Baek Ji Young

Baek Ji Young

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Baek Ji-young (born March 25, 1978) is a South Korean pop singer. She began her music career in 1999, splashing onto the Korean dance scene with her first album Sorrow. The first single, ¼±ÅÃ (Choice), was unusual in that it was one of the first Korean pop songs to feature Latin beats. However, this catchy single, complete with Baek's dancing skills and natural beauty, propelled her to the top of the charts. She quickly followed this album with a second, Rouge, which came out in April 2000, selling 360,000 copies [1] and cementing her status as one of Korea's most popular female dance artists.

Her career took a major hit, though, in the fall of that same year. A sex tape leaked out on the Internet featuring Baek having sex with her former manager in a hotel. The tape spread widely on the Internet, due to heavy media coverage and South Korea's status as a heavily "wired" country. A major scandal, Baek initally apologized, but then claimed that she had no knowledge of the videotape and refused to remain quiet. She released a third album, Tres, in June of the following year, and it sold a respectable amount of copies (the total close to 200,000 [2]). However, the scandal still plagued her; as a result, Baek took a break from the Korean music industry.

Two years after the release of "Tres", Baek released her fourth album Smile in September of 2003. Although not a runaway success, it managed to sell a decent amount of copies [3].

Currently, Baek is promoting her fifth album Smile Again, released in March of 2006. Unlike her other singles, »ç¶û ¾ÈÇØ (I Don't Love), her first single from the album, is a ballad. However, this does not mean that she has alienated her fan base; there are many Latin/dance tracks on the album.

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