"K-pop Female Power Leading a New Era" NewJeans on the Cover of US Billboard Magazine

2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards Celebrating 'Group of the Year' Selection

"NewJeans is leading a new era of female power in the K-pop genre, which has long been dominated by male groups."

The group 'NewJeans' graced the cover of the American Billboard magazine.

On the 28th (local time), Billboard released photos of NewJeans with a hanok background along with an interview on its official website.

The theme of this Billboard magazine issue is 'Women in Music.' NewJeans, selected as 'Group of the Year' at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards, was chosen as the cover star for this issue.

Billboard introduced NewJeans as "debuting in July 2022 and quickly rising to the top of K-pop." It added, "They are loved by fans not only in Korea but worldwide with their infectious energy," highlighting their outstanding achievements on global charts.

NewJeans topped the Billboard main album chart 'Billboard 200' with their second mini-album 'Get Up,' and five songs from this album, including the triple title tracks, entered the Billboard main singles chart 'Hot 100.'

Above all, Billboard evaluated NewJeans as leading a new era of female power in the K-pop genre, which had long been dominated by male groups. "There was once an industry consensus that only boy bands could build core fandoms and achieve commercial success (album and concert ticket sales), but NewJeans is part of a generation of girl groups that have achieved both, changing the paradigm of success for young female groups," it stated.

As the background of this phenomenon, Billboard mentioned Min Hee-jin, the general producer of NewJeans and CEO of ADOR, analyzing, "NewJeans accomplished this under the guidance of an innovative leader."

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR. [Photo by ADOR]

In an interview with Billboard, NewJeans said, "Before our debut, CEO Min Hee-jin told us she wanted to do something fresh and different. She wanted music that anyone, regardless of age or gender, could listen to and enjoy, and as a result, 'easy listening' music was born. We just wanted to try something new and fun."

They continued, "Rather than setting a special goal (to create change in K-pop), we just wanted to sing and perform songs we liked, and perhaps that's why fans liked us from the very beginning," they explained.

Regarding their future aspirations, NewJeans said, "We hope our songs can move people. We want to share emotions with people on stage and through our music." They also expressed the wish, "We hope our music will be remembered for a long time. For example, when people listen to 'Ditto,' we want them to recall last winter."

The 'Billboard Women in Music Awards' is an awards ceremony that honors the top female artists, creators, producers, and executives who have had a significant impact on the music industry over the year. NewJeans was the only K-pop female artist to be named among this year's recipients. Additionally, they will perform on stage at the ceremony held in Los Angeles, USA, on the 6th of next month.