Title inspired by GG Anniversaries. When I started thinking about this series, I was trying to think of a cleaver title for it. I started following GG Anniversaries (and the boy group version) a few months ago, and I was inspired by the way they start their tweets with 10 years ago today.
So this series will be opportunities for me to discuss one-off groups, songs, that I haven’t really covered on ATK before. And since 2015 was my first full year as a Kpoppie, I guess for 2026, 2027, etc, we can keep the same name because it’ll still apply. Then for like the 2030s, we’ll have the 20-year anniversaries, OMG.
So let’s start with some background on the girls because I know most of y’all don’t know about my girls. Using Kprofiles for reference, debuted on August 12, 2010 under one of the worst Kpop companies of all time, Star Empire Entertainment (actual Wiki here). They’ve had numerous lineup changes and in their final years had five main members.
Here’s a timeline table from Kprofiles.
The girls I’m most familiar with are the 2015 onwards lineup of Euaerin, Minha, Hyemi, Hyuna, Kyungri (my fave), Sungah, Keumjo, and Sojin. And even then, that’s eight members, lol. You can read more on the girls here and here.
The group finally disbanded on February 24, 2019. There was some talk about another comeback in 2023, but as of writing, there hasn’t been anything else announced. There are two different ways the group has their name written. You’ll see both 9MUSES and Nine Muses. I use both interchangeably. Alright, with all that out of the way, let’s get started!
“DRAMA” is a Dance Pop track and it’s fantastic. You can read up on the drama, pun intended, here. I’ll be sticking to the music and visuals in this article.
I listen to this song often, but it’s been ages since I saw the music video for it. They lean heavily into the movie theater aesthetics. I love the now showing sign saying DRAMA by Nine Muses playing tonight at 7pm.
I wasn’t following 9MUSES super closely at this time, so I missed the teaser images leading up to this release. But I’m assuming they used that in the lead up to this single. The little skit they have is cute, and I like the ending having an old school ending card. Their black suspenders outfit with the bows is my favorite look.
The styling in “DRAMA” isn’t that great outside this look. The girls visuals are hard carrying this video, lol. The choreo is cute but nothing super memorable. It’s the music for me. I love this song, it was one of the first songs that really got me interested in 9MUSES’ older discography after I heard “Hurt Locker”.
My favorite b-side from DRAMA and one of my favorite 9MUSES songs in general. So I had to include it here. I want to do a Faves Songs article on 9MUSES this year. So I’ll be talking about it again later this year. I think I want to wait until I post the 9Muses S/S Edition article.
The rest of the album keeps this dramatic sound. It definitely sounds like older Kpop. Therefore, if you like this sound, or miss it, undoubtedly check this album out. “Jururuk” is a slower paced song but still very pop-y.
“September 17th” slows things down even further. I love the variety of songs on this album. You have your upbeat title and sister song, then a midtempo track to slow things down, then a downtempo to end things off. It’s a tune.
The nostalgia is kicking in for real on this one. I really miss this era with girl groups like this. The music is just different now. And that’s fine. There’s plenty of old stuff like this to discover and share. Looking at my tentative list, there should be about 43 articles in total for this series.
This doesn’t include articles for anniversaries I’ve already discussed, like Jonghyun’s BASE. That turned ten this year. I just forgot to post a tweet to my link, but I retweeted many posts about it. But I do intend to be on it more with things like that. I’m incredibly excited to share groups like 9MUSES with y’all.
I know there are so many new and active groups when you’re first getting into Kpop, and it can be overwhelming. So I hope ATK can be a source for y’all to not just discover newer music and groups, but older groups and soloists as well. Someone gotta keep track of all this stuff. Why not me, lol.
But what are y’alls thoughts on 9MUSES, “DRAMA” the song, and DRAMA the album. Do you have a favorite member? Is this your first time hearing about them? Let me know in the comments. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, & BlueSky. Next up is a Quick Thoughts, but idk who yet. Maybe BSS or another January release. I gotta get caught up.
Until then…
Take care!
Ash💫