Girl group miss A has recently come back with their latest effort, “I Don’t Need a Man“. To spread the word about their new release, and to answer a few long-held questions, the girls of miss A – Suzy, Fei, Jia and Min - sat down with Sports Chosun for a quick interview.
It’s hard to live as a girl group. Not only must they keep up with their schedules, but they must also learn to ignore hateful comments and keep track of their own body. This is especially true for Min, who had been on the receiving end of the ‘screen captures’.
“I was a little chubby at the time,” Min acknowledged. “But screen captures were really something else. I thought, ‘when did I ever make faces like that?’ and felt sad and annoyed, since that was really my worst face.”
It’s also hard to maintain the image they’ve built up for themselves. For Suzy, she had gained the title of ‘nation’s first love’ after her iconic role in the hit film, ‘Introduction to Architecture‘. “It was an amazing and thankful title,” she said. “But I am me. I’m a singer, and stand on the stage. Sometimes, when I put on a lot of makeup for the stage, many people tell me ‘the first love isn’t supposed to be like that, put on lighter makeup’. In truth, I’m a bit boyish and talk too much. It’s only my image in a film, but I feel pressured since that image is reflected on my true life.”
The girls have different ways to relieve their stress. Jia said, “I call my mother or my friends. But when I talk in Chinese with Fei, the people around us think we’re cursing.”
Min and Suzy have a simpler method: they walk. “I had a bit of time during Chuseok, so for the first time, I went by myself to the Han River and walked for 3-4 hours. It really got rid of my stress,” Suzy revealed.
Although miss A has achieved their dreams of being an artist, and is labeled as one of the more successful idol groups to date, they still remain teenagers in the late ‘teens and early twenties. One of the things that idols miss out during their celebrity lives are dating.
On the idea of dating, all of the members responded unanimously with “we want to date”. However, they declined on making their boyfriends public. “I don’t want everyone to know about our love,” Suzy responded. “It may damage the other person, and many others as well. I think keeping it private will be the best way for both ourselves and others.”
“I Don’t Need a Man” revolves around young women and their power in modern society. On the real issue of feminism, Suzy responded, “It’s definitely a problem we can all think about. When my mother ran a snack shop in the past, she liked what she did and was proud of it. I think it would be nice if more people can have that point of view. There’s no need to be upset or feel less about yourself just because you make less money, or if people don’t respect you.”
miss A’s biggest hit, so far, would arguably be their debut sensation, “Bad Girl Good Girl“. Jia confessed, “We did feel pressure about how to jump over “Bad Girl Good Girl” since it was so successful.” Suzy added, “They weren’t bad, but our other albums had a hard time living up to the success of our debut album. But I think we maintained our style while evolving. I hope that this time, we will be able to outshine “Bad Girl Good Girl”.
