Park Hyerin ( Korean: 박혜린 ), commonly known by the mononym Iris ( 아이리스 ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, dancer, songwriter, producer, choreographer, model, and brand ambassador. She debuted in January 4, 2014 as the first soloist in her company, True Colors Entertainment.

Iris in April 2022 for Vogue Korea.

Origin: Seoul, South Korea
Genres: Pop • K-Pop, R&B,
Hip-Hop, EDM, Rap.
Years Active: 2014-present
Labels: True Colors Entertainment,
Republic Records.
Website: iristce.com

Iris is the highest and longest female Korean act to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 5 with song 'Tie a Cherry' ( 2020 ) before moving up to number 1 and staying there for 6 weeks. Later on in 2021, the song 'INVU' ( 2021 ), landed on number 2 1 week before moving up to number 1 and staying there for 10 consecutive weeks. Then in March 17, 2022, her latest comeback 'Go Hard' peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 once again for 13 consecutive weeks. She is the first female Korean act to achieve this.

True Colors Entertainment wasn't necessarily a broke company back in their early days, but due to their CEO being a woman and South Korea's conservative ways, hardly any attention was paid to their artists or the company. Ahn Youra ( 안유라 ), founder and said CEO, tried her best to keep a positive mindset and continue to scout for people that she could debut them and bring attention to the company; so she sent out staff to scout for anyone who had any sort of talent.

Several people were brought into the company throughout scattered times, ranging over a total of 24 girls and 11 boys. After passing their auditions, they all signed as trainees under the company and were immediately put to work.

Due to lack of attention to previous artists and the company itself, Ahn wanted to make sure she debuted someone who would become successful due to their own genuine talent and being her company back to the top, resulting in her observing each trainee carefully.

The one that had stood out to her the most turned out to be the girl that now makes up the world's biggest female soloist.

Iris was scouted by staff a little bit after she came back to Korea from visiting her aunt in London, been found dancing with a group in the middle of a busy street in Seoul. Her dancing, technique, and precision stood out to the staff so she took her information down afterwards and convinced Iris to audition, resulting in her passing and signing as a trainee for the company in August of 2008.

After careful consideration and evaluation, Ahn was convinced that Hyerin was not only the person she needed to debut and show off to the world, but that she was overall made for performing.

When Park was told that she was going to be debuting, she was both in shock and ecstatic. Her planned debut date was January 4, 2014, a day she made countdowns to — a day that would change not only Iris's life, but the entire music industry and world.

Pre-Debut Activities

Throughout her time as a trainee, Hyerin took both vocal and rap lessons. To her surprise, she did very well after several classes and countless days of practicing. She did well on her monthly evaluations, and some trainees who used to practice with her said that she was sometimes seen as a threat to other trainees in the company.

Due to her love for dancing, Hyerin wanted to come up with different types of beats and songs to choreograph dances to, which resulted in her taking a liking to producing. She received help from a local producer who had been with the company for a while, showing her the ropes and letting her mess around with the whole process. After a while came her interest for songwriting, where she began writing different lyrics for songs that would soon be either a part of her albums or just for her.

On December 1, 2013, it was announced by True Colors Entertainment that they would be debuting their first ever soloist named Iris. The artist's official youtube, instagram, twitter, and fancafe opened up on December 4, 2021. The company began to release concept photos, the album's tracklist, and music video teasers through TCE's YouTube Channel.

2014: Debut with IME: Act 1 and Already.

some of iris's concept photos for IME: Act 1.

On January 4, 2014, the artists released her first album, IME: Act 1, with the lead single 'Already.' It was the first album in the 'In My Eyes' series. The song was co-written by Iris and Houdini, produced by Iris and AYR ( Ahn Youra ). The soloist had her debut stage on January 6 on Mnet's music program M Countdown.

Iris enjoyed positive responses from the public, media, and netizens. Her debut did really well in both Korea and even some worldwide. Some responses said that her '5 seconds of fame' wouldn't go past her debut, but it turned out to be one of the most successful debuts from that year, topping any other debuts from other soloists, girl groups, and boy groups. The song peaked number 2 on Gaon Digital Chart and number 8 on Billboard World Digital Songs Chart. Most sales were based from Korea, racking over 85,000 sales, 65,000 in Japan, and around 40,000 in the US.

Later on in 2015, Iris won 'New Artist of the Year' for the 2014 Gaon Chart Music Awards under the Female Soloist category.

2021: First Grammy Nomination and other Activities/Accomplishments.

Iris for 'IRIS 2021 Season's Greetings.'

On November 23, 2020, it was announced by The Recording Academy that Iris would not only be performing for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, but had been nominated for Pop Solo Performance, alongside Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift. This was her 2nd time attending the Grammy's.

Due to the pandemic, Iris wasn't able to perform or attend in person, so she attended virtually and performed the lead single 'Tie a Cherry' from her 2020 album titled 'Athena.'

Unfortunately, Iris did not win or receive the grammy, losing to Olivia Rodrigo with 'drivers license.' Many fans and netizens were disappointed and enraged by the loss, claiming that the Recording Academy only used the artist for views and 'clout' but the soloist later went on social media platform V-Live to assure fans that all was well and that the recipient of the award was well deserved.

Later on in 2021, Iris came out with two Korean albums: 'Euphoric' with lead single 'INVU' ( August 8, 2021 ), and 'Hip,' with '(I) RISPECT' ( November 20, 2021 ).

2022-Present: First Grammy win and other current activities.

Iris for TIME Magazine May 2022 cover.

On March 30, 2022, it was announced that Iris would be performing at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards and that she was once more nominated for Pop Solo Performance, this time alongside Justin Bieber, Brandi Carlile, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Olivia Rodrigo.

Iris would be attending (in person) and performing the song 'Hip' from the 2021 album '(I) RISPECT.' As the night went on and it was time to present the awards, Iris made history by being the first ever Korean act to win a grammy, earning the award for Pop Solo Performance.

On March 15, 2022 the artist released her newest self-produced & written album 'SELF,' with the lead single 'Go Hard.'

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notes
i wasn't originally going to make a wikipedia chapter for hyerin but i thought it would be necessary to kinda give a brief introduction to some important/key points for later on :)