The Year K-Pop’s 2nd Generation Groups Reclaimed Their Legacies

INFINITE reunion!

This week, the members of INFINITE, a massive boy group who once defined the sound of second generation K-Pop, gathered together for the first time since Myungsoo returned from his mandatory military enlistment. [Sungjong the group’s macknae was not present due to a schedule] One by one the members ignited a frenzy among Inspirit, the group’s fanbase, as they uploaded selfies from their day to Instagram. 

"I'm so grateful that we were able to get together like this,” Sungkyu, the group’s leader captioned his photo. “It feels like I’m being warmed despite this cold.” 

Rumors have swirled for months that a comeback is possible for INFINITE. Despite all of the members leaving Woollim Entertainment, the company that formed INFINITE, they have remained close friends. They’ve continued to create together, whether it’s on YouTube with a Chuseok special in 2021 or a fanmeeting next month with Dongwoo and Sungjong. 

“Wouldn’t [2023] be the year of INFINITE?” Dongwoo, the group’s rapper asked, this week. “You’ve already waited five years, so we’ll make sure that five-year wait will not be in vain.”

This unique possibility was inconceivable until recently. But over the past year, K-Pop groups have begun to position themselves as powerful players within the music industry. They’ve won trademark suits; their friendships have endured. They don’t need their founding company to cement their legacy. 

INFINITE’s possible reunion, then, comes at a pivotal moment for second generation idols.

This was the year when idols could return to K-Pop on their own terms, with the creative direction firmly placed in their hands. More than a decade has passed since this generation’s groups debuted and K-Pop was largely a more controlling, oppressive environment. Mental health was never talked about. “Slave contracts” were normal. It also wasn’t questioned whether to send members on stage with an injury. Make no mistake, these comebacks reclaim the power that many groups longed for.

For all of these groups, the legacy is in their names. Some groups, like HIGHLIGHT, had to start over completely. Their original name BEAST is still owned by CUBE Entertainment, who trademarked it. But the men have reframed the new beginning as a way to bridge a new sound. Their latest album “AFTER SUNSET” features the scoring single “Alone” and a stage that was dangerously provocative. 

Just last month, KARA charted an even bolder comeback: Theirs was cross-generational. Members who had never performed together formed a new version of KARA. Their single “When I Move” hit number one on the charts and bagged them a win on Music Bank. 

As second generation groups age into their thirties, they embark on a new era of their careers. Autonomy is perhaps the most important thing for each idol now as an adult. This twist is uncharted territory. For the first time, second generation groups might finally begin to receive equity for their talents and time.

If I could trace this new beginning to one group, it would be T-ARA, who debuted in 2009 under MBK Entertainment. T-ARA’s sound is one of my favorites from second generation K-Pop: It’s loud, bombastic and thrilling. Take their single “Number 9” which sounds straight out of an Ibiza club. The girls frequently pushed the genre to its limits.  At their height of success, T-ARA had nine members. Today the group is four. In November 2021, the group returned with the EP “RE:TARA”. This release marked the first time the women could perform and promote as T-ARA since winning the rights to their name in 2019. 

The members were candid that aligning schedules was not easy – but they chose to work through the difficulties because they believed in the group. “We were able to overcome it well because we all have the same desire to continue being T-ARA,” Hyomin said at the album’s press conference. Eunjung echoed this. “We had a strong desire to come back together.”

Their comeback did not have the backing of a major label nor did they promote it at traditional music shows, like Music Bank or Inkigayo. But popularity didn’t seem to be the point of “RE:T-ARA”. Instead, it seemed necessary for the music to be a re-introduction to  the group. Both tracks on the EP, “ALL KILL” and “TIKI-TAKI”, are quieter compositions created by the women. This was not a group trying to fill the room with the bombastic sound of “Sugar Free”. Instead, they were eager to define themselves as artists, as women who persevere. 

By the spring of 2022 the possibilities seemed to open up further for second generation groups. 

