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🌹 — ROSES is the first KOREAN LANGUAGE full album by LEE JANG-MI, released on august 9th, 2019 by YG ENTERTAINMENT. it consists of TWELVE tracks, including the title track “BELLA DONNA.” released to much acclaim and commercial success, the album was seen as one of the best debuts in the industry, and it was the MOST SUCCESSFUL debut album by a female soloist under YG in south korea until the release of ME in 2023. however, it remains the most successful debut album by a soloist under YG internationally.

🌹 — TRACK LISTING !

SHE ! PRE-RELEASE SINGLE

BELLA DONNA ! LEAD SINGLE

ROUGE ! B-SIDE

ANYTHING BUT

GOING, GOING, GONE

LIKE THAT

DIFFERENT

UP THE WALL / 벽 위로

BY THE PHONE (AGAIN) / 다시

ROLL

YOU AND I

SAY THE WORD

🌹 — COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE !

once pre-orders for ROSES began shortly after the release of “SHE,” the album was quick to sell. within the first week, it surpassed 700,000 pre-orders. within two weeks, it cracked a MILLION pre-orders, becoming the first album by a female soloist to reach such a milestone

“SHE” itself was just as much of a success. it debuted atop the SPOTIFY daily chart, and with over 200,000 units sold, it debuted at number one on the BILLBOARD HOT 100, becoming the first korean language track by a female soloist to top the chart. to JANG-MI’s surprise, it also topped the GAON chart, and won FOUR music show awards. the song remained atop the BILLBOARD chart for FOUR consecutive weeks, while it remained atop the GAON chart for THREE

ROSES saw further success upon its release. within its first week, it sold over 1.5 MILLION copies worldwide, becoming the highest selling album by a female k-pop soloist until it was surpassed four years later. it topped the BILLBOARD 200 with over 300,000 units sold, and also topped charts in japan, the united kingdom, france, germany, the netherlands, australia, and the the philippines. as of 2023, ROSES has sold over 7 MILLION copies worldwide

the album’s lead single “BELLA DONNA” managed to surpass the success seen by “SHE.” with a little over 300,000 units sold, it topped the BILLBOARD HOT 100, remaining there for a staggering SIX weeks. it topped charts in countless other countries, including south korea, where it debuted atop the GAON chart and remained there for FOUR weeks. it became the MOST STREAMED track on SPOTIFY within its first twenty-four hours, and would end up winning NINE music show awards, including a TRIPLE CROWN on M COUNTDOWN

following the release of “ROUGE” as a single, it was quick to replace “BELLA DONNA” on the charts. remaining atop the BILLBOARD HOT 100 chart for THREE weeks and atop the GAON chart for TWO, it won TWO music show awards. it fell into the top ten after its tenure on the charts, but after gaining traction on tiktok, the track rose to a surprising number two on the BILLBOARD chart. additionally, upon the album’s release, every track on it ended up occupying a spot on the ITUNES chart. it also garnered numerous awards at end of the year award shows, including ALBUM OF THE YEAR at the MAMAs

🌹 — CRITICAL RECEPTION !

as expected, ROSES was met with immense critical acclaim. like JANG-MI’s previous works, this album saw the most praise for her vocal performance and lyricism, as well as for the album’s production. as most of the tracks were written, composed, and produced by JANG-MI, many critics claimed that it added to the album’s more personal subject matter when it called for it, making it much more “raw”

receiving a 90 on METACRITIC, this album became one of JANG-MI’s most critically acclaimed albums to date. critics and fans alike fell in love with the richness of its production, as well as for the nuances in her lyrics and the more “gothic”and elegant concept in an industry where girl crush was becoming the norm. many claim that a standout track is “ROUGE,” as its production is a “feast for the ears,” and the lyrics discussing a toxic, failed relationship are some of JANG-MI’s best. other favorites include the pre-release track and the lead single, as well as “ANYTHING BUT,” “LIKE THAT,” “UP THE WALL,” “BY THE PHONE (AGAIN),” and “SAY THE WORD.” the use of R&B in the tracks is seen as one of JANG-MI’s signatures, and the public was pleased to see that it was utilized in her first korean album in addition to more traditional sounding pop

the last track is especially a favorite, as it’s more vocal heavy ballad that was written and composed by JANG-MI in a mere thirty minutes. it discusses the feeling of abandonment, desire to be loved, and confusion that she hadn’t been able to shake for over two decades, which came with the sudden experience of being ripped away from her biological parents before she even got to meet them. critics constantly praised this track, calling it the rawest and most personal one on ROSES

the public ate up this album, claiming it was one of the best debuts in the industry and expressing astonishment that such rich, nuanced production came from YG, especially in its more recent years. although TEDDY PARK handled a lot of the album’s production (alongside MOONSHOT and SHINSADONG TIGER), JANG-MI had complete control over the creative direction, composition, arrangement, and she would constantly give her two cents while in the studio, which explains the album’s depth and diversity. by the end of the year, ROSES was listed on the rankings of many publications and was lauded across the world

