - Vocalist

4Minute is a five-member South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group are Nam Ji-hyun (남지현), Heo Ga-yoon (허가윤), Jeon Ji-yoon (전지윤), Kim Hyun-a (김현아) and Kwon So-hyun ( 권소현). The girls released their first single on June 15, 2009 and made their first debut stage on June 18, 2009 on M.net M! Countdown.

4Minute has released one Korean full-length album, three Korean mini-albums, one Japanese full album, six Japanese singles and various Korean singles. The group debuted in June 2009 with their first single, Hot Issue. They released their first Japanese album, Diamond in December 2010, and their first Korean full length album, 4MINUTES LEFT in 2011.

The group received the Bonsang Award at the 20th Seoul Music Awards on January 20, 2011. And on February 6, 2011, the group attended the 2010 Billboard Japan Music Awards wherein they received the "Kpop New Artist Award".

Cube Entertainment announced the creation of 4Minute in May 2009, along with the identity of two of the group's members, Nam JiHyun, the group's leader and Kim Hyunah, a former member of Wonder Girls. On 11 June 2009, the silhouette teaser video was released online, along with their official website. The remaining three members' identities were not announced until June 12.

Cube Entertainment had released a teaser for their first single "Hot Issue" on 10 June while the single debuted on June 18. The group promoted the song from its release until August. At the end of August, 4Minute released a mini-album called For Muzik which was alongside their second single, "Muzik". 4Minute won a mutizen award and a mnet award for their second single "Muzik". Their third single was "What A Girl Wants" was released shortly after the release of their EP.

On 21 June 2009, after the first week of "Hot Issue" promotions, fans stole various items from the group's van, including clothing and other items. Cube Entertainment said, "It was very unfortunate that such an ordeal occurred." Two months later, on 27 August, KBS banned the playing of "Won't Give You" (안줄래)" for what they considered to be overly sexual lyrical content. The lyrics in question, in the style of a first-person narrative, express an unwillingness on the part of the subject to "give" herself or her heart to her partner. Cube Entertainment responded to the ban by stating that the song was intended to be "about the pure feelings of a girl to a guy" and that they were very disappointed by the decision.

4Minute was featured in fellow label-mate Mario's Christmas digital single "Jingle Jingle", which was released on 2 December 2009; the music video premiered online on December 3, 2009. They also recorded a remix with American artist Amerie for her song 'Heard 'Em All' that was released on the Asian version of her fourth album.

On February 7, 2009, the group performed "Hot Issue" at the long-running variety show ASAP "XV" in the Philippines.

On December 22, 2011, soompi.com announced the next Cube unit group will consist of Gayoon and Jiyoon. The new group has been referred to as "Double Yoon" but the group name is not official as of yet.

4Minute was supposed to make their comeback on January. It then was postponed to March as they wanted to try out new songs. And as of March 19, Cube Entertainment announced they will make their comeback in mid-April. It has been said their group had chosen the title track for the album, now focusing on the other tracks in the album to make it as good as the title. “Even prior to deciding on the title track, we were accepting many songs. While using the experience we’ve gained from previous promotions as a base, we are still taking a shot at other genres. In order to let fans who’ve waited for so long to hear the top music, we’ve taken a longer time to prepare the new album, however, you will be able to see all five members of 4Minute standing together in April.”

Towards the end of March, the official title track of 4Minute's third mini album was revealed to be "Volume Up" leading many fans to speculate that their comeback is nearing. On 3 April, it was announced that the girls of 4Minute will make their comeback on April 9 with their third mini album, Volume Up, along with a teaser image, with the tracklist being released also. On April 9, 2012, the music video for "Volume Up" was released on 4Minute's official YouTube account. 4Minute wrapped up promotions for Volume Up on May 20, SBS Inkigayo.

On August 22, 4Minute released their new Japanese single “Love Tension”. The album jacket for this new single was revealed on July 9.

On October 13, 4Minute performed at KCON 2012 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California.