K-Pop Star to Watch: BABYMONSTER
This story is part of Billboard‘s K-Pop Issue.
BABYMONSTER hasn’t officially released any music yet. But YG Entertainment’s pedigree — its previous two girl groups were 2NE1, whose 2014 Crush was the highest-charting K-pop LP for years until BTS claimed that title, and BLACKPINK, the first K-pop girl group to top the Billboard 200 and headline Coachella — explains why there’s so much buzz around the new act.
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After YG announced a new group’s pending arrival through social-media posters featuring seven female silhouettes teasing the “YG Next Movement” in late December 2022, a trailer video posted on New Year’s Day 2023 unveiling the group as BABYMONSTER quickly garnered millions of views (currently, over 31 million). Praise from several of YG’s biggest artists helped spur that interest: Approvals came from BLACKPINK’s Jennie (“They’re really good overall,” she said of her forthcoming labelmates) and Lisa (“All seven members go well with each other”), as well as AKMU and Yoon and Hoony from WINNER. Yang Hun Suk, YG’s executive producer and namesake, said, “I really hope they become stars that will shock this world. Please judge them the way you see and hear them.”
When BABYMONSTER debuts, its fans will eagerly support it after seeing if all seven potential members make it through Last Evaluation, a Making the Band-esque series on its YouTube channel. In the meantime, curious fans can learn about the girls through the group’s YouTube channel (which already has 1.7 million subscribers) which features introductory videos and cover songs performed by potential members Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Haram, Ahyeon, Rora and Chiquita.
LISTEN TO: BABYMONSTER’s cover of BLACKPINK’s “Don’t Know What To Do,” Ruka, Pharita and Ahyeon’s cover of Rosé’s “Gone,” Asa’s cover of Bebe Rexha’s “Me, Myself & I,” Rora’s cover of Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved,” Chiquita’s cover of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Traitor”
A version of this story originally appeared in the April 22, 2023, issue of Billboard.
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