BABYMONSTER, YG’s next girl group after BLACKPINK, is already facing heavy crisises before debut
On November 15, News1 reported that Ahyeon will not debut in BABYMONSTER due to personal issues, reducing the girl group’s 7-member line-up to 6 members.
Meanwhile, YG affirmed that Ahyeon will sit out on BABYMONSTER’s debut due to health concerns, but added that the trainee is not leaving the group, and that YG will try their best to support Ahyeon in her recovery.
However, on Korea’s most popular search portal, Naver, BABYMONSTER’s profile has been edited to only include 6 members, and in the visual film of Chiquita (a member of BABYMONSTER), only 6 seats were shown, with Chiquita sitting on one of them.
As a result, many remain vigilant about YG’s statement that Ahyeon is not leaving.
Previously, netizens also became worried as Ahyeon seemingly vanished from the SNS accounts of BABYMONSTER. The trainee also did not attend BLACKPINK’s concert – BORN PINK Final Show in Seoul in September with the rest of the group, prompting further speculations of her departure.
At the same time, many started to suspect that YG was lying about Ahyeon not leaving the group. In particular, YG previously announced that previous members of TREASURE and WINNER would be taking a break due to health issues, only for the said member to eventually depart without explanation.
According to netizens, YG is intentionally being vague about Ahyeon with the aim of “media play”. In particular, Ahyeon is a Korean member who is favored by the Korean public and Chinese fans, so if they announced her departure now, the girl group would lose a huge amount of attention and fame.
Many netizens have taken to various forums and left scathing remarks against YG, with some of them being as below:
- They let Ahyeon train for ages, put her through a survival show, and now they are saying she will not make her debut? What the hell is wrong with YG?
- YG is an expert at mismanagement. They already ruined Bang Yedam, iKON, and now Ahyeon, and even fucked up WINNER at the beginning. All of YG’s artists have immense talents and great starting points, only for management to single-handedly ruin everything
- BABYMONSTER should have made their debut right after the survival show… They really waited forever until the hype has died out and now pulled this blasphemy of media play
- YG really delayed announcing that Ahyeon will sit out on BABYMONSTER’s debut as much as possible… I still think this is media play and Ahyeon will not be returning
YG has previously uploaded visual films and photos of BABYMONSTER’s Asa and Chiquita, but attention is being directed at Ahyeon instead.
BABYMONSTER will be in hot water without their “ace” Ahyeon
Even before debut, Ahyeon has garnered attention due to her multifaceted talents. She excels in dancing, singing, and rapping, possesses an attractive appearance, and is given the nickname “Second Jennie.” The 2007-born idol recently caused a social media sensation with her performance of the song “Dangerously” by Charlie Puth, making it extremely shocking that she won’t be joining BABYMONSTER’s debut.
In February of last year, YG introduced Ahyeon as the “perfect trainee,” not only excelling in dance but also possessing a beautiful voice and explosive rap skills. Particularly, then YG CEO Yang Hyun Seok praised her for holding many “unique weapons,” stating, “Ahyeon is a warrior with many outstanding ‘weapons.’ Every time you see her, it’s hard to find anyone like her.”
Additionally, Ahyeon is often compared to BLACKPINK’s Jennie, as the trainee is said to exude a similar aura and charisma to her senior. She also has a cute face with signature Jennie-like “mandu cheeks”, yet maintains an elegant and refined demeanor.
BABYMONSTER is YG’s first girl group in 7 years since BLACKPINK, scheduled to debut on November 27. YG stated that the girls bring a strong hip-hop genre with a powerful style in their debut song. The group is expected to fill the void left by their senior group BlackPink, whose contract extension remains uncertain. However, with this situation, YG’s plans may face challenges.
With Ahyeon not debuting, BABYMONSTER is left with only two Korean members, Haram and Rora, while the rest are two Thai members, Pharita – Chiquita, and two Japanese members, Ruka and Asa. The fact that BABYMONSTER, the younger sister group of BLACKPINK, has so only 2 Korean members is causing concern among fans. In the K-pop market, groups with more international members are often not as favored as those with predominantly Korean members.
“At present, there are only 2/6 Korean members. It’s tough for the group in the Korean market. BABYMONSTER is no different from a foreign group,” commented some fans. “The group already had few Korean members, and now the hottest one in Korea is also out. I don’t know what the future holds,” expressed another fan.
The possibility of Ahyeon rejoining is still uncertain
In the press release, YG did not clearly state whether Ahyeon has left BABYMONSTER or not. The vague announcement has led some fans to hope she will rejoin the group after stabilizing her health. Some fans pointed out that Ahyeon-related images and videos have not been deleted from the group’s fan page.
On the contrary, many believe that the chance of Ahyeon returning to BABYMONSTER is low, assuming that YG’s announcement has confirmed the new member’s withdrawal completely. YG’s current official statement is seen as a tactic to generate more interest in the new girl group.
Before the debut preparations, Ahyeon sparked controversy with a v9i of her rapping a song containing controversial language on the stage of Hanlim Arts High School.
Specifically, the idol sang the N-word while rapping Nicki Minaj’s “Feeling Myself.” Netizens expressed dissatisfaction with Ahyeon’s lack of awareness, calling for her and the company to apologize.
Initially set to debut in September, BABYMONSTER was delayed until the end of November, citing the need to enhance the product’s completeness. This incident has led fans to suspect that the company intentionally delayed the debut to reshoot the music video after removing Ahyeon.
Source: k14
