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Secret Number is a 6-member, 4th generation girl group unlike any other - already over two years into their career and officially out of their rookie stage, it wasn’t an easy journey for the girls to become the queens of the stage that they’re known for being today.
Originally, Secret Number debuted on the 18th May 2020 as a 5 member group with the member lineup: Lea, Jinny, Dita, Soodam, and now ex-member, Denise. They debuted with their single album ‘Who Dis?’ with the title track of the same name, and they instantly stood out from the crowd for their generation blending music style. However, we’re not going to get into their music today as we’ll be covering that in more detail throughout the rest of their takeover week!
Instead, today we’ll be taking a closer look at the current member lineup and introducing you to Lea, Jinny, Dita, Soodam, Zuu, and Minji - the six talented women who make up this amazing girl group.
Starting our list with Lea, the last member to be revealed of the original line, she now serves as the official leader of the group which is an amazing feat considering it’s very rare for non-Korean members to be made the leaders of a K-Pop group; she also serves as the lead vocalist of the group.
Lea is actually Japanese in origin, and she also dabbled in the Japanese K-Pop scene before her debut, appearing on Mnet Japan’s ‘Jjang’ in 2014. Prior to this she also had experience as an artist as she’d debuted in a girl group called Skarf in 2012 under the name Hana. Though things didn’t work out in Skarf, clearly the experience she gained through that is part of what makes her such a great leader now.
Lea isn’t the only global member of Secret Number; Balinese by ethnicity and Indonesian by nationality, Dita has a very diverse background. On top of this, she also trained in New York during her pre-debut days and she was a member of the now well-known Korean dance collective 1MILLION Dance.
She also had a number of other performance-related experiences, such as her studying at the BORN Star Attaining Center academy and representing her school as a dancer. This is just the tip of her very clear passion for dancing, so with all this in mind, it’s no wonder she now has the position of main dancer and sub-vocalist.
Next on our list is Jinny, a multi-talented member who also shares the position of lead vocalist as well as being the main rapper of the group. Jinny has lots of other talents alongside her stage skills too, for example, she speaks Korean and English thanks to her Korean-American background.
However Jinny’s undeniable talent is all thanks to her continued hard work; originally she was a trainee at the K-Pop powerhouse company YG Entertainment for some 5 years, before participating in Produce 48 where she was unfortunately eliminated. Still, she didn’t let that hold her back and after almost 7 long years of training, she was able to debut as part of Secret Number. Even now, her passion for music has not changed as she revealed she is consistently working on her lyric writing.
If you read our Spotlight winner piece on Soodam a few weeks back you’ll know that Jinny isn’t the only multi-talent in this group of amazing ladies. Soodam also has an extensive set of skills, which comes as no surprise considering she also holds a number of positions in the group, namely lead dancer, sub vocalist, visual, and center.
Before her debut Soodam already had the makings of a star, being known as an ulzzang and attending numerous prestigious arts schools before going on to major in Korean & Contemporary Dance at Ewha Women’s University. If you want to know more about this talented star then make sure to check out the full feature we did on her!
Zuu was not part of the original lineup of Secret Number, being introduced as a member on 15th October 2021 and joining the group as the maknae. Despite being one of the later members to join the team, she definitely does not fall behind her bandmates when it comes to her skills on stage, which is why she now holds the positions of lead dancer and sub vocalist.
Just like many of the previous members, she has an extensive pre-debut background, having attended the W Dance Studio, Art One Academy, and the ever-famous SOPA. Unfortunately, as she joined the team in the middle of the covid-19 outbreak, she still hasn’t had many opportunities to perform in front of LOCKEYs yet, but she always gives a confident performance when she’s on stage.
Finally we have Minji, the last member to join the group after being announced a new member just two days after Zuu. Though we mentioned how Jinny went through a long trainee period, Minji’s journey to the stage also wasn’t an easy one. One of her earliest activities was her appearance on Produce 101 where she represented Magic Fresh Company, but she moved agencies to M&D17 where she was promised to debut.
However, when that promise fell through, she terminated her contract to pursue different things, which included opening her own YouTube channel where she posted music covers. Fortunately she was soon swept up by VINE Entertainment, and months later she was added to Secret Number’s official lineup, creating the girl group we know and love today.
Not only is Secret Number an interesting group due to their unique style and sound, but each member has a unique and complex background. Now we’ve finished deciphering the code to each of the members, in our next special article we’ll be exploring their musical style and uncovering just what about their music makes them stand out so much from the crowd.
For any LOCKEYs reading, let us know who your bias is down below!
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Writer: Han (O.L)
Editor: Han (O.L)