Nevermind the “Who’s Next” social media campaign which ran last week, leading up to iKON’s new release. We’ve got something more exciting to spaz out over!
Apparently, South Korean entertainment powerhouse YG Entertainment will finally be debuting its long-awaited girl group! Yes, the one that was supposed to debut way back in January 2013 but for whatever reason just kept getting delayed repeatedly over the years.
But they’re ready to meet K-Pop fans now!
Codenamed “Pink Punk”, the girls’ debut was pushed back again in 2014 to make way for iKON.
Little is known about the group e.g. members, concept, album title, debut song, but last we checked, Kim Jennie and Kim Ji Soo, both of whom have been featured in G-Dragon‘s tracks, are said to be confirmed as members of the yet-to-be-named (at least officially by YG Entertainment) girl group.
Other rumoured members are:
- Jang Hanna
- Lalisa (Lalice) Manoban (Vocals)
- Park Jinny
- Park Chae Young (Vocals)
- Cho Mi Yeon (Rap)
- Kim Eun Bi (Vocals)
- Lee Jookyung
Alas,”K-pop Star 3″ finalist Jang Hanna will not be in the final line-up because the YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun Suk has plans for her to debut as a solo artiste.
As for concept, In 2012, a video titled “Future 2NE1 (4 years later)” was uploaded by the company on YouTube, fueling speculations that the girl group will be modelled after 2NE1.
That having said, it has been quite a few years in between so take that with a pinch of salt as plans may have changed for the girl group.
In the next few weeks leading up to July, YG Entertainment will be revealing the group’s members one by one i.e. one member per week.
Upon the announcement, Yang Hyun Suk, who is said to be currently producing the girls’ music video, revealed, “They’ve been training for a while, and their talents are proven. They’ve been trained like they were in the military. They won’t have the feel of being a second 2NE1 because they are slightly different. We’re a little burdened because it’s our first girl group in 7 years, but we’re confident.”
Fingers crossed that we’ll get to meet the girls soon. No more delays please!
YG Entertainment is also home to K-Pop super group BIGBANG, edgy idol girl group 2NE1, talented hip hoppers Epik High, relatively new groups WINNER and iKON, as well as popular solo artistes PSY, Lee Hi, and more.
This new girl group will mark YG Entertainment’s first girl group since 2NE1’s debut back in 2009. The girls are produced by none other than Teddy.
UPDATE (1st June, 9am):
The first member reveal was just posted up on YG Entertainment’s Facebook page this morning and it’s none other than Jennie Kim (김제니). Surprising nobody, of course, since she has been featured in YG Entertainment’s rookie videos, G-Dragon’s track (“Black”) and music video (“That XX”), and on music shows.
One thing to note though: Jennie definitely has the face that can pull off just about any look. Check out her pictures:
UPDATE (8th June, 9am):
The 2nd member reveal has happened and it’s none other than Lalisa Manoban aka Lisa! From what little we know, Lisa was born in 1997 in Thailand and is full Thai. Her real name is Pranpriya Manoban. Lalisa is just her stage name and Lalice is her nickname.
She is said to be quite a good dancer, as she has mastered the styles of hip hop and the shuffle. As for her voice, they say her voice is similar to Sandara Park of 2NE1.
Check out her pictures:
UPDATE (15th June, 9am):
YG Entertainment has unveiled the 3rd member of their upcoming K-Pop idol girl group and it’s none other than Kim Jisoo (김지수).
No stranger to the K-entertainment industry, Jisoo has appeared in several YG Entertainment artistes’ music videos including Epik High’s “Spoiler” (스포일러) and Hi Suhyun ft. Bobby’s “I’m Different” (나는 달라). She has also made her mark as a model, having appeared in multiple commercials such as 2015 S/S Samsonite RED (alongside Hallyu superstar Lee Min Ho), Nikon 1 J5, SMART School Uniform, and more.
More pictures of Jisoo below:
UPDATE (22nd June, 9am):
Are you ready to meet the 4th member of YG Entertainment’s new K-Pop idol girl group? Say hello to Park Chae Young (박채영) aka Roseanne Park. This 19-year-old vocalist lived in Melbourne, Australia before she joined YG Entertainment as a trainee when she was 14 years old. She has been training for 5 years and was previously featured in BIGBANG leader G-Dragon’s “Without You” (결국). Yes, she was that mysterious girl featured in the song.
To give you an idea of how powerful her voice is, listen to the song here.
We still don’t know how many members are in the new girl group or if they’re really going to be called “Pink Punk”, but keep checking back with us for more updates in the coming weeks 🙂
UPDATE (29th June, 9am):
Alas, the final pieces to the puzzle!
YG Entertainment has just revealed that their new girl group will be named, “BLACKPINK” (블랙핑크) it will consist of the previously unveiled members. The 4 girls who made the final cut and will debut with BLACKPINK are none other than Park Chae Young (박채영), Jennie Kim (김제니), Lalisa Manoban aka Lisa, and Kim Jisoo (김지수).
Although no further details were revealed regarding the girls’ debut date/song/album or concept, at least fans can look forward to seeing them very, very soon 🙂
Check out more teaser images of the girls in the gallery below:
*Pictures from yg-life.com.
UPDATE (4th July, 10am):
The girls of BLACKPINK (블랙핑크) has finally joined Instagram!
Although YG Entertainment’s new 4-member girl group opened their social media account just 2 days ago (Saturday, 2nd July), it has already garnered over 121,000 followers! Their sunbae (senior) BIGBANG’s G-Dragon even took to his Instagram to share a screenshot of BLACKPINK’s account.
A black-and-pink yin yang symbol was revealed in the first few posts and fans are speculating that the symbol is actually the group’s new logo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHUCEfrhqkp/?taken-by=blackpinkofficial
The girls will be making their debut in the end of July.
What are you waiting for? They’re on Instagram as @blackpinkofficial 🙂
Sources: akp, SBS, One Hallyu / Featured image: kpopstarz.com.
