Ahead of its Time: Triple H

If you’d ask me to list some of the most shocking music videos in K-pop, Triple H’s “365 Fresh” would most definitely be in my top three picks. When most people think of K-pop, they wouldn’t expect artists that dive into concepts that involve threesomes, murder, crime and suicide — but that’s exactly what Triple H were about. It was like if Bonnie and Clyde were a trio, flitting around the underground crime scene of Seoul running from the atrocities they’d committed, until a glorious suicide showdown with the authorities was the only way out… and that was just the first part of their story.

Triple H debuted in 2017 with the EP 199X and its lead single “365 Fresh.” The group comprised superstar soloist HyunA and boy group Pentagon’s members Hui and Dawn (aka Hyojong, hence the triple ‘H’), all of whom were artists under the label Cube Entertainment. Co-ed groups hadn’t gained much traction in the K-pop industry at that point and Triple H were one of the first to last long enough to go viral globally and deliver at least two releases (four-member group KARD would debut later that same year and cement the fact that co-ed groups can indeed last in K-pop.) The only other exception was the short-lived duo project HyunA had participated in called Trouble Maker with another Cube labelmate, Hyunseung, from 2011 to 2013.

“365 Fresh” caused controversy immediately upon its release thanks to its racy music video. The clip depicted Hui as a washed-up con artist, HyunA as a hairdresser-turned-accidental-murderer and Dawn as a suicidal rebel. The three run into each other coincidentally while escaping the dire situations they fell into and decide to team up, running cons and splurging with the money they stole. They’re also caught up in a sexual dynamic that’s cleverly set up to hint at a threesome (safely disguised as a love triangle if audiences balked at the former idea) and the video ends with them choosing to hold hands and jump from a building after being cornered by cops.

The visuals were paired with bouncy, Nineties-inspired funk — in fact, all of 199X (like its name suggests) was inspired by sounds from the Eighties and Nineties with synthpop, hip-hop, soul and R&B. All three artists were heavily involved in the songwriting and production process and 199X‘s five tracks were a playful offering that stood out in K-pop’s more contemporary pop soundscape at the time.

Despite the criticism Triple H received from more conservative audiences, the trio returned with a second EP in 2018 titled Retro Futurism. They continued their shenanigans, picking up right where they left off from “365 Fresh” and falling from the building into a convertible in the video for their new lead single, “Retro Future.” The music video depicted the three artists bursting into an unsuspecting conservative couple’s home and kicking off a party full of booze, dancing and sex, encouraging the couple to reignite the chemistry between each other and live more daring lives.

Retro Futurism‘s sound was exactly what you’d expect it to be — a throwback to the Eighties with Triple H’s own individual styles adding a dose of freshness to the four-track EP. They had great chemistry as a trio and were free to experiment as producers while also contributing a brand new messy style to the picture-perfect world of K-pop. Triple H were aiming at an older audience, representing the realities of lives that many young adults around the world live. They stood firm on the fact that not everything had to be perfectly packaged and shiny — sometimes life’s pretty shit and it’s how you recover from it that matters.

Triple H’s end came rather abruptly in 2018 after members HyunA and Dawn revealed they were dating. The couple were ousted by theirafter going public with their relationship, so any possibilities of Triple H continuing were crushed then and there. Dawn was forced out of Pentagon while Hui still remains on the lineup and under Cube Entertainment. It was a highly unfortunate situation which blew up internationally — putting a spotlight on dating bans in K-pop — and destroyed what could have been one of the most prominent and unique acts on the scene.

A lot of comments on YouTube under Triple H’s music videos state that had Cube embraced the couple and kept them on, they would have reaped the benefits of Triple H, HyunA and Dawn’s powerful, edgy style of work, and launched a truly unique legacy of music and videos geared for older, niche demographics.

Not a lot of people talk about Triple H and I’ve been dying to give the group’s artistry a bit of a spotlight in 2023. While we won’t be getting a comeback (HyunA and Dawn have since parted ways as a couple and Hui remains occupied with Pentagon and solo releases) it would be a sin to forget how the trio set the industry ablaze with their unapologetically daring artistry.