HYBE’s new sub-label ADOR has debuted its first-ever group, NewJeans! On July 1, ADOR released multiple teasers announcing its upcoming girl group. Set to debut on August 1, on July 22, the label surprised fans by confirming the group’s name, NewJeans, and dropped the music video for its song Attention.
The girls are seen having a good time at a concert at the beginning of the video, shining with their carefree demeanor. The music video then begins with a pop beat that is reminiscent of songs from the early 2000s.
The music video now has over 1.6 million views. The group has also released a performance version, showing the fun and flowy choreography of the song. The girls are seen dancing at a stadium (the one we witnessed in the music video) by themselves at first but are eventually joined by dancers.
The group is created by the executive director of ADOR, Min Hee-jin, who has previously served as a creative director and board member at SM Entertainment. She has worked with groups like Girls’ Generation, EXO, f(x), and SHINee. She joined HYBE Labels in 2019.
Unlike most K-pop debuts, ADOR hasn’t revealed much information about the members following their surprise music video release. So far, we know NewJeans is a five-membered girl group. Keep reading to know more about the members.
Hanni was born in 2004 and hails from Vietnam. She can speak three languages – Vietnamese, Korean, and English.
Next in line is the Korean member, Minji, also born in 2004. Minji is a former JYP Entertainment and Source Music trainee.
Born to an Australian father and Korean mother in 2005, Danielle can naturally speak both English and Korean. Her Korean name is Mo Jihye, making her a part of the Hampyeong Mo clan, and reportedly there are only 20,000 people with this surname in South Korea.
There is not much known about, Haerin other than that she can speak both English and Korean.
Hyein, the maknae 9youngest) of the group, was born in Incheon, South Korea. She can speak both English and Korean. Hyein is an avid Harry Potter fan and owns books in both English and Korean language. Previously, she was a part of a kids girl group, USSO.GIRL under the stage name U.jeong.
More than the music video release, though, what astonished fans were the group’s name, NewJeans. Many claimed that the company didn’t put any effort into choosing a catchy and likable name for the group. An Instagram user commented, “Imaginary groups made by fans on social media have much better names.” Another user wrote, “I don’t think companies these days realize the impact a group’s name holds.”
But, as far as the group’s name is concerned, as reported by allkpop, Min Hee-jin explained “Popular music is a culture that is very close to daily life, just like the clothes that we wear each day. The name NewJeans carries the goal that the group will one day become icons of today’s generation, just like jeans which never get old and which we want to wear every day, as well as another meaning, ‘New Genes’.”
NewJeans’ debut mini-album contains 4 tracks, including the 3 title tracks. The first title track, Attention, features a chorus with rich harmonies and a hip, percussive mood. A Moombahton/electro-pop mashup version of the second title track, Hype Boy, has a far different vibe than Attention. The music video for Hype Boy is set to be released on July 23 at midnight, KST.
The third and final title track, Cookie, has a simple hip-hop groove and adorable, self-confident lyrics. The music video for the song is set to be released on August 1 at 6 PM KST, along with the group’s full debut mini-album.