Red Velvet - Perfect Velvet (2017)

Inspired by artists like En Vogue, Destiny's Child, and Gwen Stefani, South Korea's Red Velvet are a five-member, all-female vocal group who make dance-oriented contemporary R&B and rap-infused pop. Formed by music management giant S.M. Entertainment in Seoul, South Korea in 2014, Red Velvet feature the talents of former S.M. Rookies Seulgi (Kang Seul-gi), Irene (Bae Joo-hyun), and Wendy (Son Seung-wan), as well as Joy (Park Soo-young) and Yeri (Kim Ye-rim). The group's two initial singles, 2014's "Happiness" and "Natural," fared well with audiences and became some of Korea's most watched online videos during the month of their release. In 2015, Red Velvet released their debut EP, Ice Cream Cake, which included the single "Automatic" and debuted at number two on Billboard's World Albums chart. Their first full-length arrived later that year. The Red topped both the Billboard World Albums and the Korean Albums charts atop the success of the single "Dumb Dumb." An R&B-influenced follow-up, The Velvet, arrived in 2016, with EP number three, Russian Roulette, released just months later. Another chart-topper, Rookie, was issued in 2017. ~ Matt Collar