#⠀⠀· ⠀⠀𔓘 ⠀⠀／ ⠀⠀I ADORE YOU ⠀⠀ › ⠀⠀ discography.

[lcvedior]

𖤐 ʾ ⠀ ❪ ⠀ NATALIA HWANG ⠀ ╲ ⠀A DISCOGRAPHY DEEP DIVE

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  TALIA (2015): THE GRAND DEBUT … Fresh out of filming for her supporting role in the 2016 film ‘The Handmaiden,’ Natalia would make her musical debut on her 18th birthday, releasing her first full studio album, featuring three lead singles: ONLY YOU, FULL MOON, and FLY. Each of these tracks would get their own individual promotional periods. This release would debut to much critical acclaim, the lead singles peaking at #1, #5, and #1 on charts respectively and the album selling over 683,000 units. Only You rose to popularity with a surprising quickness, racking in 7 music show wins. Full Moon was also a hit, recognized as one of the most iconic songs as well as choreography in the industry, being covered by large range of idols and notable celebrities. Then Fly did surprisingly well with the general public, taking the industry by storm with it’s vocal prowess and earning several PAKS and RAKS, and staying in the top of charts for a total of 70 weeks.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  24 HOURS (2016): THE FIRST COMEBACK … Riding off the success of Natalia’s debut, her acting projects, and modeling work, Zephyr thought it’d be best to release her first comeback in the earlier part of 2016. 24 Hours is her second studio album, consisting of 8 tracks with 24 Hours serving as the title track. 24 Hours debuted at #15 on charts but progressively worked itself up to #1 throughout the promotional period. Alongside the title track, the b-side MAGIC which unexpectedly peaked within the top 10 on music charts. Due to popular demand, Natalia also promoted the track very briefly on music shows. Although the public’s reception of her work was seemingly positive, it was evident that she was still exploring her artistry. Even though she was never truly given credit for anything on this album or the album prior, she was heavily involved in the writing and concept for all tracks. On the contrary, both Zephyr Entertainment and Henri Kwon (especially) were very adamant on not straying away from the sexier image she’d been portraying already.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  WHY (2016): THE SUMMER RENAISSANCE … Natalia came back just in time for the summer with her single Why. The tropical house track was met with immediate acclaim upon release, peaking at #1 on all charts, taking home 10 music show wins, and seeing several PAKS. This song was everywhere that year. When people think of summer 2016, Why is destined to come to mind. It also trumped her previous reign of 70 weeks on charts by staying for 90 weeks. It also revisits the charts frequently, usually around summertime of every year. This year she was able to take home BEST NEW ARTIST and SONG OF THE YEAR with this single alone. This is what marked the official solidification of her status in the music industry.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  VARIATIONS ON THE WORLD LOVE (2017): A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP … Natalia Hwang released yet another studio album titled Variations on the Word Love, which is a darker piece of work exploring themes of toxic relationships and what love can look and feel like. Never Ever, the title track, debuted at #1 on charts and stayed there for weeks. Other b-sides on the album also charted well, like the #5 peaking track MOONLIGHT. The album sold over 2 million copies, marking her first 2 million seller in her career. Aside from the success, though, fans were worried that Natalia was being overworked. From booking luxury brand deals, Mon Cheri’s new season, and gearing up for her first world tour, it was safe to say there wasn’t a time where Natalia wasn’t working. Everything she did was selling like hot cakes, Zephyr and Henri felt like they could slap her name onto anything and make bank. On the contrary, while she was apparently loved by the public, she was also hated a great deal. People slapped the names ‘diva’ and ‘airheaded’ on her, embroiling her in attitude controversies and slandering her for her interviews where Henri accompanied her.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  FANTASY (2017): A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP PART 2 … Following the promotional period for VOTWL, Natalia would release her first mini album only a few months later, selling 2 million copies once again. It’s title track Fantasy would garner 9 music show wins and peak at #1 on charts. Of course, this release wouldn’t come without backlash, many netizens criticizing the attire she wore in her music video, calling it skimpy and inappropriate. Although she wouldn’t promote this release much as she was preparing for her first world tour, other tracks on the mini would gain popularity, such as DON’T SAY NO (which would later get its own music video) and WHATEVER. Those tracks would both get added to the Setlist for the tour. She would walk away from this year with the ARTIST OF THE YEAR award, much to a lot of people’s dismay. Regardless, this year was still a success even with the boycotts and nasty, intrusive comments from interviewers and netizens alike.