4Minute were a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. Cube announced on May, 2009 that they would be debuting a girl group and had also released the two identities of two of the members: Nam Jihyun (the leader) and Kim Hyuna, who was a former member of Wonder Girls. On June 11, they released their silhouette teasers online, along with their official website. The remaining three members’ identities had not been released until June 12. The members of the group were Nam Jihyun, Heo Ga-yoon, Jeon Ji-yoon, Kim Hyuna, and Kwon So-hyun. The group was known for its edgy dance-pop style and “girl crush” image that attracted a large female fan base. On June 10, Cube released a teaser for their first single “Hot Issue” and later released the full music video on June 18, 2009. They promoted the song from its release until August.
On June 21, a week after the start of “Hot Issue” promotions fans stole various items from the group’s van, including clothing. In response Cube Entertainment stated, “It was very unfortunate that such an ordeal occurred.”At the end of August, they released a mini-album called, “For Muzik” and promoted “Muzik” which served as their second single. They won a Mutizen Award and a Mnet Award for “Muzik”.
Two months later KBS banned the playing of, “Won’t Give You (안줄래)” because of the lyrics in which they considered to be overly sexual content. In response Cube stated that the lyrics intended to mean “about the pure feelings of a girl to a guy.” and they were disappointed that they interpreted the lyrics as something sexual. On October 15, the single “What a Girl Wants” was released.
On January 5, 2010, it was announced that the Universal Music Group would be assisting 4Minute with an international launch of its album. The group toured Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong. On May 5, the group debuted “Muzik” as a Japanese single,[26] and on May 8, held its first concert in Japan. The single reached number 21 on the Oricon weekly singles chart. On May 19, 4Minute released a mini-album entitled Hit Your Heart, and its title track “HuH”. The single featured fellow label mates Beast, who rapped during song “Who’s Next?.” “HuH” peaked at number 3 on the Gaon Singles Chart. On May 24, South Korean FM station “Voice of Freedom” included the “Huh” song in its propaganda broadcasts to North Korea.
On July 5, the group released the music video for “I My Me Mine”, which was the second single from Hit Your Heart. On July 19, the song “Superstar” was digitally released for the Korean TV show Superstar K2. The group performed for Celebration at Marina, one of the line-up activities for theSingapore Youth Olympic Games 2010. On July 30, the Japanese version of “I My Me Mine” was released.
On March 29, the digital-only mini-album Heart to Heart was released. The music video for “Mirror Mirror” was released on the same day. The album includes “Mirror Mirror”, and songs from Heart to Heart and Diamond. Because of the song’s provocative spread leg choreography; music producers demanded that “Mirror Mirror” be changed or the group could not perform the song on their shows. As a response, 4Minute changed the song’s choreography, starting with the performance on M! Countdown on April 14. The song reached number two on the Gaon Chart.
