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Who are the faces behind new K-pop girl group 3YE?
- Bold-looking band, with its debut single, Do Ma Thang, dares to be different by appealing to both male and female fans
The three-member K-pop girl group, 3YE, featuring (from left) Ha-eun, Yuji and Yurim, released its debut single, Do Ma Thang, Photo: Fortune Entertainment
For a typical K-pop girl group, it is hard to take a different approach from the “lovely, cute concept” of many established groups – especially for those bands that have made their debut recently.
However, 3YE (known as “Third Eye”) is offering a different vibe with its three members’ bleached dreadlocks, bold dangling earrings and combat or cargo trousers.
The group made its debut on May 21, with the release of the single Do Ma Thang, a strong hip-hop track with a catchy dance beat.
The name of the song brings a different musical interpretation and perspective to the K-pop scene, because it is unusual for a female trio to showcase a “strong women concept”.
“I think [our] group is taking a new approach, making a challenge to the [established] K-pop idol scene,” Yurim, one of the group’s three members, said.
3YE – made up of Ha-eun, Yuji and Yurim – pictured in the official poster for its May 21 debut release, “Do Ma Thang’. Photo: Fortune Entertainment
The group’s members said their role model is Shinhwa, a “first-generation”, six-member K-pop boy band, launched in 1998, which is still going strong and remains popular among fans.
3YE met Lee Min-woo, one of Shinhwa’s main vocalists, to get some advice last Monday.
We want all genders, regardless of whether they are male or female, to dance to our songs, and I think this is a departure for a K-pop girl group
“Gender is not particularly our consideration,” Ha-eun, the youngest member of 3YE, said.
“We want all genders, regardless of whether they are male or female, to dance to our songs, and I think this is a departure for a K-pop girl group.
“There are only three of us, too, so people can remember us easily, too.”
The group’s three members, who give impressive performances in the video for its debut single, have been through challenging times to reach this moment.
Ha-eun, 20, said she was still at junior school when she started dancing and dreaming of being a K-pop performer.
I am so proud of this moment for myself. I knocked on so many doors [without success] … I felt sad because I thought I was not living up to their expectations
Although she stopped dance classes while at middle school, she later started training again.
Yuji, the 21-year-old leader of the group, said she had been rejected while taking part in many different auditions – yet had never lost her passion or desire to dance and sing.
“I am so proud of this moment for myself,” she said.
“I knocked on so many doors [without success] in this business, including music auditions such as Superstar, K and [the] KARA project.
Yuji became a little emotional as she looked back on her many disappointments.
“When I was taking part in audition programmes, I started to get obsessed about ratings without realising it,” she said.
“At one point I slipped from the top 10, which made me feel sorry for [letting down] my friends and family who had been supporting me.
“I felt sad because I thought I was not living up to their expectations.”
Yet she said she did not want to live in the past any more.
“Now, I just hope 3YE can make it all the way to the top,” she said.
This article was originally written by Jung Hae-myoung for The Korea Times .