Kim Ji-hyun

Lee Sang-min

Chae Ri Na

Past members

Shin Jung-hwan

Introduction

Roo'Ra (Korean: 룰라; Japanese: ルーラ) is a three-member co-ed Hip-Hop dance-pop vocal group. In the 1990's they were the biggest group in Korea. They debuted sometime in July 1994 with the studio album Roots of Reggae. They disbanded on July 27, 2001 with the release of their eighth studio album Roo'Ra 8th Best & Last. They reunited in 2008 for the release in 2009, A9ain - Again, and have since held occasional activities as a three-member ensemble.

Originally with four members, in 1995 member Shin Jung-hwan left for Military Requirements and was replaced with new member Chae Ri-na. Then in 1997 Kim Ji-hyun left to pursue a solo career and was replaced with a temporary vocalist Mikey Romeo. Kim Ji-hyun returned for the release of the groups next album in 1999.

In 1996, the group faced significant controversy in the discovery of their unattributed sampling of Japanese boy group Ninja's song お祭り忍者 (English: Omatsuri Ninja) in their song 천상유애 (Romanised: Cheon Sang Yu Ae). This controversy brought up a heated debate about the nature of "Korean-ness in popular music" (Korean-ness: Korean Nationalism) and pushed this long dormant issue to the forefront. The group almost split in 1996 due to severity of the controversy was becoming.

During the re-uniting in December 2008, Members, 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".

Roo'ra had their first win on Seoul Music Awards in 1994 they won the Main Award (Bonsang) and later won the Grand Prize (Daesang) in 1995. Later in 1995 they won the Main Prize (Bonsang) at Golden Disc Awards for their second album The Angel Who Lost Wings and then in 1999 won the Popularity Award, Golden Disc Awards for their sixth studio album Six 'n Six.

Member's profiles