Ailee Claims Her "Singing Got Better" in Her Newest Single Following Her Nude Scandal

(Hilary)

About a month following the widespread scandal over Ailee’s nude photos, it was revealed that the K-pop singer would be making a comeback after a six-month hiatus in January 2014. Ailee reunited with mentor Wheesung, who also wrote and produced her debut single “Heaven” for her newest track called “Singing Got Better,” which is described as a delicate rock ballad. The song as well as its music video tells the story of a woman bidding farewell to her love by singing away her broken heart. The woman puts aside her dream of becoming a famous singer for a life as a good wife until she catches her husband and also music producer (portrayed by MBLAQ’s Lee Joon) cheating on her making her realize what a fool she has been and ultimately leaves him as she sings about how her “singing got better.” 

A scene in the music video when Ailee and her husband fight after she caught him cheating (GIF credit: here)

Although the boy-cheats-on-girl storyline is nothing groundbreaking in the world of entertainment, I can appreciate, however, Ailee’s push against the pertinent standard for South Korean women, especially female K-pop singers to settle down with a husband. Ailee does not go as far to say that girls can’t or shouldn’t one day be wives, but the greater message is that once she cut ties with her partner, her music flourishes and no longer suffers due to her constant need to please him rather than herself. Like I stated in my previous post, which you can read here, Ailee is not my favorite artist; however, I can appreciate a good set of vocal cords, which Ailee undoubtedly has. You won’t find me blasting or belting this tune, but I must admit Ailee’s vocals are superb as usual. She is definitely a powerhouse vocalist. If you haven’t already heard or watched the song or music video, I suggest that you give it a listen purely for Ailee’s voice as well as the empowering subject matter. Let me know if any of you guys are fans of Ailee and what did you guys think of her newest single? 


References

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/5862634/ailee-explains-how-her-singing-got-better-in-empowering-new-single

Ailee's Nude Scandal

(Hilary)

Photo taken from Google Images (no copyright intended)

If you dabble at all into the K-pop universe, you’ve probably been attacked on various social media sites with the wild commotion that spewed from popular Korean American singer, Ailee’s, nude photo scandal publicized by one of the most trafficked U.S.-based K-pop news site, allkpop.com. Allkpop broke the news back in November of 2013, publishing unauthorized photos of the singer with censored black bars and watermarks just to eventually take down the post completely due to a slew of negative reader comments. Contrary to 6Theory Media’s, allkpop’s parent company, claims to have obtained the photos from an anonymous image board AnonIB, the Vice President of Content for allkpop who is Ailee’s ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lee, admitted to have attempted to sell the images to a South Korean media outlet Dispatch, convincing many readers that it was he who leaked the photos. Dispatch has since released a transcription of its correspondence with Lee, which dates back to July of 2013, a month after Ailee’s photos were posted to an Anon forum thread. Lee wanted to sell nude photos of Ailee to Dispatch; otherwise, he claims that he will just go public with these images with another media outlet. 

Translation of Dispatch's conversation with Daniel Lee, Ailee's ex-borfiend and allkpop VP (credit: here)

However, Lee denies to have leaked the pictures to his own publication. Additionally, 6Theory Media released an official company statement claiming that a Canadian tipster emailed them in June attempting to sell nude photographs of the Korean American singer for $3500. Allkpop was not interested in the photos; contacted YMC Entertainment, Ailee’s management, about the matter; and claimed that YMC disregarded the issue. Nevertheless, allkpop communicated to YMC that if a third party were to post anything relative to Ailee’s photos, it was allkpop’s “job and duty as a news site” to post the story. Lo and behold on November 10, 2013, allkpop received an email from whom they suspected to be the same tipster who contacted them several months prior in June, as the IP addresses of both emails traced back to the same ISP in Toronto and ultimately decided to break the story. 

YMC Entertainment released an official statement in order to provide some groundwork from which the nude photos of their client stand. YMC explained that the nude photographs were test shots taken while Ailee was still in the U.S. after she received an offer to be a lingerie model for a famous underwear company. The agency claimed to need nude photographs for better “examination of her body”; however, this agency proved fraudulent when it cut all contact with Ailee after receiving her photographs and those of many other college women as well. The police were unable to make any arrests due the complexity of the Internet based operation, causing Ailee to turn to her then boyfriend and VP of allkpop, Daniel Lee, who persuaded her to send him the photos so the he could “get a better idea on the issue.” YMC continues to say that they would seek legal action against the person who circulated these images. 

