Roo'Ra is one of the greatest Korean music groups of all time. RooRa, (which means Roots Of
Raggae) were the pioneers of Reggae music in Korea. But most of their later songs are
composed of good dance beats. Over the time that RooRa has ruled the charts, they made six
albums - RooRa, RooRa 2nd, RooRa 3 (Reincarnation of the legend), Pops and Party Cd, RooRa
4th (All Systems Go!) and RooRa - The Final.
And throughout that time, RooRa has had six members - Shin Jung Whan, Lee Sang Min, Go
Young Wook, Kim Ji Hyun and Chae Rina. Shin Jung Whan was only in their first album because
he had to leave when he was drafted into the Korean Army. Kim Ji Hyun was in all albums
except RooRa 5th and was replaced by Mike Romeo and all the other members have been in
all albums.
RooRa was popular straight from the beginning with the sucess of their first album's title
song Bee Mil Un Uhp Suh. The popularity of their first album continued onto
their second album, RooRa 2nd. The title song from the second album Nal Geh IL Hoon Chon
Sa (rough translation - "Wingless Angel") won them many music awards in 1995. They
followed up from their successful second album with RooRa 3 - Reincarnation of the Legend.
Their title song for RooRa III - Reincarnation of the Legend was also popular and was doing
well on the charts but quickly fell out of ranks when it was revealed that it was an exact copy
of a Japanese Song (Omasri Ninja). As a result, RooRa was taken to court and they weren't
allowed to perform under that album. Near tragedy struck the group when Lee Sang Min
attempted so commit suicide by slashing his wrists but he didn't die because he's still
around. Some specaulate that he did it becaues his good friend Kim Sung Jae of Deux had
been murdered by his girlfriend. Others say that he did it to get publicity. Throughout all this
trouble the group manged to stay together and produce a fourth album - RooRa 4th - All
Systems Go!.
The group made a fresh start with their fourth album which was produced by Lee Hyun Do
from Deux. The bandaid on the cover of the fourth album is to symbolise the healing process
from the all the trouble that they had been through. The title song for RooRa 4th - All Systems
Go!, 3!4! made it to the top ten of the Korean music charts. During this time, there were
rumours that Kim Ji Hyun wanted to go solo. The rumours were confirmed. Kim Ji Hyun said
that she had wanted to go solo and still remain a part of RooRa but it would look weird and so
she left. She was the most popular member of the group and left a big void in the goup. Her
solo album is expected out soon.
RooRa's fifth and final album, RooRa - The Final, has been released and it's title song, Yeoh In
made it to number 1. Their fifth and final album was made without Kim Ji Hyun and with the
help of Mike Romeo, who also worked with RooRa for their Pops and Party Cd.
Chae Rina, who used to be the second most popular female and the second female vocal in
the group has done a good job at taking over Kim Ji Hyun as the main female voice
in the group.
The group has recently broken up but their music lives on. Yeoh In is still doing well and
another song from their album Go Go is on it's way up so watch out! Kim Ji Hyun has gone solo.
Chae Rina will be part of a female group or will go solo. Lee Sang Min will become a producer.
Go Young Wook will start a duo with another guy and Mike Romeo will go back to Germany
where he will continue with his music career.
