YG Entertainment confirms Babymonster will debut with 7 members

“This is the girl group that YG Entertainment is announcing in seven years,” YG Entertainment’s founder Yang Hyun-suk said.

They are Babymonster.

In an announcement video uploaded on Friday (12 May), the entertainment label confirmed that Babymonster will debut as a 7-membered girl group. 

The group will comprise of all seven trainees introduced through their online reality series ‘Last Evaluation’ – Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Ahyeon, Haram, Rora and Chiquita. 

This will be the third girl group YG Entertainment has produced, after 2NE1 and Blackpink which debuted in 2009 and 2016 respectively.

Prior to the announcement, the group was said to be debuting only five out of seven trainees. 

In an unexpected twist, all seven trainees will be debuting together. This also makes Babymonster the largest girl group ever produced by YG Entertainment.

In the announcement video, the five members chosen by Yang Hyun-suk himself were Ahyeon, Ruka, Chiquita, Haram and Pharita. But he eventually included Asa and Rora in the line-up after much consideration.

Yang briefly explained why he initially excluded Rora. It was due to her young age and he had other plans to put her in a different group as a main vocalist.

As for Asa, Yang noted how she was an all-rounder. Though she was originally known for her rapping, she later also showcased her vocal and dance abilities, making her a necessary member in his eyes. 

Yang also revealed how he has been planning to enter the Japanese market to create a global girl group and had wanted to include Asa in that lineup instead.

“The first five members I revealed are the five members YG chose. The other two members, Rora and Asa, think of them as members you chose,” Yang said.

With this lineup, Babymonster will consist of three Korean members, two Thai members and two Japanese members. 

“Regarding Babymonster’s debut, we will do our best so that it can happen as soon as possible. 

This is just a projection, but I don’t think it will pass this fall. I will make sure to accelerate the speed of Babymonster’s debut project,” Yang shared.

True to his words, the group just dropped their pre-debut track Dream, exclusively on YouTube today (14 May).

Fans of the group can look forward to the girls’ official debut this year.