🌹 — STYLING !

the styling was so distinct this era, but still very cohesive !

there were flowy fabrics and lighter colors used for “SHE,” shades of red and flower motifs for “BELLA DONNA,” and lace + gothic elements for “ROUGE” ! there was also some corsets used here and there, especially from vivienne westwood

a lot of mirror palais and dior used too sjiwjs like yg went all out for her !

her makeup was very put together for “SHE” and “BELLA DONNA,” featuring soft eyeshadow in shades of pink, red, silver, or white. there were lots of sparkles used, as well as pearls, bows, or flowers around her eyes ! there was this one stage where a lot of pink blush was used on her cheeks, and for “BELLA DONNA,” her signature was red lipstick !

the makeup for “ROUGE” was dark all over, with heavy, smudged eyeliner and colors such as dark purple, dark red, and black. the sparkles were more minimal, but rhinestones were used around JANG-MI’s eyes, and sometimes, her mascara would be done in a way to make it look like she’d been crying ! there were crosses painted around her eyes, broken hearts painted on her cheeks, the whole nine yards !

the styling for her music videos was also insane ! it was so princess like for “SHE,” with lots of florals, corsets, and dresses used ! “BELLA DONNA,” of course, had a lot of cut outs, rose motifs, and shades of red, while “ROUGE” was a combination of the two !

the budget was crazy too bc there was archive mugler, vivienne westwood, dior, and chanel all over the place ! and ofc, JANG-MI had a hand in the styling, as well, bc she put together over twenty outfits for her music videos !

the fashion girlies were eating her looks up, though ! like she truly looked incredible

🌹 — ERA HIGHLIGHTS !

although she was exhausted due to release of her english album earlier in the year, jang-mi had so much fun during this era !

prior to the album’s release, some pretty unique teasers were released !

we got four posters that looked like they were ripped straight out of a vogue editorial, two concept videos (titled “ROSA” + “SPINA”), a moving poster (!!), and a highlight medley in the form of live performances !

the music video teasers were also incredible bc they truly looked like a movie

now buckle up bc a lot happened after the album’s release sjhdjdk

thirty minutes before the release of “BELLA DONNA,” there was a countdown livestream held, and it was so funny bc her staff intentionally chose questions that would annoy her sjiwjsjsk

they even chose questions that she answered already and jang-mi was yelling her head off ! she was tired y’all

at the end, she was asked to give a spoiler, and she almost danced to the entire chorus of her song BSMSJD her staff were all “that’s too much !” and jang-mi was sitting there cheesing

had to get her revenge !

following the music video’s release (which got 70 MILLION views within its first twenty-four hours !), jang-mi was everywhere !

all over korean television, doing a thousand magazine interviews (her puppy interview with buzzfeed is a fan favorite always !), appearing on radio shows, and she even got herself a lil vogue korea cover !

her running man episode was so good ! she was absolutely hilarious, and all the yelling she did gave knetz a new meme sjdksh

she was also on when mom’s asleep ! the promo was serious !

and oh her showcase, y’all,, jang-mi had a crowd of 30,000 at gocheok sky dome,, that many people for a SHOWCASE !

it was fun and it was your typical showcase, but then she found out that her family and her boyfriend came,, oh girl she cried like a baby,, and reportedly, they all took a picture backstage, but we simply never got it

jang-mi wants to protect the identities of her family, and that’s okay !

afterwards, we got a lil live performance on youtube ! it was like tiny desk but not really, and oooo girl that video went so viral

we know jang-mi can sing, but she hit a whistle note during “UP THE WALL” and practically parted the red sea

the band renditions were also so good ! till this day, fans are still begging yg for a live album skjdkdj

at the end of the year, she was a headliner at new year’s rockin’ eve ! she hadn’t been since 2016, so ny rosies were thrilled

girl the labelmate support was strong !

jang-mi was making tiktoks with blackpink almost every day ! when she did the #RougeChallenge (which was HUGE) with lisa the world truly stopped

and girl she and jennie became THEE duo in kpop that year ! just two mothers mothering like

the girls even showed up to jang-mi’s showcase !

and it was too sweet bc they literally trained together ! like at that point they hadn’t seen each other in four YEARS, and then they literally reunited after they both found success like how prophetic is that !

those girls were jang-mi’s best friends when she was a trainee like </3 the reunion was everything truly

and omg the jangtan interactions !

