# They’ve broken records and taken over as the new supremes of K-pop. The best part? NewJeans are only just getting started.
Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii, 1^(st) August 2023. There’s an unusual concentration of giddy music fans at gate E2. Dozens of hip-hop heads, pop girlies, indie devotees and whoever it is that likes Thirty Seconds to Mars, all waiting to board a five-hour flight to Portland, where they’ll board another four-hour flight to Chicago for the Lollapalooza festival. Luckily, they’ve found some unexpected common ground to talk about on their pilgrimage; a shared must-see act on the line-up that transcends genre tribalism. NewJeans are about to perform in the US for the first time.
Granted, they’re not travelling more than 4,000 miles solely for the new South Korean girl group. At their final destination, headliners Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Ray make a convincing argument for spending a day wearing neck pillows and eating aeroplane food. But at the gate, on the plane, during the 10-hour layover and, two days later, in the queue for the festival, all anyone can talk about is NewJeans. *Who’s your favourite member? What song do you think they’ll open with? How early should we arrive to get a good view?*
The most hardcore fans pledge allegiance to their favourite members via photocards that are tucked into transparent phone cases. The “bunnies”, as they’re known, are not immediately identifiable based on, say, race or gender. But the merch and official lightsticks are a dead giveaway. You might have to squint to notice the objects of their ardour on the festival poster – their name is minuscule next to the giant font size of Billie’s and Kendrick’s. But as far as these guys are concerned, NewJeans are the main attraction.
“They were the selling point [for buying a festival ticket],” says Ivan, 25, a marketeer who was on that flight from Hawaii and arrived two hours early for the band’s 45-minute set. “I talked to someone [in the crowd] who flew all the way from Taiwan. That just goes to show the global impact they’ve had.”
Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein. Five then-teenage girls who, a year on from releasing 2022 debut single *Attention*, had already conquered the global charts and amassed a faithful fluffle of bunnies willing to travel the world to see them perform. Their six-song second EP, *Get Up*, was released just two weeks before Lollapalooza; the 70,000 people who turned up to see them sang along to every word.
All this may, by now, seem like old news. But until that gig, NewJeans’ impact was largely being measured “only” by a series of viral moments and record-breaking statistics, headline-grabbing achievements that quickly convinced the pop world that these fresh-faced idols were the Next Big Thing.
You’d hear stuff about NewJeans becoming the first K‑pop girl group to sell more than a million copies of their first release and think: *interesting, should probably keep an eye on these guys*. Then, within a year of debuting that self-titled, four-track EP on 1^(st) August 2022, they’d become the fastest K‑pop act to reach a billion streams on Spotify and you’d reason: *cool stat, but Imagine Dragons also have billions of streams*. Next, they’d drop a single like *Ditto*, which spent more weeks at number one on South Korea’s Circle Digital Chart than any other song in history and you’d muse: *impressive, but will Western audiences catch on?* Then you’d notice that *Hype Boy* had already charted for 37 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Global 200 chart, the longest run by any female K‑pop act, and say: *shit – they’re everywhere.*
Over the past two years, NewJeans have won countless awards and stolen world records from Blackpink and BTS, quietly dethroning the universally recognised titans of K‑pop – in April, they even replaced Blackpink on “Welcome to Korea!” adverts at Incheon Airport. And all that while wearing bows in their hair and claiming to be, in 2023 single, *Super Shy*. Come off it, girls.
Maybe they should quit while they’re ahead? Or – just spitballing here – slow down so they can properly enjoy being so brilliantly young and successful? No chance. After refreshing with a short break at the start of the year, NewJeans are now back in full swing, prepping for their second “Bunnies Camp”, a two-day concert and “fan meeting” in June, at the 55,000-capacity stadium Tokyo Dome. So far they’ve only released two EPs and a few two-track “single albums”, but a full-length record is promised by the end of 2024.
Prestigious-Sea710 on
Petra Collins?!?? This is awesome! The girls look amazing and I’ll take these Canadian NewJeans crumbs as hope the girls come to Canada someday.
