Aesop’s famed fable of The Tortoise and the Hare has survived centuries because some stories never lose their truth. Listening to Sandara Park reflect on the last 22 years of her career at a recent press conference in Singapore, it is hard not to think of that tale. Park is the tortoise, making her way along the winding road, catching sight of a new horizon.
Many will recognise Park as a member of 2NE1, a K-pop group that needs no introduction. Debuting in 2009, the girl group became one of the most instrumental forces of the K-wave—and Park, one of its most influential figures, known for her polished, effervescent image. It’s a weighty legacy to carry, but one that she’s ready to take in a different direction. “There is a side of me that people see, but there’s also a part of me that is hidden beyond those images of what people think I am,” Park says. “I’m actually showing you the new part of me.”
This year, she’s doing so with her self-founded entertainment agency, Aradnas (“Sandara” spelled backwards, for those wondering). Together with Singapore-based Power Entertainment, which will represent her across Southeast Asia, the venture gives Park the opportunity to take a more active role in shaping her creative direction.
The first project to test out her newfound autonomy is Reprism, her solo comeback mini-album released last month. Unlike her past persona, the Park of Reprism has a fresh grit and edge to her, pictured in worn leather, tousled hair, and smokey eyes, beating away at a drum set. It is, as Park describes it, “just a glimpse of what I want to say” about the artist she’s still becoming.
The album itself is short and sweet, consisting of two tracks titled Festival and Nail. If the former sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The song was actually first released in 2023, as the lead single on Park’s self-titled debut mini-album, Sandara Park. This is Festival 2.0, or Festival (Reprism Ver.), as it’s officially known. Here, the bright, buoyant pop sheen of the original fades into the background, in favour of a punchier rock arrangement, with electric guitar riffs and pounding percussion. Park’s choice to revisit Festival is particularly poignant: “I feel like if I start with this song, it’s going to help me retell my story.”
Where Festival represents a retrospective of Park’s music, Nail is her hope for what’s to come. “I wanted to showcase the story that I want to tell about my future through the song,” Park says. Nail is ostensibly a punked-up love song about the nervous excitement of having a crush, and the bravery needed to confess your feelings to someone you admire. Beneath the surface, the meaning of bravery is much more personal. The song was inspired by Park’s habit of trimming her nails short to learn the guitar. Although she had picked up the instrument more than a decade ago, songwriting was still something she had yet to discover and attempt. “It’s only recently that I started to realise that I can compose and write my own songs and put my own story into them,” Park explains. “Compared to my other colleagues, I’m quite slower, but I have this expectation that from now on I can start telling my story.”
There is a touch of wistfulness in the admission. Park doesn’t hide the fact that she sometimes wonders what it would have been like to take stronger control of her path sooner, but there is determination in her voice when she talks about how she wants to push forward. Much of it stems from how grateful she feels towards her dedicated fanbase. “Right now, my biggest homework that I’m focusing on is: how can I deliver the message that I want to tell to my fans through the music?” Park says.
Park’s philosophy doesn’t just extend to her music, but also to her live fan interactions. Growing up in the Philippines, Southeast Asia is a particularly resonant place for her. “Whenever I come back to Southeast Asia, it feels like I’m coming home,” she says happily. She even goes so far as to call herself a “comedian” when she returns to the Philippines, as opposed to her more formal conduct in Korea. It speaks to the ease and warmth she feels with the people here.
When asked what she would tell the Sandara Park from two decades ago, her answer says everything about how she sees the road behind her and the one lying in wait. “There will be moments that will be really difficult,” she says. “But until that time, you will always have fans who constantly support you. So don’t worry about it. Do whatever you want to do, as much as you want. Be courageous.”
Park doesn’t push on because the road is easy, nor is she discouraged even when others are ahead. She persists because to keep going is the only thing to do. Slow and steady wins the race.
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