ADOR K-pop girl group by Min Hee-jin to be called NewJeans

NewJeans, ADOR's first girl group [ADOR]

The name of ADOR's first girl group was revealed Friday to be NewJeans.

Also referred to as "Min Hee-jin's girl group," Min is the chief branding officer of K-pop powerhouse HYBE and CEO of its independent music label, ADOR.

NewJeans on the same day released the music video for its song "Attention," the lead track for its upcoming debut album, on social media channels and YouTube. On Saturday, it also released another music video "Hype Boy," composed by DJ and producer 250 and Swedish composer Ylva Dimberg. One of the members Hanni wrote the lyrics.

The five members of NewJeans are: Kim Min-ji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Lee Hye-in.

"Pop music is a form of culture that is very close to our everyday lives, which is why it can be likened to the clothes we frequently wear," Min said in a statement. "We named the group NewJeans because people never get tired of wearing jeans, and we hope that the group will become a new icon in this era. It also has the goal of becoming 'new genes.'"

A schedule counting down to the album's release was posted to NewJean's social media channels as well. The album, the title of which has not been revealed, will drop on streaming sites on Aug. 1, and the hardcopy on Aug. 8.

According to the schedule, the group will come out with two more songs and their corresponding music videos: "Hurt" on July 25 and "Cookie" on Aug. 1.

While most new K-pop groups announce their upcoming debut with teaser images or clips, NewJeans made a bold and unprecedented start by dropping an entire music video.

Min is best known for having been the creative director of SM Entertainment from 2002 to 2019, taking the helm on visual aspects like music videos or album art for big-name K-pop acts Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), EXO, Red Velvet and NCT.

Min joined HYBE and was appointed to lead ADOR, which stands for All Doors One Room, late last year. At the time, ADOR announced that it would recruit trainees through “Plus Global Audition,” an audition project hosted by HYBE and Source Music, to create Min’s girl group.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]