Turbo (South Korean band)

Turbo was formed in October 1994 to compete against the then popular dance group, Deux. Leader and former DJ Kim Jung Nam was responsible for the rap and choreography while Kim Jong-kook, former vocalist for a high school band, took care of the vocals. This combo proved to be well matched, as Turbo's name soon became synonymous with dance music.

They launched their first album in August 1995, titled "280 km/h speed". Living up to their group name and album title, Turbo took the dance world by storm debuting with the song "나 어릴적 꿈"(My Childhood Dream). The untimely death of Deux member Kim Sung Jae just one month after Turbo's debut, made Turbo the heir apparent to become the kings of the Korean dance scene. Following up with songs "검은 고양이" (Black Cat) and "선택" (Choices), Turbo was labeled as "dance music's scary kids" for rising in popularity so fast.

Just a year after their debut, Turbo returned with their second album, "New Sensation". Reaffirming their popularity, the album sold 800,000 copies within the first two months. After "Twist King" Turbo performed "Love Is...(3+3=0)" and "어느 재즈 바... (At the Jazz Bar...)". By the end of their second album promotion, Turbo was firmly entrenched as a premier dance group.

This status was short lived however, as Turbo broke up just months later. Citing problems with their management, Turbo went into seclusion. Their hiding was so effective that police were brought in to investigate their whereabouts. Eventually, due to public demand for Turbo's return, half of Turbo returned. Kim Jung Nam, unable to reconcile his differences with the management, left the group. He later joined the 5 member group SNAP in 1999. This left Kim Jong Kook looking for a new partner.

Auditioning against 3,500 other hopefuls, California resident Mikey was the one to become part of Turbo.[2] With his addition, Turbo returned in October 1997 with their 3rd album, "Born Again...". During this time, Turbo sang with American singer and movie star Will Smith for the Korean version of his fourth single "Just the Two of Us".

In September 1998, while preparing for their 4th album Kim Jong Kook injured his hip, hampering the album's release.[3] The album, entitled "Perfect Love", was eventually released in October 1998.

But once again Turbo faced breakup. Turbo was invited to participate in the Asia Superconcert on the 30th of December 1998 to represent South Korea. This concert featured singers from all over Asia including Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan and was to broadcast live to South Korea, China and Japan. Due to arguments with management before the concert, Kim Jong Kook protested his role in the concert by not performing his section of the concert and leaving without bowing. Due to this incident, Kim Jong Kook was banned from appearing on TV. While the ban in South Korea was active, Turbo mostly became active in Taiwan. The ban was lifted in October 1999, and 4 months later in 2000, Turbo returned with their 5th album "Email My Heart".[4]

After releasing the 5th album, Kim Jong Kook left the management due to contract expiration. Kim Jong Kook later pursued his solo career. Mikey, with his visa expiring, also took leave to New York City to study music under Paul Bay. To end their long career, Turbo released one last album titled "History" revisiting all their hit songs from previous albums and including 3 new songs. A music video for "History" was also released, featuring for the first time transgender model and singer Harisu.

Amid all the ups and downs Turbo faced in their career and their premature breakup, they have always remained hugely popular. Attributing to this popularity is the fact that every Turbo album has been a million seller. Kim Jong Kook also has a major solo success, releasing 7 albums and winning many accolades, including all 3 of the best artist awards in 2005, a feat which has not been matched since Cho Yong Pil did it in the 1980s. Mikey was a part of the K-pop group M3.

On stage KCON LA 2016, July 30.

Prior to the reunion, the group performed in many television shows like MBC's Infinite Challenge "Saturday, Saturday's: I Am a Singer Special" on December 27, 2014, on which they performed "My Childhood Dreams", "Twist King", "Love Is (3+3=0)" and "White Love". However, in this performance Kim Jung Nam is with Kim Jong Kook instead of Mikey. The group then performed again on January 25, 2015, one month after their last performance, on SBS's Inkigayo 800th episode special, performing "December" and "White Love". However, this time Mikey is performing with Kim Jongkook instead of Kim Jung Nam.

In celebration of the group's 20th anniversary, all three previous members have reunited for the first time in nearly 15 years. The group had a comeback album on December 21, 2015, featuring all three members, their title song track again is featuring comedian Yoo Jaesuk and the music video has many guest appearances including Lee Kwang Soo and Cha Taehyun. On July 25, 2017, they released their first mini-album Turbo Splash with "Hot Sugar" serving as the album's title track.

They also appeared on many television variety shows like SBS's Running Man and KBS 2TV's Happy Together. Kim Jung-nam and Mikey also appeared on KBS 2TV's Hello Counselor. However they appear to talk about how Kim Jongkook is treating them causing netizen backlash against both of them.