One gone, one renamed: Six members of BabyMonster gear up for debut

YG Entertainment's upcoming girl group, BabyMonster, has been introduced with a new set of visuals and, in the case of the final member Rami, a new name.

YG Entertainment's upcoming girl group, BabyMonster [YG ENTERTAINMENT]

The six-piece puzzle for YG Entertainment’s upcoming girl group BabyMonster have been matched up with a new set of visuals — and one even has a new name.

The six members are Ruka, Chiquita, Rami, Pharita, Rora and Asa — two Korean, two Thai and two Japanese members — and are set to debut on Nov. 27 with their digital debut single, “Batter Up.”

Chiquita, the first member to be revealed, is from Thailand, like Blackpink’s Lisa. She is the youngest of the group, having been born in 2009. Chiquita joined the BabyMonster project after spending just three months as a trainee, which is relatively fast for general K-pop trainees.

Member Asa, born in 2006, is one of the two Japanese members of the group. She will partake in rapping in the group, following along the YG hip-hop line.

Rora, who is 15 years old, is known for her strong and soulful vocals as well as her thorough understanding of music and her detailed expressions, according to the agency.

Pharita was the second Thai member to be revealed. Pharita was selected out of 1,226 applicants during her audition, according to YG Entertainment. The 2005-born member showed off her powerful vocals and outstanding dancing skills during BabyMonster’s last evaluation series, which was uploaded on the group's official YouTube channel.

Ruka is from Japan and trained with YG Entertainment for five years. She is the eldest of the band, having been born in 2002, as well as the member with the most trainee experience.

Rami, who is Korean and was born in 2007, was the last member to be revealed. Rami is a new stage name; the member was previously named Haram, which is her birth name. Rami is derived from a nickname that the other members call her, which removes “Ha” from her original name.

“Rami also refers to ‘loving,’ ‘happiness’ and ‘first light of a lamp’ in the dictionary,” YG added. “We hope that Rami’s voice will share love and happiness to everyone.”

“We are working hard to give the best of the best results until its official debut,” YG Entertainment said in a news release.

BabyMonster was previously slated to debut as a seven-member group with an additional artist, Ahyeon. However, YG Entertainment announced that Ahyeon had withdrawn from the group due to health issues on Nov. 15.

BabyMonster will kick off its music career with its first digital single, “Batter Up,” on Nov. 27. The group is YG Entertainment's first new girl group in seven years since Blackpink and the agency's first new band in three years after Treasure debuted in 2020.

To find out more about BabyMonster, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]