New Jeans’ <ASAP> music video was released, a strange sight was passing through an alley near Yongsan Station encountered New Jeans’ < Hype Boy > was playing through the speakers outside a long-established barbecue restaurant. The combination of a long-established store in Yongsan’s alley, a meat restaurant, and New Jeans was quite heterogeneous and very plausible. When I turned my head, the Hive office building with the clear ‘ H ‘ logo seemed to overlook the Yongsan alley. This is Seoul, the city of K-pop, and Yongsan, where Hive’s headquarters occupied the center.
“It went fast and slow, and it feels like you’ve had a very strange year?”
These are the thoughts of New Jeans Harin, who appeared on the YouTube channel <IU’s Palette>, which was released on the 24th, for the past year. From the fans’ point of view, it must have flowed slowly. The industry, on the other hand, moved very quickly. New Jeans (Minji, Hani, Daniel, Haerin, Hyein), a girl group in their second year of debut , released their 2nd mini album < Get Up > on the 21st .
exactly one year Like the girls who walked into a strange K-pop country, on July 22 last year < New JeansNew Jeans, who debuted with >, made remarkable achievements while passing through a strange year that even they themselves could not have expected. It is literally a new era. Recently , in the ranking of ‘ The 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music’ by Rolling Stone , a traditional American pop art magazine , New Jeans’ <Ditto> was ranked 19th. occupied the top “Through dense and incredibly addictive hits, New Jeans explores the themes of girls’ maturation and nostalgia that will resonate worldwide with listeners of all generations.” <Rolling Stone> commented, ” Vocal harmony reminiscent of black American girl groups in the Y2K era” or “A dreamy, sepia-toned memory of teenage unrequited love.” Of course, he mentioned the influence exerted by Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore, an independent label founded by his agency Hive in 2021. SNSD’s < Gee
Despite criticism from some in Korea that the list in which > took first place is narrow-minded, focusing on the latest songs and idols, the ranking of New Jeans at 19th is a surprise. Among the girl groups at the front of New Jeans, Blackpink from <DDU-DU DDU-DU>토토사이트 ranked 6th.
New Jeans’ strange and surprising year can also be found in another English media’s 2022 K-pop list. <Time> picked < Hype Boy > as one of the 5 best K-pop songs of 2022, and <Billboard> official magazine also selected New Jeans’ <Attention> at number 6 among the 25 best songs. <Insider> ranked < Hype Boy > in second place, following Ive’s < Love Dive > in first place.
<Billboard> described New Jeans’ debut as “a big change in the K-pop industry”, and <Time> defined New Jeans’ music as “subtly relaxed rather than violently intense.” British and American experts in common focused on the relaxed atmosphere flowing throughout New Jeans music and the difference from existing girl group music. As such, among the 4th generation girl groups that debuted last year, New Jeans is unique. different. new. Above all, it is noteworthy that the repercussions of New Jeans have covered domestic and foreign countries from the start. A new generation of K-pop, a new generation of K-culture, has emerged.
Leung Jo-wi and Jung Ho-yeon, Coca-Cola and Apple, and Park Chan-wook “If a relationship appears, I will go to Korea or Japan, wherever it is. Work is a relationship and timing.” Yang Zhao-wi, who visited the 29th Busan International Film Festival in October of last year, responded to a reporter’s question about appearing in a Korean movie. It is a wonderful prestigious article that came out after the plain text. Yang Jo-wi had a relationship with New Jeans. He left a strong impression by appearing in a short amount of time in the music video for his 2nd album < Cool With You >. The surprise appearance of Yang Jo-wi, who is also loved by Hollywood, could not but be a surprise to long-time fans. Yang Jo-wi, who said in Busan last year, “If language is not a problem, I want to appear in Korean works,” appeared in the music video of New Jeans, which is just in its second year of debut, is K-pop’s status and BTS’s management agency Big Hit and Adore Min Hee- jin . It could be said that it was a major event that symbolized the influence of the CEO. Yang Jo-wi, who appeared as a no-guarantee, said, “I had a good relationship, and I wanted to give a small gift to Korean fans.” For reference, CEO Min Hee-jin was selected as the ‘2023 Billboard Woman in Music’ by Billboard in February . For the first time, CEO Min was named in ‘Woman in Music’, which Billboard selects female artists, creators, producers, and executives who have had a great influence on the music industry during the year.
