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Girl group NewJeans (Ador) |
Less than a month since its debut, NewJeans, the first girl group from Ador, an independent label under Hybe, is taking the music world by storm.
Seventeen days after dropping its namesake digital debut album on Aug. 1, the band’s title track “Attention” rose to No. 51 on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart, which ranks songs based on streaming and/or sales activity from more than 200 territories around the globe, excluding the US.
The group’s name stems from a classic piece of apparel, a pair of jeans. The five-piece act hopes to become a musical icon across all generations with its timeless music.
Pop music is a culture close to people’s daily lives, so it’s like the clothes they wear daily. Jeans, in particular, have stood the test of time and found popularity across all ages and genders. Like how jeans remain a classic, NewJeans aims to become an icon for generations that people seek out daily and never get tired of.
Expectations for the band were high before its debut, as the multinational group was brought together by Ador’s CEO and head producer Min Hee-jin. Min is the former creative director for entertainment giant SM Entertainment and the mastermind behind the concepts of A-lister K-pop groups like Girls’ Generation, Shinee, f(x), Exo and Red Velvet.
With its retro sounds, NewJeans took off with its four-track package consisting of three lead tracks -- “Attention,” “Hype Boy” and “Cookie” -- and the R&B-infused “Hurt.”
Unlike the band’s powerful entrance into the music scene, “Attention” is rather mellow and has a beat that keeps the song aloft. The chill soundscape gives off 1990s and early 2000s pop and R&B vibes and spotlights harmonized vocal blends. The mid-tempo groove is easy on the ears, and allows listeners to keep the song on repeat over time.
The high production value is also well reflected in the music video. Like the song, the band attracts viewers by singing, dancing and having fun rather than grinding for perfection.
The quintet is made up of Kim Min-ji, Kang Hae-rin and Lee Hye-in from Korea, Danielle from Australia and Hanni from Vietnam. Although not much has been announced about NewJeans, here’s a closer look at the band.
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Girl group NewJeans (Ador) |
The name Kim Min-ji, aged 18, would ring a bell for many K-pop fans. Before throwing her glitzy hat into the ring, she was featured in BTS’ “Permission to Dance” music video and was “#The_Girl” for the Plus global audition in 2019. Big Hit Entertainment and Source Music – both now subsidiaries under Hybe -- jointly held a global audition to form a new girl group.
Hanni, 17, is an Australian of Vietnamese descent and the first Vietnamese to debut under Hybe. Along with Min-ji, she also made a special appearance in BTS’ “Permission to Dance.” Since people knew only a little about her back then, fans called her by the nickname “cherry” because of her youthful appearance.
Danielle, born in 2005, is familiar to many K-pop fans by her Korean name, Mo Ji-hye. Before her debut, she appeared on variety shows like tvN’s “Rainbow Kindergarten” in 2011 and JTBC’s “Shinhwa Broadcast” in 2012.
Although not much has been announced about Hae-rin, she’s 16, and her zodiac sign is Taurus. If a girl with feline eyes wearing a tennis headband is rocking on stage, it’s her.
The band’s youngest member is Hye-in. She’s only 14, but she was a member of Kids Planet’s first kids’ group, “Usso.Girl,” in 2017. In 2020, she also became popular through a YouTube vlog showing her life as a K-pop trainee.
Meanwhile, the band proved its heat on the domestic chart as well. NewJeans logged its debut song “Attention” to No. 1 on the Melon real-time chart, the largest music streaming platform here, becoming the first K-pop idol group that debuted this year to achieve such a record. The group took home its first-ever music show win with the song on Mnet’s “M Countdown” on Aug. 18.
The band’s second and third title tracks -- “Hype Boy” and “Cookie” -- also landed on the top 100 charts.
Also, NewJeans recorded the most first-week sales of any debut album by female K-pop acts in Korea by selling over 310,000 copies, according to Hanteo Chart.
By Park Jun-hee (
junheee@heraldcorp.com)
