YG’s BABYMONSTER to Debut as a Seven-Member Group.. YANG HYUN SUK: “It’s What the Fans Wanted”

[스타뉴스=윤상근 기자] YG Entertainment’s newly introduced girl group BABYMONS7ER (AHYEON, RUKA, CHIQUITA, HARAM, PHARITA, RORA, ASA) is set to debut as a seven-member group, not as initially planned.

On the 12th, YG Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as YG) revealed the final debut lineup of BABYMONSTER through the official ‘BABYMONSTER’ YouTube channel.

YANG HYUN SUK, the executive producer, personally introduced the members in the video, calling them the “girl group YG is launching after a long seven years,” and announced each member one by one.

YANG HYUN SUK first chose 15-year-old Korean member AHYEON, saying, “She has the widest vocal range. I think she’s the most optimized member as a pop artist. She has the ability to lead BABYMONSTER.” Next, YANG HYUN SUK picked RUKA, a 20-year-old member from Japan. The producer introduced her as “a friend with many charms. I think many people will fall for RUKA’s charm.”

The third member chosen was CHIQUITA, a member from Thailand. Producer YANG HYUN SUK explained, “CHIQUITA is the youngest and has the shortest training period of 1 year and 9 months. I think her biggest strength is her rapid growth and high potential for development.”

Along with this, Producer YANG HYUN SUK introduced 15-year-old Korean member HARAM, saying, “Looking at the solo songs she has sung so far, she sings in her own style, different from the original song. That factor had a significant influence on the selection. I think her creative ability and artistic ability will be of great help to BABYMONSTER.” For the final member, 17-year-old Thai member PHARITA, he added, “The group should aim to be global. She speaks English and Thai well. That moved me the most.”

As for the exclusion of RORA and ASA, producer YANG HYUN SUK explained, “I wanted to use RORA as the main vocal in the next girl group we’re preparing because she is young. ASA has been a trainee for 4 years and 9 months. I gave high scores to the fact that ASA, who was thought to only rap, could sing as an all-rounder.” He revealed that “Lee Jung picked RUKA and ASA as the members who dance the best.” He further stated his intentions for ASA, “I wanted to go to Japan and make a global girl group, and I wanted to include ASA in the project that will proceed from the end of this year to the beginning of next year.”

YANG HYUN SUK then made a surprise announcement, “There were so many fans who wanted a debut of 7 members. I think YG’s fans are the real YG family. I’ll take all seven with me.” He asked fans to think of RORA and ASA as “members chosen by YG’s fans,” and predicted, “It’s just an estimate, but it seems like the debut won’t be delayed beyond this fall.”

As a result, YG virtually confirmed the debut of the seven-member group by changing BABYMONSTER’s English name to BABYMONS7ER.

BABYMONSTER is the girl group YG is announcing about seven years after BLACKPINK. Given BLACKPINK’s standing as a top global group leading K-pop, and YG’s long-term aggressive promotion through the release of performance videos and the production of debut reality shows, BABYMONSTER is drawing attention as the most anticipated artist of 2023 in the music industry.

BABYMONSTER, which confirmed its seven-member debut, consists of members from different countries including Korea (AHYEON, HARAM, RORA), Thailand (PHARITA, CHIQUITA), and Japan (RUKA, ASA). Under systematic training, they have mastered various languages including Korean, English, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese. Their diverse, ever-changing charm that encompasses various cultures, along with the fact that YG has aimed for the global market from the start, raises expectations for their activities and achievements abroad.

BABYMONSTER has already surpassed 2 million subscribers on its official YouTube channel at the fastest speed among my girl groups, even before its debut. The total number of video views surpassed 400 million views in just 127 days, leading to tremendous buzz. Major foreign media outlets such as Billboard and the UK’s NME have been giving significant coverage to BABYMONSTER, with high expectations, predicting that it will “create a new wave in the K-pop genre.”

2023. 5. 12.