3 Comments
Interview: [https://theface.com/music/newjeans-members-interview-2024-new-album-k-pop](https://theface.com/music/newjeans-members-interview-2024-new-album-k-pop)
# They’ve broken records and taken over as the new supremes of K-pop. The best part? NewJeans are only just getting started.
Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii, 1^(st) August 2023. There’s an unusual concentration of giddy music fans at gate E2. Dozens of hip-hop heads, pop girlies, indie devotees and whoever it is that likes Thirty Seconds to Mars, all waiting to board a five-hour flight to Portland, where they’ll board another four-hour flight to Chicago for the Lollapalooza festival. Luckily, they’ve found some unexpected common ground to talk about on their pilgrimage; a shared must-see act on the line-up that transcends genre tribalism. NewJeans are about to perform in the US for the first time.
Granted, they’re not travelling more than 4,000 miles solely for the new South Korean girl group. At their final destination, headliners Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Ray make a convincing argument for spending a day wearing neck pillows and eating aeroplane food. But at the gate, on the plane, during the 10-hour layover and, two days later, in the queue for the festival, all anyone can talk about is NewJeans. *Who’s your favourite member? What song do you think they’ll open with? How early should we arrive to get a good view?*
The most hardcore fans pledge allegiance to their favourite members via photocards that are tucked into transparent phone cases. The “bunnies”, as they’re known, are not immediately identifiable based on, say, race or gender. But the merch and official lightsticks are a dead giveaway. You might have to squint to notice the objects of their ardour on the festival poster – their name is minuscule next to the giant font size of Billie’s and Kendrick’s. But as far as these guys are concerned, NewJeans are the main attraction.
“They were the selling point [for buying a festival ticket],” says Ivan, 25, a marketeer who was on that flight from Hawaii and arrived two hours early for the band’s 45-minute set. “I talked to someone [in the crowd] who flew all the way from Taiwan. That just goes to show the global impact they’ve had.”
Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein. Five then-teenage girls who, a year on from releasing 2022 debut single *Attention*, had already conquered the global charts and amassed a faithful fluffle of bunnies willing to travel the world to see them perform. Their six-song second EP, *Get Up*, was released just two weeks before Lollapalooza; the 70,000 people who turned up to see them sang along to every word.
All this may, by now, seem like old news. But until that gig, NewJeans’ impact was largely being measured “only” by a series of viral moments and record-breaking statistics, headline-grabbing achievements that quickly convinced the pop world that these fresh-faced idols were the Next Big Thing.
You’d hear stuff about NewJeans becoming the first K‑pop girl group to sell more than a million copies of their first release and think: *interesting, should probably keep an eye on these guys*. Then, within a year of debuting that self-titled, four-track EP on 1^(st) August 2022, they’d become the fastest K‑pop act to reach a billion streams on Spotify and you’d reason: *cool stat, but Imagine Dragons also have billions of streams*. Next, they’d drop a single like *Ditto*, which spent more weeks at number one on South Korea’s Circle Digital Chart than any other song in history and you’d muse: *impressive, but will Western audiences catch on?* Then you’d notice that *Hype Boy* had already charted for 37 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Global 200 chart, the longest run by any female K‑pop act, and say: *shit – they’re everywhere.*
Over the past two years, NewJeans have won countless awards and stolen world records from Blackpink and BTS, quietly dethroning the universally recognised titans of K‑pop – in April, they even replaced Blackpink on “Welcome to Korea!” adverts at Incheon Airport. And all that while wearing bows in their hair and claiming to be, in 2023 single, *Super Shy*. Come off it, girls.
Maybe they should quit while they’re ahead? Or – just spitballing here – slow down so they can properly enjoy being so brilliantly young and successful? No chance. After refreshing with a short break at the start of the year, NewJeans are now back in full swing, prepping for their second “Bunnies Camp”, a two-day concert and “fan meeting” in June, at the 55,000-capacity stadium Tokyo Dome. So far they’ve only released two EPs and a few two-track “single albums”, but a full-length record is promised by the end of 2024.
Petra Collins?!?? This is awesome! The girls look amazing and I’ll take these Canadian NewJeans crumbs as hope the girls come to Canada someday.
# Member Q&A