NewJeans members (from left) Hyein, Haerin, Danielle, Hanni and Minji. Image: NewJeans’ official website
Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein—collectively known as K-pop girl group NewJeans—were among Time Magazine’s “Next Generation Leaders” for 2023.
The quintet, who is “taking the world by storm,” is praised for reaching “global milestones even faster than its more senior counterparts in the industry,” according to the US-based magazine on Tuesday, May 23.
The feature also cited the girl group’s notable achievements so far, such as being the fastest South Korean act to hit one billion streams on Spotify within 219 days and their songs “OMG” and “Ditto” staying on the Billboard 100 charts for five weeks.
Danielle, who’s set to star as Ariel in the Korean-dubbed version of “The Little Mermaid,” said their group is about creating a fresh vibe. “We’re always trying to create a fresh vibe. This is new, but it’s also bringing back all these memories from the past,” she was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, NewJeans’ youngest member, Hyein, expressed her desire of showing “different sides” of herself as a member of the group.
“I want to show more of my skills and different sides of me that I haven’t shown yet,” she said in the report.
Despite their many milestones, the group said in the feature that they’re focusing on making music that they want to hear. “K-pop is such a big thing. I don’t know if you could really even predict what it’s going to be in the future,” Hanni said, as per Time.
NewJeans debuted in July 2022 with the single “Attention,” which was followed by the tracks “Hype Boy,” “Cookie” and “Hurt.” Contrary to K-pop peers, their debut came as a surprise as they didn’t follow the typical K-pop formula of having several pre-debut content.
The girl group, which is set to perform at Lollapalooza in August, was formed under South Korean music label ADOR (All Doors One Room), which is led by CEO Min Hee-jin. The agency is an independent label under entertainment conglomerate HYBE.
Hee-jin is known for creating the brand of K-pop juggernauts SHINee, Girls’ Generation, Red Velvet and EXO, which are all under SM Entertainment. She was also one of the executives responsible for the creation of f(x). /ra