A few days following the eruption of the scandal, Lee took to the Seoul Broadcasting System program One Night of TV Entertainment in attempt to clear the air. Lee reaffirmed 6Theory Media’s official statement about the Canadian tipster and continued with an apology but claimed to not have leaked the photos. Nonetheless, many of Ailee’s fans continue to defend their idol as the “victim” and condemn Lee as the “criminal.” 

Comments from fans of Ailee regarding her nude photos (credit: here)

Similarly allkpop readers were quick to criticize the site for leaking Ailee’s personal photos and putting Ailee under a negative light. Allkpop CEO Johnny Noh and staff member Matt Kim took to their Twitters to address the widespread scrutiny surrounding their site in regarded to “leaking” the nude photographs of Ailee. 

Tweets from allkpop CEO Noh and staff member Kim in response to the backlash their post of Ailee's nudes received from angry fans (credit: here)

I personally do not know whether I completely buy Daniel Lee’s story nor can I really believe that Ailee took nude photographs of herself for a potential career as a lingerie model. She could have taken those pictures for her them boyfriend, which is rather common in this day and age, but I think it is easier and more advantageous for her management to paint her in the most victimized and innocent light possible, as innocent as nude photos can be, I guess. I am not Ailee’s biggest fan not because of her nudes; however, I cannot deny that she has got some major vocals, which are always showcased in her songs, such as “Singing Got Better,” which is her most recent single that was released in January of this year following the incident. (Read my thoughts about the single here.) I suppose as a singer or anyone in the entertainment industry for that matter, the best strategy to address a scandal of any sort is to work on a new project. And for Ailee, it was her new single. Which story do you guys buy? Let me know in the comments!


References

http://seoulbeats.com/2013/11/ailee-nude-photo-scandal-rundown/

http://www.asianjunkie.com/2013/11/ailees-nude-photos-leaked-by-ex-boyfriend-an-allkpop-employee-according-to-report-conclusions-reactions/

Ailee (에일리)

(Hilary)

Ailee is a South Korean-American singer who moved from the U.S. to South Korea to pursue a professional music career. Ailee was born as Amy Lee (Korean name: Lee Yejin) on May 30, 1989 in Denver, Colorado, but she grew up in New Jersey. After attending Park Junior/Senior High School and graduating from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Ailee went on to study communications, journalism, and criminal justice at Pace University. However, she later dropped out to pursue a music career. She took her first steps towards a singing career by creating a YouTube channel called “mzamyx3,” which later evolved into another channel called “aileemusic” that was meant to garner in more attention for her singing on the Internet. Her video, which proved to be pretty popular, caught the attention of the program director of NBC’s Maury Show, who contacted her in hopes of obtaining her participation in a program similar to American Idol. Although her win of second place in the competition opened some doors in the U.S. music scene, Ailee was determined to debut in South Korea first. 

Ailee's performance of Rihanna's "Unfaithful" on the Maury Show

Prior to her K-pop debut in South Korea, Ailee was singed under an independent agency based in New York and New Jersey Muzo Entertainment, where she collaborated with many artists, including Johnnyphlo and Philadelphia-based rapper Decipher. She later landed an audition in 2010 and, thus, moved to South Korea. Her performance of Big Mama’s “Resignation” landed her a spot in YMC Entertainment as a trainee. During her trainee days, she performed on MBC’s Singer and Trainee,” where she performed Usher’s “My Boo” with Wheesung, a South Korean R&B artist, and Beyoncé’s “Halo” solo. Judges and audiences alike praised Ailee for her professionalism although she had not yet officially debuted. 

Ailee's performance of Beyoncé's "Halo" on Singer and Trainee

In February 2012, she made her official debut with a song written and produced by Wheesung called “Heaven,” which had a strong run and peaked at #3 on GaOn, Korea’s real-time digital charts. She dominated the Cyworld Music Awards where she snatched two awards for “Song of the Month” and Rookie of the Month.” Several months later in October 2012, Ailee released her debut mini album entitled Invitation, which is composed of six tracks. Ailee’s sophomore mini album, A’s Doll House was released the following year on July 12, 2013. “U&I,” the album’s single, quickly shot to the top the music charts within four hours of its release. After releasing a Japanese single for “Heaven” in November of 2013 and a six-month hiatus in South Korea, Ailee made a comeback with “Singing Got Better.” Not surprisingly, as hinted by her previous two immensely popular singles, “Singing Got Better” reached #1 on many of Korea’s major music charts, including Mnet, Naver Music, and Daum Music.

Check out three of Ailee's hit singles, "Heaven," "U&I," and "Singing Got Better," respectively.