they were crossing paths all over the place like skhwjdjd and they already met during the amas in 2017 so ! they were sat next to each other at award shows, they took pictures at new year’s rockin’ eve, and their tiktok pages were FULL of each other for a good two weeks MSNKJSJS

and she and namjoon clicked ! they were discussing literature every time they saw each other

jang-mi also had a few japanese promos ! she was on the cover of vivi (with a lil rockstar concept going on !), and ofc, she was also all over japanese tv skiwjsj held an album press conference there, too !

all in all, an incredible debut ! jang-mi had to rest for the next 5 years, but the public loved her and she truly made waves <33

#🌹 … JANGMI !#ALBUMS !#DISCOGRAPHY !#kpop soloist #kpop solo artist #kpop oc #fictional idol community #fictional idol oc #fictional idol #fictional idol soloist #fictional soloist #fake kpop idol #fake idol #fake idol oc #fake soloist #idol oc #idolverse

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rosesnthornz · 4 months

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🌹— a guide to … LEE JANG-MI

🌹 — BASICS !

BIRTH NAME ! lee jang-mi

ENGLISH NAME ! cecilia chiara cynthia rose williams

IGBO NAME ! amarachi okoye

NICKNAMES ! lia, chichi, tia, mimi, rosie

BIRTHDAY ! july 15th, 1997

ZODIAC ! cancer

BIRTHPLACE ! busan, south korea

HOMETOWN ! seoul, south korea + london, england + los angeles, california

ETHNICITY ! korean-nigerian

NATIONALITY ! korean-american

SEXUALITY ! bisexual

🌹 — PHYSICAL !

HEIGHT ! 5’5” 1/2 (166 cm)

WEIGHT ! 116 lbs (52 kg)

BLOOD TYPE ! o-

PIERCINGS !

— eyebrow piercing

— snakebite piercings

— tongue piercing

TATTOOS !

— see here !

🌹 — CLAIMS !

FACE CLAIM ! wolftyla / tyla parham

VOICE CLAIM ! chlöe bailey (english) + ailee (soloist / korean) or taeyeon (snsd / korean)

DANCE CLAIM ! lisa (blackpink)

🌹 — CAREER !

STAGE NAME ! lia williams + lee jang-mi (이장미)

COMPANY ! interscope records + yg entertainment

OCCUPATION ! singer-songwriter, producer, actress, model, choreographer, radio show host, businesswoman

DEBUT DATE ! october 16th, 2015

TRAINEE YEARS ! 1 year (july 2014 — july 2015)

YEARS ACTIVE ! 2015 — present

SURVIVAL SHOWS ! girls’ planet 999 (2021 / as a mentor) + queendom 2 (2022 / as a judge) + street woman fighter 2 (2023 / as a judge) + universe ticket (2023 / as a judge)

FANDOM NAME ! rosies

COLORS ! #800020 + #36013F + #000000

🌹 — BACKGROUND !

LEE JANG-MI was born on july 15th, 1997 in busan, south korea to DAVID OKOYE and LEE CHUN JA. the former was a former olympic swimmer and united nations diplomat who hailed from one of the wealthiest families in nigeria. the latter was one of asia’s most well known singers, as well as an actress and a former beauty queen, and she also happened to be a SAMSUNG heiress. shortly after jang-mi was born, she and her parents moved to seoul in order to be closer to her maternal grandparents. the family would spend most of their time there, although they would briefly reside in london, as well.

despite the family’s picture perfect life, tragedy would strike a mere nine months following jang-mi’s birth. in may 1998, they would travel to italy to celebrate chun ja’s 31st birthday, which fell on the 25th. just four days later, however, both of jang-mi’s parents found themselves in a devastating car accident. unfortunately, the accident took both of their lives. chun ja was pronounced dead at the scene, while david fell into a coma, and later succumbed to his injuries a day later. jang-mi and her grandparents were quick to return to korea, and she was left in their care as her parents’ sudden deaths made international news.

up until jang-mi’s first birthday, she was raised by her grandparents and occasionally by her aunt, lee chaewon. however, her grandparents were already retired, and the grief of losing their eldest daughter and son-in-law made it hard for them to properly raise their granddaughter. chun ja’s youngest sister, bae eun-ji, already had a family of her own, and she was unsure if she could split her time amongst three children who were all under the age of five. meanwhile, although chaewon was unmarried, she was almost always working, and she didn’t want to leave jang-mi in the care of a nanny most of the time. and on top of that, her paternal grandparents resided in nigeria. as a result, jang-mi was regrettably put up for adoption. after a few months in a foster home, she was eventually adopted by a couple from southern california. she was given an english name, cecilia, and her middle names were taken from what her parents wanted to name her (chiara), her mother’s own english name (cynthia), and the meaning of her birth name (rose). and although the world knew of jang-mi’s existence, no one would know what became of her for the next seventeen years.

