Solid (band)

Solid (Korean: 솔리드) is a South Korean R&B/Hip-Hop trio. They were formed in Orange County, California, in 1992, and made their debut in Seoul, South Korea, in 1993. The group consists of Johan Kim (김조한: George Kim), Jaeyoon Chong (정재윤: Jae Chong), and Joon Lee (이준: John Lee). The trio is recognized by fans as the "Kings of R&B" in South Korea for their contribution in establishing and popularizing the genre in Korea. They are considered to be one of the biggest influences in developing the current sound of K-pop – incorporating American styles and sounds, like R&B, rap, hip-hop, a cappella, beatboxing, and turntablism, into Korean music – with commercial hits in the mid-1990s. As Joon Lee was inseparable from his eight-ball cane during the performances of Solid, it has quickly become the emblem of the group. Solid released four full-length studio albums and one live album during their four-year run in the '90s from 1993 to 1997 and sold over 4 million records in Korea. Their breakout hit, Holding the End of the Night (Korean: 이밤의 끝을 잡고), from the sophomore album, The Magic of 8 Ball (1995), sold over million copies reaching the number one position on major Korean music charts solidifying them as one of the biggest musical acts in the 1990s K-Pop history. Success followed with a string of hits, "My only friend" (Korean: 나만의 친구), "You are my first and last" (Korean: 처음이자 마지막이야), "Meant to Be" (Korean: 천생연분), which allowed them to become a household name in a rotation of K-pop classic catalogue still to this day. Three members are also notable for being the first Korean Americans to have a success in the Korean music industry paving the way for more Koreans from abroad to enter into the Korean entertainment industry. Incidentally,...