Two years ago, the K-pop community suffered as 2014 consisted of back-to-back debilitating situations for the industry. It was the year known as the “Kpopcalypse,” where many K-pop idols left their respective K-pop groups, such as Nicole and Jiyoung, or Kara and Jessica of Girls’ Generation, among other departures. It seems 2016 is following in that year’s footsteps, causing disdain for many K-pop fans. So far this year, Kara disbanded after Gyuri, Seungyeon, and Hara chose not to renew their contracts with DSP Media, leaving Youngji to survive on her own. Later on, 2NE1 lost their maknae, Minzy , as she decided not to renew her contract with YG Entertainment.
Now, the latest in K-pop idols either leaving or disbanding their respective groups has struck JYP Entertainment. Jia of miss A has decided not to renew her contract. As a result, she has officially left both miss A and JYP Entertainment.
The announcement of the departure of Meng Jia, better known as Jia, from both miss A and JYP Entertainment was made by the entertainment label on May 20, as reported by AllKpop . According to their report, both Jia and Wang Feifei, better known as Fei, of miss A had their contracts expire this year . This news would surely be dire for those who are Say A (devoted fans of miss A), given the possibility that miss A would be finished if both Jia and Fei decide not to renew, since they represent half of the girl group. Fortunately, Fei has decided to renew her contract with JYP Entertainment, and the entertainment label will continue to support her activities not just in South Korea, but also in China, where she is very popular given her Chinese heritage.
Jia, on the other hand, decided not to renew her contract, and JYP Entertainment wished her the very best in her future endeavors. At this moment, Jia has not made known what her current or future professional activities are. As for JYP Entertainment, they made it known they are now concentrating more on the individual activities of each remaining miss A member. Fei is doing both advertising modeling and acting in China, while Min and Suzy continue to star in K-dramas.
It is saddening that both miss A and JYP Entertainment lost Jia. She’s been a part of the JYP Nation since 2007, when she started out as a trainee, making several appearances alongside Fei on Chinese television prior to miss A. They made such an impact, they were dubbed as the “Chinese Wonder Girls.” Soon, they were grouped together with Suzy to form miss A. They performed “Love Again” in collaboration with Samsung China. Eventually, Min joined the group to become their maknae, and history was made when they released their debut song as a four-member group titled “Breathe” (music video attached above).
Jia stood out from the rest of miss A not just for her rapping skills, but for her eclectic style, especially her hair. Jia’s style would eventually become a factor that would help build Jia’s identity in miss A.
Over the next three years up to 2013, miss A would release two studio albums, A Class and Hush , and three extended plays (mini-albums), Touch , Independent Women Part III , and Colors , and two single albums, Bad But Good and Step Up . Their chart-topping songs, which includes “Breathe,” above, includes “Bad Girl, Good Girl,” “Love Alone,” “Good Bye Baby,” “Touch,” “I Don’t Need A Man,” “Hush,” and finally, “Only You.”
Ultimately, Say A’s are wishing Jia the best with whatever she decides to do in the future. As for now, fans can be content until the following year. In 2017, Suzy and Min , the other two members of miss A, have their contracts set to expire, as reported by Soompi . If just one of them decides not to resign, miss A may officially be done unless JYP Entertainment decided to move forward with the group kind of like how SM Entertainment did for TVXQ.
[Image via Screen Capture of miss A music video for “Breathe”/YouTube]