As seen in Leung Joo-wi’s music video appearance, New Jeans’ marketing move in the K-pop industry is unique and different. Just look at the achievements made with Coca-Cola and Apple this year. Last April, New Jeans released <ZERO> , a kind of commercial music collaborated with Coca-Cola, on YouTube, occupying various music charts and recording more than 16 million YouTube views in 3 months.
With the catchy and addictive melody of ‘Coca-Cola is delicious’, the music video alone boasted a level of perfection that could not be considered an advertisement. Collaboration with Coca-Cola, a representative multinational company and the spearhead of capitalism, was a great success. The marketing itself, where clicking on the <Zero> music video, plays the <Zero> YouTube ad, was excellent.
Next was Apple. The music video for <ETA> , one of the three title songs from the 2nd album < Get Up >, was filmed with the iPhone 14. Director Shin Woo-seok of ‘Dolphin Kidnappers’ who directed the 1st mini-album < Ditto > and < OMG > filmed it himself, and released a video of the filming process on the iPhone’s official YouTube channel. This is the second Korean project following director Park Chan-wook’s short film <Iljangchunmong> released last year as part of the ‘ Shot on iPhone ‘ campaign. Collaborating with Apple
ETA > is a song that sensibly expresses the emotions of a teenage girl unique to New Jeans, such as friendly lyrics that make you feel like you are having a conversation with a friend, a fairly fast beat among New Jeans songs, and a music video in which you support a friend while watching over a friend who is cheating on her boyfriend. is evaluated as
It is an excellent marketing that transplants the image of the iPhone, which the so-called Generation Z is enthusiastic about, with New Jeans-style sensibility. Collaborating with Coca-Cola, Apple, Yang Jo-wi, and Jung Ho-yeon of <Squid Game>, New Jeans became the second Korean artist Apple chose after director Park Chan-wook.
Achievements of New Jeans and the New Era of K-Pop
One of the title songs of New Jeans’ 2nd album, ‘Super Shy’ , ranked 64th on the latest Billboard ‘Hot 100’ chart on July 26th. Last year, <OMG> ( 74th) and <Ditto> ( 82nd) as well as rose 2 notches from the previous week, breaking their own record in one week.
New Jeans 2nd album also occupied Spotify. On Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, which is reflected in the US Billboard’s ‘Hot 100’ tally, on the US ‘Daily Top Song’ chart, New Jeans immediately after the release of the 2nd mini album <Super Shy> (10th), < Cool With You > ( 16th ) Above), < New Jeans > (20th place), <ETA> ( 22nd place), <ASAP> ( 25th place), and < Get Up > (32nd place). This is the first time in K-pop girl group history.
It is also doing well on the Global Top 50 chart. With You > is at 27th, < New Jeans > is at 34th, and <ETA> is maintaining at 35th. <ASAP> ranked 78th, and < Get Up > ranked 93rd. For reference, the current No. 1 on the Global Top 50 chart is BTS Jungkook’s solo song <Seven>. Last week, not only swept the top spot on various music charts and domestic music broadcasts, but also sold 1.2 million copies with the release of the second album. The number of pre-orders for < Get Up > is known to be 1.72 million copies.
American critics criticize New Jeans and summon Baltimore and New Jersey. Various newer sub-genres such as Jersey Club are mentioned. In addition, New Jeans has once been a characteristic of popular art since the 2000s through a wide range of popularity and original and trendy senses from the X generation to the MZ generation, including the sensibility of Japanese popular art that dominated an era that CEO Min Hee-jin loved. It made us witness the emergence of a new girlishness that replaced boyhood, which was one of the symptoms.
What goes beyond all of these is ‘ Easy Listening ‘) will be the maximization of emotion. It is evaluated that this trendy sensibility, which can be enjoyed comfortably without difficulty, is different from existing K-pop girl groups. Attention is focusing on what kind of achievements the 2nd album, in which New Jeans attempted variations and changes to this unique sensibility, will continue. “American (k-pop audition) participants and promoters often ask ‘Korean reaction’. In the past, we asked the US, ‘Do you like it in the US? How is the American reaction?’ K-pop has become Korea. That K-pop has gone beyond what we used to think of, ‘shooting a few in Korea and exporting them abroad.’ I think this (idol) will go to the 5th and 6th generations. ” (Music Critic Kim Young-dae) On the 24th, BTS Jungkook’s solo song <Seven> entered the Billboard main single chart ‘Hot 100’ at the same time as No. This is the first Asian singer. It’s such an era. A wonderful and strange era when K-pop artists are sweeping Billboard and Spotify. New Jeans in their 2nd year of debut are traversing the amazing and strange new era of K-pop.