Can NewJeans Become Global Superstars?
A year ago, NewJeans transformed K-Pop. Now the pressure is on to do it again. HYBE
In the summer of 2022, three small, string bags signified the start of a new era in K-Pop.
These were not normal fashion accessories, though. The bags, which were designed in white, black and red, were actually albums. Inside each was a CD, photocards and a photobook for a group named NewJeans. Unique album packaging is a standard in K-Pop; for the past decade, companies have envisioned smartly designed albums that reflect the concept of each release. But NewJeans’ bag drop was the equivalent of an explosion in K-Pop fandoms.
The accessory represented the melding of K-Pop and high fashion, or more specifically, how idols are now influencing our style and culture. But the bag also demonstrated how wildly ambitious K-Pop companies have become to mix merchandise with music. This tactic paid off: The album sold over 440,000 copies in pre-orders alone, the highest number for a K-Pop group’s debut ever.
“Super Shy” album art. HYBE
Now, nearly a year after their debut, NewJeans are returning with five special beach bags, each representing a member in the group. Like the original merchandise, this NewJeans bag also doubles as an album, “Get Up”, and is a nod to the ingenious release in 2022. The girls are joined by iconic characters for this comeback, too. Album art for the new EP features the five members, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, as the Y2K cartoon superheroes The Powerpuff Girls.
The pressure is on to deliver a smash. Last Friday, NewJeans released two songs, “Super Shy” and “NewJeans”. Both songs received music videos, but “Super Shy” has shown the most potential. It’s already climbing up the Spotify Top 50 in America, amassing over 700,000 streams per day. Today, it reached number 11 on the charts.
“Super Shy” is not a sharp career turn for the girls. Instead, it builds off of what NewJeans do best. The song’s quiet beats and whispery vocals make room for the girls’ confessional lyrics that just about anyone in the world can relate to. “I’m super shy/ Super shy,” they sing in the chorus, “But wait a minute and I’ll make you mine.”
NewJeans have become experts at referencing themselves, too. In the video for “Super Shy”, the girls overhear “Attention” playing in a park and rush over to find a group dancing to the single. Eventually the members join in, and kick into “Super Shy”. The fluid way the girls fall into their choreography, as if they just tripped and started dancing, is part of what makes them so enchanting to watch.
HYBE
Within four months of the bag drop, NewJeans became the most influential girl group in the genre. Their first mini-album contained two smash hit singles, “Hype Boy” and “Attention”, that were nearly inescapable during the summer. By the time winter settled in, NewJeans headlined the biggest year-end variety shows while senior idols covered “Hype Boy” at concerts.
To date, they’ve amassed over 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify, trailing only K-Pop heavyweights BTS and Blackpink in streams. Their music is viral on TikTok, a vital form of support for K-Pop, and the girls are now style icons with each member signing brand ambassador deals with luxury design brands, including Dior, YSL, and Chanel.
The unorthodox approach of NewJeans’ marketing was led by Min Hee Jin, the CEO of NewJeans label ADOR and former creative director at SM Entertainment. Min created some of the smartest concepts in her tenure at SM: f(x)’s “4 Walls”, for example, was her vision. But NewJeans was her riskiest project, from the bags to her refusal to use industry standard teasers, Min hedged her bets on surprise music video drops on YouTube that began with “Attention” on July 22.
“I wanted to create a label with a brand-new look that did things never seen in the K-pop scene before,” Min told Billboard in an interview. “The kind of music I’m going for is something that hasn’t really been attempted in the K-pop scene, so an independent label was essential to push ahead with this.”
New Jeans remind us of our cool older sisters from childhood or the smart girl from high school who always had the best music taste. “They are free of the over-the-top conventions that have come to define Korean idols, both visually and sonically,” YJ Lee wrote in a profile of NewJeans for High Snobiety. NewJeans are refreshingly authentic and relatable in a genre that rarely lets idols simply be human.
I would argue that NewJeans is succeeding largely because they don’t down the edges of what makes them unique. They still sing in Korean, which is important, because of how widely it’s been embraced by the general public. Their music contains real surprises, too; often it’s hard to know what beat or tonal shift is lurking around the corner.
“Our name NewJeans refers to a “new” pair of jeans, but at the same time, jeans are also a timeless fashion staple adored by people of all ages,” the group’s leader Minji explained. “We are constantly striving and working hard to present music that can embrace both the new and the classic, just like what our name NewJeans suggests.”
“Get Up”, to be sure, is aimed at winning over global audiences, and NewJeans are taking a traditional marketing route for this release. Teasers have been released for this EP, and videos for the new singles were released after weeks of buzz. The group’s most critical test will come in three weeks when NewJeans travels to North America to play at Chicago’s Lollapalooza. This is not only their first American stage, but also one of the biggest opportunities to expose new audiences to their music.
“A year ago, we would never have been able to imagine receiving so much love,” Danielle told W Magazine. Without sacrificing their artistry, NewJeans are on a mission to become superstars.
