NewJeans

In July 2022 a five-piece slipped in quietly with the music video for Attention, and rolled straight into the scene with the debut EP New Jeans that August. Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein. Instead of pushing their voices out, they ride a rhythm that passes close and light. Laying grainy Y2K video texture, R&B and UK garage rhythms over everyday school uniforms quietly set aside the checklist of flashiness that K-pop had taken for granted.

The songs that work as an entrance are all there. Attention gives the first feel of the group, and the light movement of Hype Boy right after it brings out the texture of 2022. In 2023 Ditto carried the afterglow of a coming-of-age film, and OMG the same year widened both the narrative video work and the characters. Super Shy, also from that year, is built on simple repetition that travelled through short-form, and the dance practice hands over the whole movement and the lightness of the bodies at once.

In 2024 How Sweet reached the Korean and global markets while the Japanese debut single Supernatural opened the Japanese side, so the widening range became visible release by release. In November that year the five members announced they were ending their exclusive contracts with ADOR, but a court ruled the contracts valid in October 2025, and Haerin, Hyein and Hanni said they would continue with ADOR. That December ADOR terminated its exclusive contract with Danielle, and the group now has four members. The official music videos and performance footage that can be confirmed are all still there, so Attention, then Ditto, then Super Shy will carry the first feel, the coming-of-age afterglow and the light repetition in one run.

Editors' take Attention / Ditto / Super Shy — three songs cover a girl group from ADOR that re-edited the air of ordinary life through Y2K and R&B.

KPOP DISCOVER editorial team