On July 22, 2022, a five-member girl group called NewJeans debuted under All Doors One Room, a HYBE label. It quickly cemented itself as a competing group in the world of K-pop with its unique debut style and ear-catching music, breaking several records such as having the best-selling girl group debut album on the Hanteo charts.The girls have also been nominated for a few Mnet Asian Music Awards, including Best New Female Artist and Artist of the Year.
However, part of the attention given to the girls came from fans’ and listeners’ concerns about their ages.With the group’s youngest member, or ‘maknae,’ who was only 14 years old at the time of NewJeans’ debut,the discussion surrounding the age of K-pop idols when they debuted was revisited.
The K-pop industry is no stranger to debuting its idols at young ages.Soloist IU debuted in 2008 at fifteen years old, the same asTaemin of SHINee, who debuted that same year. Even further back, BoA, who is widely considered a “queen of K-pop,” debuted in 2000 when she was only 13 years old. More recently,Ni-ki of ENHYPEN debuted in 2020 when he was 14 years old.
This is also common in the idol worlds of C- and J-pop. Chinese boy groupBoy Story officially debuted in 2018 with its youngest member being only 11 years old and its oldest being 14 years old.This December, &TEAM are set to debut under HYBE Labels Japan with its youngest member being 16 years old.
Evidently, the debut of K-pop idols at young ages is not out of the norm. It is even typical for idols to attend specific arts schools such as School of Performing Arts Seoul in order to complete their education while also balancing their training and idol schedules.
The question then is this: What’s the big deal?
Some may point to how many Western artists also gain attraction and start to work at younger ages;Michael Jackson was around six years old when The Jackson 5 formed, Taylor Swift released her first album at 14 years old and Olivia Rodrigo was 18 when she took home her first Grammy award.
On the other hand, Western and K-pop artists do not go through the same training or early career livelihoods. While it may be typical for Western artists to create and release music on their own before signing to a record label, idols start their debut under a label. This means that they have to go through rounds of auditions that can last months, possible participation in survival shows and undergo a training process that can take years.Training can be intense and long: For example, BTS has dance rehearsals over 10 hours long, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER dancing with sandbags tied around their ankles.
These intense processes can cause concern for young members’ health and safety. While NewJeans’ young debut may not be out of the norm, that will not stop listeners from questioning the system.
