In the wide, always-fluid world of surf lingo, you might hear the word 'pre-breaker', a wave growing in momentum and size, about to reach new heights to become the ultimate party-wave. That could very much describe, Young Posse!

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Having just debuted in October 2023, this 5 member ensemble, consisting of Doeun, Jiana, Jieun, Sunhye and Yeonjung, are eager to put their stamp on this new era of K-pop! Back after their freshmen release, Young Posse further seeks to cement the tone for Beats Entertainment, one of the new kids on the block of the K-pop industry, with their new album XXL. As the label’s first and sole group, they are part of the influx of life blood being injected into the scene, among contemporaries like New Jeans and Boy Next Door. Poppy, boisterous, and powerfully playful, it's just the thing to hit your brain's pleasure centers to get that dopamine flowing. It’s as if they spent late nights working in the lab, with beakers of atomic vocals in toe, to create a synthesis of brilliantly addictive k-pop and dynamic hiphop stylings!

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While their debut EP Macaroni Cheese launched their carefree approach to listeners worldwide, (with even cheese titan Kraft counting themselves as a certified fan!), this second EP confidently evolves their musical repertoire, unifying dreamy chiptune synths with instant earworms that made classic hiphop so undeniable. The group embraces a fun, wildly volumized energy that was synonymous with the handoff from the 80's-90's blur. Sonic speed raps are quickly becoming a calling card, coupled with a dance background that we’ve just seen the beginning of. Eye-catching, explosive movements offer just a taste of what's to come!

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Their title song XXL, continues their cheeky music videos with returning director Ben Proulx, swapping life- sized boxes of macaroni, for a supersized monster-truck joyride. Which in just a few days reached more than 6 times the Youtube views from their first video.

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Thus far, the greater POSSE galaxy has even included song collaborations with Verbal Jint, BM of Kard, Bobby of iKON, and the list goes on.

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And just this May in NYC, they’ve surely made a ton of new fans when they wowed with a statement-making performance at the annual Hiphop & RNB festival Head In the Clouds! Leaving us eagerly awaiting their return stateside in the future!

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In the middle of their busy rollout, they kindly took the time to talk with us and answer our pressing questions :)

-    In your debut album, the band collaborated as lyricists for many songs. What ignited your passion for songwriting? :)

Even before we joined the record company, we listened to pop songs and K-pop, and we thought the people who make songs were very cool. And when we were casted by the company, we had time to write lyrics or make melodies twice a week with our producers. It was during our trainee time, and we were not sure if we would make a debut, but the session time was so much fun to just participate in the process of making music! And it was even more exciting to communicate with fans because our real lyrics came out to the world through the MACARONI CHEESE EP.

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-    You debuted in 2023, Congratulations! That's a big accomplishment :) What's the most exciting thing that's happened?

Thank you so much. In South Korea, there is a lot of competition among trainees. Beats Entertainment started with a small number of trainees, so we didn't have much stress. Of course, it was the most amazing moment to make our debut and to be able to interact with our self-written music.

-    Your group has a really cool, fun hiphop flavor that is really magnetic! can you tell us more about it :)
Jiana: I think hip-hop is the most free genre. The music didn't have to follow any formats, and it was so attractive that I could tell any kind of story. It was fun to write the story, and it was fun and challenging to write the lyrics, and to release it to the world. We wanted to tell our story now, and I think hip-hop is the genre that best fits it.

 

-    Any music and fashion inspirations? :)

We love Doja Cat, SZA, BIBI, 2NE1, BigBang…we did covers of those artist’s songs and dances when we were trainees. We get so much inspiration around the music scene.

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-    Would you rather be transported into Sanrio world or Pokemon world?

Yeonjung: Sanrioooooooo!

-    They say emojis are like windows to the mind. Quick, check your phone, what are your most used emojis? :)

Jieun: I love the face emoji with glasses and teeth haha
Doeun: Oh, we love cheese, cookie and orange emojis recently!

-    What is your favorite Korean phrase? One you might like others to know :)

‘보고 싶어 테리들’
This is what we call our fan club. Our fan club name is TELEPOSSE, which is called TELE for short.
Even though we are far away, we do always think that we are connected, so that is why we named it like this. But we still can't see each other in person often..so we miss our fans all the time. It is still unbelievable that we have actual fans.

-    The music video for Macaroni looked so fun and original! What was it like filming it? :) Any fun moments from the set?

The music video for Macaroni Cheese was filmed with an American director.
Filming a video for the first time in our life, and we can't believe the director and staff were American! It was such an interesting meeting. And when we entered the set, I was so surprised and excited. When everyone saw the big macaroni cheese and microwave prepared by the art team, haha, it really felt like YOUNG POSSE was invited to a Hollywood movie set. Everyone was so kind that we could express our energy to the fullest.

-    Favorite candy? :)

Cheese candy, Double Extra large size.

-    You're all so talented! Can you tell us about how your passion for music and performing started?

Doeun: I developed my dream by watching IZONE. In fact, I liked many, many kpop groups. Many teams had so many different charms that I couldn't sleep until the morning while surfing music videos of kpop groups through YouTube all day long.
 
Sunhye: I used to listen to hip-hop and soul music and dance to it. I loved Jenni from Blackpink, who is amazing in every way.. and I've been into Rihanna's charisma lately. I do hope she releases a new album someday...

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Yeonjung: I have always loved heel dance performance since I was a child. I visited a famous heel dancer studio in Seoul, took classes, and when I came home, I played house music and created heel dances on my own.

-    In your perspective, what are the things that have been most helpful for pursuing a career in K-pop? Any advice you could share with our readers?

We're such newcomers and lack experience that we are not sure how to say yet. We are having a new and exciting experience every day. We just always go on stage with the mindset that it's best for me to have fun.

-    So excited for what's to come! Any upcoming projects you can hint at?

Big T-shirt not Billie Just POSSE!

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(Note: interview originally translated from Korean)

Now is a great time to join the TELEPOSSE! :) Feel free to check out their links below:

https://www.instagram.com/youngposseup/ https://www.youtube.com/@youngposseup
https://youngposse.kr/

https://www.tiktok.com/@youngposseup