'90s female R&B duo comes back with 20th anniversary album

Female duo "As One" sing on season 3 of JTBC's music show "Sugar Man" aired on Saturday./ Captured from JTBC YouTube

By Jung Hae-myoung

Following the rediscovery of the 1990s singer Yang Joon-il, the disbanded R&B duo As One made a return with season 3 of the JTBC music show “Too Yoo Project ― Sugar Man” with the backing of millennial fans to commemorate their 20th anniversary.

As One is a Korean-American duo that debuted in 1999. The pair, Lee Min and Crystal, was named As One because they look alike and work as a team. Their music career came to a temporary end in 2017 with their album “Goodbye for a Moment.”

“I got the request from the show for season two, but I couldn't make it because at that time I was in America with my husband and I had to adapt to my life there,” Crystal, one of the duo, said. She is now a mother of two children, working as a real estate agent in Los Angeles.

Lee Min, another member of the duo, is working as an English instructor in Seoul.

“My husband was our manager for our second album, but he quit his job after we got married,” Crystal said on the show.

Although they are not working as singers at the moment, they said this doesn't mean As One is over.

“We are just having a long break,” Lee Min explained on the show. “There was time when there were lot of requests from television shows, but we did not want to work separately as individuals. As our group name suggests, we wanted to work 'as one,'” she said.

“I think that is also why we were able to do music for 20 years.”

On the show the duo sang a medley of their hit songs including “I Want You, I Resent You,” and “Day By Day.”

"It's Okay Not to be Okay" is an album released for the 20th anniversary of female duo As One, who were famous in the 1990s./ Courtesy of Brand New Music

Both said they have been focusing on their life after singing until they decided to release a 20th anniversary album “It's Okay Not To Be Okay.” The album was released on Monday. The new album features acoustic R&B music with subtle guitar riffs. The music is composed by junior singer Lee Dae-hui in the same agency, who is also a member of K-pop boy group AB6IX.

“We would like to continue doing music even if there is only one person listening to us,” Lee said. “This is a way to show appreciation for the fans who have supported us for 20 years. We would like to repay them with this album for those who said they found comfort in our music.”

The return to the spotlight is temporary, however, as Crystal will return to her job in the U.S. and As One will go on hiatus again, leaving their album for their fans.