Ahead of the release of their new album, South Korea’s idol group NewJeans was named one of TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders.
The publication shared the news on its official social media accounts on 24 May, writing, “A year ago, no one knew who @newjeans_official was. But since they dropped their first music video in August 2022, Hyein, Minji, Haerin, Hanni, and Danielle have already reached global milestones even faster than their more senior counterparts in the industry.”
“Two of NewJeans’ singles stayed in the Billboard 100 for five weeks this year, and in March the band became the fastest Korean act ever to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify in just 219 days, despite having only a handful of songs. This August, NewJeans will become the first K-pop girl group to perform at Lollapalooza,” it added.
In an interview with TIME, member Danielle stated that they have always tried to create a fresh vibe, adding, “This is new, but it’s also bringing back all these memories from the past.”
“K-pop is such a big thing,” Hanni said. “I don’t know if you could really even predict what it’s going to be in the future.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed that NewJeans will be making their album comeback in July.
Other stars named Next Generation Leaders by TIME this year include actress Florence Pugh, TikToker Drew Afualo, and Brazilian journalist, Rene Silva.
(Photo Source: TIME IG, NewJeans IG)