Yet-to-debut K-pop girl groups may push aside idols that are so 2022

It was a champagne-popping year for K-pop rookie girl groups in 2022. Things are looking good so far, but they may need to buckle up for some serious challenge from new girl groups set to debut this year. The first soon-to-debut act to ...

A captured image of a video titled “YG Next Movement″ released by YG Entertainment teased the debut of girl group Babymonster on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

It was a champagne-popping year for K-pop rookie girl groups in 2022. Things are looking good so far, but they may need to buckle up for some serious challenge from new girl groups set to debut this year.

The first soon-to-debut act to make headlines this year was YG Entertainment’s BabyMonster, scheduled to debut sometime in the first quarter. Not much has been revealed about the group, except for the name, and it has been suggested that it may be comprised of seven members — though that may also change.

“They have the YG soul,” said Yang Hyun-suk, chief producer of YG Entertainment, in a video uploaded last week. “We hope the stars wow the world like they’ve been surprising us with each monthly test. We ask that you judge them based on what you see and hear.”

Another girl group with its name decided is the 10-member tripleS, which will debut in mid-February under Modhaus. Members include Kim Chae-yeon, a host of the popular EBS show “Tok!Tok! Boni, Hani,” Kim Na-kyoung, the younger sister of singer BIBI, and Kaede, a former Japanese model.

HYBE and JYP Entertainment have also announced plans to each launch a girl group this year, both in collaboration with a U.S. music company.

HYBE will produce and debut a girl group with Geffen Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. An audition tour kicked off last December in Osaka and visited Tokyo, Fukuoka and Sydney. Auditions in London, Seoul and Busan remain for this month.

On the other hand, JYP Entertainment has teamed up with another major music company, Republic Records. The two companies held an audition tour last September as part of a partnership that started in 2020.

Competition for the new groups will be tough, though, with already-debuted girl groups dominating the music scene.

Eighteen girl groups debuted in 2022 alone, many of which have been making headlines since day one. The Grammys picked 10 K-pop rookie groups to watch out for in 2023, calling them the “crowning jewel” of the 2022 K-pop scene that are “defining how K-pop will sound and look in 2023 and beyond”: Billlie, IVE, Kep1er, Nmixx, Le Sserafim, CLASS:y, NewJeans, CSR, mimiirose and Fifty Fifty.

Girl group Lightsum [CUBE ENTERTAINMENT]

Girl group Le Sserafim [SOURCE MUSIC]

Girl group NewJeans [ADOR]

“In 2022, K-pop was defined by women,” read the article. “From early spring hits like (G)I-DLE’s ‘Tomboy’ and IVE’s ‘Love Dive,’ to Blackpink topping the Billboard 200 albums chart and then embarking on the largest world tour for a K-pop girl group, there was no shortage of achievements or great music for K-pop's leading ladies.”

Girl groups under the HYBE umbrella — Le Sserafim, NewJeans and fromis_9 — are all set to bring new music this year. fromis_9 will drop new music within the first quarter of 2023, which will be the group's first release since member Jang Gyu-ri quit last July.

SM Entertainment’s GOT the beat, a supergroup including members from an array of different girl groups under the agency, will present a new album titled “Stamp On It” on Jan. 16. Girl groups Red Velvet and aespa are also set to drop new music, but a date has not been set.

JYP Entertainment’s girl groups Twice, ITZY, Nmixx and NiziU are also expected to have a busy year.

However, the future of YG Entertainment’s biggest star, Blackpink, is unclear. The band will have to decide whether or not to renew their contracts this year, with seven years having passed since the members’ debut in August 2016. Member Jisoo is scheduled to drop a solo track, the last member to do so, but a date has not been set yet.

A logo of MAVE:, a virtual girl group produced by Kakao Entertainment [METAVERSE ENTERTAINMENT]

The virtual human trend in K-pop is also expected to continue this year.

Virtual artists made up of computer-generated avatar members — with human voices behind the scenes — have been popping up in recent years as a side effect of the metaverse boom. Popular names include Isegye Idol, the six-member virtual girl group that debuted in December 2021, and virtual stars Reah Keem, Sua and Rozy.

A virtual girl group named MAVE: will be produced by Kakao Entertainment this year. The company will also debut a new virtual girl group through audition program “Girls’ Re:Verse” that kicked off on Jan. 2 on YouTube and Kakao Page.

A few new boy bands are also set for debut, but a lack of notable male rookies has been continuing for years in the K-pop scene. In fact, end-of-year award ceremonies have been struggling to find a band to win best new male artist.

Starting this year, the Melon Music Awards (MMA) unified the female and male rookie categories into one: Best New Artist. Melon did not disclose the exact reasoning behind this decision, but many analyzed that it was due to the lack of outstanding new boy bands eligible to receive the award. In the end, two girl groups — NewJeans and IVE — took home the 2022 MMA’s Best New Artist.

According to Circle Chart’s year-end data, revealed last month, boy bands sold more albums than girl groups, but girl groups were listened to the most. This is seen to be because where boy bands focus on forming a deep, though often narrow, relationship with their loyal fans, girl groups aim for a wider pool of listeners.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]