“Finally OT7”: Fans celebrate as BABYMONSTER debut lineup reveals exciting twist

At midnight on May 12 KST, YG Entertainment unveiled the final debut lineup of BABYMONSTER, its first girl group in seven years. The K-pop fandom went into celebratory mode as Yang Hyun-suk (aka YG), former agency CEO, revealed that all seven trainees would be debuting in the upcoming girl group.

In the last week of April, Yang Hyun-suk shared that he saw the upcoming rookie group as a five-member band. The agency then released an eight-episode series titled Last Evaluation to showcase the talents of the seven trainees and hold competitions to eliminate some of them.

Fans were on the edge of their seats waiting for the debut lineup as all seven members had secured a spot in their hearts. Finally, on May 12, it was revealed that BABYMONSTER would debut as a seven-member group with Ahyeon, Ruka, Chiquita, Haram, Pharita, Rora, and Asa.

BABYMONSTER’s debut lineup includes all seven trainees, fans ecstatic

The entire K-pop industry awaited YG Entertainment’s final debut lineup of its newest girl group. The upcoming girl group had big shoes to fill in, considering it was the first female idol group to debut under YG Entertainment after their global superstars, BLACKPINK.

The enthusiasm for the reveal was over the roof, which was cemented when the agency announced that the group’s self-titled YouTube channel became the fastest channel by a K-pop girl group to earn two million subscribers on May 7.

The agency had made fans more curious by saying that BABYMONSTER would debut with only five members. After showing off seven talented trainees to the world, fans were upset that they would have to bid goodbye to two of them. However, the debut announcement on May 12 KST revealed that all seven members would debut in the upcoming girl group.

Naturally, the news took the fandom by storm. With over 404k tweets, BABYMONSTER trended No. 1 on the Worldwide Twitter trends within one hour of the announcement. Tweets under the group’s hashtag were filled with various languages, especially Thai, since two of its members, Pharita and Chiquita, are of Thai nationality.

Take a look at how fans celebrated the no-elimination debut of BABYMONSTER below:

Meanwhile, the K-pop industry is seeing increased discussions of the recently debuted or to-be debuted idol groups, signaling the start of fifth generation artists. These especially include KQ Entertainment’s xikers, Boys Planet’s ZEROBASEONE, and ZICO’s BOYNEXTDOOR.

Interestingly, the members of boy group BOYNEXTDOOR were also revealed at the same time (midnight of May 12 KST) as YG Entertainment's girl group. Some fans believe that the new generation in K-pop is signified by a drastic change in the tone of artists. They believe that NewJeans could be the first artist to usher in the start of the fifth generation of K-pop.

While the start of fifth generation K-pop is still up for debate, it remains to be seen how the new idol groups will fare in the ever-growing, competitive industry. As for BABYMONSTER, YG Entertainment is yet to announce its debut date.

About the author

Afreen has been a K-Pop Content Specialist at Sportskeeda since 2021. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, along with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication. Afreen has over 4+ years of working in various positions including being an entertainment content writer with Pinkvilla’s K-pop division Hallyutalk and CineDope, and as a copywriter at Flying Cursor.

As per Afreen, she loves her work because she gets to write about the things she is obsessed with. Her thorough research and following the two-genuine-source rule of journalism helps her produce the most accurate content, along with helping her be up-to-date with the industry.

Afreen has had the privilege to interview The Rose's frontrunner, WOOSUNG, and LIONESSES, K-pop's first openly LGBTQ+ group. She is a big fan of SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, BTS, and The Rose for their hard work, sincerity, and the comic relief their shows provide.

When she is off her shift, Afreen explores the streets of Nottingham in the UK, cooks, and listens to new music.

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