SNSD’s Sunny Talks to BoA How She Doesn’t Sing Recently Due to Discouragement

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

On an episode on On and Off (This video highlighting the episode is not subtitled yet so I’m just linking to it), Sunny is visited by her friend BoA! U.Kim at Soompi translated the articles that covered the episode:


They began their date with a glass of champagne each, and Sunny shared that BoA is a heavyweight drinker.

The two artists then began to prepare a meal together. Sunny told BoA to wait on the couch and enjoy the champagne while she did all the cooking, but when BoA asked her why she took out two aprons, Sunny said, “There can be a discrepancy between the ideal and the real.” Sunny’s prediction turned out to be correct, as BoA ended up preparing the meal along with Sunny.

When Sunny added loads of salt to the stew they were making, BoA gasped and told her, “Just enjoy the natural taste of the ingredients!” Sunny told BoA to trust her, but BoA remained unconvinced. Nonetheless, BoA tasted the stew and hilariously said, “Let’s add a little more soy sauce.” She then even said, “Should we put in MSG?” which Sunny proceeded to do. When BoA tasted the MSG-added stew, her eyes grew wide with surprise and delight.

Once the meal was all ready, Sunny and BoA sat down at the table to eat. Sunny’s cellphone rang, and it turned out to be a call from YoonA, who is friends with both Sunny and BoA. In the studio, Sunny explained that YoonA, BoA, and herself had similar tastes in food and drinks.


After wrapping up the call with YoonA,Sunny asked BoA what her favorite song is out of her own songs. She picked “Only One,” explaining, “I clearly knew what kind of performance I wanted to do at the time. And I think the music fits me best.”

BoA then asked Sunny if she didn’t sing anymore, and Sunny shared her concerns about her vocals. Sunny said, “It’s always an unresolved task. I’m not sure what I like and what I should do, since I was always part of a team. In the team, I was always like the MSG in food. Producers wanted something from me that matched the team’s style, and that was an artificial kind of voice.When I sang normally, they didn’t like it, and my self-esteem fell drastically. Being told that my voice sounded bland, I wondered if what I want to do and what I can do didn’t line up.” Hearing this, BoA told Sunny that she liked her natural voice, and Sunny thanked her.

In the studio, Sunny explained, “As far as I know, I’m the only Girls’ Generation member without a solo album.”

Sources: U.Kim at Soompi, naver 1, 2, 3, 4

Comments

[setsuna16.livejournal.com]

BoA knows what her best song is, yes she does.

That is unfortunate about Sunny, though.

[aures.livejournal.com]

i feel bad for Sunny

[kyungwons.livejournal.com]

i feel bad for her, adjusting for one concept/style now and again is one thing but constantly being told your natural voice/style is not what they're looking for must feel terrible and i'm sure she's far from being the only idol who has been told this

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling Jeongyeon goes through this in Twice. Even though plenty of fans love her voice including me, constantly having reduced lines since her deeper tone isn’t really fitting Twice’s concept. Now that they’re getting older that might change, but I wonder how Jeongyeon feels that she’s a lead vocalist that doesn’t get much lines on title tracks. She definitely shines more on b-sides, but not everyone listens to those.

Plus to some extent Jihyo and Nayeon, they can sing but JYPE loves making them sing outside their range and I’m sure that messes with their confidence when singing

[kyungwons.livejournal.com]

yeah this is definitely an issue more prevalent in girl groups with members who have lower tones, not only is there the general sexist issue of constantly wanting girl group members to sound more 'feminine' and 'cute' which usually means as high pitched as possible but alongside affecting their self esteem it has physical consequences as well, straining your voice over so many years is going to give you permanent damage and so many idols are never properly taught how to look after their voice in general

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

one of the things i liked about black swan's recent debut, despite literally everything else about it, was the fact that it's a girl group consisting of grown women who are all looking and sounding like grown women. that's such a rare thing for a GG debut in 2020. i guess part of it can be attributed to me getting older, but i feel like 2nd gen GGs overall felt more grown-up, and i don't get that sense from many newer GGs even when they do mature concepts.

[katheli.livejournal.com]

yeah, that must suck.

