Red Velvet (Korean: 레드벨벳; RR: Redeubelbet) is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They originally debuted on August 1, 2014, with the single "Happiness" with the four-member line-up of Irene, Seulgi, Wendy and Joy. A fifth member, Yeri, joined in March 2015, following the release of their first extended play, Ice Cream Cake. Sonically, the music of Red Velvet reflects their group name: their predominantly-pop "red" side experiments occasionally with electronic and funk, while their "velvet" side focuses on '90s-influenced R&B with elements of ballad and hip hop. Their genre versatility and catchy hooks have garnered critical praise.Red Velvet's Korean-language discography includes three studio albums, one reissue album, one compilation album, and ten extended plays—twelve of which have topped the South Korean Gaon Album Chart. Their singles "Red Flavor" and "Power Up" were number one hits on the Gaon Digital Chart, whilst "Dumb Dumb", "Russian Roulette", "Rookie", "Peek-a-Boo", "Bad Boy", "Psycho" and "Feel My Rhythm" all reached the top three. The group also ventured into the Japanese music scene with the extended plays #Cookie Jar (2018) and Sappy (2019) as well as the album Bloom.
Red Velvet have received numerous accolades, most notably the Golden Disc New Artist Award, the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Female Group, the Korean Music Award for Best Pop Song, and the Asia Artist Award for Song of the Year. Their wide domestic influence has been recognized by Forbes Korea Power Celebrity (placing 11th in 2018 and fifth in 2019); internationally, they were named one of the most popular K-pop groups by Time and Billboard, and are the fifth most streamed K-pop artist worldwide on Spotify as of February 2020.
