I. Introduction
PAPAYA (파파야) was a short-lived five-member girl group that debuted in August 2000 under their label One Star Music and agency Winsome Media with their debut studio album Fairy Tale. The group disbanded the following year, but had a one-off reunion in 2016.
II. Career
III. 2000–2001: Debut with Fairy Tale & lineup change
PAPAYA debut in August 2000 under One Star Music with the debut studio Fairy Tale. The girl group contained 5 members: Kang Kyoung Ah, Kang Se Jung, Joo Yeon Jung, Hwang Yoon Mi and Jo Hye Kyung. In the early days of their debut, PAPAYA gained a lot of public interest, mainly as the result of their debut album involving famous composers Joo Young-hoon, Yoon Il-sang, Jo Gyu-man and Lee Gyeong-seop. While their dance genre songs were found to be lacking, their ballad songs were popular. The girl group had moderate success and sold 32,947+ albums in total, charting 27th in Korea.
In 2001, Hwang Yoon Mi and Kang Kyoung Ah left before the release of their upcoming second album Violet, leaving only three members in the girl group. Nonetheless, their second studio album Violet was released on May 22, 2001. Their second album also had moderate success and sold 28,012+ albums in total, charting 29th in Korea.
The same year, PAPAYA's disbandment was announced. They remained well known for their energetic techno sounds.
IIII. 2016: Reunion
In 2016, they reunited for JTBC's music program Two Yoo Project Sugar Man and released the digital single "눈물이 펑펑" with Seo Yoonmi of Black Swan (cancelled 2016 girl group).
In 2016, girl group OH MY GIRL re-recorded their lead song "Listen To My Word" from the album Fairy Tail and released it in their summer special album of the same name, Listen To My Word.
IIIII. Aftermath
Following the disbandment of PAPAYA, all the members went their separate ways:
Kang Se Jung went onto being a successful actress under the stage name 'Go Na-eun'. In 2017, she returned to using her birth name. She works as an actress to this day.
Hwang Yoon Mi went on to become a musical actress and legally changed her name to 'Go Eun-chae'. In late August 2012, it was reported that she married her boyfriend of 1.5 years, actor Park Eun-tae.
Jo Hye Kyung returned in 2014 to debut as a solo trot singer, using the stage name 'Eun Sae Jo' and released the single "Bibigo".
Joo Yeon Jung married at an unknown point in time and become a housewife. In 2016, she revealed in a report that she had to ask permission from her in-laws to be allowed to attend a PAPAYA reunion.
The circumstances of Kang Kyoung Ah are currently unknown.
III. Discography
IIII. Studio albums
Fairy Tale (2000)
Violet (2001)
IIIII. Collaboration single
"눈물이 펑펑" (with Seo Yoon Mi) (2016)