One month before descending on the California desert for Coachella, CL, the leader of YG’s girl group 2NE1, met with the members for a special dinner. The purpose of the meal was larger than a simple catch up: She wanted to discuss if they would perform on stage with her during 88rising’s set. 

“So is this happening or not?” She remembered asking the members just a few weeks prior to the performance. They chose to move forward with it, but secrecy was imperative. 

“I was like, ‘You guys can’t tell; don’t even tell your mom!’” CL laughed, “I don’t think Dara told her company.” 

The most iconic aspect of “I Am the Best” is the girls’ style. In the music video, Dara’s hair sticks straight up like a cone ascending to the heavens, while Minzy’s is cut to a tiny bob. In 2010 the girls’ style filtered into a futuristic aesthetic that K-Pop pushed. But today it looks purely punk. 

“When we decided to do ‘I Am the Best,’ I was like, ‘We need to come up with the iconic looks that … you guys had,’” CL told Billboard. “Minzy cut her hair for this! Right before she flew out, she sent us this picture of just hair on the ground.” 

As the iconic opening lines of “I Am the Best” blasted through the festival’s speakers, CL encouraged the girls to soak in the moment. “We only have, like, three minutes to do this together,” she remembered thinking as she hyped up Park Bom when she looked overwhelmed near the beginning of the song. 

Their surprise reunion was huge, a once-in-a-lifetime jaw-dropping moment that opened up possibilities for what a new version of 2NE1 could look like. 

“It’s not for anyone to compare,” CL said in a Coachella vlog. “It’s just about us. That we were here and that we are still here.” 

As the spring months rolled into summer, Girls Generation, too, announced a comeback. This, like 2NE1, felt impossible even a few months ago. Five of the group’s eight members are still signed to SM Entertainment, but only two, Hyoyeon and Taeyeon, focus on music. Many of the women are now accomplished actresses. Sooyoung, Seohyun and Yoona all led popular dramas this year, with each actress receiving an award this year for their performances. 

But 2022 was the group’s fifteenth anniversary and the women have remained friends, even though their last album was released in 2016. They have each supported one another in their solo endeavors, and the thought of returning to the group they grew up remained important. 

Their comeback single “Forever 1” stands as the greatest, most mature single the group has ever released. It capitalized beautifully on the group’s nostalgia and the friendship that they’ve carried with them. “Just like a love bomb/ We are one,” they sing in a chorus that feels pulled straight from 2010. 

At the album’s press conference, Taeyeon reflected on why she thought the collaboration worked. “I think Girls Generation is a fan of Girls Generation,” she said with a smile. “It’s not easy to gather the opinion of eight girls, but we like the group so much and want to protect each other.” 

The group traveled to Tokyo for SMTown to celebrate the album, a first for the members since 2016. Perhaps it was there, on that stage, that the members understood that “Forever 1” was really a song for themselves.  

As the song’s bridge kicked in and a sample of their debut single “Into the New World” played, Hyoyeon looked across at her members and began to cry. After the performance, the girls surrounded her in a hug as Tiffany wiped away her tears. They laughed, but they understood why it touched her so much. 

For their final performance of the night, SMTown Family’s “HOPE '', all of the members walked along the massive stage together. Sooyoung took photos of the crowd on her phone, and the girls gathered together for several selfies. They hugged longtime friends and took photos with former labelmates, like SHINee’s Minho and Key. No one seemed to enjoy themselves that night as much as Girls Generation.

For over fifteen minutes they waved to fans and remembered what brought them to this anniversary. Years ago, they might have taken this moment for granted, but that night, Girls Generation seemed to firmly understand how rare and special it is for a girl group to survive for fifteen years. They had defied the odds because of their friendship and love for the group. As the last few notes of “HOPE” rang out, the girls took one final look across the crowd of fans and at one another on stage. They were so in awe of what they saw that they were the last to leave the stage.