YG Entertainment to Debut First-Ever Chinese Girl Group
YG Entertainment is currently preparing to debut their much anticipated first ever girl group. Their Chinese division, Shining Star Culture, have released teaser photos for two of the upcoming group's members on their Weibo page.
One of the member is Vicky Wei, also known as Wei Chen. She was born on June 15, 2020. Her profile says she is 162cm and weighs 47kg.
The next member is Jane Wang, also known as Wang Siyu. She was born on August 9, 1999. Her profile says she is 165cm and weighs 48kg.
Both of the girls attracted attention for appearing on the iQiyi survival show "Youth With You," where they participated as trainees under Shining Star Culture. The two introduced themselves as Baby Monsters, the group's current pre-debut name. With that, they seemingly confirmed their position in YG Entertainment's upcoming girl group. Jane Wang was eliminated in episode 9 after ranking in 69th place. Vicy Wei was eliminated in episode 16 after ranking in 16th place.
The two girls drew attention after they made comments about how poor their company was. They had stated that they had picked their own stage outfits and did their own styling, causing them to be envious of the other trainees in sparkly stage outfits. They also mentioned how they wanted to perform a different song, but were told by the staff of the show that they would need to pay the royalties. Since their company had no money, they opted to perform a song that was gifted to them.
Additionally, company logos are flashes on the screen whenever a group performs, but they didn't have a company logo to flash, so they just flashed the name of the company in Chinese characters. This had shocked many netizens after it was revealed they were YG Entertainment trainees and were housed by one of the biggest companies in Korea. Many speculated that perhaps its because their Chinese division is not being funded well, while others thought the girls were told to say that to hide that they came from YG Entertainment.
While the group's current pre-debut name is Baby Monsters, it is unconfirmed if they will debut with the name. They are set to debut in the second half of 2020 and will be YG Entertainment's fourth idol girl group, and their first overseas one.
Recently, JYP Entertainment debuted their first Japanese global girl group NiziU and saw booming popularity not only in Japan, but worldwide. People wonder if YG Entertainment will be able to pull of the same level of popularity with their Chinese girl group.
YG Entertainment was established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and a music publishing house. They also have numerous side label that venture into different industry, such as clothing, golf management agency, and cosmetics.
YG Entertainment currently houses Jinusean, BIGBANG, Dara, AKMU, Winner, iKON, Sechs Kies, BLACKPINK, and WINNER. In their subsidiary, The Black Label, they house soloist Jeon Somi. Their other subsidiary, YGX, houses Anda. The company also houses actors and actresses such as Kang Dong Won, Choi Ji Woo, Cha Seung Won, Lee Sung Kyung, and Yoo In Na.
Their former artists include Wheesung, Epik High, 1TYM, Gummy, Seven, Minzy, Park Bom, 2NE1, Nam Taehyun, Lee Jongsuk, PSY, B.I, ONE, CL, and Lee Hi.
