Stylish... is the debut solo studio album by South Korean recording artist Lee Hyori. It marked her solo debut since becoming a member of girl group Fin.K.L in 1998. The album was released through DSP Media on August 13, 2003, and was distributed by CJ E&M Music. It is primarily a pop and R&B record containing influences from hip-hop, featuring songwriting contributions from various musicians including Rhymer, MayBee, Won Tae-yeon, Yoon Il-sang, and Lee Hyun-do of Deux.
Upon release, the album saw commercial success and catapulted Lee to superstar status in the country; papers even dubbed her popularity the "Hyori Syndrome". "10 Minutes" won various prominent awards at domestic award shows, including the Grand Prize (daesang) at both the KBS Music Awards and SBS Gayo Daejeon, as well as the Most Popular Music Video at the Mnet Music Video Festival. By 2006, the album had sold over 170,000 copies.
Stylish... featured "10 Minutes", "Hey Girl", and "Remember Me" as its singles, each with its own music video. Rolling Stone characterized the "10 Minutes" video as a choreography-filled visual that "showcased the country to Western pop's trends". Lee appeared and performed on various South Korean music programs to promote the album, including Music Camp and Inkigayo, with "10 Minutes" ranking at number one on the charts of these programs for several weeks.
Contents
Background
Lee became well known in South Korea as a member of girl group Fin.K.L, who made their debut under DSP Media in May 1998 with the album Blue Rain. However, the group's activities began to slow down following the release of their fourth studio album Forever in March 2002. The members of Fin.K.L began exploring individual activities beginning in 2003, thus putting group activities in a temporary hiatus. Lee embarked solo career with the release of her debut studio album Stylish... on August 13, 2003, spawning the lead single "10 Minutes".
Singles
The first lead track, "10 Minutes", is a R&B and hip hop number. It was composed by Kim Do-hyun who also composed "That's Right" from Shinhwa's 11th album The Classic in 2013. The song's lyrics were penned by MayBee, with the lyrical content conveying how Lee can seduce a man in only ten minutes. The lyrics were originally for a song by hip hop group People Crew, but were instead given to Lee Hyori. Upon its release, the music video was banned by SBS from public broadcast due to its "erotic" choreography.
"Hey Girl" featuring Rhymer was the follow-up single; the video was banned on some networks due to its sexual imagery, although Lee said that it was the same as her first video and therefore she did not see why this had to be banned. The single was not performed as frequently as the first one, and promotions for the album were completed soon after. Originally, "Eve, Sleeping in Paradise" was intended to serve as the second single for the album. A music video for the third single, "Remember Me", was also released.
Reception
In 2021, "10 Minutes" was ranked the 16th best K-pop song of all-time by Melon and Seoul Shinmun. Rolling Stone ranked the single "10 Minutes" number 24 in their list of the 100 greatest Korean pop songs all time, remarking how she became "an inescapable presence in Korea around the release of her solo debut." The publication compared the song to the music of Aaliyah and Jennifer Lopez, describing it as a "groovy, synth-fueled R&B-pop perfection" and a "change from the cutesy music she performed with Fin.K.L". The music video for "10 Minutes" won the Most Popular Music Video (daesang) at the 2003 Mnet Music Video Festival.
Commercially, the album was reportedly in such high demand that 70,000 copies were pre-ordered. The album's success allowed Lee to become the highest-paid female artist in South Korea at the time. It debuted at number three on the RIAK monthly chart for August 2003, selling 79,361 copies in the first month of its release. It sold 144,182 copies by the end of 2003, making it the 15th best-selling record of the year in South Korea. It sold an additional 9,408 copies in 2004 according to the RIAK charts. At the 18th Golden Disc Awards, the record was one of the Album Bonsang (main prize) winners and was nominated for the Album Daesang (grand prize). It has old over 170,000 copies in 2006.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from album liner notes
Musicians
Production and design