from then on, jang-mi was raised in california along with her older sister, who was also adopted. she grew up with a particular passion for music, and frequently listened to artists such as WHITNEY HOUSTON, MARIAH CAREY, DESTINY’S CHILD, AALIYAH, ASHANTI, AMERIE, ERYKAH BADU, THE SUPREMES, S.E.S, WONDER GIRLS, SNSD, KARA, 2NE1, MISS A, and LEE HYORI. at the age of fifteen, jang-mi began posting song covers and the occasional original song onto youtube. she began working at a nanette lepore boutique a year later, but shortly after she started her job, she was cast off the street by a representative of IMG MODELS, and was encouraged to enter an open casting call. although jang-mi failed to get a job, she managed to work her way into advertisements and editorials.

in 2013, she was encouraged to participate in that year’s MISS TEEN CALIFORNIA pageant. although initially skeptical, jang-mi would end up participating, and surprisingly, she won. the resulting exposure gave her acting and modeling opportunities like never before, and instead of participating in MISS TEEN USA, jang-mi used the attention to get her music career off the ground. she began starring in off-broadway productions, performing on the streets of los angeles, giving out her demo CDs to the people that would stop to watch her, posting her street performances to youtube, and writing as many songs as possible in her free time. meanwhile, her youtube channel was garnering a significant amount of traction. during the summer of 2014, her covers of PARAMORE’s “still into you” and of LEE HI’s “rose” would go viral. the former got her invited to one of the band’s concerts, while the latter caught the attention of YG ENTERTAINMENT. the label invited her to audition, and wanting to get closer to her home country through music, jang-mi accepted.

jang-mi sang ALICIA KEYS’ “no one” at the final round, and to her surprise, she passed auditions. she signed a 2-year contract with YG, and as a result, she had to quit her job, place her modeling career on hold, and move to south korea. she didn’t stop posting to her youtube channel, however, using it to record her progress as a trainee. jang-mi trained alongside the future members of BLACKPINK, and was actually meant to be one of the group’s members, renowned for her powerful vocals. while training, she had background vocals on the songs of other YG artists, wrote songs for them and what would become BLACKPINK’s discography (including the “WHISTLE” demo and “PLAYING WITH FIRE”), and had small roles in a few dramas. jang-mi was particularly hard working during her time as a trainee, and would even spend her days off in dance studios or at karaoke. however, a year into her trainee, she began having doubts, particularly about how she would be received in a country such as south korea. those doubts turned into stress, and it forced jang-mi to leave the company. returning home, she felt as if she had accomplished nothing.

jang-mi’s brief depressive state after leaving YG only pushed her to work harder, however. after returning to california, she didn’t return to her job, and instead focused most of her time on music and getting into university. in september, she was contacted by record label FUELED BY RAMEN, but she declined their contract offer, as it made her feel better to have control over the earliest aspects of her career. jang-mi formed the band ROSES ‘N THORNS with some of her high school friends, began uploading her original work to SOUNDCLOUD, and immediately started working on what would be her debut album.

in mid-october, jang-mi’s debut single “REWIND” would be released, and her album of the same name would drop at the beginning of november. going by the name LIA WILLIAMS, she spent her time touring across california in small venues and performing at local music festivals. in january 2016, however, a representative from INTERSCOPE RECORDS would attend one of jang-mi’s concerts. she was told about a potential record deal with the label, and just days later, she was singing her music in front of executives in INTERSCOPE’s headquarters. and instead of taking a month like she expected, jang-mi was signing a deal within a couple of hours, with JIMMY IOVINE reportedly saying that no one could leave until she was signed. and immediately afterwards, jang-mi got to work on her major label debut album, FRUITS OF MY LABOR, which would go on to catapult her into mainstream success.

fast forward to 2019, and wanting to begin a career as an idol in korea, jang-mi began looking for agencies to sign to. initially, SM ENTERTAINMENT, SOURCE MUSIC, and RBW looked to sign her, but she declined all of their offers. eventually, in june, she signed with YG—the same company that she trained under five years prior. two months later, her debut album was released, and its lead single topped charts across asia. jang-mi is now one of YG’s most successful soloists, and not only is she one of the best selling artists in korea, but she’s one of the highest selling artists in the WORLD, renowned for her performance skills, lyricism, and impressive vocal ability, garnering the title of “PRINCESS OF POP.”

#🌹 … PROFILE !#JANGMI !#fictional idol community #fictional idol oc #fictional idol #kpop soloist #kpop solo artist #fictional idol soloist #fake kpop idol #fake idol #fake idol oc #fictional soloist #fake soloist #kpop oc #koc #idol oc

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