I always wonder about Taehyung, the lone baritone working with those high-notes and dolphin range obsessed producers at BH. their songs are super high even for their high range vocalists and poor Tae has no chance in hell of squeaking out those notes as well as the tenors plus they autotune the shit out of him so he sounds more like the other three. I'm 99% sure they think he's the worst singer in the group even though he's really not.

Twice Jeongyeon comes to mind too.

[kyungwons.livejournal.com]

exactly like i said above i see this more often in girl groups but korea in general seems to prefer singers with a higher range and bts do come into mind immediately for me too with this issue. taehyung's definitely bound to lack confidence and i worry about all of their voices going in the way of jimins like to me his voice still sounds good in a lower range but when he tries to hit higher notes i think you can already hear the damage that's happened to it.

[dongsaengkiller.livejournal.com]

Producers can really mess people up. Sure you can prefer an affectation but to never let a singer sing naturally is a horrible thing to do. I hope she is able to build her self esteem back up. Take vocal classes if needed but I hope she puts out music she wants to eventually.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I agree! I hope she is able to put out music one day, I’d love to hear her natural tone

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Tbh listening to SNSD, I can hear what Sunny means about sounding artificial. Her vocal tone wasn’t my favorite but it fit the concept SNSD was going for. But I want to give Sunny a fair chance and hear it in a range she’s much more comfortable with. Hopefully she makes progress and puts out music one day!

BoA’s choice was perfect. Only One is absolutely incredible. She knows that song worked for her so well, and since she knows I hope she channels it for her new album.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

BoA is a heavyweight drinker

So is BoA the Soju unnie Jessica wrote about in her book 👀


Ngl when I first got into Kpop I disliked Sunnys voice. I could not stand listening to it. It took a while until I learned that they only made her sing in that godawful high pitched voice and that her natural tone is more deep and actually really good.

[rosiemotleymind.livejournal.com]

This makes me sad. I don’t hate her cutesy voice because I adore her but Sunny’s natural vocals are soooo nice. Kind of in the same vein as Joy who has such a sweet voice.

Sunny’s feature with Miryo showed her potential and then with their last few albums as 8 when they finally distributed her more lines she was able to sing in a lower register. I really think she would do good with something more indie/singer-songwriter or even along the lines of of Gain does. I hope she finds the confidence. She may not have been the forefront of vocals but she was great with harmonies and also super great personality in the group.

I’m all in my feelings about this since she’s my ultimate lol.

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

This really makes me sad but also, I'm not surprised. Listening to their songs, especially the cute concepts, it's really clear that Sunny isn't singing with her real voice but playing a role. She also always had a weird spot, not in the main vocal line despite her being really stable/good, not in the dance line despite being part of the dance covers team (pre-injuries), way too good with the overexagerated aegyo voice to be taken seriously as a singer, it must have really been hard.
The dance line all seemed to have moments where they really doubted about their vocals, Sooyoung for example talked about it and I think, at one point, seemed to focus more on dancing than singing. SNSD is so stacked with vocalists that it must have been really hard for them to stand out. How do you compete with Taeyeon or Jessica with lines? I don't want to know what they were told by producers and SM ecs. :(
Thankfully Sunny was allowed to show off more of her vocals in SNSD's latest albums... She sounds great on Bump It, her lower moments in Lil' Touch were really good too.

I really hope she gets the opportunity for a solo album if she wants to. A folk/indie-type release could be good, and she wouldn't have to dance to promote it.

To end on a better note, Only One is perfect and it brings me joy that it's BoA's favourite!!!

[mycorrhizoid.livejournal.com]

I blame Gee for this. Up until Gee, their songs were sung in a lower key where all the members could sing comfortably (Himnae is a good example of the contrast because it was actually released with Gee). Gee was pitched so unnaturally high that most of the members could only sing short verses therefore got a lot of talk singing lines.

But of course, Gee was their breakout song and so they kept with that style after. And so it became that only the members that could do the high notes "could actually sing". All of them could sing in their registers. And Sunny, especially, got the shaft because she was a good singer, I don't think we ever really learned how good she was before she was relegated to cutesy voice. I feel bad for her.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

You have a great point. I absolutely adore Into The New World, one of my fave debuts ever, and the girls overall are singing in a lower key. I think that adds to the power of the song, since it doesn’t sound forcibly cute and it sounds more ‘natural’ to fit the song. I especially like how Yuri sounds and Jessica’s vocal tone isn’t my favorite but I liked her quite a bit in ITNW. Sunny shines on ITNW!

