In 1996 Dr Entertainment (Now Dr Music) was working on a pop dance group, made to become the ‘Korean Spice Girls’.
The name Baby V.O.X stands for Baby Voice Of e(X)pression. Since the first album, they only went by V.O.X. The Baby part was a sub-title that was meant to be changed out with every new album. From the 2nd album, Baby V.O.X had become a permanent name. The members explain that Baby V.O.X means “expressing a fresh/baby-like voice.”
Finally debuting in 1997 with the debut song “To Men (Democracy)”, Their first album’s concept was filled with themes of feminism and social justice. The album’s title being “Equalizeher” meaning to make women equal. Due to the conservative social atmosphere and male-centered society, these themes were too strong for the Korean public at the time. The title song was then changed to “Haircut” and promotions continued.
In October of that year, member Cha Yumi (a Korean American from California, USA) had withdrawn from the group due to an injury. Overall she had said she was mentally and physically tired and the strain of practice was becoming too much. Also, concerns from her parents led her to making the final decision to leave. It is believed due to the Korean recession in the late 90s, and Dr music’s conditions, it was hard to promote and function while living on a low income on top of injury.
Interview with Cha Yumi about her time in Baby V.O.X
After that, the casting director who casted Kan Miyoun on the set of the music video for "Haircut" introduced her to the CEO of DR Entertainment, and recruited Miyoun, who was in high school at the time, as a member of Baby V.O.X. Miyoun was eased into the group to make the transition easier and would promote with the girls until the end of the 1st album promotion period.
After the end of the first album activity, members Jeong Siwoon and Jeong Hyeonjeon also withdrew from the group because of internal conflict.
In July 1997, when Baby Vox debuted, there were no female dance groups such as S.E.S. and Fin.K.L., so it was a golden opportunity for Baby Vox to succeed in a niche market as the "first female pop group," but the radical and excessive feminist image of the first album, which featured "To Men" and "Haircut," which planned to uplift women, seemed to have been neglected by the public because it was rather "too much" of a concept in a conservative society at the time. Therefore, Baby Vox's first album ends without any significant results.