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT (2018): THE EERIE CALM BEFORE THE STORM … Natalia released her second mini album right in time for spring of this year, a reference to netizens titling her a ‘national embarrassment.’ While the album sold less copies than her previous releases, it would still chart exceedingly well. She didn’t promote this album much, never performing it and oftentimes barely acknowledging it after its release.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  TIMELESS (2018): THE HATE TRAIN (WHEN THINGS FALL APART) … Around winter of 2018, Natalia released her fourth studio album, featuring the title track #LADY and the promotional b-side ALTERLIFE. Things seemed to be looking up before its release, the albums presales already hitting incredible milestones and the anticipation for the release umpteenth. The first few hours of the release were peaceful, both tracks debuting at #1 and #10 respectively. However, things came crumbling down when Henri Kwon released an exposé regarding Natalia, officially announcing their parting from one another and dumping on her mental health and extremely personal issues. This sent the media into a frenzy, everyone talking about it and a plethora of headlines coming out everyday. Some people sided with Natalia, saying that Henri was wrong for speaking on her and airing out her mental state and sexuality like that, while most used this as an opportunity to bag on her all that they wanted. This was an extremely rough period for Natalia, as she was being asked very rude and inappropriate questions every interview and being harassed by paparazzi and fans on the internet everyday. This was an all-time low for her, emotionally and in her career. She’d always received hate but never to the extent of this year. Due to this, her promotions were cut short and she canceled many schedules. She would then be placed on an indefinite and unofficial hiatus where she wouldn’t release music or make any public appearances for the next nearly three years.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  MY OBSESSION (2021): THE LONG AWAITED COMEBACK … After nearly three years and many half-assed, vague updates from Zephyr Entertainment about Natalia’s whereabouts, Hwang finally made her comeback in 2021, releasing her first studio album in years titled My Obsession. My Obsession would prove to be her best-selling album, selling over 4 million units with its title track MIDNIGHT winning 12 music show wins and SONG OF THE YEAR, while other tracks such as TOUCH, SELFISH, and SECRETS charted exceptionally and were promoted due to popular demand.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  DESSERT [FEAT. MICKEY MOON & KYRIE HAN] (2021): COLLAB OF THE YEAR … A little later this same year, Natalia would unveil another release, which would be a chart topping single featuring Mickey Moon of DREAMCHIC and Kyrie Han of RAVANA. The collaboration would go viral, peaking at #1 and staying within the top 15 weeks after its release. The single would even be nominated alongside Midnight for awards such as BEST DANCE PERFORMANCE and SONG OF THE YEAR. Although, it would win BEST COLLABORATION.

∬ ˚ ⋆ ࣪  BAD OMENS (2022): CREATIVE FREEDOM AND ARTISTIC AUTHENTICITY … After taking yet another year off from music, Natalia came back with her studio album titled Bad Omens, featuring the title track Fever. This ‘hiatus’ was much different from the previous one—in length and reason. It was obvious that she was working on projects behind the scenes, such as new modeling projects, preparing for comebacks and (possible) tours, and making business moves. In this album, fans were able to see a different, deeper side of Natalia and her music. She was vulnerable with the concepts for music videos and album art, and talked about past experiences in her tracks which raised quite a few brows to listeners. Many people would speculate about the lyrics but when questioned about them, she would only answer with vague responses. Some tracks that were talked about in particular were: I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND, PWIC, and LIQUID SMOOTH. The album is often regarded as her best piece of work sonically, conceptually, and artistically.

As of early 2024, Natalia has taken more time off from music to focus on her new record label COUNTESSA RECORDINGS, which she revealed and bought her first artist in the later part of 2023.