BoA

Kwon Boa (born November 5, 1986), commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. She is referred as the Queen of Korean Pop. BoA was born and raised in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. She was discovered by SM Entertainment talent agents when she accompanied her older brother to a talent search. In 2000, after two years of training, she released ID; Peace B, her debut Korean album. Two years later, she released her debut Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, becoming the first Korean pop star to break through in Japan following the fall of barriers that had restricted the import and export of entertainment between the countries since the end of World War II. On October 14, 2008, BoA debuted in the United States with the single "Eat You Up" and released her debut English-language album, BoA on March 17, 2009. BoA's multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and English along with native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese) have contributed to her commercial success throughout East Asia. She is the only foreign artist to have two albums selling more than one million copies in Japan and is one of only three artists to have six consecutive number-one studio albums on the Oricon charts since her debut, the others being Ayumi Hamasaki and Koda Kumi. BoA has sold over 10 million records throughout her career, including albums, singles, and DVD's. --- At age eleven, BoA accompanied her older brother to an SM Entertainment talent search. Though her brother was the one who auditioned as a break-dancer, SM talent scouts instead took notice of BoA and offered her a contract on the same night as the auditions. Her parents initially opposed the notion of BoA's leaving school to enter the entertainment business but eventually consented at her older brothers' persuasion. She has said that her early influence as a singer was Seo Taiji. BoA underwent two years of training (involving vocal, dance, English, and Japanese lessons), and at the age of thirteen released her debut album ID; Peace B in South Korea on August 25, 2000. The album was moderately successful; it entered the Top 10 of the South Korean charts and sold around 156,000 units. Meanwhile, her Korean record label, SM Entertainment, made arrangements with Japanese label Avex Trax to launch her music career in Japan. She was forced to quit school to prepare and in early 2001, BoA released her first mini-album, Don't Start Now; it sold around 90,000 units. After its release, she took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market at which time she worked to solidify her skills in Japanese. BoA began her Japanese music career singing at the Avex-owned club Velfarre. In 2001, she released her debut Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song, "ID; Peace B" (originally from the eponymous album). The single reached #20 on the Oricon chart and was followed by "Amazing Kiss", "Kimochi wa Tsutawaru", and "Listen to My Heart"; the last became the singer's first single to enter the Oricon's Top Five. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, BoA recorded the charity single "The Meaning of Peace" with Kumi Koda as part of Avex's Song Nation project to raise funds for charity. From 2001 to 2007, BoA hosted Beat it BoA's World, a radio program on theJapan FM Network. Her debut Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, was released on March 13, 2002. The album was a breakthrough in BoA's career: it became an RIAJ-certified million-seller and debuted atop the Oricon, the first album by a Korean artist to do so. A single, "Every Heart: Minna no Kimochi", was released on the same day as the album. After the release of Listen to My Heart, BoA released her second Korean studio album, No. 1, a month later. The album sold around 544,000 units and became the fourth-best-selling record of the year in South Korea. Jumping into the World (a Japanese re-release of the mini-album Don't Start Now) and the Japanese single "Don't Start Now" were released a month later on the same day. --- On September 2, 2008, it was announced that BoA would make her American debut under a new subsidiary label, SM Entertainment USA. With the album, BoA hoped to become a "world-renowned entertainer" in the vein of Janet Jackson. BoA's debut American single "Eat You Up," produced by Thomas Troelsen, was released online on October 21, 2008. A physical promotional CD containing dance remixes of "Eat You Up" was released. "Eat You Up" placed at #9 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Playchart. BoA will have her Hollywood movie debut in the dance film Make Your Move 3D (formerly named Cobu 3D), directed by Duane Adler and produced by Robert Colt. BoA will play a character called Aya, while Derek Hough (known from the U.S. TV show Dancing with the Stars) will play the male lead of Donny. Aya and Donny fall in love, even though their families are enemies on the dance scene. Filming began in Spring in New York City and Toronto, Canada. --- BoA lists hip hop as her main musical influence, though she also enjoys R&B. Her favorite musicians are Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Ne-Yo; as a result, much of BoA's music is either dance pop or R&B. Because she also sings ballads, she is often compared to fellow Japanese singers Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada. Her debut album,ID; Peace B, contained urban pop, "slickly produced" ballads, and "upbeat dance tunes". As her career went on, she began experimenting with different styles:Valenti contained mostly ballads; Love and Honesty was an experiment with "harder" R&B and rock music.