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        No One's Doing It Like YOUNG POSSE - The K-HipHop Idol Group Worth Looking Out For

        YOUNG POSSE is an outstanding new K-Pop group that isn't afraid to stick to their own unique style and pave the way for the future.

        Ishani Sarkar, Kpopmap Editor
        3 min to read  ·  Published : Apr 2, 2024
        No One's Doing It Like YOUNG POSSE - The K-HipHop Idol Group Worth Looking Out For

        YOUNG POSSE's Instagram

        One of the most exciting, game-changing debuts in the 5th generation of K-Pop has been YOUNG POSSE and we're placing our bets on this group remaining just as iconic ten years down the line as it is now. Why? Because YOUNG POSSE knows who they are and what they want to be, at least musically.

        YOUNG POSSE is a new K-Pop girl group (with members SunHye, YeonJung, Jiana, DoEun, and JiEun) that debuted in October of 2023 and instantly caught attention for their kitschy debut track 'Macaroni Cheese'. Needless to say, the music video for 'Macaroni Cheese' and the very theme of it were bold choices, but it sure helped YOUNG POSSE stand out among the numerous idol groups debuting every other day in an industry that is often labelled as saturated.

        However, this differentiating factor was not just YOUNG POSSE's concept. In fact, once K-Pop fans looked past the over-the-top aesthetics and campy direction of the music video (which admittedly, cannot be to everyone's taste), 'Macaroni Cheese' served as a wonderful introduction to the members' polished talents, naturally raising curiosity about the b-sides of their debut EP.

        YOUNG POSSE's first EP "Macaroni Cheese" establishes their musical identity with utmost clarity. This is a K-HipHop idol group, and they're proud of it, but that won't stop them from being versatile. Besides hip hop, "Macaroni Cheese" featured genres like lo-fi ('Cooing'), revealing just enough of their spectrum for fans to stay curious about their future direction. Of course, whether YOUNG POSSE would continue on this less-trodden "K-HipHop idol" path remained to be seen.

        That was until YOUNG POSSE made their first comeback with the EP "XXL". This album showcased a remarkable advance in the members' skills and reaffirmed that the girls had K-HipHop on their minds with no intention of abandoning those roots.

        'YOUNG POSSE UP!' (ft. Verbal Jint, NSW yoon, Token) was unveiled as a remix of their earlier track 'POSSE UP!' almost as a declaration—"See how far we've come?" Yes, we do; it's impossible not to acknowledge it! Similarly, with the title track 'XXL', YOUNG POSSE gave us a musical throwback to Seo TaiJi And Boys and 90s K-HipHop, which itself drew heavily from American hip hop.

        However, according to fans, YOUNG POSSE fell rather off the mark when it came to the styling for this comeback, bordering on cultural appropriation. So, in terms of cultural awareness, YOUNG POSSE has a long way to go, and the responsibility of addressing and educating on these matters falls just as much on the members themselves as on their company. Nonetheless, their heart lies in their music, and their music speaks for itself as this album carries the personal stories of each member.

        'Scars' is an impressive attempt at the rage genre and speaks to the uncertainties of trainee days, 'DND' (ft. BM of KARD) continues K-Pop's rendezvous with afrobeats, 'ROTY' hails back to 80s boom bap and is imbued with each member's artistic purpose, and 'Skyline' closes out the album with drum and bass, playing into the current trend in K-Pop, popularized by groups like NewJeans.

        This album is a safer offering than YOUNG POSSE's debut EP but it does a good job of appealing to a wider audience, garnering new fans, but also gratifying the loyal ones. It seems like YOUNG POSSE has just hit the sweet spot to grow steadily in the industry without sticking out too much.

        In the meantime, the members themselves are honing their skills and evolving with every release, making fans proud. All the members (most prominently, leader SunHye, YeonJung, and Jiana) are already participating in songwriting, which allows room for authenticity in their music. Similarly, each member is also working hard towards developing their own unique style and flow.

        As a result, no member goes overlooked in this group and yet, their strengths never clash. In fact, the members' vocal colors mesh so wonderfully together that it has majorly contributed to the salience of the YOUNG POSSE sound, which is impressive, given that the group isn't even a year old yet.

        It will be interesting to see whether YOUNG POSSE continues to build on their K-HipHop identity or appeal to the mainstream, but we'll be hoping for the former.

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