Who are NewJeans, and are they the next breakout K-Pop group to take over Western music charts?

It’s fair to say that K-Pop hasn’t just taken over the music charts, but has itself become the pop culture phenomenon that anthropologists will study and write about in years to come. In the meantime though, we can sit and enjoy the likes of Jungkook and Jimin continue South Korea’s chart success in the United States and the UK, while BLACKPINK’s Jennie and her appearance in “The Idol,” despite the television series resounding critical mauling - at least she was viewed as a bright point of Sam Levinson’s bridged first season.

K-Pop has also been embraced by luxury fashion houses, with Jimin for example an ambassador for Dior, while other brands such as Starbucks have inked deals in South Korea to create specialist BLACKPINK merchandise for their customers. Everywhere you look in modern popular culture, sure enough, there is some aspect of K-Pop as a nod or an overt influence.

So as BTS, BLACKPINK, Exo and even Tomorrow X Together get the limelight outside of their home country, music journalists like myself are hoarding around websites such as All K Pop and Soompi to find out who the next big K-Pop group is that you should be made aware of. 

NewJeans happen to be a band that has already made a mark on the US and UK singles charts, and given the recent success of BLACKPINK during their world tour, could possibly be the next all-female K-Pop group to break through further in the West. They also thankfully don’t have any members that need to enlist for mandatory military service, which gives their record label, ADOR, less of a headache to plan promotion around.

So who are NewJeans? PeopleWorld continues its new-found love of K-Pop by taking a look at who could be the next big K-Group to have an impact on our side of the world.

Who are NewJeans?

New Jeans comprises members Minji (민지), Hanni (하니), Danielle (다니엘), Haerin (해린) and Hyein (혜인) and they quickly became known for their girl-next-door image and music style, which is influenced by "easy listening" pop and R&B songs from the 1990s. Their music has elements of various genres, including hip hop, UK garage, Baltimore club, Jersey club, and moombahton.

Technically, the concept of NewJeans started in early 2019 under the direction of Min Hee-jin, who joined Big Hit Entertainment as Chief Brand Officer (CBO) in the same year; Hee-jin is widely recognized for her art direction as a visual director at SM Entertainment.

Global auditions for the new girl group were held between September and October 2019, and casting into the group commenced at the beginning of 2020. The project was initially referred to as "Min Hee-jin's Girl Group" by several media outlets. The plan was for the group to debut as a collaborative project between Big Hit Entertainment (now known as HYBE Corporation) and Source Music, another entertainment company under HYBE. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the debut was postponed.

In late 2021, the project was transferred to HYBE's newly established independent label, ADOR, after Min Hee-jin was appointed as the label's CEO. The group underwent a second round of global auditions between December 2021 and January 2022 to complete the lineup. The members' identities were kept a secret until their debut.

Finally, on July 1, 2022, ADOR teased the launch of their new girl group by posting animated videos of the numbers "22", "7", and "22", hinting at content to be released on July 22. On that date, they surprised fans by releasing the music video for their debut single, "Attention", without any prior promotion or information on the group's lineup. This unique and unexpected debut strategy was described by Billboard as "risky but ultimately invigorating," and it contributed to their initial success.

What has NewJeans' most successful song been so far?

Going on stream figures and chart success, “Ditto” can surely be argued as NewJeans’ most successful song to date; in South Korea, their debut single was released in December 2022 and topped the Circle Digital Chart, which is one of the most important music charts in South Korea. It remained at the number-one position for an impressive 13 weeks, making it the longest-running number-one song on this chart by a K-pop female act. 

Through the release of “Ditto” and their debut record, “OMG,” the group received multiple rookie awards, including at prestigious events like the Golden Disc Awards, the Seoul Music Awards, the Korean Music Awards, the Melon Music Awards and the Asia Artist Awards.

That success also translated to Western audiences, with “Ditto” peaking at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 95 on the UK Singles chart.

Have any of the members of NewJeans been involved in projects outside the band?

Although they weren’t officially members of NewJeans at the time, both Hanni and Minji, made cameo appearances in BTS's 2021 music video for "Permission to Dance," while the group collaborated with Jon Batiste, J.I.D, and Camilo for the 2023 song "Be Who You Are (Real Magic),” which was part of a project helmed by Coca-Cola.

Since their success in South Korea though, the group have been offered a bevvy of endorsement deals, representing Apple, The Powerpuff Girls and Levi’s while individual members have already been selected as ambassadors for luxury brands such as Gucci, Armani Beauty, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, YSL Beauty, Chanel Korea, and Dior

Are NewJeans going on tour anytime soon?

Though the band are not embarking on any tours akin to BLACKPINK or Jungkook’s promotion tour for “Seven,” those in the United States will get a chance to see the band perform as part of Lollapalooza 2023 on August 3 2023 at Grant Park, Chicago.

That, sadly, is the only live date outside of South Korea that NewJeans are set to play, though given their rise in popularity leading to an appearance at Lolapalooza, it is safe to say it’s only a matter of time before another musician invites them to support a tour - we’re looking at you, Billie Eilish.