Deux (band)

Deux was a South Korean K-pop duo from the early 1990s, who were among the first to incorporate hip hop into Korean music.

History
Lee Hyun-do and Kim Sung-jae first met in high school, when a friend of Lee's introduced the two together. Before Deux were formed, Lee and Kim started their careers as members of Wawa, the dance team of singer Hyun Jin-young. The previous members Kang Won-rae and Koo Jun-yup, who were to enlist in the military, suggested Hyun take in Kim Sung-jae, who later brought in Lee Hyun-do. Lee and Kim separated from Hyun Jin-young's dance team to form Deux, and on 23 April 1993, Deux made their official debut. Lee Hyun-do fully produced their first album, which was inspired by various kinds of African-American music, while Kim Sung-jae took charge of the choreography and fashion.

At the beginning of 1994, the group released their second album, Deuxism, its lead single the song "We Are". The album sold 300,000 copies a month and a half after its release, and "We Are" topped the charts of the SBS music program TV Gayo 20 for five consecutive weeks. In 2008, it ranked number 83 on the Top 100 Korean Popular Music Albums list published by Kyunghyang Shinmun. Deux's next album, Rhythm Light Beat Black, included both remixes of their old work and new songs. At the end of 1994, Deux won the SCK Popularity Award at the Golden Disc Awards (then named the Korea Visual and Records Grand Prize Award).

Force Deux, the group's third studio album, was released in April 1995. Seeing over a million pre-orders, the album accumulated 900,000 sales a month and a half after its release. The lead track, "Break Off the Yoke", charted high on the three major Korean broadcasters' (KBS, MBC, and SBS) music programs, almost winning to Roo'ra's "Angel Without Wings" on SBS's TV Gayo 20. Force Deux was also listed on the Top 100 Korean Popular Music Albums list at number 35.

On 7 June 1995, Deux held a press conference announcing their disbandment, citing health issues caused by their busy schedules. The group stated that they would hold a free "goodbye concert" from 7—8 July, and after a TV Gayo 20 performance on 17 July would completely split up. In November, Kim Sung-jae released his debut solo album, but he was found dead on 20 November, a day after his first performance. Lee Hyun-do announced his retirement following Kim's death, but returned with a solo album in 1996. The next year, a greatest hits album called Deux Forever was released, which included an unreleased track called "Love, Fear". The song was originally meant for Kim Sung-jae's second solo album; Lee Hyun-do made it a duet by adding his own vocals to the track. For the group's 20th anniversary in 2013, a tribute album project went underway, on which musicians like Brave Brothers, Shinsadong Tiger, and Muzie participated.

Other albums
=== No.1 on music chart shows ===