Yang Hyunsuk of YG: "BLACKPINK to Release New Song This Year... Launching Four-Member Girl Group"

Yang Hyunsuk appeared in 'BLACKPINK, BABYMONSTER, TREASURE, AND UPCOMING ROOKIES'

Yang Hyunsuk, the executive producer of YG Entertainment, has unveiled a blueprint outlining plans to strengthen the activities of artists such as BLACKPINK, BABYMONSTER, and TREASURE, as well as launch new rookies.

On May 26, YG Entertainment announced through an interview video with Yang, posted on its official blog, that BLACKPINK will be releasing a new song. This marks BLACKPINK's first new release in 2 years and 8 months since "Born Pink," which was released on September 16, 2022.

BABYMONSTER will also begin full-scale activities. Starting with the pre-release single "HOT SAUCE" on July 1, they will release a second single in September and their first mini album on October 1. Yang explained, "'HOT SAUCE' is an addictive track inspired by the hip-hop genre of the mid-to-late 1980s. I was curious to see how BABYMONSTER, whose average age is in their teens, would interpret early hip-hop music from 40 years ago, so we gave it a try and achieved a satisfying result."

TREASURE is set to release a mini album on September 1 and will embark on a new world tour starting in October. Yang stated, "We will actively support TREASURE so that they can meet fans consistently by releasing more than two albums every year."

The video also revealed, for the first time, the lineup of YG trainees and plans for new group debuts, which had previously been kept under wraps. Yang said, "Currently, YG is preparing to debut two male groups and two female groups, and I hope to launch one boy group next year." He added, "In particular, there is a rookie girl group that I want to debut as soon as possible, and we have finalized the lineup as a four-member team."

Starting May 28, YG plans to sequentially release practice videos of the four rookie girl group members. Yang said, "As with BABYMONSTER, we will showcase their practice videos in advance," and requested, "I hope everyone will watch and evaluate their skills as they are."

However, Yang also stated that he wants to focus on BABYMONSTER's growth until the end of next year, indicating that the official debut of YG's new girl group is expected to take place after that.

Yang emphasized, "Over the past year, we have undertaken a major overhaul of YG's internal systems to accelerate rookie debuts and expand our IP (intellectual property), making this our top priority," and added, "From the second half of this year, we will showcase YG's upgraded system."