But oh yea Gee, I love Gee too but for different reasons but it’s a shame that people wanted that specific sound from SNSD. It has had its influence on so many girl groups too. Like I’ve talked about Twice is JYPE wanting their own SNSD, and I’m sure when LOA wasn’t a hit at launch they looked at Gee for inspiration, as the super catchy but high singing is found in so many Twice tracks now.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I forgot Yoona too in ITNW! It wasn’t till later in SNSD’s career and her solos that I was reminded how lovely her voice is

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

+1 about ITNW. The girls all sing in a generally lower register on that track and it sounds divine, even 13 years later.

[soyunatetera.livejournal.com]

I want to hear her sing with her real voice. If she feels like it she could release a single, regain confidence

[premonitioner.livejournal.com]

as a sunny fan this really breaks my heart. her natural voice is so good, and I'd kill for a solo album from her

[frequency.livejournal.com]

that makes me sad. :( i like sunny. i hope she gets a chance to release something that will utilize her natural voice. 😭

[aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com]

You know what, I'm even gonna front, Only One was perfect for BoA. I think she's pretty versatile in that she can suits whatever concept she puts her mind to, but I really did love Only One for what is was and how she brought that concept to life.

Oh Sunny, it broke my heart to read this. Honestly, I sometimes forget how much lower Sunny's voice actually is. What I love about Genie is that the girls sing in their lower registers in the verses. But it sucks that they usually have Sunny sing in that aegyo voice. Tiffany, Yuri and Seohyun have naturally low voices, but even they end up singing in higher tones as well. Whereas Sooyoung's voice does naturally sound high and sometimes you can confuse her voice for Sunny's. I think what takes me aback at times is how Seohyun's nasally tone reminds me of Jessica's when normally, their voices sound nothing alike - which is probably why they get paired up a lot when they sing certain parts in their songs. Then there's Hyoyeon who has a very unique gravelly tone that doesn't really fit in with the other voices in Soshi and I suppose that's why she doesn't get as many lines as the others.

I do hope that one day we'll be able to hear more of Sunny singing comfortably. I actually do like her voice, I never used to appreciate it much before, but I've come to appreciate it more now.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear this Sunny. And I hope she gets to read comments from fans who likes her natural singing voice.

I'm not a fan of high pitch, too girly, cheery or very Disney voice is girl groups. I like it when I hear great vocals and appreciate the different tones or vocal color.

[mad-nux.livejournal.com]

i hope sunny gets a solo her voice is my fave. even for aegyo voice, hers doesn't irritate me at all. i like her voice way better than jessica. I was also kinda glad some members left because sunny had a lot of lines in liltouch

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

IA in liking Sunny’s vocal over Jessica. Neither were my favorite but I preferred Sunny’s. Jessica leaving allowed other members to get more lines and I preferred that too tbh. Plus Jessica leaving was a bit awkward for me since while I knew her leaving was a big deal, since her vocals weren’t my favorite and she was heavily pushed in SNSD’s music, I wasn’t as sad as a lot of their fans 😬 (sad for the situation as a whole but I was no Jessica stan lol)

[aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com]

Same

Even though Jessica and Sunny tended to sing in high pitched tones, I preferred Sunny's voice to Jessica's. I don't care for nasally tones and Jessica was very nasally. Her leaving actually allowed for a more balanced sound in term of tones.

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

Girl group producers really ain't shit with how they produce vocals, always pushing women into high squeeky registers. Sunny has such a nice natural voice, no need to be embarassed!

[myungung.livejournal.com]

It really sucks that she’s had to think that her voice isn’t enough, especially when she’s given a lead vocal title. Coupled with her injury I suppose it made it harder. I’m glad that her more natural tone was given more chance to shine later. Perhaps maybe that’s why the girls weren’t singing live so much when they were at their busiest. I wanna say perhaps The Boys was the start of lower tones, but then I’m not sure if IGAB fits their vocals, so...

But hoping Sunny gets a chance to sing again, because she deserves it.

Yes to Only One. It’s probably my fave BoA song and one that got me more into listening to her songs. Still has such great playback value now.

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

This makes me so sad for Sunny because her voice is one of my favorites in the group. :(