Artist of the week - Jang Hye Jin

Our featured artist this week is the veteran female singer Jang Hye Jin. She has been around the music industry for a long time. Recently, she has 2 hit songs at the same time: her 7th album’s title song "마주치지말자" (Let’s Don’t Meet Again), and her collobration with Vibe "그남자 그여자" (That Man, That Woman). Both songs are in the top 10 now. Let’s find out more about her:

Name: Jang Hye Jin
Date of birth : May 15th, 1968
Education : Department of Performing Art, Graduate School of Art Fusion Design, Kyunghee University
Hobbies : Listening to music, reading, watching movies

BIOGRAPHY

Jang Hye-jin is one of Korean female vocalists who has been loved by music fans for many years for her appealing voice. She originally started out as a member of MBC Chorus, but made a solo debut in 1991 with the song “Always in My Dreams.” However, the song received much criticism that it had been plagiarized and Jang couldn’t go on performing the song for longer.

In 1993, Jang Hye-jin released her second album in which she began in earnest to let her name known wide among pop music listeners. Jang’s husky and attractive voice caught the ears of many and “Short Sky,” the title song of her second album, was put on the top places of local music charts.

With her 3rd album released in 1994, Jang received praises from critics as well as the general public. Various top musicians including Kim Hyun-cheol took part in the production of the album that focused much on popularity. Songs like “To Me” and “With Only the Name of Love” were included in the album. Jang’s 4th album was released in 1996, but she failed to achieve quite a big success as her 3rd album.

In her 5th album released in 1998, Jang Hye-jin tried a transformation in musical styles. Most of the song listed in the album was Latin pop numbers. She also wrote the lyrics for the songs “Dream” and “You’re Lost.” After another hiatus of 3 years, Jang Hye-jin came back to the local pop music scene with her 6th and best album. The album included some new songs and also some of her previous best hits.

Since Jang Hye-jin wrapped up her performances with her 6th album and moved to the Berkely College of Music in Boston to study vocal training systematically. After returning home, Jang released her 7th album in 2006. Unlike her previous hits which are mostly ballads, her new song "Let’s Don’t Meet Again" has more R&B sound than before. The hot songwriting combinations of Kim Do Hoon and Choi Kap Won wrote this song for Jang Hye Jin.

Her strong and unique vocal is also showcased on Vibe’s new album. Jang Hye Jin is featured in Vibe’s title song "That Man, That Woman", which becomes a big hit on internet music charts without any TV appearances.

DISCOGRAPHY

Jang Hye-jin (1st album, 1991) : Always in my Dreams, A Late Start, Sad Promise, Like Yesterday
Whiteism (2nd album, 1993) : A Short Sky, Trip to Africa, Lost Dreams, Today Different from Yesterday
Before the Party (3rd album, 1994) : To Me, Before the Party, One Late Night in 1994
Temptation (4th album, 1996) : Time of Waiting, Complete Love, Aftermath of Love
Dream (5th album, 1998) : Dream, To Eternity, Come to Me, My Love, Sweet Imagination
Jang Hye-jin (6th album, 2001) : Beautiful Days, I Don’t Cry, 1000 Years, Still, Return, Leaving
4 Season Story (7th album, 2006) : Let’s Don’t Meet Again, Sweet Morning

Resource: KBS World